Blog
News and information from the Advent IM team.
UK rail network Merseyrail likely hit by Lockbit ransomware
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- General
UK rail network Merseyrail has confirmed a cyberattack after a ransomware gang used their email system to email employees and journalists about the attack. Merseyrail is a UK rail network that provides train service through sixty-eight stations in the Liverpool City Region in England. Read via Bleeping Computer.
Read More
Cyber fears as Department for Education loses nearly 200 devices
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
The Department for Education has seen nearly 200 devices including laptops and mobile phones lost or stolen over the last two years, according to official figures. The data, which was obtained under a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act inquiry by Parliament Street think tank has revealed the number of lost and stolen gadgets since 2019. Read via […]
Read More
The UK saw a significant rise in cybercrime last year
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
The pandemic has been seized upon by cybercriminals everywhere, allowing them to leverage the exploding levels of fear and uncertainty to spread malware, steal money and sell valuable data on the black market. Read via ItProPortal.
Read More
Russian hackers target Washington DC police department in apparent ransomware attack
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
A Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate claims to have stolen sensitive data, including on informants, the police force say. read via Sky News.
Read More
GCHQ Director: The UK and Allies Must Counter “Existential Threat” to the Digital Environment
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
The UK must work with other liberal democracies to ensure the internet and emerging digital technologies remain free and open. This is the view of Jeremy Fleming, director of GCHQ, who gave the 2021 Vincent Briscoe lecture for the Institute for Security Science and Technology at Imperial College London. Read via InfoSecurityMag.
Read More
GCHQ chief warns of tech ‘moment of reckoning’
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
The West is faced with a “moment of reckoning” when it comes to technology and security, the head of intelligence agency GCHQ has told the BBC. Read via BBCNews.
Read More
Mike Gillespie │ Security Think Tank: Security culture must underpin vaccine passports
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Advent IM Blog Industry News
There are various topics we need to address with regard to any kind of vaccine passport. If we skip those areas, then securing it will become even more challenging and the likelihood for fraud increases. Read via Computer Weekly.
Read More
Campus Still Closed as Portsmouth University Reels from Suspected Ransomware
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
Key IT systems at the University of Portsmouth continue to remain offline this week after a supposed ransomware attack, delaying the start of the new term. A notice on the university’s homepage doesn’t explicitly name ransomware as the cause of the “cyber incident,” but the “ongoing technical disruption” it describes is a tell-tale sign of such attacks. […]
Read More
Over 10,000 government and public sector workers targeted by hostile states on social media, warns MI5
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
The head of MI5 says people working in government and sectors that have access to private information are being targeted. Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, has issued the warning as a new campaign is launched to raise awareness of the threat. Read via Sky News.
Read More
ICO Issued Over £42 Million in Fines Last Year
- by Olivia Lawlor-Blackburn
- Industry News
The UK’s privacy regulator issued over £42 million in fines last year, although the vast majority of the money relates to two major GDPR penalties, according to new data. Flagged by think tank Parliament Street, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) “work to recover fines” report revealed that 17 financial penalties had been levied in 2020, […]
Read More