European Court of Justice will determine the legality of mass surveillance in the UK
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ruled that the legality of mass surveillance in the UK should be decided by the European Court of Justice. The ECJ has already ruled that governments engaging in "general and indiscriminate retention" of data is illegal, and this led campaign group Privacy International to bring a case.
The ruling means that only targeted interception of data and communication is permissible, something which the Investigatory Powers Act -- also known as the snooper's charter -- goes far beyond.
Poor security design and how not to handle a cyber attack -- lessons from Equifax
The data breach at credit agency Equifax looks to be one of the biggest in recent times. Industry experts have been quick to criticise both the company's security and its response to the breach.
Once again we've seen a breach exploiting a web app vulnerability that has managed to go undetected for several months. There has also been criticism of Equifax executives actions in selling $1 million worth of stock before going public about the breach.
Researcher finds 'serious' security flaws on HMRC's UK tax site
A security researcher discovered two serious flaws on the HMRC tax website which could have allowed attackers to view, or even edit, tax records. But the researcher, Zemnmez, was astonished not only by the flaws, but also at how hard it was to report them.
In a lengthy blog post entitled "how to hack the uk tax system, i guess," Zemnmez gives details of his findings. He also reveals that it took no fewer than 57 days to successfully report the issues so they could be looked into.
US schools are uniquely vulnerable to cyber attacks
A new study by application delivery and security company Radware reveals that US schools are uniquely vulnerable to the threat of cyber attacks.
The study of 1,000 US consumers shows that 15 percent of respondents think a 1-6 grade student easily disrupt school or university operations through a cyber attack, while 57 percent believe the same is true for high school students.
Best Windows 10 apps this week
Two-hundred-and-forty-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.
Microsoft confirmed this week that the next feature update of Window 10, the Fall Creators Update, will launch on October 17, 2017.
Many UK businesses don't know if they are GDPR compliant
Every fifth business in the UK has "no idea" if their corporate policies are enough to comply with the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is according to a new report by Citrix, which investigates the obstacles companies in the UK are still facing when it comes to complying with GDPR.
The report says there are three major roadblocks --data sprawl, a huge influx of personal customer information and uncertainty around data ownership.
TheShadowBrokers group returns with NSA UNITEDRAKE hacking malware and promises more leaks
It feels as though it has been a while since we heard anything from the hacking group TheShadowBrokers. The group's latest data dump sees the release of the NSA's UNITEDRAKE exploit tool, and there's also a promise of two data dumps a month moving forward.
UNITEDRAKE is a remote access hacking tool that can be used to target Windows machines. Modular in nature, the malware can be expanded through the use of plugins to increase its capabilities so it can capture footage from webcams, tap into microphones, capture keystrokes, and more.
IBM offers free cyber security training to military veterans
We've seen quite a bit recently about the difficulties of recruiting cyber security personnel, and how the skills needed for the role have changed.
In a new initiative, IBM in the UK is teaming up with ex-forces employment specialist SaluteMyJob and non-profit education body the Corsham Institute to offer a free cyber security training course for military veterans.
Game of Thrones season 7 illegally viewed more than a billion times
Game of Thrones is a hugely popular show, and every year we see statistics regarding how many times different episodes have been downloaded illegally.
Season 7, which has just finished on HBO, was easily the most pirated yet, helped in no small part by leaks from hackers which saw episodes available to stream through Kodi, and download on pirate sites and BitTorrent before they were even broadcast.
AI gaydar can accurately determine sexuality from a photo
Facial detection technology is usually used to identify individuals for the purposes of crime prevention, or as a biometric security method. But a paper published by Stanford University -- entitled simply "Deep neural networks are more accurate than humans at detecting sexual orientation from facial images" -- shows that it could also be used to determine people's sexuality.
Using AI and deep neural networks, algorithms have been shown to have a far better gaydar than people. Working with a sample of more than 35,000 photographs, the system was able to correctly determine whether individuals were gay or straight with staggering accuracy -- 81 percent of men and 74 percent of women. While on one hand the results are impressive, there are also ethical concerns.
Equifax data breach could be worst ever -- find out here if you are affected by the hack
Data breaches are fairly common nowadays. This is unfortunate, as it exposes sensitive information to evil hackers and other nefarious criminals. Look, people are doing their best to make it through the day -- working long hours and struggling to make ends meet. Then, some computer nerd comes along and adds to life's difficulties by stealing identities. Sigh.
Today, another data breach comes to light, but this time it is particularly bad. In fact, it could quite possibly be the worst such hack in history. You see, credit agency Equifax -- a company you'd expect to be very secure -- had consumer information stolen. Now, it isn't just a handful of people that are affected. No, it is a staggering 143 million consumers in the USA! To make matters worse, it includes the holy grail of personally identifiable information -- social security numbers. Besides SSN, the hackers got birth dates and addresses too. For some of these unfortunate folks, even credit card numbers and driver's license numbers were pilfered.
HPE acquires Cloud Technology Partners
Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced it is acquiring Cloud Technology Partners, a born-in-the-cloud services company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Cloud Technology Partners helps sophisticated IT organizations move to the cloud. It does it by determining optimal apps for both public and private clouds. The company also executes migrations and help clients transform their organizations as needed.
7 ways to lower your AWS bill
The AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service has many advantages, including easy scalability, pay-for-what-you-use, as-you-go pricing, and an enormous array of options and upgrades -- so many that your AWS bill may become quite complicated.
Have you been suffering from sticker shock but have no idea which of the literally thousands of line items on your invoice are the culprits? Here are seven hidden AWS costs that could be breaking the bank.
Vodafone and Onecom announce IoT partnership
Onecom and Vodafone have signed a five-year deal aimed at expanding the choice of IoT services available to UK businesses.
The two companies will jointly "develop, launch and manage" a range of tools going forward. Onecom, a unified communications platform, will deploy Vodafone’s global IoT managed connectivity, platform and services, so businesses can use connected solutions within their organizations.
Bose unveils diminutive SoundLink Micro wireless Bluetooth speaker
If you are a student, you are probably back in school by now. Yeah, going to class can sometimes be a drag, but learning new stuff can be fun too. Heck, it is also a great way to socialize and meet new people. Not to mention, wearing freshly bought clothes and carrying a new backpack can be an exciting experience.
But what if you want to listen to music when you aren't doing school work? Yeah, you can play your favorite jams using your smartphone, but really, a Bluetooth speaker will provide more volume, and probably, better sound too. Today, Bose unveils a new model that should be ideal for students or anyone, really. It is incredibly small at just 1.5 inches high and 3.75 inches wide, making it perfect for tossing it into a backpack. Heck, thanks to the integrated strap, you can easily attach it to your bag too. If you are rough on your gear, do not worry as it is durable -- it has an IPX7 waterproof rating.
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