Privacy and data protection
-
News
17 Mar 2024
UK’s AI ambitions pointless while cyber security is still neglected
The UK’s AI ambitions may be at considerable risk without stronger cyber defences across the private and public sectors Continue Reading
-
News
15 Mar 2024
London Mayor’s Office reprimanded over data breach
The London Mayor’s Office has been reprimanded by the ICO after an internal error exposed the data of people who had made complaints against the Metropolitan Police Continue Reading
-
News
09 Dec 2020
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
-
News
09 Dec 2020
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
-
News
07 Dec 2020
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
-
News
07 Dec 2020
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
-
News
07 Dec 2020
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
-
News
07 Dec 2020
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
-
News
06 Dec 2020
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
-
News
04 Dec 2020
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
-
News
03 Dec 2020
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
-
News
03 Dec 2020
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
-
News
02 Dec 2020
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
-
News
02 Dec 2020
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
-
News
01 Dec 2020
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
-
News
01 Dec 2020
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
-
News
30 Nov 2020
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
-
News
27 Nov 2020
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
-
News
27 Nov 2020
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
-
News
27 Nov 2020
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
-
News
27 Nov 2020
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
-
Feature
27 Nov 2020
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
-
News
26 Nov 2020
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
-
News
25 Nov 2020
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
-
News
25 Nov 2020
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
-
Opinion
25 Nov 2020
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
-
News
25 Nov 2020
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
-
News
25 Nov 2020
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
-
News
24 Nov 2020
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
-
News
23 Nov 2020
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
-
News
23 Nov 2020
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
-
News
23 Nov 2020
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
-
Tip
20 Nov 2020
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
-
E-Zine
19 Nov 2020
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
-
News
19 Nov 2020
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
-
News
18 Nov 2020
2021 the year of commodity ransomware, says Sophos
Sophos researchers anticipate a trickle-down effect in the cyber criminal underground Continue Reading
-
News
18 Nov 2020
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
-
News
18 Nov 2020
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
-
News
17 Nov 2020
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
-
News
17 Nov 2020
HMRC warns over uptick in Self Assessment tax scams
HMRC issues updated warnings as 2021 Self Assessment deadlines loom Continue Reading
-
News
17 Nov 2020
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
-
Opinion
17 Nov 2020
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
-
E-Zine
17 Nov 2020
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
-
News
16 Nov 2020
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
-
News
16 Nov 2020
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
-
News
16 Nov 2020
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
-
News
16 Nov 2020
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
-
News
16 Nov 2020
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
-
News
13 Nov 2020
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
-
News
13 Nov 2020
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
-
News
12 Nov 2020
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
-
News
12 Nov 2020
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
-
News
11 Nov 2020
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
-
News
11 Nov 2020
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
-
News
11 Nov 2020
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
-
News
11 Nov 2020
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
-
News
10 Nov 2020
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
-
News
10 Nov 2020
Zoom rapped over historic security practices
The US Federal Trade Commission rules that Zoom’s practices undermined the security of its users Continue Reading
-
News
10 Nov 2020
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
-
News
10 Nov 2020
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
-
News
09 Nov 2020
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
-
Feature
06 Nov 2020
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
-
News
06 Nov 2020
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
-
News
06 Nov 2020
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
-
News
05 Nov 2020
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
-
News
04 Nov 2020
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
-
News
03 Nov 2020
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
-
News
02 Nov 2020
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
-
News
02 Nov 2020
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
-
News
30 Oct 2020
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
-
News
30 Oct 2020
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
-
News
29 Oct 2020
Surge in Ryuk ransomware attacks has hospitals on alert
Russian cyber criminals are conducting a targeted campaign against hospitals with Ryuk ransomware Continue Reading
-
News
29 Oct 2020
Zero-trust investment seen accelerating through pandemic
New analyst report details some of the main indicators for success in zero-trust implementation Continue Reading
-
News
28 Oct 2020
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
-
Blog Post
28 Oct 2020
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
-
News
28 Oct 2020
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
-
News
28 Oct 2020
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
-
News
27 Oct 2020
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
-
News
27 Oct 2020
ICO slams Experian over ‘invisible’ data processing
Data processing practices used by Experian broke data protection law, says Information Commissioner’s Office Continue Reading
-
News
27 Oct 2020
Calls for clarity over Amazon insider breach
Security experts call for more clarity from Amazon over an apparent leak of customer data Continue Reading
-
E-Zine
27 Oct 2020
Pet project: How Pets at Home cares for customers with data analytics
In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the chief data officer of Pets at Home, about using data analytics to care for customers. British Airways had its GDPR fine reduced to just £20m – we ask what this means for data protection regulation. And we look at GPT3, the language prediction tool that could revolutionise AI. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
- 27 Oct 2020
-
News
26 Oct 2020
Forrester: CIOs must prepare for Brexit data transfer
With the end of the Brexit transition period just weeks away, multi-national organisations will need to re-evaluate how intercompany data is transmitted Continue Reading
-
News
22 Oct 2020
SonicWall patches 11 firewall vulnerabilities
SonicWall users are advised to download updates that fix 11 CVEs in the SonicOS operating system, uncovered by Positive Technologies Continue Reading
-
News
22 Oct 2020
Protecting remote workers an opportunity to do security better
Securing the fully remote workforce has been a challenge for IT teams, but it presents an opportunity to commit to a higher standard of cyber security, according to a Cisco report Continue Reading
-
Blog Post
22 Oct 2020
Data reveals lack of ethics in decision making systems
A recent survey from price comparison site, comparethemarket.com, has highlighted the subtext, which obscures a host of unfair assumptions made in the depths of computer systems. These assumptions ... Continue Reading
-
News
21 Oct 2020
NSA’s top CVE list a timely reminder to patch
Many of the CVEs detailed on the NSA’s top 25 chart are golden oldies Continue Reading
-
News
21 Oct 2020
Charities warned over ‘Robin Hood’ cyber criminals
Accepting donations from cyber criminal groups could be deemed as profiting from crime, money laundering or handling stolen goods – so don’t do it Continue Reading
-
News
21 Oct 2020
Trump and Biden campaign apps easy targets for cyber criminals
You don’t need a stellar IQ to exploit the dangerous StrandHogg Android vulnerability, and users of both Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s mobile apps are at risk of falling victim to it Continue Reading
-
News
21 Oct 2020
Customer loyalty accounts in danger from cyber criminals
Billions of credential stuffing attacks are harvesting valuable customer data for the dark web economy Continue Reading
-
Feature
21 Oct 2020
Why securing the DNS layer is crucial to fight cyber crime
Domain name system security is often overlooked by organisations, but focusing on this layer could actually improve the effectiveness of cyber security strategies. We explore the latest DNS trends and best practice Continue Reading
-
News
21 Oct 2020
Retailers get access to new security toolkit
The British Retail Consortium has worked with the NCSC to develop a new cyber security toolkit pitched at retailers Continue Reading
-
Opinion
21 Oct 2020
Security Think Tank: Essential tools to mitigate double extortion attacks
The threat of identity theft via a data breach is heightened with the rise of attacks where ransomware threat actors both encrypt and ransom, and exfiltrate and leak their victims’ data. How does this evolution in cyber crime heighten risk for the enterprise, and what steps can we take to safeguard the personal data we hold? Continue Reading
-
News
20 Oct 2020
Hackney Council services to be disrupted ‘for some time’
Inability to make housing benefit payments is likely to sting some tenants as Hackney cyber attack drags on Continue Reading
-
News
20 Oct 2020
Resilient Trickbot down but not yet knocked out
Global, Microsoft-led effort to disrupt the Trickbot botnet has seen some success, but new command and control servers continue to pop up Continue Reading
-
News
20 Oct 2020
Police given access to self-isolation data
NHS Test and Trace self-isolation data will be made available to police after new guidance changes data-sharing rules Continue Reading
-
News
20 Oct 2020
BA breach penalty sets new GDPR precedents
The 90% reduction in the fine levied on BA over a 2018 data breach has legal experts talking about the ramifications for the future of data protection Continue Reading
-
Podcast
20 Oct 2020
Podcast: Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Covid-19 and storage
We look at how organisations can use Cybersecurity Awareness Month as an opportunity to revisit their handling of data and compliance, especially with changes brought by Covid-19 and home working Continue Reading
-
News
20 Oct 2020
Six Russians charged over NotPetya and other attacks
Six members of the APT group known as Sandworm have been charged in the US over a series of attacks including the destructive NotPetya incident Continue Reading
-
Opinion
16 Oct 2020
Security Think Tank: Safeguarding PII in the current threat landscape
The threat of identity theft via a data breach is heightened with the rise of attacks where ransomware threat actors both encrypt and ransom, and exfiltrate and leak their victims’ data. How does this evolution in cybercrime heighten risk for the enterprise, and what steps can we take to safeguard the personal data we hold? Continue Reading
-
News
16 Oct 2020
BA argues ICO data breach fine down to £20m
Information Commissioner’s Office levies fine of £20m on British Airways for failing to protect the personal data of hundreds of thousands of passengers – a vast reduction on the initial £183m penalty Continue Reading
-
News
16 Oct 2020
Spanish court to question witnesses over ‘illegal surveillance’ of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
The Spanish National Court in Madrid is to hear evidence from information security expert Andy Müller-Maguhn and two lawyers who were subject to ‘illegal surveillance’ of their meetings with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Continue Reading