Category: Security

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Company Fined £150k For Nuisance-Calling People Who Had Opted-Out

Manchester-based Oaklands Assist UK Ltd has been fined £150,000 by the ICO for making approximately 64,000 nuisance direct marketing calls to people who had already opted out of automated marketing. Serious Contravention of UK Law & EC Directive The monetary penalty by the ICO was delivered under section 55A of the Data Protection Act 1998…
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Chrome Extensions Get Security, Privacy and Performance Boost

Following the introduction last month of Google Chrome 69’s better password protection, Google has announced that Chrome 70 will bring trustworthy extensions by default. What Are Extensions? The Chrome extension system, introduced to the browser nearly a decade ago, has enabled the introduction of 180,000 different extensions which are small, bolt-on software programs that allow…
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Facebook Hack Keeps Getting Worse

As if the recent Facebook hack of 50 million user accounts that was discovered on 25th September wasn’t bad enough, it became apparent that it could also affect “Facebook Login” service, which allows other apps to use people’s Facebook account to login. What Happened? On Tuesday 25 September, Facebook engineers discovered that hackers had used…
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Microsoft Tests Pop-Up Warnings About Other Browsers

Microsoft has made the news again by appearing to flex its market muscle by testing pop-up warnings in Windows 10 that are triggered when users start to install rival Chrome or Firefox web browsers. What Happens? It’s been reported that when a user tries to install another, non-Microsoft browser on a computer running Windows 10,…
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New Chrome 69 Creates Better Passwords, Among Other Features

Chrome 69, the latest version of the Google browser which is now 10 years old, has a number of value-adding new features, including the ability to automatically generate strong passwords. Improved Password Manager This latest version of Chrome has an improved password manager that is perhaps more fitting of the browser that is favoured by…
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Find Out What ‘Deep Fakes’ Are and Why They’re A Threat

Deep fakes are digitally manipulated videos that have been created using deep learning technology to make the subject of the video (often a famous person) say anything the video maker wants them to say, even incorporating the style and facial expressions of another person. Example An example here is a video that demonstrates the technique,…
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ICO Highlights Prevalence of GDPR Myths

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has reported taking 500+ calls per week reporting GDPR data breaches, but one-third of the calls appear to be based on myths and misunderstandings or over-reporting about GDPR matters. Update After Freedom of Information Request The update by the ICO about how things appear to be going just three months…
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Only 32% of Emails Clean Enough To ‘Make It’

A bi-annual study by FireEye has found that less than a third of over half a billion emails analysed were considered clean enough not to be blocked from entering our inboxes. Phishing Problem Evident The study found that even though 9 out of 10 emails that are blocked by email security / anti-virus didn’t actually…
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Microsoft Launches ‘AccountGuard’ Email Service For Election Candidates

A new kind of pilot secure email service called ‘AccountGuard’ has been launched by Microsoft, specifically for use by election candidates, and as one answer to the kind of interference that took place during the last US presidential election campaign. Ready For The Midterm Elections The new, free email service (which people must useOffice 365…
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BA Security Fallout

Skimming The hack that took place on 21st August and caused disruption into September is now believed to be down to the injection of a digital skimming file designed to steal financial data from the online payment forms of BA’s website and app. The small skimming file, which was discovered by a cyber-security firm RiskIQ,…
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