Editor's News

The Government is to offer grant funding to enable universities offering cyber security qualifications, and enhanced opportunities for graduates.   Speaking at an event to mark the third anniversary of the launch of the UK Cyber Security Strategy, Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude MP said that the new grant funding was being alloted for universities in Newcastle, Birmingham, London and Liverpool “to develop and demonstrate new resources to improve cyber security education, and learning”.  ...

GCHQ has released its Cryptoy tool as a free Android app. Originally designed by GCHQ for use by secondary school students and their teachers to learn about encryption, Cryptoy enables users to understand basic encryption techniques, learn about their history and create their own encoded messages. These can then be shared with friends via social media or more traditional means and the recipients can use the app to try to decipher the messages. An Android...

The Cyber Security Challenge has launched two new virtual competitions, backed by QinetiQ and Modux.   QinetiQ’s game “ Assignment: Read between the lines” will test candidates ability to perform network vulnerability analysis of an international company, and ascertain any potential threats from a suspicious file. Modux’s game “Assignment: Grab for Power” challenges competitors to protect the capital’s critical national infrastructure.   Both competitions will feature the fictitious hacker group Flag Day Associates, as the...

Sony Pictures has countered the persistent attacks against it by launching a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack to disrupt downloads of its most sensitive information.   According to Recode, Sony Pictures Entertainment is using hundreds of computers in Asia to execute the DDoS attack on sites where its stolen data is available and is using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to carry out the counter attack, according to sources. The DDoS attack is intended to slow download speeds...

The Government department for Business Innovation and Skills (BiS) has issued guidance for non-executive directors and bringing cyber security to the attention of management.   Deeming non-executive directors in particular, as the “independent conscience of the board” and as being well placed to challenge the status quo and ask probing questions in this area, the guidance seeks to help non-executive directors engage with board colleagues on the oversight of cyber risks.   Rona Fairhead, independent...

UK financial services and retailers have been deemed to be an “easy target” when it comes taking action to stop cybercriminals targeting their customers by exploiting their brand name via email.   According to the Q3 TrustIndex from Agari, which for the first time independently offered data on UK companies, of 11 vertical industries and 16 UK companies examined, only four companies (Sainsbury’s, Rental Cars, Wonga and KBC Bank) were deemed to be making an...

Tripwire is set to be acquired by Belden for $710 million (£453.5 million).   The compliance and vulnerabilty management vendor is set to be acquired by Belden, a vendor of end-to-end signal transmission solutions designed to meet the mission-critical network infrastructure needs of industrial, enterprise and broadcast markets.   Both companies are focused on the delivery of technology solutions that support secure, reliable critical infrastructure and together. the companies will offer businesses a unified view...

Microsoft released seven security updates last night, with three rated as critical and re-released patches issued for Explorer and Schannel flaws.   Russ Ernst, director of product management at Lumension, said that the re-release of MS14-066 and MS14-065, which were originally released in November, gives users the opportunity to re-apply them due to the change in package, especially as the “Schannel” vulnerability proved to be a bit of a problem-child for some IT departments last...

Almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of employees say that they have access to data they should not see, and more than half say that this access is frequent or very frequent.   The research, conducted in October 2014 with 2,276 employees by Varonis and the Ponemon Institute, suggested that most organisations are having difficulty balancing the need for improved security with employee productivity demands.   Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of The Ponemon Institute,...

More use of encryption and specifically on the chip in mobile devices is making forensic analysis even harder. Speaking at the (ISC)2 EMEA Congress in London, Mark Stokes, head of digital and electronic forensic services at the Metropolitan Police, said that there is a need for “good intuitive tools that are easy to learn” and while some investigators can learn in the morning and investigate in the afternoon to make a decision on to charge...