This summer sees the arrival of The Great Hack, a documentary exploring the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica scandal and how it lifts the mask on the dark arts of personal data processing. The scandal has its roots in the start of this decade, when an apparently innocuous personality quiz appeared on Facebook in which millions […]
PrivSec podcast series
Stories of huge data breaches, record-breaking fines and the crucial issue of data privacy have seldom been out of mainstream media spotlight as we settle into the GDPR era. The revelations have fallen for good reason – for over 12 months now, European data regulators have been flexing new legislative muscles in a bid to […]
DPO 200: Recognising data protection professionals from across Europe
The Data Protection sector has experienced widespread change of regulatory and technology developments, particularly over the last 12 months following the enforcement of GDPR. GDPR celebrates its one year anniversary tomorrow, May the 25th 2018. The DPO 200, sponsored by OneTrust, in association with the GDPR Institut, recognises and celebrates individuals who have made significant […]
Over 50% of organisations believe attackers can infiltrate their networks
In the CyberArk Global Advanced Threat Landscape 2019 Report, only half of organisations believe they can stop cyber attacks. The report surveyed 1,000 global organisations and identified that although organisations view privileged access security as a core component of an effective cybersecurity program, this view has not yet translated into action. This is evidenced by […]
ByteDance to set up a data centre in India
The parent company of TikTok has announced plans to open a data centre in India to prevent another ban. ByteDance has given itself a target of 6-18 months to set up the data centre, and once done will become the first social media company to do so. In a statement, the company wrote: “India is […]
Cost of data breach increases by 12% over the past 5 years
IBM Security revealed the results of its annual Cost of Data Breach Report. The report was based on in-depth interviews with over 500 companies worldwide that suffered a data breach over the past year. It was revealed that the average cost of a data breach is now $3.92 million, whilst in the U.S the average […]
Flaw in Facebook’s Messenger Kids app let unapproved strangers enter chats
A design flaw in the kids app for under-13s has allowed unauthorised users to be part of group chats. Launched in 2017, Messenger Kids was made for children to interact with one another once a parent (or guardian) approves the friendship. However a design flaw in the app has made it possible for unapproved users […]
Lancaster University hit by cyber attack
A “sophisticated and malicious” phishing attack has led to Lancaster university student’s personal data being stolen. The university announced in a statement that undergraduate student applicant data for 2019 and 2020 entry had been accessed, this included their names, address, telephone numbers and email address. The statement wrote: “We are aware that fraudulent invoices are […]
Why employees are a threat to cyber security
The most common cyber attacks reported by UK companies in 2018 were all incidents that take advantage of employees and pose significant risks to businesses. According to the Cyber Security Breaches Survey, 80% of companies reported phishing attacks, while 28% noted incidents involving impersonating an organisation in email or online and 27% reported viruses, spyware […]
The ICO holds CEOs responsible, but the customer is the boss
Hefty fines mean data regulation and ethics, previously a specialist topic, is now being discussed at the highest level of organisations. Facebook, in particular, knows data protection authorities have claws, being fined $5bn last week by America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Brought on by privacy violations linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the amount dwarfs […]
Kazakhstan’s new online safety tool raises privacy concerns
The Kazakhstan government has started instructing Internet service providers (ISPs) to force users to install a new security certificate. The government-issued certificate will allow government agencies to decrypt users’ HTTPS internet traffic, examine its content and then re-encrypt it with their certificate before being sent to its destination. Since Wednesday 17, 2019, Kazakh internet users […]
Hacker steals data of 5 million Bulgarians
A Bulgarian cybersecurity worker hacked the National Revenue Agency (NRA) database and exposed the data of more than 5 million Bulgarian taxpayers. In a country of just seven million people, the hack means that the majority of working adults have been impacted. The hack resulted in the theft of personal information including social security, bank […]
Almost a third of EU firms still not GDPR compliant
A new report by accounting company RSM announced that almost one in three European businesses are not compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation. RSM conducted a survey with the European Business Awards and spoke to over 300 companies. It was noted that medium-sized businesses are “struggling to understand and implement” GDPR. Since its implementation […]
Equifax close to paying around $700 million to settle data breach lawsuits
The credit reporting agency is nearing a deal to settle state and federal investigations into the 2017 data breach. The Equifax data breach compromised the personal information of over 145 million US citizens. Names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and many more personal details were among the data that had been exposed. According to The […]