Cyber Bites

A British government minister will be called to parliament on Thursday to answer a question on the findings of an inquiry into the disclosure of confidential information relating to Chinese telecoms company Huawei, the opposition Labour Party said. Prime Minister Theresa May fired her defense minister Gavin Williamson on Wednesday over a leak of discussions in the National Security Council. A Labour Party account tweeted that the question would be asked at 0930 GMT. Source:...

Gavin Williamson has been sacked as defence secretary following an inquiry into a leak from a top-level National Security Council meeting. Downing Street said the PM had "lost confidence in his ability to serve" and Penny Mordaunt will take on the role. The inquiry followed reports over a plan to allow Huawei limited access to help build the UK's new 5G network. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48126974

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested Thursday to face a U.S. charge that he conspired to hack military computers after Ecuador's government ended his seven years of self-imposed exile and expelled him from its London embassy. Police in the United Kingdom dragged Assange from the front door of the embassy Thursday morning.  He now faces extradition to the United States. In an indictment revealed Thursday morning, U.S. authorities say Assange conspired with former Army intelligence...

Facebook Inc and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are negotiating a possible settlement that would require the company to create an independent privacy oversight committee and take other steps to safeguard users, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing a source. The steps would include appointing a federally-approved privacy official at the highest level of Facebook and creating a privacy oversight committee that may include Facebook board members, the report said. Source: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-ftc-settlement/facebook-settlement-with-u-s-may-include-privacy-oversight-politico-idUKKCN1S802X

Google is to offer users the option of automatically deleting their search and location history after three months. The search giant already allows users to manually delete the data it scoops up when they use its products such as YouTube, Maps and Search. Now, in a bid to offer more control over personal data, it will offer the option of automatic deletion after three or 18 months. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48132041

On Tuesday 30 April, Facebook debuted a makeover for its main app at its annual developer conference, F8, in San Jose, California. Speaking at the event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that Facebook Messenger has been rewritten from scratch: it now includes ways for people to watch videos together. Likewise, the Facebook app has been entirely redesigned (“The app isn’t even blue anymore!”), and a new desktop webpage will launch later this year. Both will feature new...

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered federal civilian agencies to more swiftly plug the vulnerabilities found on their networks, citing evidence that hackers are getting quicker at exploiting such bugs. In a Binding Operational Directive (BOD) dated April 29, DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency gives agencies 15 days after discovery to fix vulnerabilities deemed critical – as opposed to the 30 days that agencies previously had to address those flaws. Source: https://www.fedscoop.com/dhs-orders-agencies-patch-faster/

Attackers are exploiting a recently disclosed WebLogic vulnerability to install a new ransomware called Sodinokibi. As this vulnerability is trivial to exploit, it is important that server admins install the patch immediately in order to prevent infections or unauthorized access. Earlier this month, a deserialization vulnerability (CVE-2019-2725) was discovered in Oracle WebLogic Server that allows attackers to gain full access to the server in order to install malware or use it as a launchpad for...

The rapidly growing "internet of things" (IOT) - internet-connected gadgets - would have to be made more secure under proposed new laws. Security vulnerabilities that could be targeted by hackers have been found in everything from toy dolls to internet-connected ovens in recent years. The new laws would mean such devices would have to come with unique passwords, for example. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48106582

Vodafone has denied a report saying issues found in equipment supplied to it by Huawei in Italy in 2011 and 2012 could have allowed unauthorised access to its fixed-line network there. A Bloomberg report said that Vodafone spotted security flaws in software that could have given Huawei unauthorised access to Italian homes and businesses. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48103430