Security News
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
Brit cops have cuffed eight men in England and Scotland amid a probe into SIM-swapping attacks on high-profile US targets - including sports stars, musicians, and "Influencers" - that had money and personal data stolen. Last year unauthorised third parties took over the Twitter accounts of 130 celebrities including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and former US president Barrack Obama.
The UK's ruling Conservative Party has been using personal data in a way that spots an individual's likely county of origin, ethnic origin and religion based on their first and last name. According to an ICO report, the Tory party purchased so-called "Estimated onomastic data" and appended it to the records of 10 million voters.
"There are over 6,000 systems and 80,000 cameras in operation across 183 LAs!" So exclaimed the UK's outgoing Surveillance Camera Commissioner as he detailed just how many council CCTV cameras there are across the nation. In a public plea asking councils to take compliance with surveillance laws seriously, Tony Porter lifted the lid on the scale and depth of CCTV camera deployment across Great Britain.