Techworld.com security

Firms take 10 hours to spot data breaches, McAfee finds

John E Dunn) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:12:00 GMT

The average organisation believes it would spot a data breach in ten hours, a McAfee global survey of IT professionals has found. But is that result good, indifferent or an indication of the downright complacent?

European trust in US compromised, says EU data protection head

Jennifer Baker) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:15:00 GMT

Europe’s top privacy watchdog and the Digital Agenda Commissioner both said Monday that more transparency and trust is needed between the European Union and the United States following the Prism scandal.

The NSA's Prism must be countered with public policy, says crypto guru Phil Zimmermann

John E Dunn) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:50:00 GMT

The National Security Agency’s Prism surveillance system is a dangerous hostage to fortune that must be countered using public policy and not simply clever security technologies alone, privacy campaigner and encryption luminary Phil Zimmermann has argued.

Does encryption really shield you from government's prying eyes?

Zach Miners) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:19:00 GMT

If you're thinking about encrypting email in light of revelations about U.S. government spying, you may be wasting your time.

EU justice commissioner on Prism: EU citizens' rights are not negotiable

Jennifer Baker) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:47:00 GMT

Europe’s Justice Commission said Friday that she would not sacrifice European citizens’ rights for United States’ national security.

Oracle to ship 40 security fixes for Java SE

Chris Kanaracus) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:58:00 GMT

Oracle is set to release a patch set for Java SE that targets 40 security vulnerabilities.

Spy-proof enterprise encryption is possible, but daunting

Lucian Constantin) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 08:18:00 GMT

Data encryption could help enterprises protect their sensitive information against mass surveillance by governments, as well as guard against unauthorized access by ill-intended third parties, but the correct implementation and use of data encryption technologies is not an easy task, according to security experts.

US charges eight with multimillion-dollar cybercrime

Martyn Williams) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:01:00 GMT

US federal prosecutors charged eight people on Wednesday in connection with a multimillion-dollar fraud that siphoned money from hacked accounts at banks and financial institutions, laundered it and sent it overseas.

Google detects phishing attacks in Iran ahead of elections

noreply@idg.co.uk (John Ribeiro) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 01:37:00 GMT

Google has detected large-scale phishing attacks targeting users in Iran, ahead of presidential elections in the country.

Dell SecureWorks launches global APT-detection service

John E Dunn) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:14:00 GMT

Dell SecureWorks has launched a new threat-hunting service designed to detect the presence of complex cyberattacks inside organisations in a sign that security forensics could be about to become more mainstream.

Facebook, Twitter support Google's call for transparency in surveillance requests

John Ribeiro) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 05:55:00 GMT

Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft have joined Google in asking for greater transparency in surveillance requests, following widespread criticism of the U.S. government's surveillance programs and the role of the Internet companies.

Global security market will grow to $86 billion by 2016, Gartner predicts

John E Dunn) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:17:00 GMT

The global market for security and services will rise to $67.2 billion (£45 billion) in 2013, with further stellar growth taking that as high as $86 billion by 2016, Gartner analysts at the firm’s Security & Risk Management Summit have predicted.

Microsoft takes down researchers' servers along with Citadel botnet sites

Tim Greene) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:29:00 GMT

When Microsoft took down Citadel botnets last week it disrupted the thieves who use the malware for stealing online banking information, but it also caused collateral damage by knocking out sinkhole servers used by researchers to figure out how best to combat the criminals, a Swiss researcher says.

Digital forensics professionals to get global certification

John E Dunn) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:06:00 GMT

Non-profit certification body (ISC)² is preparing to launch what it believes is the world's first qualification designed to assess the skill set of experienced digital forensics professionals.

Schools encouraged to enter cyber security challenge

Antony Savvas) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:56:00 GMT

From September, thousands of UK pupils can take part in a pilot tournament to represent their school in developing and cracking online codes to win a top prize worth £1,000.

Kaspersky Lab discovers Android Trojan that behaves like Windows malware

John E Dunn) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:27:00 GMT

Kaspersky Lab has discovered a sophisticated Windows-like Android Trojan that has found enough new vulnerabilities in Google’s operating system to make itself both invisible and extremely difficult to de-install.

Nationwide Building Society rolls out anti-skimming technology across ATMs

Matthew Finnegan) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:45:00 GMT

Nationwide Building Society has rolled out anti-skimming technology on a number of its ATMs to protect UK customers from card fraud.

Larry Page: US government has no access to information on Google servers

Zach Miners) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:16:00 GMT

Google has denied involvement in a U.S. government surveillance program called Prism since news broke Thursday that the National Security Agency has been accessing the servers of some of the largest Internet companies, but now company executives insist they had never heard of the program.

Larry Page: US government has no access to information on Google servers

noreply@idg.co.uk (Zach Miners) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:00:00 GMT

Zscaler fixes BYOD risk with new mobile traffic cloud filtering

John E Dunn) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:50:00 GMT

Zscaler has added mobile security to its arsenal of cloud-based security services which the firm is pitching as a flexible way to fix the risk of employee-owned devices bypassing conventional filtering systems.

ICO fines Glasgow City Council £150,000 for unencrypted laptop chaos

John E Dunn) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:43:00 GMT

Glasgow City Council has been fined £150,000 and heavily criticised after failing to encrypt dozens of laptops, including one containing the personal data of thousands of people that went missing from its offices.

US intelligence chief defends surveillance programs

John Ribeiro) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 05:34:00 GMT

The U.S. government said late Thursday that it is authorized to collect intelligence information of non-U.S. persons located outside the country, in the wake of news reports on the government's surveillance programs.

Huawei deal with BT shows 'disconnect' over national security policy, MPs say

noreply@idg.co.uk (John E Dunn) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:13:00 GMT

BTs decision to use Chinese telecoms firm Huawei to help build its 21st Century Network was a strategic misstep that has left the UK facing unquantifiable level of security risk, the influential Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee has said in a stinging rebuke to officials.

Mobile boom turns BYOD into unmanaged risk, Check Point finds

John E Dunn) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:12:00 GMT

The challenge of securing mobile technology is starting to overwhelm some IT departments, with many BYOD smartphones and tablets left in an unmanaged state despite the risk of data loss, a global survey by Check Point has found.

Mandatory 2-year jail sentence for EU hackers comes a step closer

Jennifer Baker) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:38:00 GMT

Hackers would face a minimum two-year prison sentence under a new European Union law approved by the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee on Thursday.