Privacy and data protection

Cyber criminals exploiting naked TikTok ‘challenge’

Malware operators lured targets by promising them they would be able to view nude videos of TikTok users Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How gamifying cyber training can improve your defences

Security training is the cornerstone of any cyber defence strategy. With ever-escalating online threats, it is now more important than ever that this training is an engaging experience Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Protecting children as they spend years in virtual worlds

To protect children online, we must now focus on pre-emptive and robust regulation around immersive technologies Continue Reading

By

• Patrick Cronin

Plexal inducts six into cyber leadership scheme

Tech innovation hub Plexal is expanding its Cyber Runway programme with a new Ignite strand dedicated to supporting high-potential security leaders Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Data management, backup becoming the CISO's responsibility

More and more CISOs are taking on responsibility for wider data management strategies, and this trend looks set to grow next year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Not-for-profit aims to encourage 1,300 girls into cyber careers

CyNam, a not-for-profit cyber security initiative, is collaborating with industry, education providers and government to encourage young women into cyber Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

CW Nordics: Icelandic datacentres point way to greener IT

Iceland may soon become even more attractive to firms wanting to minimise their carbon footprint while using high-performance computing services. Read more about it in this issue. Also find out how a robo investment company, Nord Investments, is harnessing open banking to make thing easier for its clients. Continue Reading

Data protection in Finland, four years after GDPR came into force

 Continue Reading

Your staff are the frontline in your ransomware fight

As part of a solid cyber defence plan, the CISO must make sure that the frontline within the organisation is prepared for an attack, says Theodore Wiggins of Airbus Protect Continue Reading

By

• Theodore Wiggins, Airbus Protect

UK police arrest 120 in largest-ever cyber fraud crackdown

The administrator and more than 100 users of the iSpoof.cc cyber fraud website have been arrested in a major counter-fraud operation led by the Metropolitan Police Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

South Korea data adequacy pact brings £15m Brexit bonus

UK government finalises a data adequacy agreement with South Korea, saying it will unlock a post-Brexit business bonus of just under £15m Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dutch national cyber security strategy aims to protect digital society

Cabinet sets up national cyber security strategy to make the Netherlands digitally secure Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Ducktail spins new tales to hijack Facebook Business accounts

The increasingly active Ducktail cyber crime operation is refining its operations, seeking new methods to compromise its victims’ Facebook Business accounts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Killnet DDoS hacktivists target Royal Family and others

Russia-aligned hacktivists targeted multiple UK websites, including those of the Royal Family, in a new campaign of DDoS attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bug Bounty Calculator helps organisations fine-tune their payouts

Newly launched comparison tool will supposedly help operators of vulnerability disclosure or bug bounty programmes to ensure their payments match market rates and expectations, and attract the right sort of attention Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS federated data platform must avoid repeating Care.data mistakes, says national data guardian

UK’s national data guardian agrees with the ambitions of the platform, but warns that the programme must avoid ‘common pitfalls around trust and transparency’ Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

NHS trust that deleted up to 90,000 emails cleared of deliberately concealing evidence

A tribunal found in a high-profile case brought by whistleblower Chris Day that an NHS trust had not deliberately concealed evidence when a director deleted up to 90,000 emails before he was due to testify Continue Reading

By

• Tommy Greene

Is Elon Musk’s Twitter safe, and should you stop using it?

With a litany of security and compliance issues exposed and in many cases caused by Elon Musk’s takeover of social media platform Twitter, some may be asking if it’s still safe or appropriate to use Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

New gold standard to protect good faith hackers

HackerOne’s new Gold Standard Safe Harbour statement will supposedly act as a guarantee for good faith hacking Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scottish government to pilot digital identity platform in early 2023

Pilot of Scotland’s digital identity platform will be run in partnership with Disclosure Scotland, using secure sign-on and identity verification Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Global network fragmentation a source of increasing risk

Risk consultancy’s report says the weaponisation of cyber space and geopolitical clashes herald a breakdown of global networks into distinct regional or national architectures Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Ransomware defences: An extended to-do list

Strategies to extend ransomware protection beyond backups and intrusion detection must centre dark web monitoring, among other things Continue Reading

By

• Alex Holden

APP fraud volumes expected to double by 2026, says report

Losses to authorised push payment fraud in the UK are expected to climb to over $1.5bn in the next four years. Meanwhile, the NAO accuses the Home Office of lagging on progress to tackle the issue Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How Google and Mandiant are forging synergies in cyber security

Google’s AI smarts and Mandiant’s intelligence on new and emerging threats could lay the foundation of proactive security Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Let’s be transparent about ransomware

Greater transparency regarding ransomware attacks, including details about attack methods used and what kinds of assets were compromised, would likely help the community prevent future attacks Continue Reading

By

• John Tolbert, KuppingerCole

Online scam victims lose an average of £1,000 each

New data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau shows victims of online fraud lose an average of £1,000 per person Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Volume of self-reported breaches to ICO jumps 30%

The number of self-reported breaches to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office soared by nearly 30% in the 12 months to 30 June 2022 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MoD recruits Immersive Labs to bolster cyber resilience

UK’s Ministry of Defence will run cyber drills and address its security talent gap with Immersive Labs’ CyberPro, Cyber Crisis Simulator and Application Security products Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber criminals have World Cup Qatar 2022 in their sights

Volumes of malicious cyber activity around the upcoming FIFA World Cup are already starting to tick upwards and are likely to continue to do so Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

All means all when it comes to encryption

Nigel Thorpe, technical director at SecureAge, makes the case for encrypting everything all of the time when it comes to protecting data Continue Reading

By

• Nigel Thorpe

Optus earmarks A$140m to cover cost of data breach

Optus sets aside A$140m as an exceptional expense for a customer remediation programme following a massive data breach that affected 10 million customers Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

UK’s National Cyber Advisory Board convenes for first time

Government convenes National Cyber Advisory Board to further its goals of making the UK one of the safest places to live and work online Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Anti-ransomware strategies should be as easy as ABC

When developing and implementing ransomware protection strategies, the importance of paying thorough attention to security measures you might consider elementary cannot be understated Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

NortonLifeLock, Avast debut new ‘Gen’ identity

The combined NortonLifeLock and Avast consumer cyber business, Gen, says it will serve over 500 million customers worldwide Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How the US-China chip war will affect IT leaders

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the US ramps up semiconductor sanctions on China, we examine the ramifications across the tech sector. Cyber criminals are turning to new forms of encryption – we talk to the Dutch researchers trying to catch them. And we look at what cloud providers need to do to improve customer experience. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Public sector IT projects need ethical data practices from start

Data ethics needs to be integrated into public sector IT projects from the very start, and considered throughout every stage of the process, to be effective Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Department for Education escapes £10m fine over data misuse

Department entrusted data on 28 million children to a company called Trustopia, which turned out to be anything but trustworthy, but has escaped a £10m fine under new rules Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft: Nation-state cyber attacks became increasingly destructive in 2022

The willingness of nation-state actors to conduct destructive cyber attacks is a source of grave concern, as Microsoft’s latest annual Digital Defence Report lays bare Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Automated threats biggest source of cyber risk for retailers

Threat actors targeting retailers during the coming holiday season are increasingly turning to automated forms of cyber attack, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Know your networks, know your suppliers

To combat the ransomware scourge, we must work harder to monitor and learn from the increasingly complex threat environment, keep a closer eye on supply chains, and share our insights Continue Reading

By

• Rob Dartnall, SecAlliance

NCSC looks back on year of ‘profound change’ for cyber

The NCSC ramped up its support for UK plc in the past 12 months, but it was events beyond the UK’s borders that proved the most impactful Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital identity and opening up the smartwallet

When an 80 year-old relative asks you how she can use her phone to both pay for shopping and get her supermarket loyalty points, like her friends do, you know that digital wallets are a success. ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Betts, Freeform Dynamics

How to build consumer trust with a privacy-by-design approach

Undertaken with the right mindset and technology, privacy by design delivers value to consumers and builds trust for the long term Continue Reading

By

• Emilie Gazeau

The risk of losing our EU data adequacy agreement is real

While some may welcome the government’s ambition to shake up the UK’s data protection regime, Westminster should be wary of drifting too far from the path charted by our US and European partners Continue Reading

By

• Sarah Pearce

Cyber crime officer says French legal challenges to EncroChat are ‘hype’

Matthieu Audibert, officer of the French Gendarmerie’s cyber space command, gets into a spat with defence lawyers on Twitter over the lawfulness of evidence from the hacked phone network EncroChat Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Government ups cyber support for elderly, vulnerable web users

DCMS announces a funding boost to help the elderly, disabled and other vulnerable groups stay safe online and avoid being misled by disinformation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC’s Levy steps down after 20-year intelligence career

NCSC technical director Ian Levy bids farewell, telling his successor: ‘Don’t panic’ Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS to get new national CISO

The Department for Health and Social Care is seeking a new national CISO, who will be tasked with providing strategic cyber leadership, direction and expertise across DHSC and the wider NHS Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

LinkedIn adds new features to safeguard user privacy, security

Social media platform is adding a number of features and systems designed to protect legitimate users from inauthentic profiles and activity Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Medibank breach casts spotlight on data security

Health insurer Medibank Private recently suffered a major data breach involving the personal and health information of millions of customers, once again casting the spotlight on data security in Australia Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Santander calls for cooperation to tackle APP fraud

New report puts forward key recommendations that the banking sector, government and other industries could take to tackle authorised push payment fraud Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ICO warns against using biometrics for ‘emotional analysis’

ICO warning highlights risk of ‘systemic bias’ and discrimination associated with organisations using biometric data and technologies for emotion analysis Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

The Conservatives are laughing at cyber security pros

If causing a security breach is a resigning matter, then you shouldn’t expect to get your old job back a week later. Unless you’re a Conservative home secretary, apparently Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dutch lawyers raise human rights concerns over hacked cryptophone data

Dutch defence lawyers say in an open letter that there is a risk of unfair trials unless they are allowed to test the reliability and legitimacy of hacked cryptophone evidence Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Germany: European Court of Justice asked to rule on legality of hacked EncroChat phone evidence

Berlin’s Regional Court has asked the European Court of Justice to answer questions about whether the use of hacked EncroChat phone evidence complies with European law Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Global digital trust market to double by 2027

The global market for digital trust technology is expected to double to $537bn by 2027, up from $270bn today as demand for cyber security and other capabilities continues to grow Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Digital-first businesses more willing to accept some fraud

Companies founded in the past 20 years appear more willing to accept higher levels of fraudulent activity during the customer onboarding process, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Complacency biggest cyber risk to UK plc, says ICO

Information commissioner John Edwards warns against complacency as his office issues a multimillion-pound fine to a building company that failed to prevent a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft slams external researchers over its own data leak

Microsoft inadvertently leaked customer data after misconfiguring an Azure Blob, but has hit out at the organisation that discovered its error, claiming it is exaggerating the scope of the issue Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

What do the US’s new software security rules mean for UK organisations?

The White House announced recently that all software supplied to the US government and its agencies needs to be secure, so what does this mean for the UK and EU security sectors? Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

The Security Interviews: Why now for ZTNA 2.0?

With organisations facing escalating online threats, security teams need to improve their defences using zero-trust network access to preserve the integrity of their systems. Palo Alto Networks’ Simon Crocker shares his views on zero-trust network access Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

NatWest data breach whistleblower demands bank pay data controller fee to ICO

Whistleblower calls for NatWest to pay the Information Commissioner’s Office annual data controller fee, as the personal details of 1,600 current and former NatWest customers remain under her bed Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Singapore extends cyber security labelling scheme to medical devices

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore is extending its cyber security labelling scheme to medical devices to encourage medical device manufacturers to adopt a security-by-design approach to product development Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Office 365 email encryption flaw could pose risk to user privacy

A vulnerability in Microsoft Office 365 Message Encryption could leave the contents of emails dangerously exposed, but with no fix coming it’s up to users to decide how at risk they are Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Advanced: Healthcare data was stolen in LockBit 3.0 attack

Advanced has revealed a total of 16 of its health and social care sector customers had their data exfiltrated in a recent ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Protecting children by scanning encrypted messages is ‘magical thinking’, says Cambridge professor

Ross Anderson argues in a rebuttal to GCHQ experts that using artificial intelligence to scan encrypted messaging services is the wrong approach to protecting children and preventing terrorism Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Australia becoming hotbed for cyber attacks

Research by Imperva shows an 81% increase in cyber security incidents in Australia between July 2021 and June 2022, including automated attacks that doubled in frequency Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

French Supreme Court rejects EncroChat verdict after lawyers question secrecy over hacking operation

France’s Supreme Court has sent a case back to the court of appeal after police failed to disclose technical details of EncroChat hacking operation Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

ICO selectively discloses reprimands for data protection breaches

Data protection experts question ICO’s selective approach to publishing formal reprimands for contravening the law, after FoI request reveals the Cabinet Office was among the organisations reprimanded Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

How Cloudflare is staying ahead of the curve

Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince talks up what has changed since the company’s first business plan was written in 2009 and how it keeps pace with the fast-moving network security landscape Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Australia to amend telecoms regulations following Optus breach

Amendments to Australia’s telecoms regulations are in the works to temporarily allow sharing of individuals’ identifier information between telcos and financial institutions Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Proposals for scanning encrypted messages should be cut from Online Safety Bill, say researchers

Automatic scanning of messaging services for illegal content could lead to one billion false alarms each day in Europe Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Inside Dell Technologies’ zero-trust approach

Dell Technologies’ zero-trust reference model starts with defining business controls and having a central control plane that manages all the security aspects of an organisation’s infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Tories to replace GDPR

IT industry reacts to the government’s plan to replace the pan-European data protection regulation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

France extradites Spanish EncroChat cryptophone distributors for complicity with organised crime

Three phone sellers have been extradited from Spain to France to face charges that they were complicit in the activities of criminal EncroChat phone users   Continue Reading

By

• Ter García
• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Security regulation cuts online payment fraud at 73% of retailers

New online payments security standard, Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), sees immediate fall in fraudulent payments to retailers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CIO interview: James Fleming, Francis Crick Institute

Francis Crick Institute CIO discusses how Europe’s largest biomedical research institute has co-developed a framework for data sharing Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Surveillance tech firms complicit in MENA human rights abuses

Research finds companies are profiting from surveillance technologies that facilitate human rights abuses against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the Middle East and North Africa, with little to no oversight Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Optus breach casts spotlight on cyber resilience

The massive data breach that affected more than 10 million Optus customers has cast the spotlight on API security and other factors that contribute to the cyber resilience of organisations in Australia Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

UK suffers third highest number of ransomware attacks globally

Based on an analysis of around 5,000 ransomware incidents, NordLocker has found that UK businesses, and small businesses in particular, are a priority target for ransomware gangs Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Data protection in Finland, four years after GDPR came into force

Data privacy has always been a big concern in Finland, so the country naturally has a lot to say about the General Data Protection Regulation four years on Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Most hackers exfiltrate data within five hours of gaining access

Insights from more than 300 sanctioned adversaries, otherwise known as ‘ethical’ hackers, reveal that around two-thirds are able to collect and exfiltrate data within just five hours of gaining access Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Fraudsters adapt phishing scams to exploit cost-of-living crisis

Around 80,000 Brits a month are falling victim to phishing attacks as fraudsters switch up tactics to take advantage of cost-of-living crisis and behavioural changes prompted by pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

How Russian intelligence hacked the encrypted emails of former MI6 boss Richard Dearlove

Hack by Russian-linked ColdRiver group exposed former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove’s contacts and email communications with government, military, intelligence and political officials Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University

More than 30 startups to join Plexal’s Cyber Runway accelerator

Now in its second year, the Cyber Runway accelerator has been designed to support firms at various stages of growth, as well as help the cyber security sector to improve on its diversity, inclusion and regional representation Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Threat actors abused lack of MFA, OAuth in spam campaign

Microsoft threat researchers have reported on a series of cyber attacks in which enterprises with lax IAM policies had their systems hijacked to conduct spam email campaigns Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nordic private equity firms pursue cyber security acquisitions

Increasing interest in the security sector from Nordic private equity firms is a reflection of growing threats and increasing enterprise security budgets Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Dr Martens goes feetfirst into cloud-to-cloud backup

Iconic bootmaker laces up for a strategy to move all applications to the cloud, beginning with cloud-to-cloud backup for Microsoft 365 apps plus on-site VMware operations Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Computer Weekly

Privacy Pledge signatories dream of alternative internet

A group of privacy-focused organisations have come together to establish a set of principles for taking the internet back from big tech and surveillance capitalism Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC publishes cyber guidance for retailers

The NCSC has published tailored advice to support online retailers, hospitality providers and utility services in protecting themselves and their customers from cyber crime Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ANZ organisations using antiquated backup and recovery systems

Nearly half of ANZ organisations are still using backup and recovery systems from over a decade ago, hampering their ability to protect their data assets and recover from ransomware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

IHG attackers phished employee to deploy destructive wiper

A couple from Vietnam who claim to be behind a destructive wiper cyber attack on hotel operator IHG told the BBC how they orchestrated their operation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Reports Uber and Rockstar incidents work of same attacker

Rockstar Games was hit over the weekend by an attacker who claimed to have accessed its Slack channel to steal data on an upcoming release, and may be the same person who compromised Uber Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Uber suffers major cyber attack

Details are trickling out of an apparent ‘near total’ compromise of ride-sharing service Uber by an alleged teenage hacktivist Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

EU Cyber Resilience Act sets global standard for connected products

European Commission lays out proposed security regulations on device and software security to better protect consumers and drive global standards Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Organisations failing to account for digital trust

The vast majority of businesses are well aware of the importance of digital trust, yet very few have a dedicated staff role responsible for it, report finds Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

FormBook knocks Emotet off top of malware chart

FormBook emerged as the most widely seen malware in August, according to Check Point’s latest data Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC warns public of potential Queen-related phishing attacks

The National Cyber Security Centre is urging users to be on guard against phishing attacks during the period of national mourning for the Queen Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cisco confirms leaked data was stolen in Yanluowang ransomware hit

Cisco has confirmed that data leaked last week by the Yanluowang ransomware gang was that stolen during a May 2022 cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Blancco works with charity to provide IT for African schools

Blancco is providing data sanitisation and erasure software to The Turing Trust so that old IT equipment can be securely reused by school children in Sub-Saharan Africa, instead of adding to world’s growing e-waste problem Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor