Top 10 Stories

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that 87 NHS Trusts in England, Scotland and Wales – just under 34 percent of the total – have been targeted by ransomware attacks within the last 18 months. All 260 Trusts responded to the FOI request, submitted by digital workplace firm RES, while 18 claimed exemption to providing information due to data rules around patient safety and four others either had been absorbed by another trust or didn’t hold the relevant...

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is investigating a computer security breach at the Australian Synchrotron that saw hackers steal scientists' usernames and passwords Friday. Hackers of as yet unknown origin hit systems hosting the web portal where researchers from ANSTO and third parties can request time to use the Victorian atom-smashing facility. We're told miscreants stole brainiacs' email addresses and scrambled passwords. The facility is used for a broad array of scientific and defense...

The cybercrime landscape underwent several changes in 2016 with malicious actors taking a more “corporate” approach to their craft, which helped lead to even greater losses by business hit with a cyberattack. The damage inflicted on organizations victimized by data breaches and other cyberattacks last year included losing customers, revenue and potential business opportunities, according to the "Cisco 2017 Annual Cybersecurity Report." This year's version marks the report's 10th anniversary. These incursions were due to a...

Britain's ability to repel cyberattacks is being undermined by skills shortages and "chaotic" handling of personal data breaches, according to MPs. Despite cyberattacks being one of the top four risks to UK national security for the past six years, there appears to have been no coordination across the public sector, according to the report by the Public Accounts Committee. It said that ministers have also taken too long to consolidate the "alphabet soup" of agencies...

The Playstation Network appears to be suffering a major outage, with gamers all over the world complaining they are unable to access to platform. Anyone attempting to access PSN's core services is being met with an error code (WS 37432-9). The company has not said when the problem will be fixed. The website Down Detector , which tracks major network outages, reports that PSN has been having issues since 17:24 GMT. Problems are mainly being reported in...

Several misconfigured servers run by the US Dept. of Defense could allow hackers easy access to internal government systems, a security researcher has warned. The vulnerable systems could allow hackers or foreign actors to launch cyberattacks through the department's systems to make it look as though it originated from US networks. Dan Tentler, founder of cybersecurity firm Phobos Group, who discovered the vulnerable hosts, warned that the flaws are so easy to find that he...

Cisco is advising ISPs and other service providers using its Prime Home system to install a security update immediately – to squash a serious remote execution bug. Switchzilla says the flaw, which was given a 10.0 CVSS score, could allow an attacker to log into the software as an administrator and remotely take control of thousands upon thousands of customers' home routers, broadband gateways and similar boxes. "An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending API...

The Trump Hotels website is displaying a “Checking your browser before accessing Trumphotels.com” notification upon loading the page—a strong indication the site is in full defense mode against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Philip Bump, a correspondent for the Washington Post, pointed it out on Twitter, adding a photo of an error query that should not be visible to end users. View full story ORIGINAL SOURCE: Daily Dot

NHS staff members are being advised to swap Google for another search engine after the thousands of employees on its computer systems triggered a shield commonly used to prevent cyber attacks. The website activated a shield for NHS staff that is designed to stop cyber attacks from flooding Google with traffic. It means whenever an NHS employee wants to use one of Google's internet services, such as search or Gmail, they have to check a box...

Two former cyber-security experts at Russia's FSB intelligence agency and another at a software firm have been charged with treason, a lawyer says. Ex-FSB men Sergei Mikhailov and Dmitry Dokuchayev, and an executive at the anti-virus software firm Kaspersky, Ruslan Stoyanov, are accused of working for US interests. Some reports suggested the arrests could be linked to claims of Russian hacking during the US election. View full story ORIGINAL SOURCE: BBC