IBM launches innovative encryption toolkit for MacOS and iOS


Usually files are encrypted while in storage or in transit but are decrypted in order to be used, providing a window of opportunity for hackers to access the information.
The technique of fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) solves this problem by allowing the manipulation of data by permissioned parties while it remains encrypted, therefore minimizing the time it exists in its most vulnerable state.
Are cyber attacks really as advanced as we think? [Q&A]


When organizations suffer a cyberattack it's often described by them as 'advanced'. But just how good does an attack need to be to breach defenses?
We spoke to Matt Walmsley, head of EMEA marketing at threat detection and response platform Vectra to find out about the attack landscape, how most attacks aren't all that advanced at all, and how companies can better defend themselves.
Cyber ransom demands up 200 percent in 2019


Requested amounts in ransomware attacks rose nearly 200 percent from 2018 to 2019, averaging $115,123 per attack last year.
A report from incident response, risk management and digital forensics firm Crypsis Group reveals that threat actors across a range of cyberattack types have significantly escalated their tactical approaches, becoming more targeted, conducting victim research and employing techniques that enable them to be more successful and extract higher payouts for their efforts.
Fake job applications used to steal banking credentials


During May, researchers at Check Point have seen a doubling in the number of malicious files sent by email claiming to be resumes or CVs from individuals, as hackers exploit the unemployment and remuneration schemes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition they have noted that seven percent of domains registered containing the word 'employment' are malicious. There has also been a 16 percent increase in malware attacks overall, compared to March and April.
Securing SaaS applications for a remote workforce [Q&A]


The current shift to remote working looks likely to have a long-term impact on the way businesses operate in future. But this raises issues over security and ensuring that misconfigurations don't lead to data being exposed.
How big is the risk and what are the key issues enterprises face? We spoke to Brendan O'Connor, CEO of cloud security specialist AppOmni to find out.
Data breaches cost US organizations $1.8 trillion over the last two years


Cybercriminals exposed more than five billion records in 2019, costing over $1.2 trillion to US organizations. Added to the 2.8 billion records that were exposed in 2018, this means breaches over the last two years have cost US organizations over $1.8 trillion.
This is one of the findings of the latest Consumer Identity Breach Report from ForgeRock, which shows a dramatic increase in the number of breaches.
IBM fairness toolkit aims to eliminate bias in data sets


IBM is announcing changes to its AI Fairness 360 toolkit to increase its functionality and make it available to a wide range of developers.
AIF360 is an open source toolkit that contains over 70 fairness metrics and 11 state-of-the-art bias mitigation algorithms developed by the research community to help examine, report, and mitigate discrimination and bias in machine learning models throughout the AI application lifecycle.
Almost 80 percent of companies have had a cloud data breach in the past 18 months


A new survey finds that 79 percent of companies experienced at least one cloud data breach in the past 18 months, and close to half (43 percent) reported 10 or more breaches.
The study for cloud access risk security company Ermetic conducted by IDC covered 300 CISOs and finds that security misconfiguration (67 percent), lack of adequate visibility into access settings and activities (64 percent) and identity and access management (IAM) permission errors (61 percent) are the top concerns associated with cloud production environments.
Software quality beats delivery speed for most developers


The latest State of Software Quality survey from continuous reliability company OverOps shows that 70 percent of respondents say quality is paramount and they would rather delay the product roadmap than risk a critical error impacting their users.
In addition, over half of survey respondents (53 percent) indicate they encounter critical or customer-impacting issues in production at least one or more times a month. A quarter of participants also say that over 40 percent of critical production issues are first reported by end users or customers rather than internal mechanisms.
Thycotic extends its privileged access management range


Privileged access management (PAM) specialist Thycotic is expanding its portfolio with the announcement of three new products.
It's launching Thycotic Remote Access Controller, Thycotic Cloud Access Controller and Thycotic Database Access Controller, following its acquisition of cloud security company Onion ID.
Enterprise mobile phishing up 37 percent in Q1 2020


According to the latest study from mobile security company Lookout, the first quarter of this year saw the enterprise mobile phishing encounter rate increase by 37.1 percent globally .
This includes regional increases of 66.3 percent in North America, 25.5 percent in EMEA and 27.7 percent in the Asia Pacific region.
Agile adoption increases during lockdown


The 14th annual State of Agile report from Digital.ai reveals that the pandemic lockdown is driving demand for Agile adoption.
According to the findings 43 percent of organizations say their momentum for Agile adoption has increased over the past 90 days, with 15 percent saying it has increased significantly.
How technology can help protect against identity fraud [Q&A]


The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a tide of cybercriminal activity seeking to exploit things like government payments.
We spoke to Michael Magrath, director, global regulations and standards at anti-fraud and digital identity solutions company OneSpan to find out how governments and enterprises can use technology to guard against the threat.
The secret life of discontinued apps


When a book goes out of print the publishers don't pop round and remove old copies from your shelves. Similarly, when an app is discontinued it can be taken off the app stores but continues to linger on users' devices.
Mobile security company Wandera has been taking a look at what happens to these with an analysis of six-months' worth of apps that were removed from the app stores, along with apps that were installed on customer devices prior to the six-month period and, subsequently, removed.
UK government launches fund to boost smart device security


It's estimated that there could be as many as 75 billion connected devices worldwide by 2025, but the increased popularity of 'smart' equipment comes with risk as many products currently on sale lack basic cybersecurity.
In response to this threat the UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is launching a £400,000 ($490,000) fund for innovators to design schemes to boost the security of internet-connected products.
Ian's Bio
Ian spent almost 20 years working with computers before he discovered that writing about them was easier than fixing them. Since then he's written for a number of computer magazines and is a former editor of PC Utilities. Follow him on Mastodon
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