Iain Fraser | Cybersecurity Journalist — Best-Performing Articles & Thought Leadership 2026

What is SME Cybersecurity? The Definitive Answer - A Practical UK Guide for Owners, Directors and Advisers

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser/Cyber PR Wire

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPRWire

If you run a UK SME, “cybersecurity” usually lands on your desk only when something breaks; a supplier emails to say they have been breached, a director gets a fake invoice chain, or Microsoft 365 locks an account after suspicious sign-ins. That reactive cycle is expensive. The UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025 found 43% of businesses reported a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months, and phishing remained the most common route in.

SME cybersecurity is how you stop those incidents becoming operational disruption, financial loss, and a UK GDPR reporting scramble. It is not enterprise theatre. It is focused, budget-aware risk reduction.

What is SME cybersecurity, in plain English?

SME cybersecurity is the set of people, process, and technical controls that reduce the chance of a cyber incident and limit the impact when one happens. For most SMEs, the “crown jewels” are not a data centre; they are email, cloud files, finance workflows, and customer or employee personal data.

In practice, it answers three questions directors care about:

Can an attacker log in as us? (identity security)
If they do, can they move and escalate? (access control and configuration)
If systems go down, can we recover quickly? (backups and incident response)

Why cyber security for small businesses fails in predictable ways

SMEs are not careless. They are busy. That creates common weak points:

Shared admin accounts and “temporary” access that becomes permanent.
Email-first approvals for payments and bank detail changes.
Outsourced IT with unclear boundaries; who patches what, and who monitors alerts.
Backups that exist, but are never tested; restore failure is discovered at the worst time.

Attackers know this. Business email compromise and invoice fraud target normal working patterns, not technical complexity.

What are the highest-impact SME cyber security best practices?

Start with controls that cut real losses quickly and fit a lean team.

Lock down email and logins (highest impact)

Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace; enforce it for all users, not just admins.
Create named admin accounts; remove shared admin credentials; use least privilege.

Harden devices and patch like you mean it

Enable automatic updates for operating systems and browsers.
Patch priority apps weekly; remote access tools, VPNs, firewalls, and document viewers.

Reduce invoice fraud risk with process, not tools

For any change of bank details, verify via a known phone number, not the email thread.
Require dual approval for new payees above a sensible threshold.

Backups that ransomware cannot casually destroy

Keep at least one backup copy offline or logically isolated.
Test restores quarterly; document the restore steps so it is not tribal knowledge.

A one-page cyber incident response plan

List who calls the bank, who contacts IT, who speaks to customers, and who assesses UK GDPR notification.
Store it somewhere accessible when email is down.

How Cyber Essentials and UK GDPR fit together for UK SMEs

Cyber Essentials matters because it focuses on five technical control areas that map to real SME failures; secure configuration, user access control, malware protection, security update management, and firewalls (NCSC Cyber Essentials overview). UK GDPR matters because if personal data is involved, you must implement “appropriate” security measures and assess whether you need to report a breach to the ICO within strict timelines.

For SMEs, Use Cyber Essentials as your SME cybersecurity baseline this month; pick three gaps and close them, starting with MFA, admin access, and backups.

For advisers, Cyber Essentials is often the most pragmatic way to evidence baseline security controls without burying a client in policy paperwork.

CYBER BREACH: Data Breach Exposed Thousands of Pet Medical Records Including Owner Information

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:31:00 +0000

Tuesday, 5th December 2023

CYBER BREACH: Data Breach Exposed Thousands of Pet Medical Records Including Owner Information

By Jeremiah Fowler - Website Planet

Syndicated By IainFraser.net/CYBER_Voice

Daily Cyber Insights

Cybersecurity Researcher, Jeremiah Fowler, discovered and reported to WebsitePlanet about a non-password protected database that contained over 56,000 records, including pet medical reports, DNA tests, pedigree history and other potentially sensitive information. As a long-time cyber security researcher, this is one of the most interesting discoveries I have ever encountered and a first for me.

I recently discovered a non-password protected database that contained records of thousands of dogs from around the world and included the information of their human owners. The publicly exposed cloud storage database contained a total of 56,624 documents in .PDF, .png, and .jpg formats with a total size of 25 GB. Upon further investigation, the database appeared to belong to the Worldwide Australian Labradoodle Association (WALA).

The international organization promotes the Australian Labradoodle breed and sets standards for responsible breeding practices. While WALA has members and affiliated breeders all over the world, their main office is based in Washington state, United States. WALA also has regional offices in other parts of the world, including Australia, Europe, and Asia. It should be noted that I saw documents from multiple countries inside the publicly exposed database. I immediately sent a responsible disclosure notice to WALA and the database was eventually restricted several days later without a reply to my messages. Learn More /...

About Jeremiah Fowler

Jeremiah Fowler is a Security Researcher and co-founder of Security Discovery. Jeremiah began his career in security research in 2015 and has a mission of data protection. He has helped identify and secure the data of millions of people around the world. His discoveries have been covered in Forbes, BBC, Gizmodo, among others. Security and responsible disclosure are not only a passion, but a way of protecting our digital lives. Learn More /...

CYBERSECURITY NEWS: UK NCSC & South Korea´s NIS and issue joint advisory

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 14:21:00 +0000

28th November 2023

CYBERSECURITY NEWS: UK NCSC & South Korea´s NIS and issue joint advisory

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser/Cyber PR Wire

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPRWire

CYBERSECURITY NEWS: NCSC & South Korea´s NIS and issue joint advisory warning about DPRK state-linked cyber actors attacking software supply chains.

Joint advisory observes cyber actors leveraging zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits in third-party software. Cyber actors linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are increasingly targeting software supply chain products to attack organisations around the world, the UK and the Republic of Korea have warned.

In a new joint advisory, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – a part of GCHQ – and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) have detailed how DPRK state-linked cyber actors have been using increasingly sophisticated techniques to gain access to victims’ systems.

The actors have been observed leveraging zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits in third-party software to gain access to specific targets or indiscriminate organisations via their supply chains. Learn More /...

About NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre)

Helping to make the UK the safest place to live and work online.

The NCSC Supports the most critical organisations in the UK, the wider public sector, industry, SMEs as well as the general public. When incidents do occur, we provide effective incident response to minimise harm to the UK, help with recovery, and learn lessons for the future. Learn More /...

CYBERSECURITY NEWS: ECSO Launches its latest ground-breaking initiative CYBERHive

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 13:42:00 +0000

28th November 2023

CYBERSECURITY NEWS: ECSO Launches its latest ground-breaking initiative CYBERHive

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser/Cyber PR Wire

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPRWire

ECSO is delighted to announce the launch of its new, ground-breaking initiative: Cyberhive EUROPE. Cyberhive is the first-ever European marketplace co-created with- and for the European cybersecurity ecosystem, and will offer global accessibility to all Europe-headquartered cybersecurity solution providers, while also being freely accessible to end-users worldwide. Through the Cyberhive, ECSO will connect market players, promote European-made products, and ultimately strengthen the European cybersecurity market as a whole. To learn more about the Cyberhive, read below.

The second Annual CISO Meetup, organised by ECSO, starts today! Over 150 CISOs are joining us in Florence from all over Europe to engage in high-level discussions on critical cybersecurity topics. Read more below. Learn More /...

About ECSO (The European Cyber Security Organisation)

ECSO was created in 2016 as the contractual counterpart to the European Commission to implement Europe’s unique Public-Private Partnership in Cybersecurity – cPPP (2016-2020). Building upon the success of the cPPP, ECSO is today the unique European cross-sectoral and independent membership organisation for cybersecurity that gathers and represents European public and private cybersecurity stakeholders and fosters their cooperation. Members of ECSO include large companies, SMEs and start-ups, research centres, universities, end-users and operators of essential services, clusters and associations, as well as the local, regional and national public administrations across the European Union Members States and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Learn More /...

CYBERSECURITY NEWS: EUROPOL- International collaboration leads to dismantlement of ransomware group

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 13:29:00 +0000

28th November 2023

CYBERSECURITY NEWS: EUROPOL - International collaboration leads to dismantlement of ransomware group in Ukraine amidst ongoing war

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser/Cyber PR Wire

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPRWire

The ransomware gang is behind high-profile attacks that created losses of hundreds of millions of euros.

In an unprecedented effort, law enforcement and judicial authorities from seven countries have joined forces with Europol and Eurojust to dismantle and apprehend in Ukraine key figures behind significant ransomware operations wreaking havoc across the world.

The operation comes at a critical time, as the country grapples with the challenges of Russia’s military aggression against its territory. On 21 November, 30 properties were searched in the regions of Kyiv, Cherkasy, Rivne and Vinnytsia, resulting in the arrest of the 32-year-old ringleader. Four of the ringleader's most active accomplices were also detained. Learn More /...

About EUROPOL

Headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, Europol’s mission is to support its Member States in preventing and combating all forms of serious international and organised crime, cybercrime and terrorism. Europol also works with many non-EU partner states and international organisations.

Large-scale criminal and terrorist networks pose a significant threat to the internal security of the EU and to the safety and livelihood of its people. Learn More /...

Image Credit: OSeveno CCSA 3.0

CYBER THREAT INTEL: AI - UK & US Spooks publish AI Development Guidance

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:11:00 +0000

Tuesday, 28th November 2023

CYBER THREAT INTEL: AI - UK & US Spooks publish AI Development Guidance

Posted by: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFraser.net/ Daily Cyber Insights

CYBER THREAT INTEL: AI - UK & US Spooks publish AI Development Guidance

The UK NCSC & US CISA have joint-published what they term as "security-focused guidance" for AI & ML developers and those who leverage AI/ML with their protocols and systems.

The Publication of Guidelines for Secure AI System Development (PDF), apply to all types of AI/ML systems, regardless of whether built from wireframe up or added as a bolt-on on third-party resources, to address issues related to AI, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure.

Devised to be used in conjunction with existing Cybersecurity, Incident Response and Cyber Risk-Management protocols. The NCSC and CISA have said “Providers should implement security controls and mitigations where possible within their models, pipelines and/or systems, and where settings are used, implement the most secure option as default”

The Guidelines have been collated in collaboration with over 20 domestic and international cybersecurity organisations, broken down into four sections, covering different stages of the AI system development, namely - Design, Development, Deployment & Operation and Maintenance. Implementation of the recommendations will require investments in features, mechanisms and tools designed and implemented to protect customer data at all layers and throughout the entire system lifecycle.

CRYPTO FRAUD: US DoJ - Binance and CEO Plead Guilty to Federal Charges in $4B Resolution

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:28:00 +0000

Thursday, 23rd November 2023

CRYPTO FRAUD: US DoJ - Binance and CEO Plead Guilty to Federal Charges in $4B Resolution

Syndicated By: IainFraser.net/CyberPRWire

Daily Cybersecurity PRWire

Binance Admits It Engaged in Anti-Money Laundering, Unlicensed Money Transmitting, and Sanctions Violations in Largest Corporate Resolution to Include Criminal Charges for an Executive Binance Holdings Limited (Binance), the entity that operates the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.com, pleaded guilty today and has agreed to pay over $4 billion to resolve the Justice Department’s investigation into violations related to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), failure to register as a money transmitting business, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Binance’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian national, also pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program, in violation of the BSA and has resigned as CEO of Binance.

Binance’s guilty plea is part of coordinated resolutions with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Learn More /...

CYBER THREAT INTELLIGENCE - IAEA: Enhancing Cybersecurity for Nuclear Safety and Security

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:45:00 +0000

CYBER THREAT INTELLIGENCE - IAEA: Enhancing Cybersecurity for Nuclear Safety and Security

Posted By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist

via Daily Cyber Insights PR Wire

IainFraser.net/CyberInsights

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published an article back in June this year but the topic is so evocative I have decided to revisit the subject particularly with developments in the Russia - Ukraine War. Only a few weeks ago Russia launched an attack of Iranian-designed Shahed drones on the Khmelnytsky Nuclear Power Plant region. The IAEA was quick to confirm that the plant's operations were unaffected.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement at the time that "Powerful explosions shook an area near Ukraine's Khmelnytsky," "The blasts highlight the dangers to nuclear safety" posed by the war, he added.

Writing on the IAEA Website back in June this year in her article Enhancing Computer Security for Nuclear Safety and Security - Lydie Evrard wrote Nuclear safety and nuclear security share the same objective and vision: to protect individuals, societies and the environment from the potential harmful effects of ionizing radiation. Though the activities that address nuclear safety and nuclear security are different, it is essential to establish a well-coordinated approach to managing their interface. It is important to ensure that relevant measures are implemented in a manner that capitalizes on opportunities that may be available for mutual enhancement — without compromising either safety or security. Learn More /...

About the IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency is the world's central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Learn More /...

EUROPOL: Europol and Eurojust support Czech and Ukrainian police in taking down multi-million euro voice phishing gang

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:08:00 +0000

Thursday, 16th November 2023

EUROPOL: Europol and Eurojust support Czech and Ukrainian police in taking down multi-million euro voice phishing gang
Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/PRWire

The Czech and Ukrainian police have disrupted, with the support of Europol and Eurojust, a prolific phishing gang believed to have defrauded victims across Europe of tens of millions of euros. In Czechia alone, the damage caused by this criminal group is estimated at over EUR 8 million (CZK 195 000 000).

As a result of this investigation, six suspects were already arrested in Ukraine and four in the Czech Republic in April this year. Locations in Czechia (Domazlice, Rokycany and Plzen) and Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk) were searched during the raids, including the homes of the accused, vehicles and call centres. Learn More /...

EUROPOL: Unleashing Tech in the fight against Intellectual Property Crime

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 11:57:00 +0000

EUROPOL: Unleashing Tech in the fight against Intellectual Property Crime

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/PRWire

Friday, 27th October 2023

Europol Intellectual Property Crime Conference hosts 250 experts fighting counterfeit goods that pose threat to health, safety, and the environment

The conference, themed "Tackling counterfeit goods posing a threat to health, safety, and the environment," delved deep into the critical issues surrounding intellectual property (IP) crime, with a particular focus on the role of advanced technology. Within a busy agenda of conference activities, a diverse group of experts and stakeholders from around the world came together for the discussion. Learn More /...

Key topics at the conference included:

• the role of women in fighting intellectual property crime;

• counterfeit goods posing a threat to health and safety;

• counterfeit goods posing a threat to the environment;

• the impact of advanced technology on intellectual property crime.

DATA BREACH: Millions of Highly Sensitive Patient Records Exposed in Medical Diagnostic Company Data Breach

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 08:29:00 +0000

DATA BREACH: Millions of Highly Sensitive Patient Records Exposed in Medical Diagnostic Company Data Breach

By: Jeremiah Fowler - WebsitePlanet.com

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/PRWire

Wednesday, 25th October 2023

Cybersecurity Researcher, Jeremiah Fowler, discovered and reported to WebsitePlanet about a non-password protected database that contained over 12 million records containing medical diagnostic scans, test results, and other potentially sensitive medical records.

The database contained a massive amount of medical test results that included the names of patients, doctors, if the testing sample was done at home or at a medical facility, and a wide range of other sensitive health information. The total number of records was significant, at a count of 12,347,297 with a total size of 7TB. Upon further investigation, the documents were marked as belonging to an India-based company called Redcliffe Labs.

I immediately sent a responsible disclosure notice, and I received a reply acknowledging my discovery and thanking me for my efforts. Public access was restricted the same day, but it is unclear how long the database was exposed or if any unauthorized individuals accessed the purported health records.

Redcliffe Labs is one of India’s largest diagnostic centres. It offers more than 3600 wellness and illness tests. Users can receive medical diagnosis services at home, at medical facilities, and online via a mobile application. These services include full-body check-ups at home, blood testing, diabetes tests, joint care, vitamin tests, specialized testing services for cancer, genetics, HIV, pregnancy, and many others. Redcliffe Labs also advertises free sample collections and a consultation with a doctor as part of the service.

According to their website, they have 2.5 million customers. However, a folder in the database named “test results” contained over 6 million PDF documents. This could indicate either that far more customers were potentially affected or that perhaps these were multiple tests from repeat customers. According to their website “Redcliffe Labs is India’s fastest growing technology empowered diagnostics service provider having its home sample collection service in more than 220+ cities with 80+ Labs and 2000+ Walk-in Wellness and Collection Centres across India”. Learn More /...

EUROPOL: Ragnar Locker ransomware gang taken down by international police swoop

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 08:58:00 +0000

EUROPOL: Ragnar Locker ransomware gang taken down by international police swoop

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/PRWire

Tuesday, 24th October 2023

EUROPOL: Ragnar Locker ransomware gang taken down by international police swoop as Law Enforcement and Judicial authorities from eleven countries delivered a major blow to one of the most dangerous ransomware operations of recent years.

This action, coordinated at international level by Europol and Eurojust, targeted the Ragnar Locker ransomware group. The group were responsible for numerous high-profile attacks against critical infrastructure across the world.

In an action carried out between 16 and 20 October, searches were conducted in Czechia, Spain and Latvia. The “key target” of this malicious ransomware strain was arrested in Paris, France, on 16 October, and his home in Czechia was searched. Five suspects were interviewed in Spain and Latvia in the following days. At the end of the action week, the main perpetrator, suspected of being a developer of the Ragnar group, has been brought in front of the examining magistrates of the Paris Judicial Court.

The ransomware’s infrastructure was also seized in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden and the associated data leak website on Tor was taken down in Sweden. Learn More /...

About EMPACT

The European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) tackles the most important threats posed by organised and serious international crime affecting the EU. EMPACT strengthens intelligence, strategic and operational cooperation between national authorities, EU institutions and bodies, and international partners. EMPACT runs in four-year cycles focusing on common EU crime priorities.

UKCSC: Singapore & UK have expressed their intention to jointly build and develop a cyber security profession

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 07:58:00 +0000

UKCSC: Singapore & UK have expressed their intention to jointly build and develop a cyber security profession

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/CyberInsights

Tuesday, 24th October 2023

The UK Cyber Security Council have announced that Singapore and the United Kingdom, have expressed their intention to jointly build and develop a cyber security profession that is clearly-defined and future-proofed.

The Governments of Singapore and the United Kingdom recognise that the cyber security skills gap is a global issue that will require a collaborative approach from the international community.

Addressing this gap will reduce cyber risk to organisations and citizens across our economies and support the growth of the sector workforce in the coming years.

Accordingly, Singapore and the United Kingdom recognise the need to work together to improve and champion the cyber security profession. Earlier today, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Smart Nation and Cybersecurity, Mrs Josephine Teo, and UK Cabinet Office Minister, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, met on the side-lines of the Singapore International Cyber Week 2023.

The two ministers had a wide-ranging discussion on Singapore-UK cyber cooperation and reaffirmed a mutual intent to collaborate on developing the cyber security profession and skills.

Both countries have agreed to cooperate on the following:

• Building and aligning a common knowledge base in cyber security

• Facilitating a cyber skills dialogue

• Mapping knowledge and skills required to areas of practice in cyber security

• Exploring the possibility of opening the UK Cyber Security Council's Professional Chartership to cyber practitioners in Singapore who may be keen to apply. This includes introducing the Council to UK businesses located in Singapore. Learn More /...

#Cybersecurity #Singapore #Chartership

STATE ACTORS: The Israeli-Hamas Conflict Shows Cyber Warfare Is Now the New Normal

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:21:00 +0000

The Israeli-Hamas Conflict Shows Cyber Warfare Is Now the New Normal

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

Research By: Jeremiah Fowler

via IainFRASER.net/CyberInsights

The Israeli-Hamas Conflict Shows Cyber Warfare Is Now the New Normal

During the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine the hacktivist group Anonymous declared a cyber war against Russia. At the time, I conducted extensive research into the methods, tactics, and results of how a group of semi-unorganized non-governmental hacktivists were able to cause major havoc in Russia.

Their strategy included everything from hacking news outlets, home printers, and connected devices, to downloading a mind-boggling amount of Russian data belonging to companies and government agencies and then publicly releasing that data online. It was the first time the world saw a successful crowdsourced cyber war that could not be tracked back to any specific country or government. Learn More /...

About Jeremiah Fowler

EUROPOL: International operation closes down Piilopuoti dark web marketplace

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:01:00 +0000

EUROPOL: International operation closes down Piilopuoti dark web marketplace

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar - PRWire Channel

IainFraser.net/PRWire

Thursday 21st September 2023

In a significant victory against dark web criminals, the Finnish Customs (Tulli), together with European partners, has successfully taken down the dark web marketplace ‘Piilopuoti’. Drugs and other illegal commodities were sold in large quantities on this Finnish-language platform which had been operating on the Onion Router (Tor) network since May 2022.

This successful action by the Finnish Customs was supported, among others, by the German Federal Criminal Office (Bundeskriminalamt) and the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau (Lietuvos kriminalinės policijos biuras). Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre coordinated the international activity and provided operational support and technical expertise.

The investigation is still ongoing as law enforcement worldwide work together to identify the sellers and users on the platform Learn More /...

EUROPOL: Qakbot botnet infrastructure shattered after international operation

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 06:44:00 +0000

EUROPOL: Qakbot botnet infrastructure shattered after international operation

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist, Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/PRWire

Friday, 8th September 2023

The malware victimised more than 700 000 computers, with at least EUR 54 million paid in ransoms since 2007

Europol has supported the coordination of a large-scale international operation that has taken down the infrastructure of the Qakbot malware and led to the seizure of nearly EUR 8 million in cryptocurrencies. The international investigation, also supported by Eurojust, involved judicial and law enforcement authorities from France, Germany, Latvia, The Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom and the United States. Qakbot, operated by a group of organised cybercriminals, targeted critical infrastructure and busine1sses across multiple countries, stealing financial data and login credentials. Cybercriminals used this persistent malware to commit ransomware, fraud, and other cyber-enabled crimes. Learn More /...

About Europol

Image Credit: OSeveno

CYBER RESILIANCE ACT: European Parliament has published its position on the act

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 06:10:00 +0000

CYBER RESILIANCE ACT: European Parliament has published its position on the act

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist, Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/PRWire

Friday, 8th September 2023

The Cyber Resilience Act comprises a legislative initiative aimed at introducing cybersecurity mandates, including obligatory security patches and vulnerability management for Internet of Things (IoT) products and interconnected devices capable of data collection and exchange.

The EU lawmakers engaged in the dossier for the European Parliament's principal Industry Committee have deliberated on the incorporation of open source considerations, whether within the preamble

or the substantive text, the duration of product support, reporting responsibilities, and the timeline

for implementation. After deliberations, the Parliament has now published its common position. Learn More /...

About ECSO (European Cyber Security Organisation

ECSO was created in 2016 as the contractual counterpart to the European Commission to implement Europe’s unique Public-Private Partnership in Cybersecurity – cPPP (2016-2020). Building upon the success of the cPPP, ECSO is today the unique European cross-sectoral and independent membership organisation for cybersecurity that gathers and represents European public and private cybersecurity stakeholders and fosters their cooperation. Learn More /...

COMPLIANCE: Experian agrees permanent injunction & $650k Spam Fine

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 12:43:00 +0000

COMPLIANCE: Experian agrees to permanent injunction & $650k Spam Fine - USDOJ

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser Cybersecurity Journalist, Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/PRWire

The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced that ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. dba Experian Consumer Services (Experian), has agreed to a permanent injunction and a $650,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement to resolve alleged violations of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act), the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Rule (CAN-SPAM Rule), and the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The CAN-SPAM Act and Rule require senders of commercial emails to notify the recipients of such emails of their right to opt-out of future emails and to provide an opt-out mechanism. Experian shares a parent company, Experian PLC, with Experian Information Solutions Inc., which offers credit information, analytical tools and marketing services. Learn More /...

EUROPOL: 5 arrested in Poland running bulletproof hosting service for cyber gangs

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 07:05:00 +0000

EUROPOL: 5 arrested in Poland for running bulletproof hosting service for cybercrime gangs

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist - Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPR

15th August 2023

The Polish Central Cybercrime Bureau (Centralne Biuro Zwalczania Cyberprzestępczości) under the supervision of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice (Prokuratura Regionalna w Katowicach) took action against LolekHosted.net, a bulletproof hosting service used by criminals to launch cyber-attacks across the world.

Five of its administrators were arrested, and all of its servers seized, rendering LolekHosted.net no longer available.

This latest success in the fight against cybercrime follows a complex investigation supported by Europol and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Learn More /...

Image Credit: Europol

DATA BREACH: School Accreditation Organization Data Breach

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:38:00 +0000

DATA BREACH: School Accreditation Organization Data Breach Exposed Sensitive Information on Students, Parents, and Teachers Online

By Jeremiah Fowler - Website Planet

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

IainFRASER.net/

Google Indexed on 280723 at 13:40 CET

28th July 2023

School Accreditation Organization Data Breach Exposed Sensitive Information on Students, Parents, and Teachers Online

Cybersecurity Researcher, Jeremiah Fowler, discovered and reported to WebsitePlanet a non-password protected database that contained 680k records. Upon further investigation, it was identified that these records were related to educational institutions. Documents inside the database suggested that it belonged to the Southern Association of Independent Schools, Inc (SAIS).

In my many years as a security researcher, I have seen everything from millions of credit card numbers and health records, to internal documents from organizations of all sizes. However, this discovery is among the most sensitive data collections I have ever encountered. The database contained a diverse collection of sensitive records that, when exposed, could unlock a wide range of potential risks. The files included multiple types of student and teacher records, health information, teacher background checks and social security numbers (SSN), active shooter and lockdown notifications, maps of schools, financial budgets, and much more. The documents ranged in date from 2012-2023.

One of the most interesting things I saw was third-party security reports marked as confidential that reviewed weaknesses in school security, locations of cameras, access and entry points, and more. These documents could pose a potentially serious real world security risk to the safety of students and teachers. I immediately sent a responsible disclosure notice to SAIS and received a reply thanking me for the notification and promising that they would take action. The database was quickly secured from public access. Learn More /...

DATA BREACH: Global Document Translation Service Exposed Records Online

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 09:07:00 +0000

Global Document Translation Service Exposed Highly Sensitive Records Online

By: Jeremiah Fowler - Website Planet

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

www.IainFRASER.net

Google Indexed on 100723 at 12:00 CET

10th July 2023

Recently, security researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered and reported to WebsitePlanet a non-password protected database containing more than 25k records. The publicly exposed documents included highly sensitive files, which contained personally identifiable information (PII).

The unsecured database contained internal screenshots of source code as well as customer documents that were stored in uploads folders. These documents include: US Federal and State tax filings, passports, driver licenses, birth and marriage records, business documents, denied visa petitions, among other files from customers around the world. Upon further research, there were references and invoices linked to a NYC-based translation service provider, Kings of Translation. The company offers translation services and claims to have locations in the UK and Latvia. The database contained a total of 25,601 records. Kings of Translation purportedly used its own technology to let customers upload their documents and pay for the order automatically. I immediately sent a responsible disclosure notice to Kings of Translation. Despite receiving no response, I noted that public access to the database was restricted the following day.

People usually don’t consider how paper documents offline can become an online data risk, but this discovery proves that even those documents can be compromised. In my years as a security researcher, I have seen all types of documents and data breaches from a wide range of industries, organizations, and businesses, and this is the first time I have found the data of a translation service and its customers. However, I have never seen such a wide range of documents in a single database before. Some businesses handle more sensitive records than others, and usually the documents they collect and store are related to their specific business or industry. Documents that need to be translated are often of significant importance and may be required by foreign governments or educational institutions, or for acquiring crucial records such as birth, marriage, divorce, death certificates, among others. Learn More /...

About Jeremiah Fowler

CYBER INSIGHTS: EUROPOL: Police unplug international phone scam OCG

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 10:37:00 +0000

DAILY CYBER INSIGHTS | EUROPOL: Police unplug international phone scam network

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPRWire

Google Indexed on 040723 at 13:30 CET

4th July 2023

Law enforcement from Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, supported by Europol, have tracked down and arrested the head of a criminal network responsible for defrauding hundreds of elderly citizens. The suspect was taken into custody near London, from where he directed a network of fraudsters targeting mainly German and Polish citizens. While executing the arrest warrant issued by Polish authorities, officers seized crucial evidence such as mobile phones in the suspect’s residence. Meanwhile, German police conducted searches in five locations and seized over EUR 160 000 in cash, gold bars and gold coins, as well as jewellery, phones, and other electronic devices.

Unwitting accomplices sent to collect cash

The organised criminal network specialised in calling elderly citizens across Germany and Poland pretending to be police officers or representing other official authorities. Victims were informed that one of their relatives has been responsible for a car accident or similar event resulting in injuries or death of other persons. The scam caller would then hand over the phone to an accomplice, who would cry or scream into the phone frantically, imploring the victim to lend help. This approach was intended to shock the elderly person, allowing the caller to proceed with the fraudulent procedure and ask for the handover of money to avoid the fake relative’s detention.

The criminals would instruct the victim about the handover procedure, then send a person to collect the money at the victim’s doorstep. In order to minimise exposure and avoid the risk of arrest, the criminal network recruited unwitting accomplices for this task, via online job platforms.

Over the course of the investigation, over 70 persons taking part in this scam were arrested, for instance while they were collecting money at the victim’s homes. The overall damage amounts to around EUR 5 million and is estimated that up to EUR 1.4 million of losses could be prevented thanks to this successful takedown. Learn More /...

About Europol

CYBER INSIGHTS: GARTNER: Security Threat Intelligence Products and Services

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 09:24:00 +0000

GARTNER: Security Threat Intelligence Products and Services - Report & Analysis

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPRWire

Google Indexed on 040723 at 12:21 CET

4th July 2023

According to Gartner® in their recent report Threat intelligence is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.5% to reach $2.8 billion by 2026. TI has a large number of vendors, and they are expanding into new markets.

As you advance your corporate security protocols are you fully aware of the full portfolio of systems available that will aid you as you navigate the Cyber Threat landscape Learn More /...

What is Gartner® research?

Gartner research, which includes in-depth proprietary studies, peer and industry best practices, trend analysis and quantitative modelling, enables us to offer innovative approaches that can help you drive stronger, more sustainable business performance. Learn More /...

NCSC: LEGAL firms have been issued with guidance to strengthen cyber defences

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 08:13:00 +0000

NCSC: Legal firms urged to strengthen cyber defences

Syndicated By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/CyberPRWire

Google Indexed on 040723 at 10:51 CET

4th July 2023

LEGAL firms have been issued with the latest guidance and steps to take to combat the evolving cyber security threats the sector faces.

The National Cyber Security Centre – which is part of GCHQ – has published its latest Cyber Threat to the Legal Sector report to highlight the potential threats to legal firms, from ransomware attacks by criminals to intellectual property theft by state actors.

The report, which updates a previous iteration from 2018, looks to help UK law practices of all sizes and types of law be more resilient to the main methods of attack. Learn More /...

DATA BREACHES: Human error continues to be a huge vulnerability - VERIZON

noreply@blogger.com (Cybersecurity Journalist - Iain Fraser) — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 10:21:00 +0000

DATA BREACHES: Human error continues to be a huge vulnerability - VERIZON

Posted By: Iain Fraser - Cybersecurity Journalist Gibraltar

via IainFRASER.net/DailyCyberInsights

Google Indexed on 220623 at 13:03 CET

VERIZON has just released their latest Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR)

Aimed at Cybersecurity professionals the report contains in-depth analysis of data-driven, real-world instances of cybercrime and how cyberattacks play out across organizations of different sizes as well as from different verticals and disparate geographic locations.

As in previous years VERIZON examines what the data tells us about threat actors and the tools they employ against enterprises. This year, VERIZON looked at 16,312 security incidents, of which 5,199 were confirmed breaches. A must read for all Cybersecurity professionals! Learn More /...

About VERIZON

We don't wait for the future - We build it.

We’re problem-solvers, engineers, technologists, innovators and thought-leaders. Who did Verizon build their network for? People. Every hole dug, every wire spliced, every tower raised, it was for people who wanted to connect to other people, businesses and the world around them. And when you know people are depending on you for those connections, you do whatever it takes. Learn More /...