Category: GDPR

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Appeal Dismissed After Asylum Seeker Data Breach

An appeal by the UK Home Office to limit the number of potential claimants from a 2013 data breach has been dismissed on the grounds that an accidentally uploaded spreadsheet exposed the confidential information and personal data of asylum applicants and their family members. What Happened? Back in 2013, the Home Office is reported to…
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AI Creates Phishing URLs That Can Beat Auto-Detection

A group of computer scientists from Florida-based cyber security company, Cyxtera Technologies, are reported to have built machine-learning software that can generate phishing URLs that can beat popular security tools. Look Legitimate Using the Phishtank database (a free community site where anyone can submit, verify, track and share phishing data) the scientists built the DeepPhish…
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Domain Names & GDPR

A recent ruling by a German court about GDPR also applies to personal information held in the worldwide whois service, and could mean that domain name admin and tech contact details may no longer be needed because of the GDPR ‘data minimisation principle’. Up Until Now Laws up until now have required ICANN, the Internet…
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1 – 0 In England Vs World Cup Hackers

It has been reported that the England football team have been briefed before flying out to their World Cup base in St Petersburg about how they and UK fans can avoid falling victim to Russian hackers. NCSC Advice The briefing has been delivered by The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of GCHQ.…
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Two More Security Holes In Voice Assistants

Researchers from Indiana University, the Chinese Academy of Science, and the University of Virginia have discovered 2 new security vulnerabilities in voice-powered assistants, like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, that could lead to the theft of personal information. Voice Squatting The first vulnerability, outlined in a recent white paper by researchers has been dubbed ‘voice…
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Facebook Losing the Battle For Teenage Attention

A study by Pew in the US has found that Facebook is now lagging behind YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, as a platform where teenagers spend their time. Down To 4th Place The study, which involved 750 teens in one month earlier this year, found that Facebook has experienced a 20% point drop since 2015 in…
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Google Accused of Being ‘Unethical’ Over Cryptocurrency Ad Ban

Some industry commentators have suggested that Google’s motives for introducing a blanket ban on cryptocurrency ads may not be all they seem, and could make the company appear unethical. What Ban? Back in March, Google followed Facebook’s lead (from January) and imposed a blanket ban on all cryptocurrency adverts on its platforms. The ban, which…
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834% Rise in TSB Customer Attacks

Following the IT ‘meltdown’ at TSB last month which led to chaos for customers who were locked out of their own accounts, research has found that the number of phishing attacks targeting TSB customers leapt by 843% in May compared with April. Fraudsters Taking Advantage The statistics, reported recently in Computer Weekly, appear to indicate…
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7-Fold Rise in Mobile Fraud

It seems that as we spend more time using mobile devices, the fraudsters are following us as a new RSA Security report shows a massive rise in mobile fraud over the last 3 years. Up Nearly 700%! The latest quarterly report by fraud and risk intelligence experts at RSA Security shows that as the volume…
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Instant GDPR Complaints For Web Giants

In an almost inevitable turn of events, the social media and tech giants Facebook, Google, Instagram and WhatsApp faced a barrage of accusations that they were not compliant within hours of GDPR being introduced on May 25th. What’s Wrong? The complaints, spearheaded by Privacy group noyb.eu led by Max Schrems centred around the idea that…
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