Privacy and data protection

Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2020

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 cyber crime stories of 2020 Continue Reading

How to manage non-human identities

Identity management has traditionally focused on human identities, but non-human identities are proliferating and must not be overlooked. Businesses can reduce risk by managing both types of identity in the same way using a services-based approach Continue Reading

Top 10 cyber security stories of 2020

Here are Computer Weekly’s 10 top cyber security stories of 2020 Continue Reading

It’s time to accept that disinformation is a cyber security issue

Tackling the manipulation of truth and facts is no easy task, and it’s time for the cyber security sector to take up the challenge Continue Reading

Ministry of Justice in the dock for catalogue of serious data breaches

Annual report reveals major incidents of personal data loss affecting 121,355 people and including misplaced, unencrypted USB stick containing documents from a trial, accidental disclosure of identities, and staff files made visible to unauthenticated users Continue Reading

Utility supplier People’s Energy has entire customer list stolen

All 270,000 customers of People’s Energy, a renewable energy startup, have had their details compromised in a major data breach incident Continue Reading

SolarWinds cyber attack is ‘grave risk’ to global security

More victims of the SolarWinds Orion Sunburst cyber attack are being identified as the massive scale of the Russia-linked cyber espionage campaign becomes more clear Continue Reading

Dodgy browser extensions put social media users at risk

More than three million users of third-party browser extensions for Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo and others have been infected with malware, according to Avast Continue Reading

EU security strategy a ‘step up’ on cyber leadership, says Brussels

The EU’s new cyber security strategy forms a key component of Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, the Recovery Plan for Europe, and the EU Security Union Strategy Continue Reading

NHS Scotland taps Check Point to secure Covid-19 data

NHS National Services Scotland is working with security firm Check Point to safeguard its sensitive data in the cloud and support its work on the coronavirus Continue Reading

UK police unlawfully processing over a million people’s data on Microsoft 365

The roll-out of Microsoft 365 to dozens of UK police forces may be unlawful, because many have failed to conduct data protection checks before deployment and hold no information on their contracts Continue Reading

AWS brings disaster recovery programme to Australia

Project Resilience will offer up to $5,000 worth of credits to public sector and community organisations to offset the cost of storing data on Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

Lancashire police integrate body-worn video into digital policing app

Body-worn video integration will transform Lancashire police’s time-consuming and manual procedures into an efficient digital workflow, but claims that BMV will increase transparency and accountability are not backed by the evidence Continue Reading

SolarWinds cyber attack: How worried should I be, and what do I do now?

Security teams across the world are on high alert as more details emerge of the widespread SolarWinds ‘Sunburst’ attack. What do defenders need to do next? Continue Reading

Cyber crime victims in the Netherlands not reporting offences

Dutch victims of online crime rarely report it to the police and when they do, they are often dissatisfied Continue Reading

Negotiating the complexities of international transfers of personal data

How to navigate international data transfers, standard contractual clauses and the impact of Brexit on data protection Continue Reading

The week in ransomware: Foxconn and Randstad are high-profile victims

Foxconn and Randstad are laid low by cyber criminals, while Sophos spills on Egregor, and prognosticators turn to their crystal balls to divine how ransomware will develop in the next 12 months Continue Reading

Disputed PostgreSQL bug exploited in cryptomining botnet

PGMiner cryptomining botnet remained unnoticed by exploiting a disputed CVE in PostgreSQL Continue Reading

Surge in Covid-19 vaccine phishing scams reported

Check Point and KnowBe4 share details of a growing number of phishing campaigns using the prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine as a lure Continue Reading

French regulators fine Google and Amazon over cookie policies

Google and Amazon rapped over their use of advertising cookies by the French data protection authorities Continue Reading

Cyber Helpline awarded lottery funding to support victims

The Cyber Helpline, a UK charity that provides emergency support to victims of cyber crime and online stalking, is to receive funding from the National Lottery Continue Reading

After critical year, Vodafone trains security sights on CNI market

Vodafone’s security head Steve Knibbs explains how he plans to bring the lessons of a transformative few years in cyber security to bear on new markets Continue Reading

Data on Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine stolen in cyber attack

The European Medicines Agency has launched a full investigation into an apparent security incident that has seen documents on the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine stolen Continue Reading

Alan Turing Institute appoints global advisory board to aid digital identity schemes project

The Alan Turing Institute announces an international advisory board for a project investigating digital identity schemes, with a view to building the technology and organisational infrastructure to sustain them as trustworthy Continue Reading

Amnesia:33 IoT flaws dangerous and patches unlikely, say experts

The disclosure of multiple flaws by Forescout has raised big questions for the developers of connected products, and for their users Continue Reading

FireEye’s ethical hacking tools stolen in state-backed attack

Hacking tools used to conduct red team penetration testing were stolen in the state-backed attack on security firm FireEye Continue Reading

Met Police failed to clear backlog of subject access requests

Metropolitan Police failed to comply fully with an enforcement notice issued by the Information Commissioner, and despite hundreds of overdue subject access requests the regulator did not take further action Continue Reading

HMRC referred 11 data security incidents to ICO in 2019-20

HM Revenue & Customs shares details of a number of data security incidents that occurred during the 2019-20 financial year in its annual report Continue Reading

Singapore government to boost blockchain adoption

Singapore government unveils S$12m programme to promote development and adoption of blockchain applications beyond financial services Continue Reading

A trillion dollars lost to cyber crime every year

Data collated by McAfee and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies highlights the growing impact of cyber crime Continue Reading

China lags US in computer vision

China trails the US in the field of computer vision despite making inroads in computing and research, new report finds Continue Reading

Avast and Borsetta to support Intel’s AI security project

Security firm Avast and AI security specialist Borsetta have signed up to support an Intel-led artificial intelligence security research project Continue Reading

Cyber Aware campaign to help safeguard Christmas shoppers

New government campaign sets out to raise awareness of online shopping fraud in the run-up to Christmas Continue Reading

Lax Android app developers putting millions of users at risk

Eight months after Google patched a critical vulnerability, developers have failed to update their apps, putting millions of users of apps such as dating services Bumble and Grindr at risk Continue Reading

Covid-19: Cyber criminals will target vaccine programmes

Interpol issues a global alert to law enforcement as the UK becomes one of the first countries to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use Continue Reading

Singapore government remains ‘juicy target’ for cyber attackers

The government is baking security into the design and implementation of its IT systems and looking to increase bug bounties to fend off cyber threats Continue Reading

DHL, Amazon and FedEx are most phished delivery services

DHL has emerged as the most imitated delivery brand in Europe, accounting for 77% of the total volume of phishing emails received in November 2020 Continue Reading

22,000 malicious .uk domains suspended in past year

Nominet has suspended just over 22,000 domains in the 12 months to 31 October 2020, continuing a downward trend, and with less impact from Covid-19 than might be expected Continue Reading

MI5 accused of withholding surveillance compliance failures from cabinet minister

MI5 withheld high-risk concerns about its ability to comply with legislation from the home secretary when it submitted applications for surveillance warrants, NGOs Privacy International and Liberty claimed last week Continue Reading

UK government ramps up efforts to regulate tech giants

The Digital Markets Unit of the Competitions and Markets Authority aims to protect consumer privacy and lower barriers to entry for businesses Continue Reading

NI police unable to delete data seized unlawfully from journalists for 10 years

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is unable to delete terabytes of unlawfully seized data taken from journalists who exposed police failings in the investigation of the Loughinisland sectarian murders Continue Reading

Algorithmic transparency obligations needed in public sector

Public sector’s use of algorithms with social impacts needs to be more transparent to foster trust and hold organisations responsible for the negative outcomes their systems may produce, says report Continue Reading

How Grab is using technology to improve trust and safety

Southeast Asian unicorn Grab is tapping artificial intelligence and other technologies to keep its users safe and cyber criminals at bay Continue Reading

This Christmas, Covid-19 heightens retail security risks for everyone

Do you think it’s only retailers and consumers who need to consider cyber security when shopping online during the holidays? You’re dead wrong. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic and the shift to remote working has thrown a spanner in the works Continue Reading

Data safes will give users control over their data

Belgian computer scientist tells Computer Weekly how people can regain control of their online personal information Continue Reading

Three cyber criminals arrested in Nigerian BEC investigation

Prolific cyber criminal gang is thought to have compromised up to half a million victims since 2017 Continue Reading

Merger of national policing systems over budget and behind schedule

UK government effort to replace legacy IT systems suffers further delays, and will not be fully completed until 2025 at the earliest Continue Reading

From front line to back office – how supporting the cyber community keeps the NHS safe

NHS Digital’s chief information security officer describes how the Cyber Associates Network benefits security experts in health and care Continue Reading

Securing UK’s critical national infrastructure is a 2021 priority

Government outlines the UK’s strategic cyber security policies for the coming 12 months, with critical national infrastructure a clear priority Continue Reading

Use of abusive stalkerware against women skyrocketed in 2020

Rise in the use of malicious stalkerware correlates closely to increased domestic violence during lockdown Continue Reading

Nominet introduces new resources for cyber scam victims

Domain name registrar is working with law enforcement to provide new information, guidance and resources for potential victims of online scams Continue Reading

Telcos could face huge fines under new security laws

Government boasts of unprecedented powers to boost the security standards of the UK’s critical national infrastructure Continue Reading

Manchester United praised for swift response to cyber attack

Manchester United’s systems were attacked last week, and the club has been praised for a swift and decisive response Continue Reading

MPs subjected to over 22 million malicious email attacks in 2020

Members of Parliament are targeted by millions of spam and phishing emails every month, according to a Freedom of Information disclosure Continue Reading

Data protection impact assessment tips and templates

Conducting a data protection impact assessment is key to evaluating potential risk factors that could pose a serious threat to individuals and their personal information. Continue Reading

CW APAC: Expert advice on zero-trust security

Zero trust is a security model that eliminates the traditional perimeter and assumes that no user or device can be trusted until proven otherwise. In this handbook, Computer Weekly looks at how enterprises can take a zero-trust approach to securing their network, devices and workforce. Continue Reading

Covid-19 shift to remote working adds to Earth’s growing e-waste problem

The shift to remote working has forced firms to purchase new IT equipment, but many are still lacking sustainable end-of-life processes for their devices Continue Reading

2021 the year of commodity ransomware, says Sophos

Sophos researchers anticipate a trickle-down effect in the cyber criminal underground Continue Reading

US cyber security chief fired for contradicting Trump

CISA chief Chris Krebs ousted for doing his job fighting disinformation in an apparent purge of officials deemed disloyal to president Donald Trump Continue Reading

How Aarogya Setu is addressing scale and security challenges

India’s contact-tracing platform leverages microservices, encryption techniques and cloud-based visibility tools to address scale and security requirements Continue Reading

Kaspersky shuts down data-processing activities in Russia

Cyber security provider’s data storage and processing activities for customers in Europe, the US and Canada, have now been fully relocated to Switzerland Continue Reading

HMRC warns over uptick in Self Assessment tax scams

HMRC issues updated warnings as 2021 Self Assessment deadlines loom Continue Reading

Financial services data volumes heighten risk of insider breach

Financial services organisations hold so much data that it is becoming virtually impossible to safeguard properly against data breaches caused by malicious or careless employees Continue Reading

Brexit and risks to data privacy and governance

EY privacy specialists assess the risks to data privacy, protection and governance on the table for businesses, with less than two months until Brexit Continue Reading

How Mastercard is taking digital payments into a new era

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to Mastercard about how the credit card giant is using new technologies to take digital payments into a new era. After months of unprecedented uncertainty, we ask CIOs how they are planning for the next 12 months. And we examine how the growth in remote working will affect IT salaries. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

How Standard Chartered approaches cyber security

Bank uses security-by-design principles and conducts red-teaming exercises among other measures to fend off cyber breaches Continue Reading

Privacy advocates call for European probe into Palantir

Dutch group SOMI is trying to raise awareness of Palantir’s data privacy practices and how it works with European government agencies Continue Reading

Resident Evil studio Capcom confirms scale of Ragnar Locker breach

Videogame studio says the data of up to 350,000 people was likely to have been compromised in a Ragnar Locker ransomware attack Continue Reading

Human error blamed in Welsh Covid-19 patient data leak

Public Health Wales accepts recommendations of independent probe into data breach that saw PII on 18,105 coronavirus patients leaked Continue Reading

Hackney systems could be unavailable for months, says council

A month after a highly disruptive cyber attack on its systems, Hackney Council is still struggling to get back up and running Continue Reading

Ticketmaster fined £1.25m by ICO for failing to protect customer data

Ticket website’s customer data was exposed through an attack on a third-party chatbot Continue Reading

Humanitarian data collection practices put migrants at risk

United Nations report on smart borders warns that data collection about migrants and refugees by humanitarian organisations risks excluding them from essential basic services like access to food Continue Reading

Online kids’ game Animal Jam confirms large breach

Cyber criminals have stolen data on 46 million Animal Jam player accounts via a third-party attack Continue Reading

Company accused of spying on Assange acted for Ecuadorian Intelligence, says ex UC Global manager

Former operations chief of UC Global told Spanish Court the company accused of spying on Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was acting on the orders of Ecuadorian Intelligence 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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