Hackers and cybercrime prevention

Norway’s corporates want government to support ‘herd immunity’ to cyber attack

Leading business organisations in Norway call on government to play a more active role in improving and coordinating the country’s cyber defences Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

New Zealand activates security services as DDoS outage enters fourth day

New Zealand government calls in its national cyber security agencies to help investigate a continuing cyber attack on the country’s financial systems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Machine learning wards off threats at TV studio Bunim Murray

TV studio behind reality hits including The Real World and Keeping Up With The Kardashians turned to Darktrace’s Antigena email protection service to keep its people safe from Covid-19 threats Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Benefit fraud: Underground trade in stolen identities revealed

A roaring underground trade in stolen identities is undermining the Universal Credit system and could potentially defraud it out of millions of pounds Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DDoS downs New Zealand stock exchange for third day

Distributed denial of service attack from overseas has left stock exchange offline for days Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Double extortion ransomware attacks and how to stop them

As ransomware attacks increase, hackers are diversifying their tactics to get victims to hand over larger sums of money. We investigate the rise of double extortion attacks Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Avaddon ransomware operators having a go at double extortion

The operators of the Avaddon ransomware seem to be tooling up to leak the data of their victims in addition to holding it to ransom, Cofense researchers confirm Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

North Korea’s Lazarus targets cryptocurrency vertical

APT group behind the infamous WannaCry incident is targeting cryptocurrency operators, according to new research Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Getting physical with datacentre security

Whether it is natural disasters, terrorism or break-ins, datacentres will be vulnerable to a range of risks unless they are physically secured. Here’s how you can improve the physical security of your datacentre Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Australian regulator sues RI Advice for cyber security lapses

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is suing RI Advice for cyber security breaches at the financial firm’s authorised representatives Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Social media data leak highlights murky world of data scraping

A data brokerage left its database of 235 million Instagram, TikTok and YouTube profiles exposed to anybody who cared to access it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

HMRC investigates over 10,000 Covid-19 phishing reports

HM Revenue & Customs received thousands of reports of coronavirus phishing scams exploiting its name during April, May and June Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Marriott slapped with class action lawsuit over 2018 breach

Group action brings together millions of victims who stayed at the Starwood hotel chain over a four-year period Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Carnival cruise lines hit by ransomware, customer data stolen

Cruise ship operator is likely to be the victim of a major data breach after customer information is apparently stolen in a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US decision to file new charges against Julian Assange ‘astonishing and potentially abusive’

Lawyer for WikiLeaks founder slams US decision to serve a second indictment at the 11th hour alleging that Assange conspired with hackers, as a potential abuse of process Continue Reading

By

• Charlie Jones

Russia’s Fancy Bear targets Linux environments with Drovorub malware

The Russian intelligence-linked Fancy Bear group is deploying a new malware called Drovorub against Linux environments as part of a cyber espionage operation, according to US warnings Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ed Sheeran is not promoting investment opportunities, says NCSC

The National Cyber Security Centre has issued a new warning after uncovering a series of online scams promoting fraudulent celebrity-endorsed investment opportunities Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Benelux: Security system concerns at Schiphol Airport

A report has revealed problems with critical security systems at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Also read why the Netherlands’ digital sector is yearning for attention from the government, and how data weaknesses persist despite Dutch companies investing heavily to comply with GDPR. Continue Reading

APAC consumers do not feel responsible for data security

Just one in four consumers believe they should protect their own data, underscoring the tightrope between security and convenience that organisations have been walking on Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

How Dharma ransomware became an effective services business

New research looks under the bonnet of a Dharma ransomware attack, with the ransomware's ease of use being particularly dangerous for small to medium-sized enterprises Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft patches two zero-days with active exploits

Microsoft drops another major Patch Tuesday update, including fixes for two zero-day exploits that are already being exploited by cyber criminals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security training body Sans Institute hit by data breach

Around 28,000 items of personally identifiable data were lost in a phishing attack on Sans, proving that even the professionals can be caught out Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS hit by thousands of malicious emails at height of pandemic

The NHS received nearly 30,000 malicious emails at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in March and April Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Citrix users urged to patch five XenMobile CVEs

Patches are available for CVEs 2020-8208 through 8212 and should be installed as soon as possible Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why data exports from the EU will be challenging without Privacy Shield

Organisations exporting data to the US under Privacy Shield or overseas generally, whether under standard contractual clauses or binding corporate rules, need to urgently review the legal basis of these transfers   Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Hartshorn, Shakespeare Martineau

Coronavirus: Phishing lures pivot to exploit vaccine hopes

Phishing emails are increasingly luring in victims with subject lines relating to the development of a vaccine for Covid-19 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Retailer Monsoon allegedly exposing data via Pulse Connect server

A researcher has found a critically insecure Pulse Connect Secure VPN version belonging to UK retailer Monsoon Accessorize, but claims the firm is ignoring his disclosures Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security teams struggle to keep pace with cloud threats

Security professionals face challenges in keeping pace with cloud deployments and migrations, and the additional security threats they open up Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

4 tips for proper cyber hygiene during the remote workforce era

IT services firms have a responsibility to secure their clients' remote workforces. Here are four tips for maintaining cyber hygiene in the cloud, using AWS as an example. Continue Reading

By

• John Gray

Virgin Media customers targeted in Twitter phish

Customers seeking help from the ISP are being targeted by a scam Twitter account Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Capital One hit with $80m fine by US regulators over 2019 data breach

US regulator imposes fine over data breach that affected 106 million Capital One customers in the US and Canada Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Australia updates cyber security strategy but offers little new

The nation’s latest cyber security strategy includes centralised management of networks and a voluntary code of practice for deploying internet-connected devices, among other areas Continue Reading

By

• Anthony Caruana

Qualcomm chip vulnerability puts millions of phones at risk

Qualcomm has patched multiple vulnerabilities in its chip hardware that left hundreds of millions of smartphones open to compromise by malicious actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Canon said to be latest Maze ransomware victim

Canon may have had up to 10TB of its data exfiltrated by the Maze ransomware gang Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GCHQ seeks researchers to tackle deep fakes and misinformation

A GCHQ research fellowship based at its Manchester office will explore various national security priorities such as deep fakes, fake news and the impact of AI Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Second wave of Covid-19 cyber attacks locked in

More cyber attacks exploiting the pandemic seem likely, says Interpol Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Five signs you’re about to get hit with ransomware

A series of Sophos reports on the ransomware threat landscape shows how security professionals can sniff out a potential ransomware attack before it happens Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Liam Fox hack raises questions over government security

The hack of a former cabinet minister’s emails casts doubt over the effectiveness of safeguards and security training processes at the highest levels of the British government Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The UK’s $500m space technology gamble

In this week’s Computer Weekly we ask why the UK government is spending $500m on a bankrupt satellite technology company. After a European court quashes the EU-US data sharing agreement, we examine the implications for a UK-EU data protection deal after Brexit. And how have small cloud suppliers coped in the pandemic? Read the issue now. Continue Reading

New foundation to bolster security of open source software

The Open Source Security Foundation will bring together key open source security initiatives across the industry to improve and support the security of open source software Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

More data breaches from ransomware attacks in Australia

The number of data breaches caused by ransomware rose to 33 in the first half of 2020 from 13 in the previous six-month period, according to the latest report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Labour Party is latest victim of Blackbaud ransomware attack

Widening Blackbaud data breach ensnares the Labour Party as the cloud software firm continues to duck questions about its behaviour Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Twitter confirms it was hit by targeted spearphishing attack

Investigation into 15 July 2020 hack of a number of high-profile accounts by cryptocurrency scammers has found evidence of a targeted spearphishing incident Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

EU sanctions China and Russia over cyber attacks

The EU is applying restrictive measure to six individuals and three entities accused of conducting disruptive cyber attacks in Europe, including the Russian GRU Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Former UC Global staff confirm Embassy surveillance operation against Julian Assange

Spanish court investigates claims that security company illegally recorded meetings between Julian Assange, politicians, lawyers and celebrities at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Ter García

Diversity in cyber improving but inclusion needs work, says NCSC

Study into diversity and inclusion in the cyber security sector has found that diversity is off to a good start, but inclusion is lacking Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

List of Blackbaud breach victims tops 120

More than 120 education and third-sector organisations may have had their data compromised through the breach of Blackbaud’s cloud platform Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Serious BootHole vulnerability puts millions of systems at risk

BootHole is a GRUB2 bootloader vulnerability and puts millions of PCs, servers and other devices at risk of compromise Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Majority of organisations at risk of cloud data exposure

Report casts doubt on the effectiveness of the shared responsibility model of cloud security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bank of Ireland fined for six-year-old IT breach

Bank of Ireland fined by regulator for its failings to prevent fraud six years ago Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

De Montfort, KCL, Newcastle universities join list of Blackbaud victims

Embattled cloud services provider now has big questions to answer over its handling of data belonging to UK universities and charities Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Garmin may have paid hackers ransom, reports suggest

Garmin’s services are coming back online, but the company remains tight-lipped about what exactly happened to it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital bank customer data breached through third party

FBI is investigating digital bank customer data breach that occurred via a former third-party supplier Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NCSC names national security expert Lindy Cameron as new CEO

New National Cyber Security Centre head joins from the Northern Ireland Office and has spent 20 years in government at home and abroad Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scotland’s security resilience centre concept goes national

Based on the success of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, a series of regional Cyber Resilience Centres are now launching across the rest of the UK Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC inducts six security startups to Cyber Accelerator

10-week programme will guide some of the UK’s most innovative security startups as they scale their businesses for future growth Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Meet the CIO connecting IT in the most inhospitable environments

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we discuss the challenges of running global IT in the world of copper mining. We look at how tech suppliers are adapting their products to meet the lockdown demands of working from home. And we exam-ine how zero-trust methods can help secure container tech-nology. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

MI6 apologises after attempt to interfere with intelligence court

The UK Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has apologised after attempting to persuade the secretary of Britain’s most secret court to withhold documents from senior judges in a case about crimes by undercover agents Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Intelligent ways to tackle cyber attack

Artificial intelligence-powered security tools should enable IT security teams to achieve more with less Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Court adjourns hearing into Assange extradition as US delays serving new indictment

Westminster Magistrates Court suspends scheduled extradition hearing into WikiLeaks founder after it emerged the US had failed to serve a second superseding indictment against him Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Australia issues new cloud computing guidelines

The new guidance, which comes after the expiry of the government’s cloud services certification programme, will help to bolster Australia’s cyber security resilience Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Garmin outage prompts ransomware attack speculation

Details are thin on the ground following a major service outage at Garmin, prompting industry speculation that the firm has fallen victim to a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Investment in neurodiverse talent a win-win for security

Current careers guidance and recruitment processes for security jobs are not working for people with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia, but the problem is fixable with a little attention to detail Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A question of trust: University and supplier on the hook for data breach

Data on students at the University of York was stolen in a ransomware attack on a supplier two months ago, and the response of both parties raises serious questions Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The secret managing director

The managing director of a Premier League side almost cost their club £1m when their email address was hacked during a transfer negotiation – but who could it be? Our first guess was Richard Arnold ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

NCSC reveals scale of cyber attacks on UK sports industry

The UK’s sports industry is under near constant cyber attack, according to new statistics from the National Cyber Security Centre Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

No let-up in cyber attacks as lockdown eases

Cyber attacks are up by one-third as the coalescence of cyber activity and nation state-linked threats around the pandemic bears fruit for bad actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US charges Chinese nationals with Covid-19 research hacking

The two hackers allegedly worked with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, targeting intellectual property and confidential business information Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Government drags its feet on online misinformation

Online misinformation about Covid-19 continues to spread unchecked, according to a DCMS committee report which has accused the government of dragging its feet over online harms Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia Report reveals long-running cyber warfare campaign against UK

Russia has been hacking the UK for years and the British government has also known about it for years, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian industry panel calls for ‘clear consequences’ of cyber attacks

A government-appointed panel recommends strong deterrence and other measures to be implemented in Australia’s next cyber security strategy Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Automating IT security

IT security’s battle with the hacking community has always been a game of cat and mouse, but it’s becoming increasingly automated Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Twitter hack fallout: Investigators on trail of cyber criminals

Investigators are hunting the cyber criminals who broke into Twitter’s systems to hijack prominent accounts, amid concerns that more attacks may come Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW APAC: Trend Watch – security

It wasn’t that long ago when DevSecOps was little more than a mispronunciation of DevOps. Fast forward to today, the notion of embedding security into the development process is not only accepted, but increasingly championed. In this handbook, Computer Weekly looks at what organisations in the Asia-Pacific region are doing to secure their systems, from adopting a DevSecOps approach, to preparing for cyber attacks and ensuring the privacy of Covid-19 contact-tracing app users. Continue Reading

CW ANZ: Expert advice on security

Supply chain risks are invisible to many organisations, which means they are often not prioritised from an IT security perspective, partly because supply chain risk management is often seen as a procurement issue. In this handbook, Computer Weekly looks at how organisations in Australia and New Zealand can better protect themselves against supply chain attacks and other evolving cyber threats. Continue Reading

Russian state hackers attacking Covid-19 researchers

Kremlin-linked APT29 group, also known as Cozy Bear, is conducting a campaign against Covid-19 researchers around the world Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bazar malware may be new tool in Trickbot arsenal

Cybereason’s Nocturnus research team uncovers new Bazar malware, which shares some similarities with other varieties Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cryptocurrency scammers attack Twitter in insider breach

Apparent insider breach at Twitter saw so-called “blue tick” accounts of business people, politicians and celebrities hijacked to promote a Bitcoin scam Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus shines spotlight on cyber security

Programme committee chair of this year's RSA Conference Asia-Pacific and Japan talks up the challenges that IT security professionals in APAC are facing to mitigate security risks amid the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Government proposes IoT security enforcement body

The government is today publishing new proposals concerning planned legislation that will protect users of smart IoT devices from cyber criminals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft fixes 123 bugs in July 2020 update

The bugs start coming and they don’t stop coming; Microsoft has issued yet another bumper Patch Tuesday update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Video providers slammed by credential stuffing attacks

Attacks on the media sector are spiking as cyber criminals try to gain access to valuable consumer accounts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Check Point unearths critical SigRed bug in Windows DNS

SigRed vulnerability is highly dangerous, but is being fixed as part of the July 2020 Patch Tuesday update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Recon vulnerability puts thousands of SAP customers at risk

Users of multiple SAP products including S4/HANA should apply the security update as soon as possible to protect their systems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: AI in cyber needs complex cost/benefit analysis

AI and machine learning techniques are said to hold great promise in security, enabling organisations to operate a IT predictive security stance and automate reactive measures when needed. Is this perception accurate, or is the importance of automation being gravely overestimated? Continue Reading

By

• Anne Bailey

‘Name-and-shame’ ransomware attacks increasing in prevalence

Since emerging at the tail-end of 2019, double extortion, or exfiltration and encryption, ransomware attacks have become highly popular, and now account for a significant number of incidents, according to Emsisoft research Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian enterprises facing more cyber attacks

The volume of cyber attacks in Australia jumped from 90% in October 2019 and 81% in February 2019, underscoring the worsening threat landscape in the country Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Ignore AI overheads at your peril

Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are said to hold great promise in security, enabling organisations to operate an IT predictive security stance and automate reactive measures when needed. Is this perception accurate, or is the importance of automation being gravely overestimated? Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

NCSC launches pen testing service for remote workers

An expansion to the successful Exercise in a Box toolkit will enable SMEs to probe the cyber security defences of remote workers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zoom zero-day a reminder to stop using Windows 7

Researchers have disclosed a newly discovered zero-day vulnerability to videoconferencing service Zoom, which only affects users of Windows 7 systems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How cyber warfare laws limit risk on a digital battleground

Retired Navy cryptologist implores enterprises to build key cyber warfare laws into their infosec strategy to improve survivability on the digital battleground in his new book. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Donegan, Social Media Manager
• Packt Publishing

The future of cyber warfare requires infosec's attention

The future of cyber warfare places enterprise security and survivability in the crosshairs. Learn more about cyber warfare threats and capabilities and how infosec can prepare. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Donegan, Social Media Manager

HSBC customers targeted in new smishing scam

SMS phishing scam is targeting HSBC customers in the UK to trick them into handing over their bank account details Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Clearview AI faces ICO investigation over facial recognition

Controversial company that scraped data from the public internet to build its facial recognition algorithm faces a joint UK-Australian investigation into its practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

More Joker malware apps chucked off Google Play Store

Infamous Joker billing fraud malware continues to sneak past Google’s security controls Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pubs and restaurants failing on cyber fraud protection

Virtually all of the UK’s most popular restaurant and pub brands are failing to proactively block fraudulent emails from reaching their targets Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Use of spyware apps linked to domestic abuse soars in lockdown

The rise in domestic violence during the pandemic has been linked to increase use of stalkerware apps by abusers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cosmic Lynx cyber crime group takes BEC to new heights

Newly identified Russian threat group targets large organisations with increasingly dangerous business email compromise attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Over 15 billion credentials for sale on dark web

Research by Digital Shadows reveals the scale of the security threat facing consumers as it uncovers 15 billion usernames and passwords stolen in more than 100,000 different data breaches Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: The past and future of security automation

Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are said to hold great promise in security, enabling organisations to operate an IT predictive security stance and automate reactive measures when needed. Is this perception accurate, or is the importance of automation being gravely overestimated? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis