Editor's News

How to run a security awareness programme By Ron Condon, managing editor, IT Security Guru If anything is guaranteed to strike doom and gloom into the hearts of security people, it’s the prospect of starting a new security awareness programme. Admit it, we all love choosing and installing new (often expensive) bits of kit, and getting excited about new technology. But when it comes to explaining the dangers of phishing attacks to Mavis in accounts….well,...

New research published by CREST, the not-for-profit accreditation body that represents the technical information security industry, warns that organisations need to focus more effort and resources on monitoring and logging to help detect potential cyber security attacks, respond to incidents and meet compliance requirements. The free report points to the exponential growth in users and devices connected to the Internet combined with the increasing volume of log files generated by disparate IT systems as major...

Universities now have access to the UK’s first higher education cybersecurity learning guidelines for undergraduate degrees to be referenced within BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, accreditation criteria for computing and IT-related degrees. Published by (ISC)2, the largest not-for-profit membership body of certified information and software security professionals with nearly 110,000 members worldwide, and the Council of Professors and Head of Computing (CPHC), the guidelines reflect broad consultation with more than 30 universities and industry...

Leaving software unpatched amounts to gambling your business away, warns the first of three new videos released by the Technology Forum, a cybersecurity partnership between government agencies and some of the world’s leading technology companies. The videos represent a joint push from government and industry to raise awareness of the dangers businesses run when they put off installing patches for existing software. With members including IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle and Dell Secureworks, the Technology Forum...

Bromium®, Inc., the pioneer of threat isolation to prevent data breaches, conducted a survey at this year's Infosecurity Europe, where more than 125 information security professionals were asked about the greatest risks facing organisations today and the effectiveness of different solutions and architectures. The results show that while concern for end-user risk persists, confidence is waning in traditional detection-based security solutions, such as antivirus and firewalls. Instead, interest is shifting toward prevention-based security solutions, such as...

The ‘Google Effect’, the impact on our memory of being able to find information online has extended to include important personal information and mobile devices, a new study by Kaspersky Lab has found.  The study reveals that the majority of connected consumers in the UK can’t recall critical phone numbers from memory, including those of their children (71%), children’s schools (87%), place of work (57%) and partner (49%).  However, half (47%) could recall instantly their...

Damballa, the experts in advanced threat protection and containment, today released its Q2 2015 State of Infections Report, highlighting how a device hi-jacked for the purpose of conducting ‘click-fraud’  can become a conduit for more serious malware such as ransomware.   The study cited an example of how a compromised device, originally exploited for the seemingly innocuous purpose of click fraud - a scam to defraud ‘pay-per-click’ advertisers -   became part of a chain of infections,...

What do CISOs want? We find the answers Ron Condon – Managing Editor – IT security guru explains What keeps CISOs awake at night? What would they love to have in a perfect world? What do they need to make their job easier and more effective? The best way to find out is to gather a dozen CISOs from some of the UK’s biggest organisations and put them in front of a group of leading...

New figures reveal that mid-sized and large businesses could be in line for fines totalling £20bn if they fail to protect their customers from data breaches. Companies that suffer a breach could face serious financial consequences once new data protection regulations are fully introduced across EU member states. Data breaches are increasingly frequent and, according to research from Experian, UK businesses appear to be acutely underprepared when it comes to the aftermath. Almost a fifth...

In a new impact report, Aite Group research director Julie Conroy finds that the use of knowledge-based analytics are on a fast decline, while various forms of behavioural analytics continue to see strong growth. Behavioural analysis is a cornerstone of NuData Security’s fraud prevention and detection solution. Conroy’s new report, “Digital Channel Fraud Mitigation: The Mobile Force Awakens,” details the latest threats to banks and their customers, and looks at the technologies being used by...