IT security

Microsoft drops out of TikTok talks, paves way for Oracle partnership

Microsoft confirms it is dropping out of the running to acquire the US operations of TikTok, leaving the way clear for an imminent partnership deal with Oracle Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

3 ways to prevent DDoS attacks on networks

DDoS attacks on networks can result in devastating and expensive damage for organizations. Learn three ways to prevent and respond to DDoS attacks to keep company networks secure. Continue Reading

By

• John Cavanaugh, BlueAlly

Travel industry websites are laughably insecure, claims Which?

The travel industry is failing to take the data security of its customers seriously, according to a Which? investigation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zoom adds two-factor authentication for all users

Latest enhancements to Zoom security make it easier for organisations to protect users and prevent breaches and unauthorised meeting access Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russian interference in US elections ramps up on schedule

With the critical US 2020 presidential election looming, Russian-state backed hackers are once again after organisations directly involved in political elections, launching thousands of targeted attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber security is next frontier for open source

Open security will facilitate the interoperability and capabilities of cyber security tools while alleviating vendor lock-in for enterprises, says IBM Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Lorca security scaleups hit funding milestone

£153m of investment has been raised by Lorca cohort companies in just two years, almost four times the original target Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Datacentre firm Equinix investigating ransomware attack

A number of internal systems at cloud and datacentre firm Equinix have been affected by a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government launches £500k healthcare security plan

A £500,000 funding pot from the government aims to help support small and mid-sized healthcare firms during the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Assange prosecution would put journalists around the world at risk

Trevor Timm, co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, tells a court that if the US prosecutes WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, every reporter who receives a secret document will be criminalised Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Branch-based anti-fraud scheme to be expanded to online banking

A successful branch-based anti-fraud scheme will be expanded by banks to include online and telephone banking Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

September’s Patch Tuesday heavy on RCE vulnerabilities

Microsoft’s September update contains patches for 129 common vulnerabilities and exposures, including a high number of remote code execution issues Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US conspiracy charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ‘politically motivated’

US journalism historian and investigative journalist Mark Feldstein tells a UK court that use of the Espionage Act against Assange will have wide implications for the press Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Julian Assange warned against interrupting witnesses in extradition hearing

On the second day of his extradition hearing at the Old Bailey, judge informs the WikiLeaks founder he could be removed and potentially banned from court for interrupting witnesses Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Tackling the Post Covid Cybercrime Pandemic

The pace of change along criminal supply chains is accelerating. But so too is the response from law enforcement. Lockdown saw the first step with long overdue automation of incident notification ... Continue Reading

By

• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

NHS whistleblowers at risk due to poor IT policies

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our investigation into NHS practices shows how poor IT policies are putting whistleblowers at risk. Our buyer’s guide examines the networking implications of the surge in remote working. And we assess how well the public cloud giants responded to the demands of the coronavirus pandemic. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Court rejects request to exclude ‘11th hour’ US evidence against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Lawyers for Julian Assange say the US has introduced an 11th hour indictment against the WikiLeaks founder that provides additional grounds for his extradition Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Government DPOs challenged by volume of GDPR work

Data protection officers working across the UK government are finding it tough to keep up with the increased workload generated by GDPR, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why predictive threat intelligence is key

Threat intelligence startup Cyfirma is using virtual agents to gather intelligence on potential cyber attacks that are being coordinated in underground forums before they occur Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Towards a Unique Government Policy for identify? What's new this time?

What has changed in the battle for control between Warlords, (who want identities to conscripts and tax their subjects, but not to accept liability when they are fogged) and Merchants (who want to ... Continue Reading

By

• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

Lockdown sees increase in girls applying for GCHQ cyber courses

The shift to online learning saw an increase in participants for its CyberFirst cyber security training programme, GCHQ found Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Security Think Tank: Beware security blind spots at the edge

That datacentre security is a complex subject is not in doubt and, given the trend to move beyond centralised datacentres to distributed environments, this is not going to change. How can security professionals ensure such setups are just as secure as the traditional centralised model? Continue Reading

By

• Jordon Kelly, ISF

Phishing scam targets Lloyds Bank customers

Bank customers warned of emails and SMS messages that direct them to a fraudulent site and then request account log-in details Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Only 10% of tech talent have cyber skills to fill skills gap

The UK has a growing need for cyber skills as a result of the pandemic, but few IT professionals have the skills firms actually need Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

One actor behind Magecart skimmer kit

RiskIQ has identified that variations in software tools used for Magecart ecommerce site attacks are based on kits from the same group Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK businesses hardest hit financially by fallout from cyber attacks, research shows

Latest edition of Hiscox’s annual cyber readiness report suggests UK businesses are among those worst affected by the financial fallout from cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Security Think Tank: Datacentre security is a business imperative

That datacentre security is a complex subject is not in doubt and, given the trend to move beyond centralised datacentres to distributed environments, this is not going to change. How can security professionals ensure such setups are just as secure as the traditional centralised model? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

New normal of remote working compounds enterprise security challenges

Sudden changes in priorities, poor network visibility and lack of time cited by Juniper Networks as key issues for security professionals struggling to cope with new norms Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

How Certis is digitising security operations

Certis has developed more than 50 applications in a year to help employees do their jobs better and has set up an AI centre to tap the potential of robotics and video analytics in security Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Northumbria University suffers major disruption after cyber attack

Some exams cancelled as university appoints external specialists to investigate incident Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Mobile workers to form 60% of total US workforce by 2024

IDC offers more evidence of how Covid-19 has changed the face of work in the US, with CIO investment in mobile-based management and security systems to take precedence in 2020 and beyond Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Sharing responsibility: Why we need to work together to keep the cloud secure

The education sector has been fundamentally altered by months of lockdown, with cloud services topping must-have lists for academic staff, but now it’s time to consider security Continue Reading

By

• Andy Powell, JISC

Security Think Tank: Seven steps to edge security

That datacentre security is a complex subject is not in doubt and, given the trend to move beyond centralised datacentres to distributed environments, this is not going to change. How can security professionals ensure such setups are just as secure as the traditional centralised model? Continue Reading

By

• SIlvano Sogus and Alan Taberham

The subtle clues that show UK government is taking digital identity seriously at last (cough...)

The UK government has finally unveiled its response to the digital identity consultation that concluded a year ago this month, and along with that announced a new Digital Identity Strategy Board to ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

UK government unveils next steps in digital identity plans

Long-awaited response to July 2019 consultation highlights private sector demands for digital identity support from government Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

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

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

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Vint Cerf: Why everyone has a role in internet safety

The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the power of internet connectivity. Vint Cerf talks to Computer Weekly about the challenges the internet now faces Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security Think Tank: Security at the distributed edge

That datacentre security is a complex subject is not in doubt, and given the trend to move beyond centralised datacentres to distributed environments, this is not going to change. How can security professionals ensure such setups are just as secure as the traditional centralised model? Continue Reading

By

• Anup Deb, Palo Alto Networks

New Zealand activates security services as DDoS outage enters fourth day

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Machine learning wards off threats at TV studio Bunim Murray

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Benefit fraud: Underground trade in stolen identities revealed

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DDoS downs New Zealand stock exchange for third day

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

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tour de France 2020 fans to get virtual experience delivered by NTT

This year’s Tour de France was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. IT services company NTT has teamed up with event organiser ASO to offer a virtual experience to fans who cannot be at the roadside Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Double extortion ransomware attacks and how to stop them

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

By

• Nicholas Fearn

NHS whistleblowers’ anonymity at mercy of inadequate trust IT policies and processes

They were clapped in the streets for their bravery at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but some NHS staff who raise workplace concerns are suffering abuse as a result Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

TikTok CEO clocks off

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has resigned from the firm after just three months Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Nordics: Bergen’s tech hub seeks global success

Norway’s second-largest city, Bergen, is building a tech ecosystem that is beginning its development with a focus on the city’s industrial heritage. Also in this issue, read why now might be the time for businesses to consider how they will invest in outsourcing IT once the Covid-19 pandemic wanes. And read how Norway’s government has had to backtrack on a law that removed tax relief on energy consumption at datacentres that process cryptocurrency mining. Continue Reading

Avaddon ransomware operators having a go at double extortion

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What are the latest GDPR security breach enforcement trends?

A cyber breach specialist from Fieldfisher runs the rule over the latest trends in cyber security, data protection and GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Kirsten Whitfield, Fieldfisher

Government must urgently prioritise digital identity, says tech sector

TechUK calls on government to make digital identity a focus of its digital strategy as the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the ‘urgent need’ for digital IDs Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Digital identity must not remain the missing link in the UK’s digital strategy

The UK's digital economy is desperately in need of a viable digital identity strategy - to recover from the pandemic, the government cannot wait any longer to resolve this much-delayed issue Continue Reading

By

• Julian David, TechUK

Microsoft wins on public cloud trust

IT spending set to grow in 2021, with many organisations buying more public cloud services. Security and trust are top buying criteria Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

North Korea’s Lazarus targets cryptocurrency vertical

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

TikTok takes Trump to court

Under-fire video app TikTok files a formal complaint in the federal courts challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to ban it in the US Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

When algorithms don’t play fair

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we report on the auditing of algorithms to countervail bias. We examine what CISOs can learn from Covid-19. And in our buyer’s guide to modern software development, we assess how competent artificial intelligence is at building applications that deliver the best possible customer experience. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

The Security Interviews: What CISOs can learn from Covid-19

Mike Lloyd, CTO at Redseal, holds 21 cyber security patents and a PhD in stochastic epidemic modelling from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, so is probably the man to talk to when it comes to cyber security in the world of Covid-19 Continue Reading

Getting physical with datacentre security

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

By

• Nicholas Fearn

TikTok’s GDPR compliance probed amid accusations of data misuse

Dutch privacy organisation SOMI claims TikTok falls short in protecting young users, and that it is likely violating GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MPs accuse ICO of failing to do its job on contact-tracing data

Cross-party group of MPs say the ICO has failed to enforce data protection standards or hold the government to account over the unlawful Test and Trace programme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian regulator sues RI Advice for cyber security lapses

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

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

15 examples of supply chain disruptions throughout history

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions across the global supply chain. Here's a look at other disruptions that underscore why boosting resiliency has always been important. Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Moore

UKAS rejects ISO certification concerns

UK’s certification body says refreshed guidance is in place to cover the possibility of lapsed ISO certifications Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Social media data leak highlights murky world of data scraping

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW APAC: Expert advice on hybrid cloud

Despite numerous benefits, organisations with lots of legacy applications can’t or won’t move everything to the public cloud. Some organisations may also choose to retain sensitive data on-premise for security reasons. In this edition of Expert Advice, we look at why and how APAC firms are deploying and managing their hybrid cloud infrastructure. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

HMRC investigates over 10,000 Covid-19 phishing reports

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Thousands of ISO certifications set to lapse

Delays and postponements in the auditing process are putting hard-earned security and data protection certifications at risk of lapsing Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Marriott slapped with class action lawsuit over 2018 breach

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Carnival cruise lines hit by ransomware, customer data stolen

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Reports Oracle to enter TikTok bidding war

Oracle may be about to make a bid to acquire the US operations of TikTok from its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to the FT Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How Covid-19 elevated the datacentre

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine how datacentres and their workers became part of our critical national infrastructure due to the pandemic. Firms considering upgrading to SAP S/4 Hana face hefty bills – we look at how to keep costs down. And we analyse the increasing rate of applications being migrated to the cloud. Continue Reading

Comms startup Element helps support secure communications during pandemic

With the huge increase in remote working, Element is using an open, decentralised network to give organisations more control over their communications Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

The Security Interviews: How Crest is remaking the future of consultancy

Crest president Ian Glover taught himself cyber security while working on government computing systems in the 1970s and 1980s. Now he is on a decade-spanning mission to change security consultancy models Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ICO acknowledges GDPR concerns over A-level results scandal

Information Commissioner’s Office says it has engaged with exams regulator Ofqual after its use of an algorithm to calculate A-level grades backfired Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

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

By

• Charlie Jones

Russia’s Fancy Bear targets Linux environments with Drovorub malware

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Executive interview: Sri Shivananda, chief technology officer, PayPal

Computer Weekly talks to PayPal’s tech head about the payment provider’s SOA, security, open source and the lockdown Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Oracle and Salesforce sued over online ad tracking

Class action lawsuits filed in Amsterdam and London will accuse Oracle and Salesforce of breaching GDPR in their processing and sharing of personal data to sell online advertising Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ed Sheeran is not promoting investment opportunities, says NCSC

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A CIO’s journey through the Covid-19 crisis

FDM’s IT chief takes us through the challenges of responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and the future opportunities that the changes introduced now present Continue Reading

By

• Jonathan Young, FDM Group

How to tackle the IAM challenges of multinational companies

The rapidly changing business, regulatory and IT environment makes identity and access management a tough nut to crack for large multinationals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Benelux: Security system concerns at Schiphol Airport

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

APAC consumers do not feel responsible for data security

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

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Dutch organisations invest heavily in compliance – but in vain

 Continue Reading

EU and US start discussions on ‘enhanced’ Privacy Shield data-sharing agreement

Talks begin on a successor to the Privacy Shield EU-US data-sharing agreement declared unlawful in July 2020 – a decision by the European Court of Justice that left thousands of businesses facing legal uncertainty Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

How Dharma ransomware became an effective services business

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft patches two zero-days with active exploits

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security training body Sans Institute hit by data breach

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Police use of facial recognition found ‘unlawful’ in court

In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal has ruled that South Wales Police’s facial recognition deployments breached human rights and data protection laws Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NHS hit by thousands of malicious emails at height of pandemic

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Citrix users urged to patch five XenMobile CVEs

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

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

By

• Andrew Hartshorn, Shakespeare Martineau

Coronavirus: Phishing lures pivot to exploit vaccine hopes

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

French data protection authorities to probe TikTok as suitors circle

France’s CNIL has confirmed a new investigation into TikTok’s data protection practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hospitality sector is failing on contact-tracing obligations

Cyber security experts urge the government to do more to help small hospitality businesses improve their contact-tracing data-handling practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Exploring COVID-19 food supply chain disruptions

The food sector has been hard hit by COVID-19. Learn what some of those issues have been, how some companies have escaped the worst of it and what lessons are most important. Continue Reading

By

• Linda Rosencrance

3 DDoS mitigation strategies for enterprise networks

Enterprises can choose from three major approaches to mitigate DDoS attacks on their networks: Buy from an ISP, do it themselves or use a CDN service. Continue Reading

By

• John Cavanaugh, BlueAlly

Retailer Monsoon allegedly exposing data via Pulse Connect server

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security teams struggle to keep pace with cloud threats

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

4 tips for proper cyber hygiene during the remote workforce era

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

By

• John Gray

Virgin Media customers targeted in Twitter phish

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor