Privacy and data protection

UK cyber security certification pilot launched

UK businesses now have the opportunity to improve their cyber security and prove they have taken steps to protect data they hold, thanks to a police-backed certification scheme Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attacks up nearly 20% in 2017

Research by SonicWall shows there were 9.32 billion malware attacks globally last year, but ransomware attacks fell by 71% Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Cyber security is a team sport, says NCSC

The UK’s national cyber security agency aims to help organisations understand the need to act collaboratively and collectively against the cyber threat, urging them to raise the bar Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Developed APAC countries well-poised for the cloud

With strong policies in data protection and cyber security, Japan, Australia and Singapore are among countries that are most prepared to reap the benefits of the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Government sets out tighter security measures for IoT devices

The government has announced plans to develop a new code of practice to improve the security of connected internet of things devices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Local councils call for government funding for GDPR compliance

National Association of Local Councils is concerned complying with GDPR puts financial strain on local authorities and calls on government to help with funding Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Security Think Tank: Social engineering at the heart of fileless malware attacks

What should organisations do at the very least to ensure business computers are protected from fileless malware? Continue Reading

By

• Emma Bickerstaffe, Information Security Forum (ISF)

Most Britons concerned about personal data sharing

Most UK consumers are concerned about personal data they have shared online, but few know the extent of that data or their rights, a survey shows, indicating a need for education and transparency Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security remains an afterthought in DevOps

Enterprises in Asia are lapping up DevOps but less than one-third have baked security processes into their developments Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Getting up to speed with 5G

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at what needs to be done to make next-generation 5G mobile networks a reality. Fewer EU workers are moving to the UK due to Brexit fears – we examine what that means for the IT skills gap. And we analyse the state of the hyper-converged infrastructure market and the main suppliers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: How to tackle fileless malware attacks

What should organisations do at the very least to ensure business computers are protected from fileless malware? Continue Reading

By

• Adrian Davis, (ISC)²

CIO interview: Helena Theakstone, head of digital, Oasis Fashion

Oasis Fashion’s head of digital talks about GDPR preparation, collaboration between digital and IT, and the importance of listening to customers Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Most healthcare organisations have been breached, report shows

 Less than a third of global healthcare organisations remain untouched, as data breaches rise across the industry, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK will need data protection agreement with EU as part of Brexit deal, says PM

Prime minister Theresa May's Brexit speech highlights need for data protection deal with EU, “advanced” border IT systems, and re-confirms UK won’t be part of the EU digital single market Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cyber crime is a top threat to UK charities, says NCSC

Cyber crime poses the most serious threats to UK charities, the National Cyber Security Centre has warned Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Equifax ups breach figure by a further 2.5 million

Credit rating agency Equifax has increased the number of US records believed to have been compromised in 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

New privacy fears as IT challenges delay surveillance oversight body by a year

IT challenges have delayed government plans for an independent body to authorise requests to access the public’s internet and phone records by nearly a year, raising new legal and privacy concerns Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Imaging systems biggest security risk in healthcare

Imaging systems have been identified as the biggest cyber security risk in the healthcare sector, a report on internet of things security has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Trust underpins innovation, says UK information commissioner

Underlining the relevance of data protection legislation to business, the UK information commissioner says consumer trust is key to innovation Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO head tops DataIQ data leader list

The UK’s information commissioner has been named at the top data leader for 2018 in the DataIQ 100 list of most influential data leaders Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ANZ organisations grappling with cloud outages

A majority of organisations from Australia and New Zealand admitted in a survey that they had not fully evaluated the impact of cloud outages which were longer than they had expected Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Affiliate marketing industry failing on privacy compliance

The affiliate marketing industry needs to clean up its act in terms of privacy law compliance, a review of more than 900 websites has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Salary is not top way to attract cybersec pros, report reveals

Salary is not the highest priority for cyber security professionals, a report on hiring and retaining top cyber security talent shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Firms failing to learn from cyber attacks

Organisations are failing to learn from cyber attacks, and lax security practices are leaving organisations worldwide open to damaging cyber attacks, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government must rewrite illegal sections of Snoopers’ Charter, court told

A court has been asked to give ministers until July 2018 to rewrite powers to require phone and internet companies to retain data on the population. The government acknowledges parts of surveillance regime are unlawful Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Understanding the cyber threat key to UK defence, says NCSC

Understanding cyber threats is key to defending the UK and ensuring it is a safe place to do business, says the National Cyber Security Centre Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How IT is taking UPS to new heights

In this week's Computer Weekly, we talk to UPS CIO Juan Perez to find out how making his IT department “business intimate” is driving innovation at the parcel shipping giant. We look at how cloud management platforms can help ease the adoption of multiple public cloud services. And we examine how UK local councils are struggling to deal with cyber attacks and data breaches. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

GDPR will have positive ripple effect, says US consumer group

New EU data protection laws will have a positive ripple effect around the world, according to a US consumer group Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Singapore firms unprepared for GDPR

An EY study reveals that only 10% of organisations in Singapore are ready to comply with Europe’s new data protection regime Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

London councils set aside more than £1.2m for GDPR

London councils have spent over £1.2m in preparation for new EU data protection laws, a think tank report has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Surveillance watchdog investigates security risks of GCHQ IT contractors

The investigatory powers commissioner is reviewing the security arrangements for IT contractors that have access to live computer systems at GCHQ holding highly sensitive records on the UK population Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

Cyber criminals catching up with nation state attacks

The trickle-down effect of advanced “military-grade” tools is seeing the gap between cyber criminal and nation state attack capabilities closing, outpacing many organisations’ defence capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

2018 could be year of mobile malware, says McAfee 

Security firm announces several mobile industry partnerships as its latest mobile threat report shows mobile malware is becoming increasingly popular with cyber attackers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Most UK small firms still not prepared for GDPR, FSB survey shows

Most small businesses are not prepared for new data regulations, according to research by the Federation of Small Businesses Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GDPR is having positive impact on privacy profession, says IAPP

The EU’s new data protection rules are driving greater interest in the privacy profession, and provide an opportunity to develop new business plans, says privacy association Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Public education important in new data protection era, says ICO

UK information commissioner Elizabeth Denham tells Data Protection 2018 event of the tough requirements ahead in a new age of data regulation Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Is cyber security becoming a cost of doing business - to the detriment of our data?

Computer Weekly writes a lot about cyber security – it’s the easily most popular topic among our readers, and always rates as one of the top priorities in our annual survey of IT professionals. ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Avast discovers Tempting Cedar Android spyware campaign

Security researchers have uncovered a three-year-old Android spyware campaign spread through social media and targeting people in the Middle East Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Where are security and data governance in IoT?

IoT Back to Basics, chapter 3: It’s no surprise that security and governance are important considerations when it comes to the IoT, but quite how incredibly important they are may not be ... Continue Reading

By

• Jason Stamper, Freeform Dynamics

UK plans laws to protect company directors from ID theft

Legislation will make it easier for directors to remove their personal addresses from the company register Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Nordics: Nordics CIOs’ priorities in 2018

A select group of CIOs and analysts in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden give their views on the top IT priorities in 2018. As in 2017, digital transformation will continue to be a buzzword. Also read how Sweden is tightening up its cyber security defences as part of a wider national security strategy, and how Nordic banks cannot afford to slow their digital transformations as PSD2 comes into force. Continue Reading

Hawaii missile alert: Why the wrong guy was fired

In January 2018, an employee at Hawaii’s emergency management agency sent out a false alarm of an imminent missile attack, and was subsequently fired – but perhaps poor system design is really to blame Continue Reading

By

• Jonny Corbett, Norman & Sons

People worried about data security in public sector, survey finds

Majority of people are concerned with the security of the data they share with public sector organisations, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Economic impact of cyber crime is significant and rising

Cyber attacks are becoming easier to carry out while defences remain inadequate, study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Strategic cyber criminals likely to capitalise on GDPR

As cyber criminals concentrate on targeted, strategic, money-making attacks, they are likely to use GDPR fines as leverage to extort money from organisations, a report warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK local councils under huge cyber attack pressure

Investigation underlines importance of security automation and employee awareness training Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Botnets shift focus to credential abuse

Cyber criminals are increasingly using automated attacks that make use of stolen credentials, a security threat report warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Getting a handle on mobile security in your enterprise

Everyone now has a mobile device at work, so how can enterprises ensure they are secure? Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

Lauri Love can stay in UK: prosecutors will not appeal extradition ruling

Crown Prosecution Service gives undertaking to Lauri Love that it will not appeal against a court decision not to extradite him to the US – but prosecutors are seeking leave to appeal over part of the court ruling on extradition procedure Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

A third of Brits plan to exercise right to be forgotten

After the General Data Protection Regulation compliance deadline, a third of Britons polled say they plan to exercise their right to be forgotten, but few fully understand the GDPR and how it will affect them Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Few organisations managing cyber risk, survey shows

Cyber risk management practices are not keeping up with rising cyber security concerns among senior executives around the world, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How AI will underpin cyber security in the next few years

Cyber security risks are growing in complexity and volume, but artificial intelligence techniques can help businesses track and fight them in real time Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

100 days to GDPR compliance deadline

As the clock ticks down to the deadline to comply with the EU’s new data protection regulations, some surveys indicate there is still some confusion, but the focus has shifted from the sanctions to the benefits Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyberthreat 2018 aimed at UK cyber security techies

Cyberthreat 2018 is aimed at growing the UK’s network of cyber defenders, filling a key gap in the UK cyber security conference calendar and bridging the public-private sector divide Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Why police forces need to be honest about mass mobile phone surveillance

Police forces across the UK are covering up their use of sophisticated mass surveillance devices, known as IMSI-catchers - the Bristol Cable and Liberty are campaigning for proper transparency Continue Reading

By

• Alon Aviram, The Bristol Cable

CW ASEAN: European data law – be aware and prepare

Organisations across the ASEAN region will soon have to comply with another piece of data protec-tion legislation - the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will apply to any company that collects the personal data of Europeans. In this month's edition of CW ASEAN, we look at how ASEAN is gearing up for the GDPR, the current state of compliance and the law's impact on businesses. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Australian organisations unprepared for GDPR

Faced with the double whammy of complying with Australia’s upcoming data breach notification requirement and Europe’s new data protection regime, Australian firms are behind where they need to be in their compliance efforts Continue Reading

CW ANZ: Prepare for EU data law

Faced with the double whammy of complying with Australia’s upcoming data breach notification requirement and Europe’s new data protection regime, Australian firms are behind where they need to be in their compliance efforts. In this month’s edition of CW ANZ, find out how Australian organisations are getting ready for the GDPR, the challenges they are facing in meeting two new laws at the same time, as well as what they need to do to achieve their compliance goals. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

FS-ISAC enables safer financial data sharing with API

The global financial industry's body for cyber and physical threat intelligence analysis and sharing has published an API to facilitate safer sharing of consumer financial information Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Moscow puts municipal vehicles online to save fuel

The city of Moscow has deployed a unified IoT platform to monitor and control all of its municipal vehicles Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Smart security: Go beyond the basics with biometrics

With smartphone makers offering new features such as biometrics, there are lots of options available to businesses when putting mobile security into practice Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

PyeongChang Winter Games hit by cyber attack

Although critical operations were not affected by the incident, event organisers at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics had to shut down servers and the official games website to prevent further damage Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Europe in the firing line of evolving DDoS attacks

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region accounts for more than half the world’s distributed denial of service attacks, a report from F5 Labs reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Malaysian regulator and firm sued over data breach

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and a local company have been caught in a civil lawsuit over a massive data breach reported last year Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

DMA Group working to reduce fear around GDPR

The DMA Group is focused on the GDPR for customer communications and marketing, but says the key aim is to reduce fear in the market Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

More POS malware detected in the wild

The first new point of sale malware in many months is stealing data from the magnetic strips on payment cards, security researchers warn Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Swisscom downplays data breach

Telecommunication provider Swisscom has downplayed a data breach affecting around 800,000 customers, but security experts warn of potential long-term risks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Benelux: Dutch IT expert on a mission to expose vulnerabilities

Dutch ethical hacker Victor Gevers took full-time leave from his IT job last year and used the time to hunt for vulnerabilities. Read about his mission to find vulnerabilities, report them responsibly and then, hopefully, get them fixed by the vulnerable parties involved. Also in this issue, read how Proximus, Belgium’s largest telecommunications operator, is leaning on Cloudify to support its adoption of network functions virtualisation, and how journalists showed that the email addresses of Dutch politicians are easy to spoof. Continue Reading

Data breaches set to affect future sales

The failure to protect customer data is set to create long-term business problems for organisations in Europe and the US, a survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Mobile biometrics set to be game-changer in APAC

Telcos, financial institutions and other industry players risk losing market share if they do not keep up with the demand for security, convenience and mobility Continue Reading

By

• Lareinna Roxanne Lee and Quah Mei Lee

UK government orders review of online laws

The UK Law Commission is to review current legislation on offensive online communications to ensure they are up to date with technology Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

Most NHS trusts have failed their cyber security assessments, NHS Digital admits

NHS Digital deputy CEO Rob Shaw told Public Accounts Committee all 200 trusts assessed for cyber security, both before and after the WannaCry attack, have failed their assessments Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UK leads international crackdown on Luminosity spyware

Law enforcement agencies shut down international support network for a hacking tool that allowed cyber criminals to gain remote control of victims’ computers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Take care of security basics before automating

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Greg Temm

Lauri Love plans to use ‘internet as a force for good’

Engineering student Lauri Love says he plans to help businesses fight cyber crime, after the court of appeal ruled that he can be tried in the UK for allegedly hacking US computer systems, rather than face extradition to the US Continue Reading

By

• Julia Gregory and Niels Ladefoged

3, 2, 1, GDPR: How to be prepared on 25 May

There are seven key areas organisations should review to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, and even though the deadline is less than four months away, it is still not too late to start Continue Reading

By

• Omer Tene, IAPP

NCSC shows how first year affected cyber attacks on the UK

Initiatives by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have detected and prevented millions of online commodity attacks, the agency’s first annual report shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Appeals court rules Lauri Love will not be extradited over US hacking charges

The lord chief justice, Lord Burnett, says 33-year-old engineering student Lauri Love will not be extradited to the US to face hacking charges, in a landmark legal decision, and the Crown Prosecution Service should bring proceedings against Love in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin & Julia Gregory

Government backs national cyber policy and strategy competition

London is to host a national cyber policy and strategy competition, which has the backing of government, industry and academia Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Approaches to strengthening security operations

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Rory Alsop

Appeal Court to give landmark verdict on Lauri Love extradition

The Appeal Court will decide whether Lauri Love, who has serious health issues, should be extradited to the US to face hacking charges, or face trial in the UK. The landmark case is the first test of legal protections introduced by Theresa May to protect vulnerable people Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

CIO interview: Aaron Powell, CDO, NHS Blood and Transplant

NHS Blood and Transplant chief digital officer Aaron Powell explains why pushing a digital transformation agenda has a real impact on people’s lives Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Europe’s shameful role in spy-tech exports that led to torture and jail

Governments in Europe actively assisted in government oppression in Iran, Bahrain and Russia by providing states with sophisticated surveillance equipment. The European Parliament is pressing for changes in the law to restrict exports of spy-technology to countries with poor human rights records Continue Reading

By

• Marietje Schaake, European Parliament

ASEAN nations among worst hit by cryptocurrency-mining operation

Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia recorded high download numbers for the XMRig software that was surreptitiously slipped into user devices to mine Monero Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Automating basic security tasks

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Privacy lessons from the fitness fiasco

Most of us already recognise that technology has the potential to wipe out our privacy, if checks and balances are not in place – or at least I hope we do! What’s scary then in the recent hoo-hah ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Betts, Freeform Dynamics

Dutch companies not ready for GDPR despite approaching deadline

Organisations in the Netherlands are racing towards General Data Protection Regulation compliance, but there is still much to be done Continue Reading

By

• Tijs Hofmans

Facebook reports $15.9bn profit after ‘hard’ year

Facebook has reported a strong fourth quarter and a strong year with quarterly profit up 20% and annual profit up 56%, but chief Mark Zuckerberg admits it has been a challenging 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

Many businesses still using outdated security, says Troy Hunt

Too many businesses are using out-of-date approaches to security, a world-renowned cyber security author and trainer warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Don’t automatically automate security

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

UK finance sector cyber security pros admit shocking practices

UK financial sector IT security teams face immense challenges that are undermining business opportunities and continuity in financial services, a survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

Navigating ASEAN’s patchy cyber security landscape

Cyber resilience remains low across Southeast Asia, a regional economic powerhouse that is increasingly susceptible to cyber threats as its digital economy grows Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Data breach disclosure law will lift Australia’s cyber security game

New rules underscore Australia’s recent efforts to tackle cyber security challenges on the local and international stage Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Kennedy

Cyber security salaries will rise 7% in 2018, says research

Salaries for increasingly popular technology roles such as cyber security are set to rise over the next year Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government surveillance regime unlawful, court rules in Tom Watson case

Appeal court ruled in favour of Labour MP Tom Watson in a legal battle with the government over the UK’s surveillance laws, leading to calls to rethink controversial Investigatory Powers Act Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Investigations Editor

IT Priorities 2018: Data protection a top priority ahead of GDPR

Data protection continues to be a key focus for IT security investment for European firms in 2018, as does the emphasis on cloud and mobile security as companies move to these technology platforms Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

Most online retail sites put customers at risk of phishing

Most top online retail sites fail to protect consumers from phishing attacks, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Humans and AI machines in harmony

How can organisations evolve their security operations teams to do more automation of basic tasks and cope with dynamic IT environments? Continue Reading

By

• Piers Wilson, IISP

Millennials set to disrupt authentication, shows IBM study

Young adults are lax on passwords, but are more comfortable than older generations with biometric and multifactor authentication, an IBM study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Security Editor

GDPR’s latest gift? Class action privacy cases

Europeans will in future be able to bring US-style class actions for (alleged) privacy violations, instead of having to sue individually and expensively. It’s thanks to a little-known clause of the ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Betts, Freeform Dynamics