News

No data loss or evidence of extended intrusions, but standalone limb Xchanging did suffer

DXC has recovered from a ransomware attack that hit its independent services-for-insurers operation Xchanging.…

Because no one likes to install spoof system files

Microsoft is preparing to once and for all drop support for the SHA-1 hash algorithm.…

We're gonna keeping punning this until someone pays us $5m

An annoying vulnerability in the widely used GRUB2 bootloader can be potentially exploited by malware or a rogue insider already on a machine to thoroughly compromise the operating system or hypervisor while evading detection by users and security tools.…

Surprise pledge catches company on the hop: 'We have announced no change to our strategy'

China's ambassador to Britain has threatened to withdraw Huawei and several billions in investment following the government's decision to ban the company's products from 5G mobile networks.…

Plus: Don't worry, students. The hackers told us they destroyed your data... - latest unis to fess up to being hit by Blackbaud

Nearly half of British university staff say they have received no cybersecurity training, according to a recent survey.…

Toshiba leads effort that aspires to run 100 quantum cryptographic devices for 10,000 users by 2024

Japan is poised to start work on global quantum key distribution service and associated infrastructure.…

Newsletter-as-a-service outfit Substack does the usual apologising

Some advice from The Register: when announcing a new privacy policy don’t do so with emails that reveal 500 addresses in the “To” field of the message.…

Browser quitters say they'll return if web goliath lives up to privacy promises

A handful of Chrome users have sued Google, accusing the browser maker of collecting personal information despite their decision not to sync data stored in Chrome with a Google Account.…

Just another day for the Investigatory Powers Tribunal

The UK's Secret Intelligence Service, aka MI6, has been accused of trying to tamper with a court that is supposed to oversee and regulate it after an extraordinary tale emerged yesterday.…

Tune in online to get a handle on separating good data from clutter

Webcast  The advantages of having decent threat intelligence in place are many and various, as the threat landscape continues to widen year-on-year.…

It's time to think beyond simple perimeter defenses

Webcast  The adoption of mobile and cloud, and the coronavirus pandemic forcing people to work from home, shows you can no longer rely on computer security based on a simple network perimeter.…

If you're still using a vulnerable box, you ought to factory reset it before patching

The number of QNAP network-attached storage (NAS) boxes infected with the data-stealing QSnatch malware has reached 62,000, the US and UK governments warned today.…

Somebody light that pilot light

Garmin services appear to be in the process of being restored after the company was reportedly hit with ransomware, though its aviation services remain offline at the time of writing.…

Tawdry political scuffle over database access binned for lack of evidence

A lawsuit alleging that ex-UKIP leader Richard Braine took part in blackmail and data breaches has been all but thrown out of the High Court as a judge said it was "without any proper and sound evidential foundation".…

Plus: US govt sounds the alarm on industrial equipment attacks

In Brief  Cisco this week emitted fixes for potentially serious vulnerabilities, one of which is already being exploited in the wild.…

ProtoVPN IP range fingrered as source of destructive attacks

Poorly secured databases by the thousands are being wiped and vandalized in a seemingly automated attack.…

Argh! Dominic Cummings' department! Everybody panic!

The UK Cabinet Office is to take control of government data from the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport.…

That cloudy CRM firm paid ransom doesn't fill anyone with confidence

British universities are waking up to last week's ransomware attack on cloud CRM purveyor Blackbaud – though it appears some haven't realised the American software company paid the ransom.…

Switch on, urges GCHQ-backed public security agency

Common cybersecurity threats also apply to Premier League football clubs, according to the National Cyber Security Centre, which said that one club nearly sent £1m to fraudsters after a business email compromise (BEC) attack.…

Be careful about bunking off when you're billing your hours to a government

A now-former Raytheon systems engineer will spend the next year and a half behind bars for taking home secret US government blueprints and paperwork, against security procedures, all because he seemingly liked taking Fridays off.…