Security policy and user awareness

How gamifying cyber training can improve your defences

With ever-escalating threats, it’s now more important than ever for security training to be an engaging experience. Continue Reading

Making IT security training stick

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our latest buyer’s guide looks at IT security training, and asks whether gamification could be the secret to making it stick. We examine how the metaverse might change the way we work in real life. And we find out how job cuts across the tech sector affect employment opportunities for IT contractors in 2023. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

The Security Interviews: How to overcome data protection compliance challenges

Complying with the vast swathe of data protection legislation around the world is complex, especially for smaller organisations without the necessary expertise. Could the compliance process be simplified, and if so, how? Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Ransomware operator turns their fire on two-year-old VMware bug

A vulnerability in VMware ESXi servers that users should have patched in 2021 is now being exploited to spread ransomware Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australian organisations underinvesting in cyber security

Over half of Australian organisations failed to invest enough in cyber security over past three years, though awareness is improving in aftermath of high-profile data breaches Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: In 2023, we need a new way to cultivate better habits

Regular, small adjustments to behaviour offer a better way to keep employees on track and cultivate a corporate culture of cyber awareness, writes Elastic’s Mandy Andress Continue Reading

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• Mandy Andress, Elastic

Security Think Tank: Getting the training and development mix right

Rob Dartnall, CEO at SecAlliance and chair of Crest’s UK Council, describes the need for formal, varied and continuous development in the cyber security sector Continue Reading

By

• Rob Dartnall, SecAlliance

North Korea’s Lazarus gang exposes itself in opsec failure

WithSecure researchers linked a campaign of cyber attacks targeting medical research and energy firms to North Korea’s infamous Lazarus APT after a group member accidentally screwed up Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Arnold Clark customer data was stolen in Play ransomware attack

Arnold Clark confirms data leaked on dark web was stolen from its systems in ransomware attack Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Romance fraudsters stole £65m from Brits since 2020

Online romance fraudsters have scammed Brits out of £65m in the past three years, according to retail bank TSB Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cisco fixes two bugs that could have led to supply chain attacks on users

Two vulnerabilities uncovered in Cisco hardware could have opened the door to serious supply chain cyber attacks, according to the Trellix researchers who found them Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CryptoRom scam abuses Apple and Google app stores to claim victims

Sophos researchers report on two fake apps used by romance scammers to lure victims into parting with their money, both of which were able to escape the attention of Apple and Google app store safeguards Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Malware variant can block contactless payments

Kaspersky warns that the latest variant of the Prilex malware can block contactless payments to force people to insert cards, enabling criminals to steal money Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK Cyber Council and ISACA launch audit, assurance programme

The UK Cyber Security Council has teamed up with ISACA to partner on a new audit and assurance programme for security pros Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber training firm launches £20k data protection scholarship

Training specialist Freevacy has launched a £20,000 scholarship fund to train data privacy and protection professionals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GitHub warns Desktop, Atom users after code-signing certificates pinched

Threat actors stole encrypted code-signing certificates for GitHub’s Desktop and Atom applications in December 2022, prompting warnings for users Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MI5 unlawfully collected and held millions of people’s data

Secretive court finds MI5 knowingly acted unlawfully in use of bulk surveillance warrants, and the Home Office continued granting warrants despite information the agency was operating outside the law Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Royal Mail recovers more International Tracked services

Royal Mail is making further progress in recovering IT systems hit by a ransomware attack, and has re-enabled another tranche of international export services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ATO renews major Macquarie deal

The contract renewal will enable the Australian Tax Office to tap Macquarie’s security operations centre, among other services, to secure its IT environment and protect sensitive data Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Data of 10 million JD Sports customers accessed in cyber attack

Data on 10 million people who shopped online at JD Sports over a two-year period was accessed and potentially stolen in a cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hive ransomware gang taken down after FBI hacks back

The FBI hacked into Hive’s servers, stole its decryption keys and then took down its servers in a major action that has successfully disrupted a prolific and dangerous ransomware operation Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC exposes Iranian, Russian spear-phishing campaign targeting UK

Spear-phishing campaigns likely linked to Iranian and Russian espionage activity are targeting persons of interest in the UK, warns the NCSC Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Boards struggle to resolve cyber risk in digital supply chains

Accelerated digitisation of supply chains is introducing more cyber risk for which many organisations seem unprepared, according to the BSI’s annual report on supply chain risk Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chinese IoT suppliers expose UK businesses to espionage and data theft

Chinese companies supplying network components, known as IoT modules, post a greater long-term threat to UK security than the now banned 5G supplier Huawei, according to a study by a Chinese expert and former diplomat Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

UK insurers need to up their game on cyber gaps, says PRA

Gaps and limitations in how insurers respond to cyber risk need to be addressed, according to the Bank of England regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SSRF attacks hit 100,000 businesses globally since November

There has been a dramatic increase in attacks exploiting the ProxyNotShell/OWASSRF exploit chains to target Microsoft Exchange servers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fake online contest makes Yahoo! most phished brand of Q4 2022

Yahoo! was the most frequently phished brand during the last three months of 2022, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Trellix automates patching for 62,000 vulnerable open source projects

Since revealing startling statistics about the prevalence of a 15-year-old Python vulnerability, Trellix says it has helped fix almost 62,000 vulnerable projects in the past four months Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC warning over cyber risk to charity sector

Cash-strapped charities without the resource to tackle their resilience deficit are increasingly at risk from malicious actors, says the NCSC Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Royal Mail making limited progress on ransomware recovery

Royal Mail asks customers to hold back from sending post overseas as some services get back on track, while a report warns that disruptive attacks on critical infrastructure are set to become more common Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

KFC, Pizza Hut parent shuts UK restaurants after cyber attack

A ransomware attack on Yum! Brands, the parent organisation of restaurants including KFC and Pizza Hut, was forced to shut approximately 300 outlets in the UK following a ransomware attack by an unspecified group Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mailchimp suffers third breach in 12 months

Email marketing service Mailchimp has suffered its third data breach in a year, but has been praised for being open about its latest attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ukraine CERT leaders touch down in London for talks

The UK’s NCSC has been hosting Ukrainian cyber security leaders for a round of bilateral talks on improving resilience Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Oracle and CBI: companies cautious, selective in 2023 IT, business investment

Oracle and the CBI are seeing much the same picture of cautious technology investment of UK businesses in 2023, in the context of long Covid and the energy price inflation crisis Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Cloudflare urged to clamp down on pirates, counterfeiters

A whitepaper produced by brand protection specialist Corsearch calls on Cloudflare to do more to stop online content piracy and sales of counterfeit goods Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Royal Mail promises ‘workarounds’ to restore services after ransomware attack

Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson apologises to customers whose businesses are being disrupted by a ransomware attack and promises a ‘workaround’ will be in place in the near future Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The Security Interviews: Protecting your digital self

Our digital self – the virtual presence of who we are online – has a pervasive influence in the real world. People make judgements based on these digital depictions, so what can be done to ensure positive representation? Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

AI 2023 and beyond

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to become part of the boardroom agenda as organisations look at how they can shave off more from operational costs and work out how they can grow the business ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Europe’s cyber security strategy must be clear about open source

Europe’s cyber security policy on open source is lagging behind the US, and despite growing government awareness of the issues, that poses a problem Continue Reading

By

• Ilkka Turunen

Guardian confirms Christmas 2022 cyber attack was ransomware

Guardian Media Group bosses confirm the 20 December cyber attack that left staff locked out of its London office and disrupted several key systems was an untargeted ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Should we be worried about malicious use of AI language models?

WithSecure research into GPT-3 language models, used by the likes of ChatGPT, surfaces concerning findings about how easy it is to use large language models for malicious purposes. Should security teams be concerned? Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft fixes EoP zero-day on January Patch Tuesday

On the first Patch Tuesday of 2023, Microsoft fixed an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call, which has been actively exploited in the wild and may be co-opted into ransomware campaigns Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Vulnerable organisations to get free Cyber Essentials support

Charities and legal aid firms are among those to be offered free security checks and certifications from the National Cyber Security Centre Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia’s Turla falls back on old malware C2 domains to avoid detection

Mandiant says it has observed the Russian APT UNC2410, also known as Turla, re-registering expired or sinkholed domains previously used by financially motivated cyber criminals Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Vice Society cyber gang targeted multiple UK schools

The Vice Society ransomware gang has made a habit of attacking educational institutions, and now appears to have struck multiple schools, colleges and universities in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber gang abused free trials to exploit public cloud CPU resources

A South Africa-based cyber crime gang exploited free trials and introductory offers to run cryptominers via public cloud services, then did a runner without paying Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Warning over ransomware attacks spreading via Fortinet kit

Following the disclosure of a critical vulnerability in October 2022, Fortinet VPN devices were exploited in two known ransomware attacks, with access likely sold on the dark web Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber security professionals share their biggest lessons of 2022

In the run-up to 2023, cyber security professionals are taking the time to reflect on the past few months and share their biggest lessons of 2022 Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

How does red teaming test the ultimate limits of cyber security?

An expert ethical hacker reveals how he goes about carrying out a red team exercise Continue Reading

By

• Rob Shapland

Why the current fraud model is broken, and how to fix it

Scammers and fraudsters are catching up with the good guys; a new technological approach is needed to fight skyrocketing volumes of digital fraud, says Darwinium founder Alisdair Faulkner Continue Reading

By

• Alisdair Faulkner

NCA ‘wrong-footed’ defence lawyers after agreeing to take expert evidence on EncroChat ‘as read’

The National Crime Agency argued at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal that expert evidence it agreed to ‘take as read’ is limited, flawed and often based on an incorrect interpretation of the law Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Top 10 cyber security stories of 2022

The war in Ukraine loomed large over the cyber security news agenda, but 2022 also saw growing awareness of open source security, discussion around cyber insurance, and more besides Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2022

Cyber crime continued to hit the headlines in 2022, with impactful cyber attacks abounding, digitally enabled fraud ever more widespread and plenty of ransomware incidents Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A sticky story: How, and why, hackers love stickers on laptops

We’ve all seen laptops adorned with security stickers and in-jokes, but how did this cyber community trend get started, what does it signify, and what does it say about the humans behind the screens? Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post-Brexit cyber dynamics in the UK and Europe: diverging paradigms?

The UK faces a choice in terms of its ongoing cyber security relationship with the EU – to preserve its collaboration with the EU by adopting an aligned approach or to adopt a divergent approach Continue Reading

By

• Quentin Toussaint and Dominic Trott

Security Think Tank: 2022 brought plenty of learning opportunities in cyber

At the end of another busy 12 months, Turnkey Consulting’s Andrew Morris sums up some of the most important takeaways for cyber pros Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

Defence lawyers claim NCA witness gave unreliable evidence on EncroChat hacking operation

National Crime Agency argues that the lawfulness of surveillance warrants issued to hack the EncroChat phone network should only be considered in the light of facts and assessments known at the time Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

UK unis implement new IP traffic policies to combat ransomware

Jisc will introduce new measures to protect UK universities and research institutions from ransomware attacks that exploit the Remote Desktop Protocol remote-access feature Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Lego fixes dangerous API vulnerability in BrickLink service

The Lego Group has remediated two potentially serious API vulnerabilities in its BrickLink digital resale platform, just in time for Christmas Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Private health provider data could be shared with NHS England

Plans are advancing to create a single source of healthcare data in England combining both private providers and the NHS to avoid a repeat of the Ian Paterson scandal Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Advanced Azov data wiper likely to become active threat

Check Point deep dives into an emergent data wiper strain known as Azov, which is making waves with hundreds of new samples being submitted to VirusTotal daily Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS gets new guidance on public benefits of data sharing

NHS national data guardian Nicola Byrne has published new guidance on how health and social care bodies should approach the task of evaluating public benefit when using data for purposes beyond individual care Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ethical hackers flex their muscles in 2022

Ethical hackers working through HackerOne programmes found 21% more vulnerabilities in 2022 than in 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft fixes two zero-days in final Patch Tuesday of 2022

December’s Patch Tuesday is typically a light month for Microsoft, and this year proved no exception, but there are still several critical issues worth addressing, and two zero-days for defenders to pore over Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: How much digital trust can you place on zero-trust?

The events of the past couple of years have highlighted many considerations that should be taken into consideration when pursuing a zero-trust strategy, says ISACA’s Steven Sim Kok Leong Continue Reading

By

• Steven Sim Kok Leong

The nature of the CISO role will be in flux in 2023

As cyber risk outpaces organisational defences, and cyber attacks and breaches cause more and more damage, the nature of the CISO role is entering a state of flux, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Finnish government launches information security voucher scheme

Finland’s government is offering businesses financial support to help them improve their cyber security Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

More Uber data exposed in possible supply chain attack

A second incident affecting ride-sharing app Uber appears to have originated through a third party in a supply chain attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Embrace prioritisation, people, imperfections

Security and IT professionals should try to make peace with their imperfections in 2023, says Nominet CISO Paul Lewis Continue Reading

By

• Paul Lewis, Nominet

How Zscaler is cracking APAC’s cloud security market

Zscaler’s head in Asia-Pacific and Japan talks up the company’s growth momentum in the region and what it is doing to address areas where it can do better Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CIISec, DCMS to fund vocational cyber courses for A-level students

The Chartered Institute of Information Security and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport plan to fund vocational cyber qualifications for 300 teenagers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Iranian APT seen exploiting GitHub repository as C2 mechanism

A subgroup of the Iran-linked Cobalt Mirage APT group has been caught taking advantage of the GitHub open source project as a means to operate its latest custom malware Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: 2022 changed how we thought about resilience

Increasing cyber resilience is at the heart of the people-processes-technology triangle, and 2022 saw shifts in all three of these aspects, says PA Consulting’s Sharon Shochat Continue Reading

By

• Sharon Shochat

Consumers to get new protections against dodgy apps

Government’s new code of practice will impose new privacy and security measures on app store operators and developers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Too many secrets: What can today’s cyber teams learn from a 30-year-old film?

Despite being 30 years old, Sneakers remains a classic hacker film. The technology may have dated, but the underlying themes remain relevant and remind us about the threats lurking online Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Australia to develop new cyber security strategy

New strategy to be developed by top cyber security experts aims to turn Australia into a global cyber leader, among other goals Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Rackspace email outage confirmed as ransomware attack

An ongoing outage affecting Rackspace email customers is the result of a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google, MS, Oracle vulnerabilities make November ’22 a big month for patching

Vulnerabilities affecting the likes of Google, Microsoft and Oracle proved particularly troublesome in November Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: As cyber pros, we need to articulate our needs better

There is always a lot to learn about security, but one of the most important lessons may not relate to technology at all, says Petra Wenham Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Don’t become an unwitting tool in Russia’s cyber war

Researchers have turned up evidence that enterprise networks are being co-opted by Russian threat actors to launch attacks against targets in Ukraine. How can you avoid becoming an unwitting tool in a state-backed attack? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

AWS mutes trash talk at Re:Invent – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

The team chats through the AWS Re:Invent conference, as well as an initiative for getting young women into cyber security, and how SAP Build travelled from Vegas to SAP users in Birmingham Continue Reading

By

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

Is Twitter still safe, and should you stop using the platform?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, with a litany of security and compliance issues caused by Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, we ask if it’s still safe for enterprises. Our latest buyer’s guide examines the technologies and best practices behind data visualisation. And we look at the emerging devices for accessing the metaverse. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Fake investment ads persist on Meta’s social networks

Online adverts for investment scams relating to property and crypto assets are still getting past measures designed to stop them Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

French cyber consultancy Hackuity sets up UK operation

Risk-based vulnerability management company is to establish a UK base of operations in the hope of expanding its enterprise client base Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: The more you buy, the less you protect

The most important lesson learned this year is that the more controls you have in place, the less secure you become, argues 2-sec’s Tim Holman Continue Reading

By

• Tim Holman, 2-sec

Twitter ‘replacement’ Hive Social shuts off service in privacy alert

Hive Social, a recently established social media network, has temporarily closed its servers to address deep structural privacy issues identified by ethical hackers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MI6 chief’s hacked emails attacked MI5 and betrayed British spy operations in China

Former UK spy boss Richard Dearlove leaked names of MI6 secret agent recruiters in China to back an aggressive right-wing US campaign against tech company Huawei. His emails were hacked and then leaked – probably by Russian intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University
• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Meike Eijsberg

Ransomware: Is there hope beyond the overhyped?

Up-and-coming cyber concepts attack surface management and security mesh architectures seem to hold some promise in tackling ransomware, but they are a little way off maturity Continue Reading

By

• Paul Lewis, Nominet

South Staffs Water customer data leaked after ransomware attack

Personal data of water utility’s direct debit customers exposed on the dark web following a Clop ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Latest LockBit ransomware versions have wormable capabilities

Sophos researchers have reverse-engineered the Lockbit 3.0 ransomware, shedding new light on its evolving capabilities and firming up links with BlackMatter Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NIS regulations to be extended to cover MSPs

The UK government is moving ahead with plans to update the Network and Information Systems regulations to bring outsourcers and MSPs into scope Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Think technology, process, human risk to manage ransomware

Effective ransomware handling boils down to three core areas – technology, process and human risk Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

Chartered status and aligned standards are crucial for the UK's cyber sector

As the UK moves closer to ushering in the world’s first chartered cyber professionals, the UK Cyber Security Council’s Simon Hepburn outlines the sector’s defining moment Continue Reading

By

• Simon Hepburn, UK Cyber Security Council

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

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

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