Security News

Brit IT firms wound up by court order after fooling folk into paying for 'support' over fake computer errors
2021-06-15 12:30

Two Kent-registered IT companies have been wound up in the High Court of England and Wales for trying to scam punters with fake pop-ups to generate tech support cons. The court heard that Msinfosys Support Ltd and MS Global Support Ltd, both operated by the same director, generated unsolicited pop-up error messages that appeared on people's computers.

Norton dodges UK courts after telling Brit watchdog it will be nicer to consumers
2021-06-14 14:56

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has inked a deal with Norton where it will refund customers whose antivirus software subscription was automatically renewed. Today's agreement comes after the regulator launched legal action against Norton in March - a first for a consumer protection case - when the company refused to furnish the CMA with the information needed during the course of the investigation.

Brit retailer Furniture Village confirms 'cyber-attack' as systems outage rolls into Day 7
2021-06-04 08:15

Furniture Village - the UK's largest independent furniture retailer with 54 stores nationwide - has been hit by a "Cyber-attack", the company confirmed to The Register. The problems emerged last weekend on 29 May when Furniture Village admitted it was experiencing "Technical issues" and it was unable to answer calls.

Brit watchdog shows some teeth over McAfee antivirus auto-renewals
2021-05-25 15:46

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has reached agreement with antivirus vendor McAfee that means some customers whose software subscription was automatically renewed will be able to get a refund. It's quite the slap on the wrist for McAfee, whose software tends to be bundled with a large number of devices sold in the UK. Customers who signed up with the company may not have understood the ins and outs of auto-renewal, hence the CMA action.

Brit MPs and campaigners come together to oppose COVID status certificates as 'divisive and discriminatory'
2021-04-28 14:32

With Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove expected to announce app-based "COVID status certificates," the UK's post-lockdown plan looks set to come under fierce attack. They join other campaign groups, including Liberty, in backing the statement: "We oppose the divisive and discriminatory use of COVID status certification to deny individuals access to general services, businesses or jobs."

Do you expect me to talk? Yes, Mr Bond, I expect you to reply: 10k Brits targeted on LinkedIn by Chinese, Russian spies
2021-04-20 15:48

Ten thousand Britons have been targeted on LinkedIn by recruiters for the Chinese and Russian intelligence services, according to an awareness campaign launched by domestic spy agency MI5 this morning. Details were previewed in this morning's Times newspaper, which warned specifically of people with "Access to classified or sensitive information" being targeted by Britain's enemies.

LinkedIn was vector for 10,000 hostile state recruiting efforts against Brits, warns MI5
2021-04-20 15:48

Ten thousand Britons have been targeted on LinkedIn by recruiters for the Chinese and Russian intelligence services, according to an awareness campaign launched by domestic spy agency MI5 this morning. Details were previewed in this morning's Times newspaper, which warned specifically of people with "Access to classified or sensitive information" being targeted by Britain's enemies.

Brit authorities could legally do an FBI and scrub malware from compromised boxen without your knowledge
2021-04-19 09:39

UK authorities could lawfully copy the FBI and forcibly remove web shells from compromised Microsoft Exchange server deployments - but some members of the British infosec industry are remarkably quiet about whether this would be a good thing. In the middle of last week the American authorities made waves after deleting web shells from Exchange Server deployments compromised in the Hafnium attacks.

Brit college forced to shift all teaching online for a week while it picks up the pieces from ransomware attack
2021-03-17 12:40

An English college has temporarily closed all eight of its campuses and moved all teaching online after a "Major" ransomware attack "Disabled" its IT systems. "The College has suffered a major ransomware attack on our IT system which has disabled many of our core IT systems," the institute said in a note to students posted on its website.

Brit cybercops issue tender to rip and replace their formerly flaw-ridden CyberAlarm tool
2021-03-10 09:30

Police have issued a tender to replace their CyberAlarm tool following reporting by The Register and infosec researchers revealing security flaws in the logging software. Detective chief superintendent Andrew Gould, the NPCC's cybercrime lead and "Owner" of CyberAlarm, told The Register in a statement: "Due to the growing demand for Police CyberAlarm from businesses across the country, further funding for the project has been secured from the Home Office for another 12 months following the government's latest one-year spending review. As per procurement regulations we are required to conduct a new competitive tender to identify a supplier for the new 12-month contract."