Cyber attacks against the UK are increasing
The number of cyber attacks launched against the UK has increased significantly with 188 high-level attacks occurring within just the last three months.
The news of the attacks came from Ciaran Martin, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), who told the Sunday Times that a number of the attacks were sophisticated enough to threaten national security.
Hiring a hacker: Why and how you should do it
The global cost of cybercrime could reach £4.9 trillion annually by 2021, according to a recent report from Cybersecurity Ventures. Cyber crime incidents continue to plague organizations globally, even as businesses pour money into boosting their security.
But how do businesses deal with vulnerabilities they cannot identify? It only takes one smart hacker to discover a backdoor and get access to your sensitive data and systems. Organizations must identify the weaknesses in their cyber security, before -- not after -- they’re exploited by hackers. However, to beat a hacker you’ll need to think like one. Here’s how -- and why -- you should hire a hacker.
Most banks aren't confident they can detect a data breach
Consumers are quite confident banks and insurers can keep their data safe, but these organizations aren’t that sure. A new report by Capgemini has shown that financial institutions lack a significant amount of confidence when it comes to data protection.
Just one in five (21 percent) of financial service organizations admitted they’re "highly confident" they could detect a data breach. On the other hand, 83 percent of consumers trust banks and insurers with their data.
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The effect of cybercrime on businesses and consumers
Here we are, at the end of the first month of a new year and where are we? Well, I guess that very much depends on who you are. If you're a hacker, then things are looking good for you. If you're a consumer, the evidence suggests you won't be fooled twice, but is that good enough? And if you're a business, you've got the same security problems as last year but with enhanced threats from hackers and careless employees as well as enhanced expectations from consumers.
So, exactly what is happening in today's security world and what does it mean for you?
Lloyds bank hit by DDoS attack
The Lloyds Banking Group fell victim to a massive cyberattack this week, that was responsible for temporarily disrupting its services.
The attack is being attributed to an international hacking group. It launched a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against the company's online services that lasted for two days. During this time, customers were reportedly unable to make payments online or check their account balances.
Hacking group uses Google services to control malware
Carbanak, a powerful cyber-crime group, is using certain Google services as command and control for its malware and other malicious elements. The news was released by cybersecurity firm Forcepoint this week.
Forcepoint uncovered a trojanized RTF document, which, once ran, will "send and receive commands to and from Google Apps Script, Google Sheets, and Google Forms services."
We know email can be hacked, but what could be next? (Shhhh it's voice)
If you are like most people, you are beginning to wonder if anyone has even a tenth of a clue about how to protect email. We all watched, for example, as reams of stolen political correspondence from a major email provider were posted each day leading up to the recent election, more than likely influencing the outcome.
And we all watched as another major email provider lost 500 million accounts to hackers who seemed to barely break a sweat in doing so. And, as if that’s not bad enough, the criminal underground put these swiped email goods up for sale at about a millionth of a cent per user account. Sadly, that’s just how trivial the bad guys think it has now become to break into our email. Criminal theft of email has officially become commoditized. The old Pony Express was safer.
FBI-helping phone-cracking firm Cellebrite hit by 900GB hack
Cellebrite -- the Israeli security company famed for helping the FBI crack the iPhone at center of the San Bernardino case -- has been hit by hackers. The attack resulted in the theft of 900GB of data.
While the website Motherboard -- which was handed a copy of the data -- reports that "the cache includes customer information, databases, and a vast amount of technical data regarding Cellebrite's products", the company has downplayed the incident.
Why you should be thanking hackers
With titles like "cyber terrorist" floating around, hackers have been associated with all things criminal, malicious, and in some cases, just plain psychotic. A fair argument, considering how many cases of identity theft, loss of income, slander, and more have come from a data breach thanks to a keyboard and a few hours.
So why should you be thanking hackers?
Yahoo's security is a huge mess
The latest reports on the data breach revelations at Yahoo, suggest that the company lost data for more than one billion users as far back as August 2013 and that the data is suspected to contain names, email addresses, hashed passwords, security questions and associated answers. In addition, Yahoo has stated that the attackers have accessed Yahoo proprietary code used to generate cookies for user access without credentials.
This major breach raises a number of questions, including: why did it take so long to identify and notify authorities about it? What are the implications for Yahoo users? What might this mean for Yahoo going forward? And what can other companies learn from these events?
The biggest security threats in 2017
It’s that time of the year again: when the great and good of the cybersecurity industry reach for their crystal balls to anticipate what the threat landscape might look like in the next 12 months. We all know cybercriminals by and large don’t operate to annual deadlines.
But December still represents a good opportunity for us to point out what might be coming down the road. It’s what Trend Micro’s 1,200-strong global threat research team does all year round to ensure we’re prepared for anything the black hats can throw at us. The good news for the UK’s CISOs is that much of what we’ll see is a steady evolution from threats that will already be familiar to many. The bad news: that won’t make them any less dangerous.
Insiders or outsiders, which is the greater threat?
Historically, the idea of a hacker has always conjured up images of the outsider trying to gain access to government or corporate systems.
But in recent years it's become clear that insiders can present just as big a threat, whether from malicious intent or just careless use of systems.
How to detect a hacker before they steal your company's data
With massive data breaches uncovered daily or weekly, it’s hard not to be a bit numb to the urgency and magnitude of the issue. For most organizations, the problem is far from solved. Apathy in place of outrage at this juncture could diminish any help before it gets started. At the same time, misguided efforts will result in continued failure.
A giant Python-esque foot has not yet come down to condemn the ludicrousness of such a broad catastrophe but losses and damage have been mounting. This year, cybercrime overtook physical crime in the UK, marking a profound changing of the times. The National Crime Agency estimates the annual loss to UK businesses of £1 billion in direct costs, although the more realistic number is far greater, particularly considering the cost of stolen intellectual property and business secrets and other loss and damage not typically reported.
WikiLeaks: 2017 will 'blow you away' and, no, Russia did not hack the US election
The hatred WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange feels towards Hillary Clinton is far from being a secret. During the election campaign, the non-profit organization leaked Clinton emails in the hope that it would destroy her presidential hopes -- and we all know the result of the election.
As we slide gently into 2017, the WikiLeaks Twitter account has turned on the ignition and is about to hit the accelerator. The tweet says: "If you thought 2016 was a big WikiLeaks year 2017 will blow you away". On top of this, Assange himself is due to appear in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, denying Russia's involvement in hacking DNC emails.
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