IT security

Tech companies risk being compelled by law to protect children, says online safety expert

John Carr, a child safety campaigner backing a government-funded campaign on the dangers of end-to-end encryption to children, says tech companies have no choice but to act Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

How Dutch hackers are working to make the internet safe

We hear how the personal mission of a Dutch hacker grew into a serious organisation with international ambitions Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Five key tech trends for digital leaders in 2022

The past two years have seen a surge in investment that will bring new challenges to digital leaders over the next year Continue Reading

By

• Bev White, Nash Squared

Log4Shell, Ukraine and umbrella firm cyber attacks – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

Alex Scroxton joins the team to discuss the Log4j vulnerability and Russian pressure on Ukraine. Also discussed are cyber attacks on umbrella companies, neuro-diversity and junk in space Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

DPD delivers swift fix for serious API flaw

API vulnerability potentially left PII on DPD Group’s customers dangerously exposed, but was rapidly fixed on disclosure Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft to start blocking macros to thwart malware

Microsoft is making changes to web macro permissions across multiple Office apps to help improve user security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The Security Interviews: Building the UK’s future cyber ecosystem

As the government lays out the next iteration of its Cyber Security Strategy, we speak to Plexal and Lorca’s Saj Huq about his work building a cyber ecosystem to support the UK’s future ambitions Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Parasol data breach: Contractors rage as fallout from umbrella cyber attack continues

Contractors working for the Parasol umbrella company are querying why it has taken so long for news of the firm's data breach, which is linked to a cyber attack on its systems five weeks ago, to come to light Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Porn sites will be legally required to verify users’ ages

Porn sites could be legally obliged to verify that their users are 18 or over under proposed online safety rules, in UK government’s second attempt to prevent children from accessing pornography online Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Right to disconnect and less monitoring key to better remote work

The World Health Organisation and International Labour Organisation warn against invasive workplace surveillance and promote right to disconnect in joint briefing on how to promote healthy and safe remote working Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Umbrella company Parasol confirms data breach linked to cyber attack five weeks ago

In an email to contractors sent out earlier today, umbrella company confirmed some data had been accessed and shared online in the wake of last month’s suspected ransomware attack on its systems Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Airport services firm thwarts attempted ransomware heist

Aviation services provider Swissport says its systems are mostly back up and running after a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security's Buoyancy Aid - Keeping Your Head Above Murky Cyber Waters With Swimlane

Towards the end of last year, I spoke about a vendor, Swimlane, who appeared to be getting the concept of automation and orchestration absolutely on the money – and in the area where it is most ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

Security Accounts Manager

The Security Accounts Manager (SAM) is a database file in the Microsoft Windows operating system that contains usernames and passwords. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna

Cyber attacks on European oil facilities spreading

Following a cyber attack on distribution facilities in Germany, more incidents have been reported in Belgium and the Netherlands, but it is too early to necessarily draw a link between them Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Check Point looks to plug ASEAN’s cyber security gap

Check Point is shoring up its sales force and partner ecosystem to address the cyber security needs of small and mid-sized businesses in a region that is highly targeted by threat actors Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

EC proposes new directive to improve gig economy work conditions

Gig economy workers in Europe could be entitled to more rights and better workplace protections under a directive proposed by the European Commission Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Active Directory tree

An Active Directory (AD) tree is a collection of domains within a Microsoft Active Directory network. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

BlackCat crew supposedly behind OilTanking ransomware heist

Preliminary reports from Germany’s national cyber authority indicate the recent OilTanking ransomware attack may have been the work of the BlackCat group Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Brookson and Parasol cyber attacks: Contractor complaints about delayed payments continue

Several weeks on from the suspected ransomware attack that blighted two of the umbrella industry’s biggest players, contractors are still chasing their missing money Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Crisp supply shortage looms after KP Snacks hit by ransomware

Supplies of Hula Hoops and many other snack brands are under threat after a ransomware attack on the systems of KP Snacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

French Supreme Court raises constitutional questions over EncroChat hacking secrecy

Conseil Constitutionnel to decide whether ‘defence secrecy’ over state EncroChat cryptophone hacking breaches French constitution Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

data recovery agent (DRA)

A data recovery agent (DRA) is a Microsoft Windows user account with the ability to decrypt data that was encrypted by other users. Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Wright

Security Think Tank: How to build a human firewall

In-house or outsourced? What makes a good security training programme, and what questions should buyers ask when procuring training as a service? Continue Reading

By

• Merry Song, Turnkey Consulting

Mechanism underlying cookie popups found in breach of GDPR

A fundamental element of the mechanism by which the advertising industry requests tracking consent from web users has been found in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zero-trust to soar in 2022, but dogged by implementation challenges

IT leaders are keen to invest in zero-trust, but face issues around a lack of expertise, and selling the concept into the C-suite Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Reforms needed to tackle economic crime, says Treasury Committee

The Treasury Committee is disappointed at progress towards tackling economic crime and fraud in both the online and offline worlds, and is calling for more action Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nationwide Building Society streamlines digital onboarding through API

Building society is improving its digital onboarding process through application programming interface-based technology from a US startup Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

MPs call on government to ‘push harder’ and ‘act faster’ amid online fraud epidemic

MPs on the Treasury Committee want the government to act quickly to reduce the amount of money being stolen through online fraud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

British Council data exposed by third-party cyber failure

The British Council entrusted confidential data on its students to a third-party and was let down Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What neurodivergent people really think of working in cyber security

Many firms are filling cyber security skills gaps by hiring neurodivergent talent – but more support is needed for neurodivergent cyber security professionals, writes autistic tech journalist Nicholas Fearn Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Check Point buys Spectral to safeguard cloud development

Check Point’s latest acquisition of Israel-based startup Spectral expands its developer-centric security toolset Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

German fuel supplier taken offline in cyber attack

Cyber attack against Germany’s Oiltanking, a major fuel logistics company, affects 13 distribution terminals across Germany, in an incident with echoes of last year’s hit on Colonial Pipeline Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Met Police faces legal action over Gangs Matrix

Campaign group Liberty is taking legal action against the Met over its use of the Gangs Matrix, claiming it is driven by racial stereotypes and disproportionately affects people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

ICO criticises government-backed campaign to delay end-to-end encryption

Data protection watchdog warns that delaying end-to-end encryption will put children at risk Continue Reading

Over one-fifth of ransomware attacks target financial sector

Newly published data reveals a significant uptick in cyber attacks against the financial services sector during the third quarter of 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How Ocado pushes technological boundaries

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to Ocado’s CTO about how the e-commerce company pushes technological boundaries. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at the importance and technical challenges of data integration. There’s a growing dispute over the use of end-to-end encryption – we look at the differing perspectives. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Data on children of armed forces personnel exposed in breach

Data on 4,142 children of serving armed forces personnel was exposed in a data breach at the Ministry of Defence Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Understand your cyber training ‘need’ before committing to a programme

In-house or outsourced? What makes a good security training programme, and what questions should buyers ask when procuring training-as-a-service? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Cyber skills gap affecting data privacy practice, finds ISACA

Organisations are struggling to fill both legal and technical privacy roles, with potentially damaging consequences, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Korean researchers invent silk-based security device

Experts from the Gwangju Institute of Science have built a digital security device based on natural silk fibres that they claim is practically unbreachable Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CISOs must get out in front of Ukraine cyber crisis, says NCSC

The National Cyber Security Centre is urging UK organisations to take steps to bolster their cyber security resilience in response to the ongoing Ukraine crisis Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DCMS taps Arqit for 5G project to provide Open RAN security by default

Quantum platform-as-a-service provider joins government’s programme to drive diversity in comms technology supply with the aim of integrating a novel quantum encryption service to enable security by default Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Novel phishing campaign highlights need for MFA, says Microsoft

Microsoft details a new multi-stage phishing campaign that only affects victims without multifactor authentication in place Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nightmare Log4Shell scenario averted by prompt, professional action

Prompt and professional community response to the Log4Shell disclosure means the dangerous and widespread vulnerability has not been exploited to the extent many had feared Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Navigating PIPL: European businesses plot their next steps into China

How does China’s strict new Personal Information Protection Law impact European businesses? Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Setting strategy and developing plans

In the second in a series on cloud-era disaster recovery, we look at how to formulate a DR strategy and develop detailed DR plans for your organisation, while taking cloud services into account Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Security Think Tank: Focus on ‘nudging’ to build effective cyber training

In-house or outsourced? What makes a good security training programme, and what questions should buyers ask when procuring training-as-a-service? Continue Reading

By

• Tom Everard

one-time pad

In cryptography, a one-time pad is a system in which a randomly generated private key is used only once to encrypt a message that is then decrypted by the receiver using a matching one-time pad and key. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Froehlich, West Gate Networks

Integrating zero-trust practices into private 5G networks

One of the first steps in deploying a technology is protecting it from potential security threats. Learn how to secure a private 5G network with zero-trust security practices. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Froehlich, West Gate Networks

More intel emerges on WhisperGate malware that hit Ukraine

Security experts have been poring over the WhisperGate malware with which alleged Russia-backed entities targeted Ukrainian government websites Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

PwnKit bug endangers Linux distributions worldwide

Qualys researchers share intel on a memory corruption vulnerability in a program installed by default on every major Linux distribution Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MPs to debate landmark IoT security law

Proposed bill mandates tighter protections for connected products, and adds new rules for broadband roll-out into the bargain Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

TigerGraph roars into APAC

The graph database technology supplier is approaching the region with a solution-based strategy and partnering with universities to grow local capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

application security

Application security, or appsec, is the practice of using security software, hardware, techniques, best practices and procedures to protect computer applications from external security threats. Continue Reading

By

• Peter Loshin, Former Senior Technology Editor

Prepare, but don’t panic, over supposed Russian cyber threat

A fresh alert from the US Department of Homeland Security may have IT security teams jumpy over the possibility that their organisations could be targeted by Russian state actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber Essentials programme gets biggest update since launch

NCSC implements a thorough revision of its Cyber Essentials scheme to reflect the changing security landscape Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK government launches internal cyber strategy

Multi-pronged government security strategy is designed to protect both core systems and public services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital surveillance of remote workers may increase enterprise risk

From productivity tools to security threats, we explore how digital surveillance is forcing remote workers towards shadow IT. Continue Reading

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can ask Supreme Court to hear extradition appeal

Senior judges said today that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can petition the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear an appeal against his extradition to the US Continue Reading

India’s cyber security industry doubles in size amid pandemic

Revenues from cyber security products and services reached $9.85bn in 2021 thanks to rapid digitalisation and regulatory attention on data and privacy Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Tinder algorithm charging users more based on age

Popular dating app Tinder could have broken data protection and equality laws by using personal data about people’s age to set different prices Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Mandiant analysts: Russia-backed APTs likely to ramp up attacks

More cyber attacks like those perpetrated against targets in Ukraine are to be expected, and they may become more destructive Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ICO criticises government-backed campaign to delay end-to-end encryption

Data protection watchdog warns that delaying end-to-end encryption will put children at risk Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Cyber pros: Don’t revel in REvil’s downfall just yet

The arrests of REvil’s alleged kingpins is a welcome step, but as with any disruption to cyber criminal activity, it is never wise to assume law enforcement action means the threat has passed entirely Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

New normal sees SASE, SD-WAN surge as MPLS is phased out

Research confirms that MPLS is ‘out’ and SD-WAN and SASE systems are the clear winners in enterprise networking as more and more European organisations are eliminating all on-prem datacentres, with cloud adoption steaming ahead Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Scam losses in Australia hit record high

Australians lost a record A$323.7m to scams last year, with investment and romance scams accounting for the bulk of their losses Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Ransomware attacks dropped 37% in December, claims NCC

Latest monthly data reveals a significant decline in ransomware attacks at the end of 2021, but a new, emergent gang is making waves Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Updated cyber security regulations proposed for managed services sector

The Network and Information Systems regulations are to be updated to include MSPs and outsourcers, following a spate of supply chain attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Data of 515,000 vulnerable people stolen in Red Cross attack

The International Committee of the Red Cross is probing a cyber attack that has already seen the personal data of hundreds of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable people compromised Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MoonBounce firmware bootkit shows advances in malicious implants

MoonBounce firmware bootkit shows evident technical improvements over others, making it a more dangerous threat to organisations. It is being used by Chinese state-backed actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Delayed pay: Umbrella company cyber attacks disrupt salary payments to thousands of contractors

Thousands of contractors across the UK are anxiously waiting to see if their payroll cycles will be disrupted for a second week, after two of the umbrella industry's biggest players were targeted by cyber criminals Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Security Think Tank: Cyber training is useless without staff empowerment

In-house or outsourced? What makes a good security training programme, and what questions should buyers ask when procuring training as a service? Continue Reading

By

• Tim Holman, 2-sec

NCSC for Startups programme seeks ransomware-busters

Innovative ideas for ransomware-busting technology are being sought by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and startup incubator Plexal Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Singapore to tighten digital banking security

Banks in Singapore will have to put in place more stringent measures to combat the rise in online phishing scams targeted at bank customers in the city-state Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)

Pretty Good Privacy or PGP was a popular program used to encrypt and decrypt email over the internet, as well as authenticate messages with digital signatures and encrypted stored files. Continue Reading

By

• Peter Loshin, Former Senior Technology Editor
• Rob Wright, Senior News Director

Government funds charity campaign to warn big tech over the risks of encryption to children

Barnardo’s and other charities begin a government-backed PR campaign to warn of the dangers end-to-end encryption poses to child safety, which has been criticised as being ‘one-sided’ Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Investigators find Beijing 2022 app riddled with security flaws

Security flaws in Olympic app may put personal health data at risk of compromise in a man-in-the-middle attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Assessing risk and business impact

In the first in a series on cloud-era disaster recovery, we provide a step-by-step guide to building firm foundations for the disaster recovery plan, with risk assessment and business impact analysis Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

Chasm exists between ‘true’ and portfolio SASE approaches

Survey of enterprise IT leaders finds little difference between respondents without SASE and those who adopted SASE product portfolios regarding issues such as trade-offs between performance and security Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

2022: Time to take algorithm-enhanced online abuse seriously

The algorithms used by dominant social media companies have compounded the risks to unsupervised children in their bedrooms by automating the processes predators use to find and groom potential ... Continue Reading

By

• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

Trellix looks to democratise access to XDR in APAC

The company formed from the merger of FireEye Enterprise and McAfee will team up with managed service providers, among other efforts, to democratise access to extended detection and response capabilities in the region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Trellix XDR platform forged out of McAfee, FireEye union

The private equity owners of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye are merging the companies into a new entity to ‘define the future’ of cyber security through XDR technology Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber security failure one of biggest risks facing countries and businesses, warns WEF

Cyber risks are among the top five risks facing organisations and governments over the next two to five years. Digital inequality and the over-crowding of space with communication satellites present further risks Continue Reading

The race to quantum computing

In this week’s Computer Weekly, researchers are racing to create the first commercially useful quantum computer – we look at one of the European candidates. Cyber security is one of the greatest risks facing the global economy, warns the World Economic Forum. And we examine the role of employee experience in hybrid working. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Exium, Teneo team to deliver digital experience, 5G-capable SASE platform

Work-from-anywhere IT services company and cyber security provider enter into partnership to assist lean enterprise IT teams in their transition to a secure access service edge Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Police take down VPN linked to multiple ransomware hits

German police led a multinational effort to seize and take down the LabVPN service, which was allegedly used by cyber criminals to facilitate ransomware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cobalt Strike still C2 infrastructure of choice

Its utility and ease of use, coupled with explosive growth in ransomware actions, makes Cobalt Strike Team Servers the C2 infrastructure of choice for malicious actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Test police algorithms in court rather than legislate, Lords told

Police algorithms and their impacts should be tested and challenged in court, rather than controlled by new laws, says policing minister Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

‘Russian-backed’ hackers defaced Ukrainian websites as cover for dangerous malware attack

Kiev claims that a hacking group in Belarus – a close ally of Russia – was responsible for hacking Ukrainian government websites amid threats of military action Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Top three questions about the Log4j vulnerability

Singapore’s Ensign Infosecurity answers the top three questions about the impact of the Log4j vulnerability Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Umbrella firm Parasol confirms ‘malicious activity’ as root cause of ongoing systems outage

Umbella company confirms a ‘malicious activity on its network’ as the root cause of a systems outage that has delayed salary payments to thousands of contractors across the UK Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Nato offers tech support after 'massive cyber attack' hits Ukraine

Speculation mounts that Russia is behind a cyber attack which defaced Ukrainian government websites amid growing international tension Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Podcast: 2022 compliance preview – GDPR goes global

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of VigiTrust, about what’s looming in compliance, with regulations based on the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation plus the concept of cyber accountability Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Umbrella company Brookson self-refers to NCSC following cyber attack on its network

Contractor payroll, accounting and compliance firm confirms its networks have been targeted by an ‘extremely aggressive’ cyber attack that has resulted in some of its systems being proactively taken offline Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Parasol systems outage leaves umbrella contractors facing late payments

Multi-day outage leaves umbrella company contractors working for payroll processing firm Parasol facing late salary payments, with the firm remaining tight-lipped over the cause of its technical difficulties Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Nordic companies targeted in wave of cyber attacks

After a slew of cyber attacks hit major companies in the Nordics at the end of last year, we look at how they were affected and how they have recovered Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

NCSC sounds alarm over Russia-backed hacks

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre joins US calls to be wary of Russian state interference in critical national infrastructure IT systems Continue Reading

ICO investigates police use of app to covertly record calls from mobile phones

Surrey and Sussex police forces call in regulators after 1,000 police officers downloaded an app to covertly record phone calls on police-issued mobile phones Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

MEPs demand EU probe into Pegasus spyware abuse

A group of European Parliament Members has called for an EU-wide investigation into NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware after it emerged EU member states may have used it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor