IT security

How do VPN vs. cloud services compare for remote work?

As remote work becomes increasingly normal, IT teams must decide which remote access technologies will benefit employees more. VPN and cloud services are two top choices. Continue Reading

Tim Berners-Lee startup releases decentralisation tech to enterprises

Roll-out of Inrupt’s decentralised privacy technology to four large organisations is helping the startup to develop explicit use cases, which it hopes will prove the tech and lead to faster adoption Continue Reading

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

Gartner: IT spending to focus on fast time to value

There are no surprises in Gartner’s latest forecast. IT budgets are being spent on supporting remote workers, but CIOs have new metrics Continue Reading

Amazon charged with breaching EU antitrust rules

Tech giant accused of using data it collects on smaller retailers to benefit its own e-commerce business Continue Reading

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

EU aid funds used to train ‘unaccountable intelligence agencies’ in high-tech surveillance

Hundreds of documents obtained by campaign group Privacy International show how the EU is supporting surveillance programmes in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa Continue Reading

Intel and AMD processors affected by another side-channel exploit

Two years after Spectre and Meltdown, the x86 processor faces another side-channel exploit – only this time, it is based on sensing temperature Continue Reading

Leaky AWS S3 bucket once again at centre of data breach

Prestige Software exposed millions of records after failing to pay attention to the security of its cloud instances Continue Reading

Zoom rapped over historic security practices

The US Federal Trade Commission rules that Zoom’s practices undermined the security of its users Continue Reading

Better data sharing needed to help children during pandemic

Closing gaps in data infrastructure will help the education sector respond better to children’s needs during the Covid-19 pandemic, says Open Data Institute Continue Reading

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

Using digital twins to cut costs and improve safety at Shell

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at Shell’s digital twin strategy, which combines AI, internet of things and big data to improve safety and cut costs. Our latest buyer’s guide examines the best practices and technologies in business process automation. And we find out why securing DNS is critical to fighting cyber crime. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

EU moves closer to encryption ban after Austria, France attacks

Draft resolution document setting up an EU-wide ban on end-to-end encryption is set to be waved through this week Continue Reading

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

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

ICO sued over ‘failure’ to address ad industry practices

Privacy campaigner the Open Rights Group claims the advertising technology industry is systematically breaching the GDPR, and the ICO is doing nothing about it Continue Reading

Microsoft to support next generation of security startups

Tech giant lends its support to the NCSC Cyber Accelerator scheme, which is seeking its seventh cohort of startups Continue Reading

Consumer rights organisation warns of computer takeover scams

Consumers warned to be on guard against criminals pretending to be IT support staff to gain access to personal banking information Continue Reading

Singapore government rolls out digital signature service

Individuals and businesses will soon be able to sign documents digitally using a new service on the Singapore government’s SingPass digital identity platform Continue Reading

EU to introduce data-sharing measures with US in weeks

The European Commission is to issue updated standard contractual clauses (SCCs) that will allow organisations in the EU to exchange data with the US, but they may arrive too late to incorporate into UK law Continue Reading

India and Japan report stronger concern over cyber threats

Security operations teams in the two Asian giants see the increased volume of cyber threats as their biggest challenge amid the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

GDPR lawsuit against Oracle and Salesforce moves forward

Class action suit seeks claims worth more than £10bn over the processing of personal information Continue Reading

The UK government’s ‘flawed and misleading’ Covid-19 data

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the coronavirus data relied upon by the UK government is ‘flawed and misleading’ say experts – we examine the implications. Ikea talks about how it turned to the cloud to deal with the impact of the pandemic. And we look at the digital transformation underway at credit card giant Capital One. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

Maze ransomware shuts down with bizarre announcement

The operators of Maze announce they are shutting down, and claim their crime spree was merely intended to demonstrate lax security at their targets Continue Reading

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

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

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

ICO slashes Marriott breach fine to £18.4m

Reduced fine reflects both improvements made to hotel group’s cyber security and impact of coronavirus on the travel and hospitality sector Continue Reading

Surge in Ryuk ransomware attacks has hospitals on alert

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

Zero-trust investment seen accelerating through pandemic

New analyst report details some of the main indicators for success in zero-trust implementation Continue Reading

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

British businesses need to be prepared for post-Brexit changes to our data protection laws

This is a guest blogpost by Ben Tomlinson, Personally Identifiable Information Security Officer and Marketing Manager at Atlas Cloud. Data is arguably now the most valuable resource on earth; the ... Continue Reading

Finnish therapy centre accused of covering up cyber attack

Private therapy practice Vastaamo faces questions over its security and business practices in the months leading up to one of the biggest data breaches in Finland’s history Continue Reading

Privacy and online safety are focus of new UKRI research funding

Online safety research centre of excellence will look into technology to boost privacy and tackle disinformation, fake news, conspiracies and other online harms Continue Reading

Barracuda eyes Indochina markets

Barracuda is looking to expand its local presence and headcount in fast-growing emerging markets of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Continue Reading

Commvault launches Metallic backup service in Europe

Backup giant adds backup as a service, with cloud-to-cloud backup and e-discovery functionality that can work across on-site datacentres and the AWS and Azure clouds Continue Reading

Zero-trust network policies should reflect varied threats

Role-based access systems create enormous pools of responsibility for administrators. Explore how to eliminate these insecure pools of trust with zero-trust network policies. Continue Reading

Zero-trust methodology's popularity a double-edged sword

The authors of 'Zero Trust Networks' discuss how the zero-trust methodology's popularity produces both vendor hype and renewed attention to critical areas of security weakness. Continue Reading

ICO slams Experian over ‘invisible’ data processing

Data processing practices used by Experian broke data protection law, says Information Commissioner’s Office Continue Reading

Risk and reward: How to succeed in digital transformation

Most organisations are seeking to step up their digital transformation efforts, but history has shown that such efforts can be doomed to failure if they take the wrong approach Continue Reading

Calls for clarity over Amazon insider breach

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

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

Pet project: How Pets at Home cares for customers with data analytics

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the chief data officer of Pets at Home, about using data analytics to care for customers. British Airways had its GDPR fine reduced to just £20m – we ask what this means for data protection regulation. And we look at GPT3, the language prediction tool that could revolutionise AI. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

BA breach penalty sets new GDPR precedents

 Continue Reading

APAC CISOs warm up to zero trust

Security leaders in Asia-Pacific are adopting zero-trust security, but challenges stand in their way of reaping the full potential of the security model Continue Reading

Highly unusual hacking attack directly threatens therapy patients

A hacker has directly contacted therapy patients to say their highly personal therapy notes will be put on the internet unless they pay the ransom Continue Reading

Forrester: CIOs must prepare for Brexit data transfer

With the end of the Brexit transition period just weeks away, multi-national organisations will need to re-evaluate how intercompany data is transmitted Continue Reading

Policy Exchange calls on government to publish digital ID strategy

The lack of reliable digital ID services in the UK is limiting the country’s digital infrastructure potential, according to a report on digital identity, which also recommends the government to clarify the future of Gov.uk Verify Continue Reading

Cooperation between Norway’s security agencies planned following cyber attack on parliament

Government seeks to develop enhanced national IT infrastructure with an embedded early warning system and defence shield to protect the IT systems of public and private organisations Continue Reading

Cyber attack on Hackney Council is ‘morally repugnant’, says mayor

Mayor of Hackney is ‘incredibly angry’ at the cyber criminals behind the attack, which will continue to disrupt key council services for some time Continue Reading

Securing Australia’s distributed workforce

This is a guest post by Tom Kellermann, head of cyber security strategy at VMware Carbon Black 2020 has been a year like no other. The global pandemic has quickly changed work and business as we ... Continue Reading

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

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

Data reveals lack of ethics in decision making systems

A recent survey from price comparison site, comparethemarket.com, has highlighted the subtext, which obscures a host of unfair assumptions made in the depths of computer systems. These assumptions ... Continue Reading

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

Charities warned over ‘Robin Hood’ cyber criminals

Accepting donations from cyber criminal groups could be deemed as profiting from crime, money laundering or handling stolen goods – so don’t do it Continue Reading

Trump and Biden campaign apps easy targets for cyber criminals

You don’t need a stellar IQ to exploit the dangerous StrandHogg Android vulnerability, and users of both Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s mobile apps are at risk of falling victim to it Continue Reading

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

Customer loyalty accounts in danger from cyber criminals

Billions of credential stuffing attacks are harvesting valuable customer data for the dark web economy Continue Reading

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

Retailers get access to new security toolkit

The British Retail Consortium has worked with the NCSC to develop a new cyber security toolkit pitched at retailers Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Essential tools to mitigate double extortion attacks

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

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

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

Police given access to self-isolation data

NHS Test and Trace self-isolation data will be made available to police after new guidance changes data-sharing rules Continue Reading

BA breach penalty sets new GDPR precedents

The 90% reduction in the fine levied on BA over a 2018 data breach has legal experts talking about the ramifications for the future of data protection Continue Reading

Podcast: Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Covid-19 and storage

We look at how organisations can use Cybersecurity Awareness Month as an opportunity to revisit their handling of data and compliance, especially with changes brought by Covid-19 and home working Continue Reading

Six Russians charged over NotPetya and other attacks

Six members of the APT group known as Sandworm have been charged in the US over a series of attacks including the destructive NotPetya incident Continue Reading

Why is IBM splitting in two and what does it mean for CIOs?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, IBM is splitting in two, hiving off its services business to focus on hybrid cloud – we examine what it means for CIOs. Our new buyer’s guide looks at how intelligent workload management can cut cloud complexity. And we analyse how getting backup right can help tackle ransomware threats. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

BA argues ICO data breach fine down to £20m

Information Commissioner’s Office levies fine of £20m on British Airways for failing to protect the personal data of hundreds of thousands of passengers – a vast reduction on the initial £183m penalty Continue Reading

Spanish court to question witnesses over ‘illegal surveillance’ of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

The Spanish National Court in Madrid is to hear evidence from information security expert Andy Müller-Maguhn and two lawyers who were subject to ‘illegal surveillance’  of their meetings with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Continue Reading

Arrests and indictments made in cyber money laundering ring

The NCA has revealed six men were arrested in the UK as part of an international investigation into a money laundering network which handled transactions for some of the world’s most prolific cyber criminal groups Continue Reading

Cloud data protection keeps the Crick’s medical research Covid-secure

Cloud data management services from Rubrik gave the Francis Crick Institute a data protection edge and have helped keep its vital work going through the pandemic Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Essential tools to mitigate data loss and identity theft

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

Hackney services still offline in ongoing cyber attack

Services remain disrupted two days after council was hit by a serious incident, as residents are warned to be on their guard Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch – storage

Many organisations turn to cloud to cut storage bills, but the options available and potential costs are many and varied. In this handbook, Computer Weekly takes a peek at future storage technologies, such as helium and DNA, and offers some valuable tips on how to keep cloud storage costs under control. Continue Reading

Public sector security failings leave UK at risk, says think tank

Reform report urges adoption of new policies in the next version of the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy Continue Reading

US Elections: Malicious internet domains spike as campaigns heat up

Internet domains related to the US presidential election are 56% more likely to be malicious than regular ones Continue Reading

Public data should not be held by US tech giants

One-off evidence sessions to follow up on the recommendations of the House of Lords AI Committee revisit the data and ethics debate Continue Reading

Fintech ‘unicorn’ Klarna probed over data misuse

Online bank blames misuse of user data on human error as Information Commissioner’s Office weighs in Continue Reading

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

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

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

EU’s top court questions legality of UK phone and internet data surveillance

European Court of Justice rules that the UK and EU member states must comply with EU privacy laws when harvesting people’s sensitive communications data from telecoms and internet companies Continue Reading

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

The future of storage

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine emerging technologies in storage such as helium disks and DNA. Ransomware is becoming more sophisticated and the attackers more tactical. And as the EU’s top court challenges the UK over surveillance, we ask what this means for data privacy after Brexit. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

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

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

Trickbot forced offline in major cyber security victory

Coalition led by Microsoft obtained a court order enabling them to take down the infamous Trickbot botnet’s back-end server infrastructure Continue Reading

Five Eyes spy group again demands access to private messages

Spooks are once again calling for the tech industry to break end-to-end encryption in messaging platforms Continue Reading

Cyber security skills ad branded ‘crass’ by minister

Security skills campaign advert depicting a ballet dancer comes in for criticism as the arts sector struggles in the pandemic Continue Reading

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

Making sense of zero-trust security

Implementing zero-trust security is not an easy feat, but enterprises can still get it right if they approach it from a process perspective and get a handle on their infrastructure footprint Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Tighten data and access controls to stop identity theft

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

Magecart strikes website of school payments service Wisepay

Magecart credit card skimmer harvested financial data of users of Wisepay’s platform over a two-day period Continue Reading