Businesses call on EU to defend encryption and privacy
In March this year, EU countries' interior ministers are due to vote on the introduction of mandatory client-side scanning for all providers in order to identify child abuse material.
But an open letter, published today, from a group of privacy-focused companies warns of the risk of opening up a backdoor and calls on ministers to defend citizen's right to privacy and strengthen the position of EU companies.
Majority of cyberattacks delivered over encrypted channels
In total, 86 percent of all cyber threats, including malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks, are delivered over encrypted channels, according to a new report.
The study from Zscaler also shows threats over HTTPS grew by 24 percent from 2022, underscoring the sophisticated nature of cybercriminal tactics that target encrypted channels.
Will Quantum Computing change the way we use encryption?
Today, encryption is a cornerstone of our cybersecurity practices. It protects everything from cell phones and SMS messages to financial transactions and intellectual property.
However, a new challenge in the complex landscape of encryption has recently emerged, thanks to the advancement of quantum computing. What challenges lay ahead? Here is the breakdown:
Global Encryption Day: Protecting our first line of defense
Today, Global Encryption Day 2023, marks the perfect opportunity to reflect on what has been a highly challenging year for the technology.
Encryption acts as a fundamental safeguard of data privacy, securing data both during transmission and while at rest. It often serves as a primary defense against hackers and is indispensable in preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information. With the risk of reputational damage and massive fines for those who are breached, it is essential for any organizations looking to ensure regulatory compliance.
BitLocker could be cutting the performance of SSDs almost in half in Windows 11
A new report goes some way to showing that the BitLocker security feature of Windows 11 could be massively reducing the performance of SSDs.
An investigation found that the data encryption tool, which is enabled by default in Windows 11 Pro, can slow solid state drives by as much as 45 percent. While it would be reasonable to expect a bit of a performance drop overall as the software works away encrypting and decrypting files, few people would expect the hit to be quite so significant.
Enterprises need to start planning now for post-quantum security
The power that quantum computing makes available offers benefits in many areas, but it also means cracking encryption becomes much easier, which poses an enormous threat to data and user security.
At its annual Trust Summit conference, DigiCert has released the results of a global study exploring how organizations are addressing the post-quantum computing threat and preparing for a safe post-quantum computing future.
Meta is expanding WhatsApp-style end-to-end encryption to Messenger
Security is vital for digital communication, and that's why the likes of Telegram and WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is so important and popular. Meta has long been keen to expand this security feature to its various other messaging platforms, and now the Facebook-owner has announced that it is implementing E2EE for all Messenger users.
The company points out that this is currently a test phase, so while more and more people will see immediate security enhancements, the rollout will not be complete until the end of the year.
Why CSOs are prioritizing PKI infrastructure as they adapt to post-quantum cryptography [Q&A]
A growing number of machine identities leaves organizations with the task of managing increasingly complex PKI infrastructure.
We spoke to Chris Hickman, CSO of Keyfactor, about how organizations can go about reducing PKI complexity as well as other trends to keep in mind as they adapt to an era of post-quantum cryptography.
Three quarters of organizations risk their data with poor backup and protection policies
Just 25 percent of IT professionals are following industry best practices for backing up data, according to a new study from hardware-encrypted storage maker Apricorn.
The survey details data backup, encryption and resiliency protocols for over 250 IT professionals in the United States and Canada over the last 12 months. It finds that while 93 percent of respondents say that they factor in data backups as part of their cyber security strategy, only one in four follow the 3-2-1 rule, in which they keep three copies of data, on two different formats, one of which is stored off-site and encrypted.
Is this the year we take quantum threats seriously? [Q&A]
Quantum computing is something that seems to have been hovering just out of reach for a decade or so -- in fact research into the concept first began back in the 1980s.
More recently quantum has come closer to a commercial reality, with big players like IBM publishing a road map with a clear, detailed plan to scale quantum processors and build the hardware necessary to take advantage of the technology and other big players like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft having since followed suit.
Proton Pass is a new password manager from encryption specialists Proton
Proton, the company behind the security- and privacy-focused Proton Mail and Proton VPN, has launched a beta version of its new password manager.
Going under the unsurprising moniker of Proton Pass, the software is described as "perhaps the first one built by a dedicated encryption and privacy company". What this means in practice is that security is greater than in other password managers, with end-to-end encryption on all fields of forms.
WhatsApp announces a raft of new security features -- Account Protect, Device Verification and Automatic Security Codes
WhatsApp has announced a series of new privacy and security features to help protect against account hijacking and more.
The company says that it believes "your messages should be as private and secure as an in-person conversation", and it is with this in mind that it is launching Account Protect, Device Verification and Automatic Security Codes. Until now, we have only seen signs of these security features in beta versions of the chat app, but now an official announcement has been made promising an imminent rollout.
UK government loses hundreds of IT devices
UK government departments are losing hundreds of devices each year according to Freedom of Information (FoI) requests submitted by encrypted drive manufacturer Apricorn.
The Home Office declared 469 lost and stolen devices between September 2021 and September 2022, with the Ministry of Defence not far behind with 467 mobiles, tablets and USB devices unaccounted for.
Twitter to roll out direct message updates including encryption and 'any emoji reactions'
Things have been undeniably chaotic at Twitter since the arrival of Elon Musk, but the social network is still rolling out new features. Next in line for an update are direct messages.
DMs are due to receive a batch of new features and functionality, not least of which is a much-requested security feature -- encryption. But there is much more to look forward to. And if all goes according to plan, the new features will roll out later this month.
The challenges of network detection and response
Even as we've seen a shift towards remote working, networks remain the part of an organization that are most at risk from cyber attacks.
In a new infographic LiveAction looks at evolving network security challenges and how the right Network Detection and Response (NDR) solution can be used to tackle them.
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