Cybersecurity Expert

     A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, June 2021. How was UK Government Building CCTV Leaked? The  Sun newspaper published CCTV workplace footage of Health Secretary Matt Hancock, kissing aide Gina Coladangelo  on 6th May 2021, the fact both are married to different people fuelled several days of sensational headlines. Given Matt Hancock has led the charge on directing the UK's COVID rules, his position in government quickly became untenable, resigning a few days later after the story broke. However, the big security concern here, is how was internal UK government building CCTV footage obtained by an external reporter?   CCTV Leaked from UK Gov Buildings is a security concern The Northern Ireland secretary,  Brandon Lewis,  summed up the security concern when he said  “t he security and privacy of government business mean min...

    A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, May 2021. UK Smarties Cities Cybersecurity Warning The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) published its Smart Cities (connected places) guidance for UK local authorities . NCSC warned UK  Smart Cities will be highly targeted by hackers, and as such, councils need to ensure they are properly prepared as they rollout increasingly connected and technology-reliant infrastructure. The NCSC said critical public services must be protected from disruption, while sensitive data also needs to be secured from being stolen in large volumes. Smart cities and connected rural environments promise a host of benefits for UK society, for instance, sensors will monitor pollution, real-time information on parking spaces, while cameras will track congestion and smartly manage traffic flow. However, another concern is the large volume...

Your mobile device can be hacked very easily without your knowledge. Even if an attacker can’t get into your device they can attempt to gain access to the sensitive information instead that is stored inside such as your places visited, emails and contacts. It's not just consumers who are targeted by cybercriminals, the rise of smartphones and tablets in the workplace and the increase in remote working has resulted in hackers targeting businesses via their mobile device vulnerabilities. Most individuals and organisations with very sensitive information, still do not take basic mobile security measures, even with the rising threats to our smartphones. According to a study by Intertrust on mobile security, the cost of mobile app hacks and violations will hit $1.5 billion by the end of 2021. Yet, network systems or even our desktop computers get more attention, with mobile device security continuing to be ignored by organisations across the globe every day. Three Ways a Mobile Device ...

Last year, a Which? investigation found that 31% of resold smartphone models from three of the major used and refurbished handset stores are no longer receiving security updates. Phone manufacturers only schedule data updates for a certain period after the release of a model, so those looking for an additional bargain in older devices could be putting themselves at risk. As well as security issues, second-hand smartphones that haven’t been wiped by their previous user can still contain sensitive data. Without following the proper steps, anybody considering selling their old phone on eBay or another marketplace could be exposed to fraud in numerous ways. How to Ensure Security When Buying a Phone Phone manufacturers often release information on their security updates, so checking your chosen model is still receiving these updates is essential to remain secure once you start using your new phone. The length of time phones are updated varies by manufacturer and by model. For example, App...

   A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, March 2021. How not to disclosure a Hack UK fashion retailer FatFace angered customers in its handling of a customer data theft hack.   The clothes retailer revealed a data theft which included its customer's full names, home addresses, email addresses, and partial debit\credit card details. The payment card details included the last four digits and the card's security verification code, the latter code is never permitted to be stored after a payment card authorisation under Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requirements, so it would appear the business was not PCI DSS compliant at the time of their hack, which strongly suggests the business may not doing enough of the expected IT security good practices to prevent being hacked in the first place, a poor IT defence posture which appears to have even been corrobora...

  A roundup of UK focused Cyber and Information Security News, Blog Posts, Reports and general Threat Intelligence from the previous calendar month, February 2021. Serious Linux Vulnerability Last month  a newly discovered critical vulnerability in 'sudo', a fundamental program present in all Linux and Unix operating systems caught my eye. The sudo vulnerability aka  CVE-2001-3156 , seemed to go under the radar after it was announced and patches were released on 26th January 2021. I  wrote a blog post  about my concerns given Linux is embedded everywhere, yet many of these systems are rarely, and even never updated with security updates. From IoT devices to internet-based services, the security of countless devices and web-based services' are dependant upon a secure Linux account privilege model. While these Linux operating systems remain unpatched to prevent exploitation of the CVE-2021-3156 vulnerability, there are waiting to be hacked. Npower App Hack Npowe...

Article by Greg Foss, Senior Cyber Security Strategist, VMware Carbon Black Wherever there is disruption, cybercriminals see opportunity. Alongside the devastating health and economic impacts of the global coronavirus pandemic, we have also seen a huge escalation in ransomware attacks as people shifted to working from home. VMware Carbon Black threat researchers have recorded a 900% year on year increase in ransomware attacks in the first half of 2020. Attacks are not only more frequent, but they are also more sophisticated, as adversaries strive to maximise the revenue potential from each hit. As modular and more extensive malware has become ubiquitous, adversaries are diversifying and adopting more strategic and multi-stage tactics. They’ve identified factors such as high financial and regulatory penalties and reputational damage that offer more leverage to extort money from victims. As a result, it is now easier than ever for criminals with minimal skill to execute highly impactful ...