Government and business both need to step up to combat ransomware attacks against critical systems before they spiral further out of control. The ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline represents a relatively new and destructive type of threat against critical infrastructure. Beyond the financial and operational hit to the company itself, such an attack threatens to impact millions of people dependent on the safe and quick delivery of gas and oil. SEE: Ransomware: What IT pros need…

The number of complex domestic abuse cases in which perpetrators used digital technology to harass, stalk, and control their victims has risen sharply in the United Kingdom. According to the charity Refuge, which is the largest specialist provider of domestic abuse investigation services in England and Wales, the average number of complex tech abuse cases reported from April 2020 to May 2021 rose 97% compared with the three months before the outbreak of the pandemic. Tech abuse can take many…

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) is launching a new five-year project to tackle digital piracy following a significant increase in the number of offenses.  According to INTERPOL, digital piracy has increased by more than 60 percent in some countries during the 12 months from April 2020 as millions of people have been confined due to the global health pandemic.  The new INTERPOL Stop Online Piracy (I-SOP) initiative will combat online piracy and crimes involving…

The UK government has published draft legislation designed to tackle a number of online harms, ranging from child sexual abuse to fraud. The Online Safety Bill, which formed part of yesterday’s Queen’s Speech during the state opening of Parliament, will place new obligations on social media sites and other services hosting user-generated content or allowing people to talk to others online to remove and limit the spread of illegal and harmful content. This includes child…

According to the software company Egress, 85% of organizations using Microsoft 365 have experienced an email data breach. Image: GettyImages/Westend61 Over the last year, organizations worldwide have adopted remote work policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in-house. During this time, companies have tapped virtual collaboration tools to enable remote operations with varying degrees of success. On Wednesday, software company Egress released a report titled “Outbound email: Microsoft 365’s security blind spot” highlighting email data…

When you open your laptop or your mobile device, what is the first thing you do? Do you head to your favorite social media site to skim the latest news, or do you place your weekly grocery delivery order? No matter what your daily online habits are, even the slightest degree of caution can go a long way in staying secure online. That’s because hackers are experts at hiding malware in your everyday online routines, or even infiltrating your cookies to steal login information and learn about your personal preferences. According to a StatsCan Canadian internet use survey, six out of ten internet…

When you open your laptop or your mobile device, what is the first thing you do? Do you head to your favorite social media site to skim the latest news, or do you place your weekly grocery delivery order? No matter what your daily online habits are, even the slightest degree of caution can go a long way in staying secure online. That’s because hackers are experts at hiding malware in your everyday online routines, or even infiltrating your cookies to steal login information and learn about your personal preferences. According to a StatsCan Canadian internet use survey, six out of ten internet…

“Considering an infrastructure refresh in Datacenter Consolidation, Edge Deployment, Compute refresh and consolidation? Today’s decision making requires analysis, vision, and calibration and foresight for the next request from the business. For successful organizations and leaders this requires review of success factors for Business, Technical and Compliance / Risk goals.” This is a 4 part series for organizations considering a refresh of compute infrastructure, moving or migrating to the cloud or application consolidation. VMware takes these…