Link: The Communications Act 2003 and the Digital Economy Act 2017 (Consequential Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Regulations 2017
Source: Legislation .gov.uk
Press release: Government celebrates cyber security successes in Manchester
The First Secretary of State, Damian Green, spoke at the landmark opening of the new global headquarters of the NCC Group in Manchester, marking the first anniversary of the creation of the National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS).
The NCSS was launched a year ago in response to the growing cyber security challenges and threats faced by the UK and to define the Government’s ambitions for the future.
As a part of this world-leading strategy the government invested £1.9 billion in establishing the innovative National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), demonstrating a long-term commitment to keeping the UK safe. Since its launch the NCSC has responded to over 590 significant cyber incidents: providing support to victims, sharing information with intelligence and law enforcement, and setting up incident management structures to ensure essential services are up and running once incidents have occurred.
The First Secretary spoke at the headquarters of the NCC Group – a global expert in cyber security and risk mitigation. The newly built headquarters in Manchester equipped with state of the art technology will employ more than 500 cyber security experts providing Britain’s and Europe’s largest companies with cyber security consultancy and cyber incident response.
Damian Green, First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office said:
This Government is committed to tackling the growing threat of cyber security and will continue to invest in the future of our defence programme.
The Government’s Cyber Schools programme aims to provide skills to nearly 6,000 young people in order to secure the UK’s position as a world leader in cyber security for generations to come.
I am delighted that a global cyber security expert has chosen to open their headquarters in Manchester – fuelling the success of the Northern Powerhouse.
Brian Tenner, Interim CEO at NCC Group said:
NCC Group continues to play a pivotal role in advising government and helping to implement national initiatives which are strengthening the UK’s cyber security posture and helping to improve the country’s technical capabilities in this area. The First Secretary’s visit is recognition of this continuing support and we were delighted to welcome him to our company headquarters today.
The threat of cyber crime is an ever-evolving issue that is increasing in severity every day. It is encouraging that the UK Government is treating this as a priority and putting concrete strategies in place to address this. We will continue to offer our assistance and work closely with the UK Government on these new initiatives in order to improve the UK’s ability to defend against modern cyber threats.
Link: Press release: Government celebrates cyber security successes in Manchester
Source: Gov Press Releases
ISO/IEC 27007:2017 Information technology. Security techniques. Guidelines for information security management systems auditing
ISO/IEC 27034-5:2017 Information technology. Security techniques. Application security Protocols and application security controls data structure
TalkTalk Alert
We are aware of reports that some customers of TalkTalk are suffering problems with their home routers. We have been in contact with the company who are working to resolve the problem. We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide an update if required.
TalkTalk are offering help and support on their website.
Link: TalkTalk Alert
Source: NCSC Alerts
Weekly Threat Report 6th October 2017
Whole Foods Market credit card data breach
Whole Foods Market, a US-headquartered supermarket with a small UK presence, has reported it is investigating a credit card breach. The store warned of unauthorised access to the credit card data of customers using restaurants and ‘tap rooms’ in its stores. The cards used by customers at store checkouts are not thought to have been affected. Investigations are still underway; however, it is likely the card data was acquired through…
Link: Weekly Threat Report 6th October 2017
Source: NCSC Reports
Weekly Threat Report 16th June 2017
Mouseover malware masquerading in Powerpoint files
According to media reports, a new method of delivering malware has surfaced. ‘Zusy’ malware, according to IT company ExtremeTech, is a banking trojan whose intention is to steal credentials. The reports suggest that simply hovering your mouse over a link will lead to infection without requiring you to click on anything. However, several stages are required to successfully infect a user.
What is interesting about this malware is that the…
Link: Weekly Threat Report 16th June 2017
Source: NCSC Reports
Weekly Threat Report 24th February 2017
Ex-employee threats to business
A disgruntled former system administrator at a US paper and packing manufacturing company was recently sentenced to 34 months in prison for causing the company $1.1 million worth of losses.
His network accesses were not revoked when he was fired in 2014, enabling him to establish a VPN connection to the industrial plant. Through this, he was able to send commands over a two-week period that caused ‘significant damage to Georgia-Pacific and its operations’….
Link: Weekly Threat Report 24th February 2017
Source: NCSC Reports
Weekly Threat Report 24th October 2016
Threat assessment and trend analysis
Online Shoppers getting more than they bargained for.
A recent study has revealed an increase in the number of e-commerce websites infected with card-‘skimming’ malware.
Attackers have reportedly been exploiting unpatched software vulnerabilities in commonly used e-commerce software to modify the site’s source code. The modified JavaScript code then exfiltrates card details in real-time. These details are transferred to an off-shore…
Link: Weekly Threat Report 24th October 2016
Source: NCSC Reports
Weekly Threat Report 26th January 2018
Two-factor authentication usage
Open source reports quote remarks made by a Google software engineer who revealed at a recent security conference that fewer than 10 per cent of Gmail users enabled Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).
The benefit of 2FA is that it provides an extra layer of security. The user has to provide standard login details of a password and username and also something that only that user has access to. This might be a physical token, keyfob device,…
Link: Weekly Threat Report 26th January 2018
Source: NCSC Reports