Ian Barker

ID fraud levels still high despite post-pandemic drop

identity theft mask

A Freedom of Information request by identity verification company ID-Pal reveals that complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the UK regarding identity fraud soared over the COVID-19 pandemic, finishing 2020 at 44 percent higher than 2019.

Even as the pandemic came to an end numbers in 2021 were still over 18 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Figures so far this year suggest that if identity fraud continues at the same pace, 2022 will see a 10 percent increase in complaints compared to 2021.

Continue reading

HP uses virtual machine technology to secure sensitive data

Laptop security

Privileged data and credentials are prime targets for attackers. Protecting this information is a challenge, particularly as systems have moved to the cloud and networks have become more diverse.

Larger organizations have often turned to things like privileged access workstations, but that means that access can only be made from a limited number of machines. HP Wolf Security has launched a new Sure Access Enterprise (SAE) product to protect users with rights to access sensitive data, systems, and applications but allow them to use a normal endpoint.

Continue reading

How digital IDs are set to shake up the way we access services [Q&A]

Around the world governments are increasingly keen on introducing digital identity systems for their citizens. These are seen as a secure way for people to access government and other services as these move online.

We spoke with Philipp Pointner, chief of digital identity at Jumio, to find out more about digital ID and its implications for security and privacy.

Continue reading

Alternative authentication methods take hold in response to digital dangers

As global problems spill over into the digital realm and hybrid working has taken hold, businesses are increasingly looking beyond the password in order to secure accounts.

The latest Trusted Access Report from Cisco company Duo shows a 50 percent increase in the percentage of accounts allowing WebAuthn passwordless authentication and a fivefold increase in WebAuthn usage since April 2019.

Continue reading

IT outages cost over $12,000 a minute

The average cost of an IT Outage is $12,913 per minute according to a new report from AIOps automation specialist BigPanda.

Produced in conjunction with Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), the report also finds a correlation between IT outage costs and the size of an organization, as businesses with more than 20,000 employees lose an average of $25,402 per minute due to outages, translating to more than $1.5 million per hour.

Continue reading

Nudge, nudge, block no more...

Why do people try to circumvent security controls -- for example to access an unapproved SaaS application or cloud service?

New research from Nudge Security suggests it may simply be down to poor user experience of the security process. "We now have evidence to suggest that improving the employee experience of security can actually lead to better security outcomes," says Russell Spitler, CEO and co-founder of Nudge Security.

Continue reading

Enterprises urged to be transparent about employee monitoring

employee snoop

With larger numbers of people working remotely, employers are keen to understand the effect this has on productivity. They're using technology like facial recognition and other tools to monitor the use of apps and gather other information.

However, software adoption platform Pendo is calling on companies to be more transparent with employees about what they do and don’t monitor, and why.

Continue reading

What popular culture gets wrong about hacking [Q&A]

hacker

It's safe to say that Hollywood and pop culture have not always been kind to the tech and cybersecurity industry.

Throughout the years, movies and TV shows have established a stereotype of how IT and security experts should look, with one of the biggest stereotypes being the representation of a hacker.

Continue reading

New gangs and new tactics mean more victims of ransomware

ransomware key

Ransomware actors have been forming affiliate gangs and using new tactics in order to lure additional victims, according to a new report.

The latest 2022 Bi-Annual Cyber Threat Report from Deep Instinct reveals changes in the world of ransomware gangs, including LockBit, Hive, BlackCat, and Conti.

Continue reading

Why data science is failing marketers

frustrated

Companies can now gather more information about their customers than ever before. But according to a new study data science is not benefiting marketers, with 84 percent of marketing executives saying their ability to predict customer behavior is guesswork.

The report from predictive analytics company Pecan AI, based on surveys carried out by Wakefield Research, finds four out of five marketing execs report difficulty in making data-driven decisions despite all of the consumer data at their disposal.

Continue reading

Defending against critical infrastructure attacks [Q&A]

industrial skyline

Critical infrastructure is a prime target for cybercriminals and nation state actors. It often operates on legacy operational technologies (OT) which have vulnerabilities that can't be fixed easily or directly. 

We spoke to John Moran, technical director, business development at Tufin, to discuss how organizations can protect themselves. John is a former incident response consultant and is a cybercrime forensics expert.

Continue reading

Phishing volumes increase over 30 percent with well-known brands as favorite targets

Phishing

The latest report from email security and threat detection company Vade shows the volume of phishing emails up 31 percent in the last quarter compared to Q2.

Volumes peaked in July (79.2 million), dipping in August (57.5 million), and rebounding in September (67.2 million). If this pace continues through Q4, phishing volumes in the second half of 2022 are set to exceed those reached in the first half (315 million).

Continue reading

How far will you go to protect your personal data?

No longer shop with a brand? Pay more for goods and services from a company with a better privacy record? Stop using an app?

All of these and more are actions people are prepared to take if they find out organizations aren't keeping their data safe, according to a new report from DataGrail.

Continue reading

Popular vulnerability scanners are only 73 percent accurate

New research from Rezilion finds that there's a high level of inaccuracies and noise created by the market's most popular commercial and open-source scanning technologies.

Researchers examined 20 popular containers on DockerHub, ran them locally, and scanned them using six different, popular vulnerability scanners in the commercial and open-source market. Taking false negatives into account the scanners returned only 73 percent of relevant results out of all vulnerabilities that should have been identified, including those the scanners failed to detect.

Continue reading

Phishing attacks increase 61 percent over last year

A new report analyzing billions of link-based URLs, attachments and natural language messages in email, mobile and browser channels over six months in 2022, finds more than 255 million phishing attacks -- a 61 percent increase compared to 2021.

The study from messaging security company SlashNext shows earlier security strategies, including secure email gateways, firewalls, and proxy servers are no longer stopping threats, as bad actors increasingly launch these attacks from trusted services and business and personal messaging apps.

Continue reading

© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.