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Ransomware breakthrough software: CryptoDrop!

Scientists in Florida have developed software to stop ransomware in its tracks, sources from the BBC have confirmed. According to reports, the software called “CryptoDrop” can detect malware and stop it in its tracks.

This is big news, especially for businesses who have reportedly lost millions in paying ransomware demands because it’s less costly just to pay up and move on as opposed to hours lost getting systems back online which cost organisations even more money.
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Can the police be trusted to handle our data securely?

Privacy rights campaigners, Big Brother Watch, have produced a damning insight in to the extent of data breaches committed by the police in the UK.

According to the report, 10 data breaches are committed every week, with some 2,315 being committed between June 2011 and December 2015.

In the wake of government calls for increasing powers for authorities to access private and personal information, the worry about data safety in the hands of the very people responsible for continual breaches is a cause for concern.
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TalkTalk Customers targeted by scammers and fraudsters; but what are TalkTalk doing about it?

The 2015 TalkTalk hack resulted in the details for 156,959 customers being accessed. Of these, 15,656 bank account numbers and sort codes were accessed.

Off the back of this, fraudsters have been targeting TalkTalk customers, and we can only assume they are doing it off the back of the information that has been hacked. We’re acting for a number of people who have been called by fraudsters pretending to be TalkTalk and scamming them out of money.

But TalkTalk seem awfully quiet on the very serious issue of their customers being targeted by clever fraudsters from what we have seen…
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Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly amongst those who cover their laptop webcam and mic with tape

Social media giant and Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly amongst those who cover their webcams with tape over fears of cyber snooping.

We recently blogged about the statistic that one in three of us cover our webcams in fear that they could be hacked or accessed to snoop on what we’re doing. In a photo shown on the BBC, Mark Zuckerberg celebrates Instagram reaching its five hundred million monthly milestone, and those with a keen eye have spotted the Mac in the background that appears to have tape over the camera.
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Greenwich University suffers second data breach in so-called “revenge hack”

We’re already acting for a number of individuals who have been affected by the Greenwich University data leak from earlier this year, when it was discovered that personal student information was accessible online. Our Data Leak Lawyers are already representing victims of that breach, but now a second significant data breach has occurred as well.

Medical conditions; personal conversation records; full names and contact information; coursework; email account information; and student disability information is amongst data that was available online following a so-called “revenge hack” from a former disgruntled student.
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Data Breaches and the panic they cause!

As soon as you hear of a data breach, most people get concerned; and rightly so.

Whether it’s the bank you use, a social networking site you have an account for, or a telecoms provider, it’s always a cause for concern to hear that information has been hacked or leaked from an organisation that you are associated with in some way.

But with huge breaches like the recent MySpace, Tumblr, and LinkedIn ones comes an element of panic that causes things to get lost in translation, and the result is other organisations getting wrongly dragged in to breaches.
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Is the Myspace hack the biggest hack out there, and should you be concerned?

Some 427 million passwords were accessed as part of the Myspace hack, and although hardly anyone uses Myspace these days, there is still a very big threat to your online security.

So, should you be concerned?

If you had a MySpace account before 2013 then your (probably redundant) account details have possibly been hacked, and if you use the same passwords and log in details to this day, and the same email address, there is cause to be very concerned indeed.
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The main cause of data breaches? Human error…

The primary cause of data breaches nowadays is simple – human error.

As humans we’re susceptible to making mistakes. It’s what we do and it’s a part of life, and learning from mistakes to better ourselves is a responsibility we all share.

But time and time again data breaches – which are continual – are happening because of human mistakes that have happened before and CAN be prevented.

So why aren’t organisations doing more to tackle it?
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Has your Microsoft Outlook or Hotmail account been flooded with spam over the last few days?

You’re not alone!

When I woke up the other day and checked my Hotmail account to find I’d been flooded with a load of spam emails, I thought “oh great, some idiot has signed my account up to something” – but it turns out it’s not that at all.

Apparently Microsoft is having some issues with its email filters, and the result has been a tirade of spam mails that’s caused a great deal of annoyance for those affected.
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One in Three admit to sticking tape over webcams, is there such a thing as being “too cautious” about online security?

Studies have revealed that around one in three people will obscure their laptop webcam with the fear of the camera being hacked or being used to watch you.

To be fair, I do it!

The study has shown that around a third of people are inclined to use a bit of tape, or bluetac, or something similar to block the view of the webcam in the worry that someone could be accessing it without their knowledge, and it begs the question: is there such a thing as being “too cautious” when it comes to online security?
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