News – April 2024


  • New laws to protect consumers from cyber criminals come into force in the UK

    April 29, 2024

    Consumer protections against hacking and cyber-attacks will come into force today, as all internet connected smart devices will be required by law to meet minimum-security standards. Manufacturers will be legally required to protect consumers from hackers and cyber criminals from accessing devices with internet or network connectivity – from smartphones to games consoles and connected fridges ...

  • Dutch cybersecurity experts warning companies about global ransomware attack

    April 28, 2024

    Dutch cybersecurity companies have issued warnings to thousands of companies about a global ransomware attack. The attackers, known as the Cactus Gang, are from Eastern Europe and have been active since the end of last year. The cybercriminals managed to penetrate the security systems of 122 companies, and at least 10 of those are in the ...

  • Cybersecurity researchers spotlight a new ransomware threat – be careful where you upload files

    April 26, 2024

    Today’s browsers are almost operating systems unto themselves. They can run software programs and encrypt files. These capabilities, combined with the browser’s access to the host computer’s files – including ones in the cloud, shared folders and external drives – via the File System Access API creates a new opportunity for ransomware. Imagine you want to ...

  • Kansas City SCOUT cameras, highway message boards ‘down until further notice’, officials blame cyber attack

    April 25, 2024

    The traffic cameras, tracking systems and message boards used by many throughout the Kansas City metro area are down until further notice due to what officials are calling a cyber attack. Officials with the Kansas City Scout system said early this morning all SCOUT systems went down until further notice. This included the KC SCOUT website, ...

  • Why tourists are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks

    April 25, 2024

    Travelling abroad always comes with the potential risk of cybercrime threats including spoofing, phishing attacks, catfishing, fraudulent links and calls, spamming, etc. These travel risks are more for tourists who are generally travelling to a new country for the first time or are alone. They don’t know much about the native language of the new place ...

  • Ring agrees to pay $5.6 million after cameras were used to spy on customers

    April 25, 2024

    Amazon’s Ring has settled with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over charges that the company allowed employees and contractors to access customers’ private videos, and failed to implement security protections which enabled hackers to take control of customers’ accounts, cameras, and videos. The FTC is now sending refunds totaling more than $5.6 million to US consumers ...

  • Universities Boost Spending to Curb Cyber Attacks

    April 25, 2024

    Higher education institutions have increased their cybersecurity budgets as more universities fall prey to cyber attacks, Moody’s Investor Service says in a report. The bond ratings agency reports that higher education institutions allocating a portion of their budget to cybersecurity increased more than 70 percent from 2019 to 2023. Despite the new spending jump, universities still ...

  • Governments issue alerts after ‘sophisticated’ state-backed actor found exploiting flaws in Cisco security boxes

    April 25, 2024

    A previously unknown and “sophisticated” nation-state group compromised Cisco firewalls as early as November 2023 for espionage purposes — and possibly attacked network devices made by other vendors including Microsoft, according to warnings from the networking giant and three Western governments. A Cisco spokesperson declined to comment on which country the snooping crew – tracked as ...

  • Almost every Chinese keyboard app has a security flaw that reveals what users type

    April 24, 2024

    Almost all keyboard apps used by Chinese people around the world share a security loophole that makes it possible to spy on what users are typing. The vulnerability, which allows the keystroke data that these apps send to the cloud to be intercepted, has existed for years and could have been exploited by cybercriminals and state ...

  • Spain reopens Israeli spyware probe, sharing information with France

    April 23, 2024

    Spain’s High Court on Tuesday reopened an investigation into the use of Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group’s Pegasus software to spy on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and other Spanish politicians. The investigators will share information with France, where politicians and other figures were also targeted. The probe aims to find out who was behind the snooping. ...