IT security

General Election sees UK government defer ‘high-risk’ 5G tech supplier review

Decision on allowing so-called high-risk suppliers access to the UK’s market for 5G infrastructure delayed due to 12 December poll Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

ICO says UK police must ‘slow down’ use of facial recognition

The Information Commissioner’s Office is calling for a statutory code of practice to govern how police in the UK deploy live facial recognition technology while controversy surrounding its use continues Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

CIO must focus on easing data access to help data scientists build models more quickly

Data scientists struggle to get the right data in the right format to build artificial intelligence models, so to benefit from AI, CIOs will need to simplify data access Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security Think Tank: In the cloud, the buck stops with you

Misconfigured cloud environments are increasingly identified as the source of damaging data breaches and leaks, raising serious questions for enterprises. Where does responsibility for data security in the cloud lie, and how can security professionals best work with their teams and cloud providers to resolve the problem? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

Banks let customers down with mixed approaches to security

Treasury Committee report recommends new measures to tackle financial fraud Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Facebook agrees to pay £500,000 fine over Cambridge Analytica data law breaches

Social media giant also promises to change the way its platform is used to protect people’s data Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Alibaba Cloud earns security credentials in automotive and healthcare sectors

Alibaba Cloud’s compliance with Tisax and GxP follows earlier efforts by major public cloud suppliers to win over enterprises with strict data protection and security rules Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

What will succeed the National Cyber Security Strategy?

As the National Cyber Security Strategy nears the end of its working life, the government is considering what comes next, and is asking probing questions of its successes and failures Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NordVPN enlists ethical hackers, launches bug bounty programme

Breached consumer VPN supplier details steps it is taking to shore up its cyber security posture after an unknown actor gained access to one of its servers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fancy Bear resumes Olympic hacks ahead of Tokyo games

Fancy Bear is back in action and once again targeting anti-doping bodies and sporting organisations, warns Microsoft Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mitigating social engineering attacks with MFA

The growing frequency of social engineering attacks highlights the increasing need for organisations to take steps to mitigate the effects of phishing. Continue Reading

IR35 reforms – the difficult decisions facing IT contractors

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the difficult choices facing UK IT contractors from the controversial IR35 tax reforms. Social engineering is a major source of cyber security attacks – we look at mitigation strategies. And the IT chief at Mercedes F1 explains what it takes to support a world championship team. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Embedding security in governance

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision-making? Continue Reading

By

• Sandeep Godbole, ISACA

Windows 7 upgrade haunts health service tech vision

Windows 7 issues at the NHS are making headlines, 15 months after the release of the review of how legacy IT was exploited by the WannaCry attack Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security puzzle calls for some joined-up thinking

The age of digitisation brings new risks to organisations, so security needs to be more integrated Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Know Fraud database became backlog dump

Reports to Action Fraud handled by City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau were quarantined as security risk, finds HM’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Hack the Kop – the Reds are sitting ducks

Liverpool may be flying high at the top of the Premier League table right now, but when they get home after a hard-fought 90 minutes, their fans are the most likely to have had their personal data ... Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Endpoint security is a procurement issue, says HP, IDC study

Report warns that buyers are falling at the first hurdle on security by not including it in their endpoint RFPs and tenders Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

£4,000 bug bounty could have saved BA from record ICO fine

British Airways and others could have saved themselves millions of pounds’ worth of fines by having ethical hackers check their systems for simple vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Gartner: Three Barriers to AI Adoption

CIOs are set to include artificial intelligence in their IT strategy. Technical, legislative and cultural challenges could influence their AI ambitions Continue Reading

By

• Brian Manusama, Gartner

Take responsibility for cyber security basics, urges NCSC CEO

At the launch of its third annual review, NCSC head Ciaran Martin appealed for individuals and businesses to address the fundamentals of cyber security hygiene to help lighten the load Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Banks move to contain impact of Samsung biometric flaw

NatWest and Nationwide have moved to lock down their mobile banking apps after Samsung warned of a biometric security flaw on its Galaxy and Note S10 devices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Brexit: Withdrawal agreement lists EU IT data link beyond transition

Document lists system-to-system IT and network connectivity that will be required after the UK leaves the European Union Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

NordVPN blames datacentre provider for server breach

VPN provider insists no user data was compromised in a March 2018 server breach, and says its datacentre provider failed to inform it of the issue Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Malware volumes decline, but risks are higher

More insidious and targeted strains of malware are going after high-quality targets, rather than a large volume of targets Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Attacker hit VPN firm Avast through its VPN

Avast has published details of how attackers attempted to gain access to its network over a five month period Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Secure Bacon Butties With Gherkin But No Gherkins

Had my first visit to The Gherkin recently at a “mini” Netevents security briefing in London. I can certainly recommend the brioche-bun bacon butties with a view of the London rain from the 38th ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

Data management strategies are evolving – so must enterprises

A growing number of data-driven initiatives, alongside heightened demand for security in governance, data management and compliance, has led to the rise of a more holistic approach – integrated risk management. Continue Reading

Over-30s tend to do better at cyber security than younger colleagues

Attitudes to workplace cyber security differ by age group, but not in the way one might imagine, according to a new study by NTT Security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Equifax lawsuit offers more evidence against passwords

Equifax’s internal security policies were a mess and directly led to one of the largest recorded data breaches in history, according to a lawsuit, demonstrating fundamental insecurities inherent in the use of passwords Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Alleged state hackers adapting to cover their tracks, says NCSC

A group called Turla with suspected links to the Russian government stole Iranian tools and infrastructure to obscure the origins of attacks on multiple other countries, according to new evidence Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Trend Micro buys cloud security firm to broaden offering

Acquisition of Cloud Conformity will address often overlooked cloud security fundamentals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Sodinokibi emerging as a diverse, multi-vector threat to businesses

McAfee shares insight into the Sodinokibi ransomware campaign gleaned from its network of honeypots Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Huge rise in rogue banking apps driving fraud attacks

Fraud perpetrated through fake mobile apps purporting to be from legitimate banks has seen a statistically significant spike, says RSA Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Amazon consumer devices vulnerable to two-year-old exploit

Millions of older Amazon Echo and Kindle devices are still susceptible to a Wi-Fi vulnerability that was first disclosed in 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BEIS launches multimillion-pound security investment package

Government is making available more than £50m to support a range of new cyber security initiatives and collaborations, including the latest phase of its Digital Security by Design programme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHSX could transform NHS security capabilities

The health sector is increasingly confident that NHSX can deliver a streamlined, effective cyber security policy for the health service Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security threat landscape becomes more organised and business-like

Approaches to securing the enterprise need to change in the face of a rapidly maturing threat landscape Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Focus on metrics to manage risk

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision making? Continue Reading

By

• Eoin Keary

Emerging markets’ mobile financial services transactions set to surpass $1tn in by 2024

Mobile financial services transaction value will grow by 70% from 2019 to 2014 to total more than $1tn, driven by markets such as Latin America and Cico transactions Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Pitney Bowes ‘considering options’ after malware attack

Mailing and shipping services firm in recovery mode after key systems were encrypted by a malware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Sweden’s first GDPR fine sets regulatory tone

Secondary school fined for breaching General Data Protection Regulation, signalling the attitude of Sweden’s Data Protection Authority Continue Reading

By

• Jane Hamrin

Security Think Tank: Embed security professionals in your risk strategy

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision-making? Continue Reading

By

• Deshini Newman, (ISC)²

Attackers hunt iPhone jailbreakers in click fraud campaign

Research by Cisco’s Talos threat intel unit has identified a new click fraud campaign targeting people looking to jailbreak their iPhone devices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – episode 34

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team discusses BBC conspiracy thriller, The Capture, and its focus on video surveillance and facial recognition technology Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Security Think Tank: Risk management must go beyond spreadsheets

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision making? Continue Reading

By

• Richard Hunt, Turnkey Consulting

Securing the internet of things

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as security concerns prevent many organisations from adopting the internet of things, we examine mitigation strategies. Many firms are still struggling with GDPR policies – we assess if full compliance is ever possible. And we look at the technologies for delivering on-premise object storage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Private equity swoops on Sophos

British cyber security star picked up by technology sector investors for $3.9bn Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Researchers reveal the cyber campaign that built China's new airliner

CrowdStrike has published details of a coordinated campaign of cyber espionage and hacking, forced technology transfer and physical theft as China seeks to gain an advantage in the commercial aviation industry Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

PCI DSS: Credit card data and what to expect from version 4.0

We preview October’s PCI Europe Community Meeting where attendees will discuss credit card payment data, with topics covered likely to include the cloud and point-to-point encryption Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

GDPR compliance: Whose job is it and is it really possible?

Nobody seems to have a good handle on business GDPR compliance, how many businesses are compliant, or indeed what compliance really is, but according to security experts, it very much depends on who you talk to. Continue Reading

How to mitigate IoT security risks to tap business benefits

Security concerns are preventing many businesses from adopting IoT-based technologies, but with a bit of planning, the business benefits can be realised by mitigating the risk. Continue Reading

The Security Interviews: Applying AI to Lego, and security

Ann Johnson, Microsoft corporate vice-president of cyber security, is on a mission to prove that artificial intelligence holds great promise for the security sector, and she has the analogies to back it up Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Consider risk holistically, not just from an IT angle

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision making? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Zuckerberg’s mentor condemns Facebook’s business practices

Long-time Silicon Valley investor speaks out against surveillance capitalism and the lack of rules and regulations governing big tech’s behaviour Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

McAfee’s push for secure cloud adoption

Organisations must do more to secure their cloud environments as malicious actors increasingly focus their attention on exploiting cloud vulnerabilities, says McAfee Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

CW Middle East: Saudi banks trial biometrics in ATMs

Biometric and blockchain technologies are being used in tandem to provide ID verification at Saudi Arabian cash machines. Also read about the first government organisation in Bahrain to migrate to Amazon Web Services, and an interview with Yasmeen Al Sharaf, head of fintech and innovation unit, Central Bank of Bahrain. Continue Reading

Data management strategies are evolving – so must enterprises

A growing number of data-driven initiatives, alongside heightened demand for security in governance, data management and compliance, has led to the rise of a more holistic approach – integrated risk management Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Small business guide: How to keep your organisation secure from fraudsters and hackers

Doing a few things well can keep your organisation protected from common cyber attacks and fraudsters Continue Reading

By

• Jan Youngren

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 33

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Brian McKenna and Clare McDonald are joined by Alex Scroxton to talk about cyber warfare and digital healthcare Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor
• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

US likely to concede on Huawei export ban

The US government may make some concessions over the future of Huawei before the end of the year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: The operational approach to integrated risk management

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision-making? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

CIO interview: Matt Harris, head of IT, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

The IT chief at the world-leading Formula 1 team is focused on using technology to support and deliver marginal gains in performance for the team’s drivers Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

How APAC enterprises can keep pace with container security

For all the promises of containers, changes in architecture and practices associated with the technology bring new challenges and opportunities Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

IBM, McAfee among founders of open source security alliance

A group of cyber security suppliers have come together to form the Open Cybersecurity Alliance Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Get basic security policy right, and the rest will follow

Paying attention to basic aspects of cyber security such as policy and permission will give you a sold base to build from Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

How to bolster IAM strategies using automation

Identity and access management processes and technologies play an important role in security strategies, but organisations and IT professionals need to ensure these strategies are robust enough to deal with new threats. Continue Reading

Showcasing the potential of 5G

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we visit an ambitious trial in Bristol that is showcasing the possibilities offered by 5G roll-out. We look at how emerging automation technologies are enhancing the use of identity and access management tools. And we assess the Government Digital Service plan for transforming public services. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Risk is unavoidable in digital transformation

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision-making? Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Government departments sign up to web data-sharing plan

All but four Whitehall departments have so far agreed to share web analytics data to allow the government to monitor user behaviour across the Gov.uk domain Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

UK and US call on Facebook to walk back encryption plans

The US, Australian and UK governments have asked Facebook to ditch plans to deploy end-to-end encryption across Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Five ways a managed print service can support cyber resilience

As IoT devices, smart MFPs are susceptible to the growing threat of attempts to implant malware, recruit to botnets (to help perpetrate DDoS attacks), as well as potentially providing an open ... Continue Reading

By

• Louella Fernandes, Quocirca

IT contractor charged over cyber attack on property valuation firm

Australian police charge 49-year-old man with stealing and posting more than 170,000 data records belonging to ASX-listed Landmark White on the dark web Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Why data-driven applications need a governance framework

Data is the new oil – but without tight control, how can business determine that the data is valid? Data catalogues are back in vogue Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

LogRhythm touts unlimited data plan for SIEM systems

SIEM supplier introduces three-year, term-based pricing plan that lets enterprises ingest as much data as they want without breaking the bank Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Local authorities hit by 800 cyber attacks every hour

Local authorities and councils in the UK have reported being hit by more than 263 million cyber attacks in the first six months of this year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

New threat group behind Airbus cyber attacks, claim researchers

Context Information Security’s threat intel and response teams says it has evidence that the recent supply chain attacks on Airbus are the work of a newly identified group called Avivore Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber war as big a threat as nuclear war, says ex-RSA head Coviello

Former RSA chairman Art Coviello has been speaking about the devastating potential of cyber weapons, and warned that humanity must learn from history in order to control them Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A security breach is inevitable, IT leaders warned

No matter how much IT security tech and training is in place, sophisticated, targeted attacks are going to breach company defences, Carbon Black warns Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The most influential women in UK technology 2019

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we announce our annual list of the 50 most influential women in UK technology. Meet the winner, Debbie Forster, CEO of Tech Talent Charter, and find out who are this year’s five rising stars. Also, our latest buyer’s guide looks at the latest developments in robotic process automation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Singapore outlines initiatives to tackle OT and IoT security

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore has developed a blueprint to secure operational technology systems in critical sectors, among other measures to secure cyber-physical systems and the internet of things Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

CIO interview: Michael Ibbitson, executive VP for technology and infrastructure, Dubai Airports

Former CIO at Gatwick Airport took flight to the Middle East three years ago, and is using data to transform the technology and infrastructure at Dubai Airports Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

ABN Amro investigation lends weight to anti-money laundering collaboration by Dutch banks

Dutch authorities are investigating ABN Amro for possible failures to monitor and report potential money laundering activity Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nodersok malware campaign is infecting thousands, Microsoft warns

Thousands of Windows endpoints in the US and Europe have been infected by a new fileless malware campaign in the past few weeks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Five million DoorDash customers’ details lost in data breach

Takeaway delivery service was breached in May 2019, resulting in the data of millions of users and delivery drivers being stolen Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GDPR compliance: Whose job is it and is it really possible?

Nobody seems to have a good handle on business GDPR compliance, how many businesses are compliant, or indeed what compliance really is, but according to security experts, it very much depends on who you talk to Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Attackers breached supplier systems to steal Airbus secrets

Airbus has been the subject of at least four major cyber attacks in the past 12 months, with contractors and suppliers targeted through their VPNs Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Overinvestment breeds overconfidence among security pros

CISOs have made an abundance of security investments in multiple suppliers, but this might not be the right approach Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Teen TalkTalk hacker accused of cryptocurrency fraud in US

Elliott Gunton, one of the teenage hackers who broke into TalkTalk’s systems in 2015, faces extradition to the US to face fraud charges Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Instagram and WhatsApp – the new tools of social media propaganda

Facebook and Twitter have been cast as the villains of the piece, but social media disinformation and propaganda are evolving in new and alarming directions, say Oxford University researchers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Latest Lorca cyber security challenge has IoT focus

Government-backed cyber security innovation centre Lorca has issued new challenges around connectivity for its next intake of scaleups Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Singapore payment card data compromised by JavaScript sniffers

Raw data of thousands of payment cards issued by Singapore banks stolen by the online equivalent of a traditional card sniffer Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

GandCrab ransomware writers still active despite ‘retirement’

Apparent links between an emerging ransomware family known as REvil and GandCrab suggests the GandCrab authors are keeping busy despite having “retired” in June Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Enterprises exposed to data loss by cloud configuration errors

Only 1% of misconfigured cloud environments are spotted and attackers are capitalising on this, claims McAfee Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google pushes back on scale of YouTube phishing threat

Millions of YouTubers may be at risk after some high-profile influencers reported their accounts were compromised in an apparent phishing attack, but the platform’s owner, Google, is not so sure Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ecuador citizens’ data breach holds lessons for enterprises

What caused the mass breach of Ecuadorian citizens’ data, and what can businesses learn from it? Continue Reading

Putting blockchain technology to good use

Experts share their views on the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The UK’s digital identity policy conundrum

The UK government’s recent consultation on digital identity suggests that past mistakes and assumptions have yet to be resolved – a different, more user-centric vision is required Continue Reading

By

• Colin Wallis, Kantara Initiative

Government insists 'nothing sinister' about web user data gathering

Government Digital Service responds to allegations that personal data gathered through Gov.uk portal could be used to target political messaging to citizens Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Going online for a SIBOS press pass was harder than applying for a bank account

My troubles getting a press pass online for SIBOS made m,e appreciate how easy mobile banking is Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA