"JACOBYTES"

Top techies at British banks are being encouraged to share information about cyberattacks following revelations that the financial sector is under-reporting breaches to regulators. According to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, only five attacks were reported in 2014, a figure that has soared to 75 so far this year. But the numbers fail to give the full picture. US regulations oblige banks to disclose breaches, and reporting is more consistent as a result. In the UK, only

The UK’s intelligence services have unlawfully engaged in mass surveillance of the populous for over a decade, hiding their activity from the public, a top court has ruled. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal – a special court set up to deal with complaints against MI5, MI6 and GCHQ – ruled that the secret and illegal collection of bulk data was done without adequate safeguards or supervision. Collection of Bulk Communications Data (BCD) – the "who, where, when and what" of pho

Email is a vital component for any business, especially for those operating in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and legal. Maintaining confidentiality and protecting against data loss is crucial. It occurred to me in that I grew up as the worldwide web coming out. Their was a huge amount of idealism about the internet and how it would change the world. Without proper security, the internet cannot come close to meeting its potential. Properly functionin

Apple last week faced renewed scrutiny for its data-sharing practices, following a report that it retains iMessage metadata and shares it with law enforcement when presented with a court order. The company for months has insisted that it would not share data that would jeopardize the privacy and trust of its millions of customers. iMessage encryption does prevent Apple from accessing the actual content of conversations, but the company maintains for up to 30 days phone logs t

Fresh from its recent Verizon acquisition, Yahoo has announced that 500 million user account credentials were stolen during an attack in 2014, making it one of the biggest data breaches of all time. The data stolen includes names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birthdays, hashed passwords and some "encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers." In light of the news, various industry professionals have offered their reaction and analysis. Jacob Ginsberg, Senior

When Yahoo Inc. on Thursday admitted that a “state-sponsored” hacker was able to abscond with 500 million user accounts, it was yet another reminder of how hard it can be to determine the root cause of an attack without the right training and tools, according to security experts. According to Yahoo, the account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and hashed passwords, making this IT hack one of the largest on record to date

Hacks releasing personal data are far too common, but the scale of the one carried out on Yahoo may be the catalyst for organisations and government to instigate real, significant change. This data leak has been dubbed the biggest release of personal information since the internet began.US Senator Mark Warner said its scale ‘puts it among the largest on record’. Details released included names, passwords, email addresses, phone numbers and security questions. The hack actuall

A fresh report from the National Audit Office says the Cabinet Office has failed to get to grips with information security across government departments. The NAO has issued a report this morning criticising UK government and the Cabinet Office in particular for failing to coordinate and lead departmental cyber-security efforts. The National Audit Office report, running to 41 pages, stated that despite an ambition to set the agenda for cyber-security across government, the Cab

FBI DIRECTOR James Comey is expecting technology companies to wake up and finally listen to his demand for changes to encryption that would essentially make his job easier and the technology security landscape more baggy. Comey is not a fan of technology companies and their habit of making a feature of encryption, and has often suggested that this is one of those situations when less is more. Unfortunately for him, the technology firms think otherwise and would rather offer t

European ministers are debating a clampdown on encryption and a further increase in surveillance in response to mounting terrorist threats. Bernard Cazeneuve, France’s interior minister is due to meet his German counterpart, Thomas de Maizere, to discuss possible regulations to limit the use of encrypted communications across the EU. “It’s a central issue in the fight against terrorism,” Cazeneuve told reporters, the FT reports. France has tabled surveillance laws that incurr