IT security

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, Investigations Editor

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, Informa 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, Informa TechTarget

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, Investigations Editor

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, Informa 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, Investigations Editor

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, Informa 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, Investigations Editor

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, Investigations Editor

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

UK government bodies challenged on secure identity

Public sector bodies in the UK recognise secure identity and access management as critical to the roll-out of digital services, but face challenges in addressing this Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft fixes six zero-days in January Patch Tuesday update

A larger than of late Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft comes as defenders continue to grapple with Log4Shell Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dutch cyber volunteers receive major funding boost

The Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure has received a $100,000 donation to expand the scope of its work Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Macquarie joins NSW government’s cloud supplier panel

New South Wales state agencies will be able to access Macquarie’s sovereign cyber expertise and secure cloud, network and datacentre services Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Almost half of Log4j downloads still dangerously exposed

Whether by error or design is unclear, but a great many IT teams are still exposing themselves by downloading outdated, insecure versions of Apache Log4j Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Rijndael

Rijndael (pronounced rain-dahl) is an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS)

Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) are a set of standard protocols, numbered from 1 to 15. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Banks accused of neglecting customer security measures

Which? singles out Metro Bank, Virgin Money and TSB over insecure online banking processes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IT departments struggling to secure printer endpoints

Printers are at risk of attack, just as any other endpoint device, but many IT leaders are struggling to secure their print infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Companies propose scanning content pre-encryption to fight CSAM

Firms working on the UK government’s Safety Tech Challenge have suggested that scanning content before encryption will help prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material – but privacy concerns remain Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics 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

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Proofpoint acquires Singapore data security startup

Proofpoint’s acquisition of Dathena will bolster its data loss prevention capabilities, enabling organisations to better understand information risk through the use of AI Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Blackberry OS end of support

The end of support for Blackberry's smartphone operating system represents the end of an era in mobile technology Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

honeynet

A honeynet is a network set up with intentional vulnerabilities hosted on a decoy server to attract hackers. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Zola

Ministry of Justice caught up in multiple cyber incidents

Besides multiple disclosed data breaches, department was also affected by two ransomware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

trusted computing base (TCB)

A trusted computing base (TCB) is everything in a computing system that provides a secure environment for operations. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Singapore retailer hit by data breach

The personal data of OG’s basic and gold members stored in a database managed by a third-party service provider was reportedly compromised Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

France fines Facebook and Google over alleged cookie malpractice

French data protection authorities clamp down on tech platforms for purposely making it more burdensome for users to decline tracking cookies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Judges to decide whether Assange can appeal against extradition as he reaches 1,000 days in jail

Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador urges US to treat WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with humanity and to consider Mexico’s offer to grant Assange asylum Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Google buys Siemplify in first phase of cyber investment

Once integrated into Google Cloud, Siemplify’s platform will serve as the basis for deeper security development at Google Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

access log

An access log is a list of all requests for individual files -- such as Hypertext Markup Language files, their embedded graphic images and other associated files that get transmitted -- that people or bots have made from a website. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Zola

Admins warned that Exchange date fix will take time to roll out

At the start of the New Year, Exchange 2016 and 2019 email servers started queuing email messages due to a date bug Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How APAC firms can stay ahead of cyber threats

Organisations will need to develop behavioural detection, machine learning and threat hunting capabilities to keep pace with the onslaught of cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2021

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2021

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

smart card

A smart card is a physical card that has an embedded integrated chip that acts as a security token. Continue Reading

By

• Ben Lutkevich, Site Editor
• Linda Rosencrance
• Michael Cobb

Everything you need to know about ProxyShell vulnerabilities

Organizations need to patch their Exchange Servers to protect against the ProxyShell exploit. Learn how to do that and more here. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

Vulnerabilities to fraud are increasing across the board

As the pandemic continues to affect how we work, socialise, shop and conduct business, so it has increased opportunities for digital fraud and cyber crime. Jason Lane-Sellers explores the latest LexisNexis Risk Solutions ‘Cybercrime report’ Continue Reading

By

• Jason Lane-Sellers, EMEA director of market planning, LexisNexis Risk Solutions

SPML (Services Provisioning Markup Language)

Services Provisioning Markup Language (SPML) is an open source XML-based standard that facilitates the exchange of account provisioning information among applications, services and organizations. Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Wright

Top 10 cyber security stories of 2021

Cyber security dominated the headlines in 2021, making it hard to gain a clear picture of what to pay attention to. What is an IT buyer to do? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Is the IT sector beset by fear-mongering?

The arms race between hackers and security teams has led to a plethora of new technologies, but it can be hard to differentiate between sensible cyber purchases and those that are promoted by exaggerating risk Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2021

Cyber crime hit new heights and drew more attention than ever in 2021. We look back at the biggest stories of the year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How can you balance security with growth?

As businesses focus on recovery and growth, CISOs must deal with today’s challenges while also planning for tomorrow - how can they achieve both safety and success? Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Cartwright

What is Log4Shell - and why the panic?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we assess the risks from Log4Shell, a new web software vulnerability described as “catastrophic”. We look at SASE – secure access service edge – which is set to be one of the networking priorities for 2022. And some victims of the Post Office IT scandal are still waiting for proper compensation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

IT Priorities 2022: Cloud-first mindset growing in India

Nearly half of organisations in India are expected to spend more on cloud services, underscoring the growing cloud-first mindset that is taking root in the subcontinent Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

CW APAC: Expert guide to cloud migration

Organisations are increasingly moving their workloads to public cloud. In this handbook, focused on cloud migration in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at the key strategies to follow, how HPE has transitioned into an as-a-service company, the adoption of cloud in Australia and why VMWare’s chief technology officer endorses a cross-cloud approach Continue Reading

What is Log4Shell, and why are we panicking about it?

 Continue Reading

Top 10 artificial intelligence stories of 2021

This year, artificial intelligence has moved to operationalisation, explainability and regulatory frameworks. Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 artificial intelligence stories for 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Top 10 ransomware and backup stories of 2021

Key articles from 2021 that highlight the link between ransomware and snapshots and backup and their role in repelling attacks, plus effects of the pandemic on backup and recovery Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Security Think Tank: Reframing CISO-boardroom relations

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they’ve taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Emma Bickerstaffe, Information Security Forum (ISF)

Security Think Tank: When will they ever learn?

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they’ve taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Mark Raeburn, Accenture Security

HSBC fined £64m for automated transaction monitoring failures

Bank hit by multimillion-pound fine for failures related to its transaction monitoring, which failed to spot potential money-laundering activity Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Enabling secure remote working is once again a top priority

The pandemic has bought many new security risks, particularly around remote working. As the UK government once again urges people to work from home under its Plan B restrictions, these risks must be tackled as a priority Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

spam filter

A spam filter is a program used to detect unsolicited, unwanted and virus-infected emails and prevent those messages from getting to a user's inbox. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Zola

After Log4j, December Patch Tuesday piles on the pressure

December’s Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft contains several critical CVEs, but this month all attention is focused on the fall-out from Log4Shell, and burn-out is becoming a real issue Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Get to know your personal threat landscape

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they’ve taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

UK government to take ‘whole-of-society’ approach to cyber

Second iteration of the UK’s National Cyber Strategy broadens its focus to build a ‘whole-of-society’ security posture Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Log4Shell: Why aren't we taking the security of the internet seriously?

To be caught out once may be an oversight, and lessons can be learned. But twice over a seven year timespan, shows a laissez faire attitude to the stability of the internet. In 2014, Heartbleed ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Almost half of networks probed for Log4Shell weaknesses

Close to half of corporate networks have already been actively targeted by individuals seeking to exploit the critical Log4Shell Apache bug Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: We are failing to get the cyber message across to users

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they’ve taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Chris Cooper

Recovering from ransomware: One organisation’s inside story

In February 2021, French office equipment supplier Manutan fell victim to a DoppelPaymer ransomware hit. IT ops director Jérôme Marchandiau tells the inside story of the incident Continue Reading

Online Safety Bill puts user protection onus on platform providers

The Online Safety Bill will place new duties and responsibilities on online platforms accessible from the UK, but as it currently stands, it contains several grey areas Continue Reading

The rules for a safer internet

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the government publishes the Online Safety Bill, we look at what the laws mean for internet services. A ransomware victim shares the insider story of the trauma of losing their corporate IT systems. And we ask, what happens when quantum computers get too powerful to verify their output? Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Chernobyl virus

The Chernobyl virus is a computer virus with a potentially devastating payload that destroys all computer data when an infected file is executed. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna

password salting

Password salting is a technique to protect passwords stored in databases by adding a string of 32 or more characters and then hashing them. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

What is Log4Shell, and why are we panicking about it?

It’s been described as a ‘design failure of catastrophic proportions’ that threatens the very fabric of the digital world. Find out what the Log4j2 Log4Shell panic is all about, and what you should do about it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: There’s much more to do to secure hybrid workers

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they’ve taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Jack Chapman

Top IT predictions in APAC in 2022

Operationalising zero trust, talent retention and containerisation are just some of the key trends that will shape Asia-Pacific’s technology landscape in 2022 Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Julian Assange can be extradited to the US to face espionage and hacking charges, court rules

High Court overturns decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder after US government gives assurances over his treatment Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

C-suite’s biggest ransomware fear: Post-attack regulatory sanctions

Exposure to regulatory sanctions such as fines are the biggest worry for C-suite executives in the wake of a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ISA Server

Microsoft's ISA Server (Internet Security and Acceleration Server) was the successor to Microsoft's Proxy Server 2.0 and was part of Microsoft's .NET support. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna

OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol)

OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) is one of two common schemes used to maintain the security of a server and other network resources. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Zola

What are the challenges associated with the MITRE ATT&CK framework?

Businesses sometimes struggle to use the MITRE ATT&CK framework effectively. Learn more about some of the challenges, and how to overcome them Continue Reading

By

• Shannon Flynn, ReHack Magazine

UK and US to collaborate on privacy innovation contest

Joint UK-US innovation challenge contest centring on privacy-enhancing technology announced at Summit for Democracy in Washington DC Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor