New Spy-Spotting App From MI5

The UK government’s MI5-run ‘Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure’ has launched a new app to help people spot approaches from foreign spies and organised criminals seeking sensitive information.  Really? How Big Is The Problem?  According to MI5, it spotted 10,000 UK nationals across society being approached last year via fake social media profiles,…

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Apple, Google and Microsoft In Password Collaboration

Apple, Google and Microsoft In Password Collaboration

Apple, Google and Microsoft have announced that they are joining forces to support a common passwordless sign-in standard that will allow websites and apps to offer consistent, secure and easy sign-ins across devices and platforms.   The Problem With Password-Only   Relying on password-only authentication is known to present many risks and challenges such as managing multiple…

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Pernicious Pegasus Plagues (Another) Prime-Minister

Pernicious Pegasus Plagues (Another) Prime-Minister

With many governments (including the UK Government) being targeted with Pegasus phone-spying software, there’s now news that Spain’s PM’s has also been hit.  What Is Pegasus?  Pegasus spyware is sold by Israeli-based NSO Group to governments to carry out surveillance by infecting phones with surveillance software. The software is sold to nation states, for millions…

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Pegasus Spyware Discovered In Downing Street

The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab has reported finding evidence that Pegasus spyware was being used to listen-in on UK government networks for 10 Downing Street and the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices (FCO) in 2020 and 2021.  Pegasus  Pegasus spyware is sold by Israeli-based NSO Group to governments to carry out surveillance by infecting phones…

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Warning: Scam Aid To Ukraine Emails Circulating

Scam Aid To Ukraine Emails Circulating

The UK’s national fraud reporting centre, Action Fraud, says that it has received 196 reports of scam emails claiming to be raising funds for victims of the war in Ukraine.   Facebook Post   In a Meta / Facebook post on 18 March, Action Fraud reported:   “We’ve received 196 reports about FAKE emails purporting to raise money…

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Germany Warns Against Use of Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Germany Warns Against Use of Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has warned that Russia-based Kaspersky’s anti-virus software could be used for spying or launching cyber-attacks.   Russian Companies Forced To Launch Cyber-Attacks?   The warning was aimed at Russian IT businesses who, claims the BSI, could be used via the software to carry out offensive operations, or forced against their…

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Mobile Malware Surges By 500%

Mobile Malware Surges By 500%

Proofpoint researchers have reported that, starting in early February, there has been a 500 per cent jump in mobile malware delivery attempts in Europe.  Trend  According to the researchers, this rise is in keeping with a trend that has been evident in the last few years where attackers have been increasing their attempts at smishing…

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3% of Users Responsible For 92% Of Breaches

3% of Users Responsible For 92% Of Breaches

A report by Security Company ‘Elevate’ has revealed that 3 per cent of users are responsible for 92 per cent of malware events for businesses, indicating that a small number of users create the most risk.    2016 to 2021    ‘The Size and Shape of Workforce Risk’ report, conducted on data provided to the Cyentia Institute…

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Okay, Ukraine Is Being Attacked. How Worried Should We Be?

Okay, Ukraine Is Being Attacked. How Worried Should We Be?

In this article, we look at how, in addition to the devastating missiles, rockets, bombs, tanks and other weapons, Ukraine has also been the subject of cyber-warfare and we look at how these and other war-related issues could be cause for concern across Europe.  War In Ukraine At the time of writing this article, as…

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Why Solid Black Bars May Be Best For Redacted Text

Why Solid Black Bars May Be Best For Redacted Text

In this insight, we look at how to best to avoid redacted text from being ‘unredacted’ by certain software tools, and we look at what researchers advise based on recent experiments.  The Problem  For businesses and organisations, the increased need for data sharing and/or making some data public can mean that certain (sensitive) parts of…

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