IT operations management and IT support

Security Think Tank: SOAR to the next level with automation

SIEM and SOAR have much in common, but there are key differences between the two that may influence the best fit for your organisation. What should security pros consider when making a choice? Continue Reading

By

• Jason Yakencheck, Isaca

Gousto uses PagerDuty to cope with lockdown business boom

The recipe box startup has seen a huge growth in demand for its products as people shop for online dinners, which put a strain on its helpdesk Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft presents just 58 CVEs for Christmas

The final Patch Tuesday of 2020 contains 58 fixes, a minnow compared to some recent drops, but many are still of high importance Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

There’s no going back to pre-pandemic security approaches

The cyber security world will probably never return to its pre-pandemic state, and different approaches to security will come to the fore in 2021 Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Societe Generale latest banking giant to cut costs and increase digital investment

French bank Societe Generale is merging two retail brands and increasing investment in its digital offering to meet its ambitious customer acquisition plans Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Russian state actors exploiting VMware bug to hijack data, users warned

Russian APT groups are actively exploiting a vulnerability in VMware products to access protected data, according to latest warnings Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tesco uses Netcall to speed up insurance claims process

An in-house team has used a low-code platform from Netcall to develop an application for Tesco Underwriting Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Post Office IT scandal CEO Paula Vennells jumps NHS ship as pressure mounts

CEO at the centre of the scandal that saw innocent people bankrupted and some sent to prison steps down from NHS role as pressure for her resignation grows Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

A trillion dollars lost to cyber crime every year

Data collated by McAfee and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies highlights the growing impact of cyber crime Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Five myths of DevOps in the enterprise

While we might all be familiar with the term, what has become abundantly clear is that what we call ‘DevOps’ can vary greatly Continue Reading

By

• Kai Hilton-Jones

Nova casts light on streaming network issues as energy demands soar

So-called industry-first solution brings new revenue opportunities, reduces churn and differentiates offer for video providers as they struggle to cope with energy surge in providing services Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Allied Irish Bank prioritises digital services as it cuts workforce

Bank is cutting its operating costs by 10% with job cuts and facility closures, but will continue to invest heavily in technology Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

SIEM or SOAR or both? Consider your business complexity first

SIEM and SOAR have much in common, but there are key differences between the two that may influence the best fit for your organisation. What should security pros consider when making a choice? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Bank of England enlists development partner to unlock cloud

Bank has agreed a two-year deal with a cloud development platform provider as it seeks to take its cloud journey to the next level Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Throwback Thursday: Linux on the Desktop

As our contribution to the bit of fun that is Throwback Thursday, we're taking a weekly stroll in the Freeform Dynamics archives.  The first thing that struck me when I re-read our 'Linux on the ... Continue Reading

By

• Dale Vile, Freeform Dynamics

Dangerous Trickbot evolves to target UEFI/BIOS firmware

Dubbed Trickboot by researchers, Trickbot’s new features enable malicious actors to read, write or even erase UEFI/BIOS firmware Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ICT disaster threatens Dutch environment law

The Dutch government’s revamp of its construction planning law faces major IT challenges and scepticism Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Double extortion ransomware will be a big theme in 2021

Defenders will see heightened levels of cyber crime next year as criminals pivot their attacks from data encryption to exfiltration Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: John Davison, First Central Group

For the last nine years, John Davison has provided an IT strategy to drive business operations. Automation is the next phase of that strategy Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security Think Tank: SIEM and SOAR are far from mutually exclusive

SIEM and SOAR have much in common, but there are key differences between the two that may influence the best fit for your organisation. What should security pros consider when making a choice? Continue Reading

By

• Tom Venables, Turnkey Consulting

ABN Amro to sell head office as it focuses on enabling remote working

Dutch bank is selling its head office and redesigning another facility to facilitate increased home working Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IT Priorities: APAC enterprises readying recovery budget

Enterprises in Asia-Pacific are investing in cloud and other key technologies to not only survive but thrive in the post-pandemic world Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

How to modernise identity governance and administration

Modernising identity governance and administration (IGA) capabilities is essential for organisations to manage identities effectively to ensure they remain competitive, compliant and secure Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

This Christmas, Covid-19 heightens retail security risks for everyone

Do you think it’s only retailers and consumers who need to consider cyber security when shopping online during the holidays? You’re dead wrong. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to remote working has thrown a spanner in the works Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

From front line to back office – how supporting the cyber community keeps the NHS safe

NHS Digital’s chief information security officer describes how the Cyber Associates Network benefits security experts in health and care Continue Reading

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• Neil Bennett, NHS Digital

Post Office accused of lying and being in contempt of Parliament in IT scandal

Campaigning politician demands access to documents that could prove that the Post Office lied Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

MPs subjected to over 22 million malicious email attacks in 2020

Members of Parliament are targeted by millions of spam and phishing emails every month, according to a Freedom of Information disclosure Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Subpostmasters want £300m from a government that allowed Post Office ‘reign of terror’

The government allowed the Post Office to “run amok” and destroy lives, says complaint to Parliamentary Ombudsman Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fix bottlenecks before tackling business process automation

Business processes evolve over time, and intelligent automation requires a thorough assessment of what is not working optimally Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Pioneering companies use AI to drive profit

The latest research from McKinsey shows that there is a strong correlation between an organisation's artificial intelligence maturity and profitability Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security pros fear prosecution under outdated UK laws

CyberUp, a group of campaigners who want to reform the Computer Misuse Act, finds 80% of security professionals are concerned that they may be prosecuted just for doing their jobs Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cut jobs or cut software spending?

With little or no growth in IT budgets, IT chiefs will be tasked with cutting costs in 2021. Improving IT asset management can help to avoid job cuts Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Fujitsu staff under investigation for potential perjury in Post Office IT trial named

Court documents reveal the names of the Fujitsu employees under investigation for potentially providing misleading information in criminal trials Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Throwback Thursday: IT Support, now and then

As our contribution to the bit of fun that is Throwback Thursday, we're taking a weekly stroll in the Freeform Dynamics archives.  This week I look at a report we produced back in August 2006, the ... Continue Reading

By

• Tony Lock, Freeform Dynamics

Need to know: Five key things about backup testing

We look at five key things to consider when it comes to backup testing – what to test, how often, making sure backups work, whether recovery is effective and ensuring processes are consistent Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

2021 the year of commodity ransomware, says Sophos

Sophos researchers anticipate a trickle-down effect in the cyber criminal underground Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ransomware stats overload risks confusing buyers

UK-based organisations are either more, or less, likely to pay ransoms, depending on which cyber security supplier you want to believe Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Financial services data volumes heighten risk of insider breach

Financial services organisations hold so much data that it is becoming virtually impossible to safeguard properly against data breaches caused by malicious or careless employees Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Botched software update to blame for Post Office Horizon crash

Post Office says planned firmware update caused the problem that left branches unable to do business for 90 minutes Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Brexit and risks to data privacy and governance

EY privacy specialists assess the risks to data privacy, protection and governance on the table for businesses, with less than two months until Brexit Continue Reading

By

• Paul Smith and Krittika Singh

How to build an effective vulnerability management programme

As cyber criminals increasingly look to exploit vulnerabilities in software and hardware, businesses must build and implement an effective vulnerability management programme to counter this growing threat Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Human error blamed in Welsh Covid-19 patient data leak

Public Health Wales accepts recommendations of independent probe into data breach that saw PII on 18,105 coronavirus patients leaked Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hackney systems could be unavailable for months, says council

A month after a highly disruptive cyber attack on its systems, Hackney Council is still struggling to get back up and running Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office explanation of IT system outage so vague it is ‘pointless’

Post Office criticised over vagueness of its explanation of the cause of a UK-wide IT failure that saw subpostmasters unable to do business Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How AI is helping to drive business process optimisation

Automating an inefficient process simply leads to a faster inefficient process. Artificial intelligence needs to be deployed to ensure business processes are optimal Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Ticketmaster fined £1.25m by ICO for failing to protect customer data

Ticket website’s customer data was exposed through an attack on a third-party chatbot Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch IT award recognises importance of research in the wild

Promoter of human-centric scientific research techniques claims the prestigious 2020 Netherlands Prize for ICT Research Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Humanitarian data collection practices put migrants at risk

United Nations report on smart borders warns that data collection about migrants and refugees by humanitarian organisations risks excluding them from essential basic services like access to food Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Police open criminal investigation into potential perjury by Fujitsu staff in Post Office IT trials

Current and former Fujitsu staff could face prosecution for giving false evidence in the trials of subpostmasters accused of theft and false accounting Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Financial Stability Board says it’s time to talk about IT outsourcing risks

International organisation that monitors the finance sector asks for the industry to discuss the risks that IT outsourcing brings to the sector Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

TCS acquires Prudential Financial tech operation unit for free

Hot on the heels of its €1 acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s Postbank Systems IT unit, TCS has taken on 1,500 people from the insurance giant’s Ireland-based IT unit Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security pros coped admirably with remote working transition

Despite facing tight timescales at the onset of the pandemic, security professionals have come through the transition to remote working remarkably well, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft drops fix for serious zero-day among 112 Patch Tuesday updates

November’s Patch Tuesday contains fixes for 112 bugs, including a potentially serious zero-day exploit that malicious actors are already taking advantage of Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IT Priorities 2020: After Covid-19, security goes back to basics

This year’s transition to remote working highlighted big gaps in the fundamentals of security, as updated TechTarget/Computer Weekly data reveals Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Credential stuffing: When DDoS isn’t DDoS

Ten years ago, credential stuffing attacks posed a comparatively minor threat, but with an escalating number of data breaches, the threat posed has now increased. What are the solutions to this very human problem? Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

NHS warned over Ryuk spreading through Trickbot replacements

NHS Digital tells healthcare organisations to be mindful of a marked rise in usage of the Bazar and Buer loaders Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Finger pointed at Fujitsu as Post Office Horizon system crashes nationally

Post Office branches offline during busy business hours after suffering an IT error that the Post Office said related to IT from supplier Fujitsu Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Robot lawyer gets Sberbank role

Russia's largest state-owned bank creates a robot lawyer to reduce the time taken to process documents and make decisions based on them Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Kozlov

Subpostmasters’ complaint about government begins its journey to Parliamentary Ombudsman

Government faces scrutiny of its handling of the Post Office IT scandal that destroyed subpostmasters’ lives and livelihoods Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS weathers cyber crime storm during pandemic, says NCSC

The NCSC dealt with over 700 incidents in the 12 months to August 2020, with over 200 specifically related to Covid-19, and the NHS a critical area of focus Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tackling multicloud deployments with intelligent cloud management

Organisations are moving to hybrid and multicloud deployments, which complicates software assets tracking and workload management Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Accidental heroes: How one scaleup pivoted to cyber

Simeon Quarrie designed his business using virtual reality and interactivity as a tool to tell stories that effect cultural change in enterprise environments – then a cyber criminal emptied his bank account Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CISOs more confident in identity practice after pandemic shock

Identity practice and management has become a critical element of cyber security strategies to support remote workers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Surge in Ryuk ransomware attacks has hospitals on alert

Russian cyber criminals are conducting a targeted campaign against hospitals with Ryuk ransomware Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Trump supporters targeted by cryptocurrency scammers

The successful breach of Donald Trump’s official website shows up lax security on his campaign team and is yet another timely warning that nobody is immune to cyber crime Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How to write an executive CV for IT leadership jobs

Knowing how to write an IT executive CV requires a deep knowledge and skillset that not everyone has. Find out how to set yourself apart from the competition Continue Reading

By

• Mike Podesto

Calls for clarity over Amazon insider breach

Security experts call for more clarity from Amazon over an apparent leak of customer data Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Covid crisis proves tech can replace office space and support cost-cutting at Barclays

Bank says it will continue to look at its use of office space as it targets further cost-cutting measures Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Sopra Steria hit by new version of Ryuk ransomware

IT services company Sopra Steria says it has contained the ransomware virus, but systems will take a few weeks to be fully operational Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Forrester: Why tagging should be used to manage hybrid assets

With complex hybrid environments, there is a need to apply IT asset management best practices across cloud and on-premise systems Continue Reading

By

• Charles Betz and George Lawrie

Digital public services fail UK citizens on multiple fronts

Commission for Smart Government publishes paper on obstacles facing the UK’s digital government, setting out principles for digital government initiatives to follow Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NHS trust takes another look at its appointment of IT scandal CEO

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has asked for external review of its process when appointing controversial executive Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

SonicWall patches 11 firewall vulnerabilities

SonicWall users are advised to download updates that fix 11 CVEs in the SonicOS operating system, uncovered by Positive Technologies Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Protecting remote workers an opportunity to do security better

Securing the fully remote workforce has been a challenge for IT teams, but it presents an opportunity to commit to a higher standard of cyber security, according to a Cisco report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nordic CIO Interview: Teemu Salmi, Stora Enso

Working with startup communities helps to drive digital transformation at one of the world’s largest forest industry companies, Stora Enso Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

NSA’s top CVE list a timely reminder to patch

Many of the CVEs detailed on the NSA’s top 25 chart are golden oldies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Financial services staff want work-from-home policies to continue after Covid

About half of workers in the finance sector want their employers to retain remote working policies brought in during the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK sees surge in IT outsourcing contracts

Transformation projects drive IaaS growth, but SaaS declines. Some sectors are renegotiating and restructuring contracts to reduce costs Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Why securing the DNS layer is crucial to fight cyber crime

Domain name system security is often overlooked by organisations, but focusing on this layer could actually improve the effectiveness of cyber security strategies. We explore the latest DNS trends and best practice Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Hackney Council services to be disrupted ‘for some time’

Inability to make housing benefit payments is likely to sting some tenants as Hackney cyber attack drags on Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pace of digital transformation accelerates

As businesses strive to return to profitability, business leaders are relying on tech innovation to drive economic recovery Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Resilient Trickbot down but not yet knocked out

Global, Microsoft-led effort to disrupt the Trickbot botnet has seen some success, but new command and control servers continue to pop up Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Labour shares concerns over ‘whitewash’ Horizon IT inquiry

Labour MPs write to postal affairs minister expressing fears that the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal does not guarantee cooperation from the Post Office, Fujitsu and government Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Estonian rude awakening spurs tech startup activity

Money laundering scandal in Estonia has sparked tech startup activity in the Baltic country as banks look for answers Continue Reading

By

• Tarmo Virki

How SATS is streamlining procurement

Singapore-based supplier of ground handling and food services is deploying what it calls ‘touchless procurement’ Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Safeguarding PII in the current threat landscape

The threat of identity theft via a data breach is heightened with the rise of attacks where ransomware threat actors both encrypt and ransom, and exfiltrate and leak their victims’ data. How does this evolution in cybercrime heighten risk for the enterprise, and what steps can we take to safeguard the personal data we hold? Continue Reading

By

• Sarah Nadwick, Turnkey Consulting

Services Australia taps AI in document processing

Services Australia and Capgemini have developed an AI engine to classify and extract information from claim documents in a pilot project Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Post Office races to solve IT error under gaze of public and banks

The Post Office is focusing urgently on fixing an IT error suffered by a subpostmaster amid the ongoing IT scandal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How Tokopedia is streamlining incident management

Indonesian e-commerce giant Tokopedia has improved incident management and developer productivity using a cloud-based incident management tool Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Microsoft fixes 87 bugs in October 2020 Patch Tuesday

Smaller October Patch Tuesday update includes fixes for critical bugs in Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ServiceNow to roll out Now platform on Azure

ServiceNow introduces Azure-linked offering to cater to the needs of organisations in regulated industries that have strict data sovereignty and security requirements Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Adapting defences to evolving ransomware and cyber crime

The threat of identity theft via a data breach is heightened with the rise of attacks where ransomware threat actors both encrypt and ransom, and exfiltrate and leak their victims’ data. How does this evolution in cyber crime heighten risk for the enterprise, and what steps can we take to safeguard the personal data we hold? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Suppliers neglecting virtual appliance security, putting users at risk

Software suppliers are often distributing their products on virtual appliances that contain known vulnerabilities or are running outdated or unsupported operating systems, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government minister’s plea for subpostmasters to take part in review of IT scandal rejected

Government minister met with former subpostmaster online in an attempt to get victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal involved in government review Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Hackney Council services offline after ‘serious’ cyber attack

Services to residents of the London borough of Hackney are being disrupted by a cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Baking adaptability into the supply chain

The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the importance of data and automation in supporting an agile supply chain. Continue Reading

By

• Bernard Brode

Security Think Tank: What you need to know about addressing the doxing threat

The threat of identity theft via a data breach is heightened with the rise of attacks where ransomware threat actors both encrypt and ransom, and exfiltrate and leak their victims’ data. How does this evolution in cybercrime heighten risk for the enterprise, and what steps can we take to safeguard the personal data we hold? Continue Reading

By

• Larry G Wlosinski, Coalfire-Federal

Challenger bank accessing latest anti-money laundering technology through fintech

Challenger banks works with fintech to support its anti-money laundering efforts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK economy could see blockchain boost worth £57bn by 2030

Blockchain could provide major economic benefits by being used to track and trace products and services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Software AG caught in double extortion ransomware hit

Data stolen from prominent German software company by Clop ransomware gang appears on the dark web Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor