Category Archives: Data and computer security

Is your air fryer spying on you? Concerns over ‘excessive’ surveillance in smart devices

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UK consumer group Which? finds some everyday items including watches and speakers are ‘stuffed with trackers’

Air fryers that gather your personal data and audio speakers “stuffed with trackers” are among examples of smart devices engaged in “excessive” surveillance, according to the consumer group Which?

The organisation tested three air fryers, increasingly a staple of British kitchens, each of which requested permission to record audio on the user’s phone through a connected app.

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Sellafield ordered to pay nearly £400,000 over cybersecurity failings

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Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulator

Sellafield will have to pay almost £400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site.

The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack.

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Users of ‘throuples’ dating app Feeld may have had intimate photos accessed

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Alternative relationships site says it has resolved concerns about data security that tech firm claims to have uncovered

Users of Feeld, a dating app aimed at alternative relationships, could have had sensitive data including messages, private photos and details of their sexuality accessed or even edited, it has emerged, after cybersecurity experts exposed a string of security “vulnerabilities”.

Feeld, registered in the UK, reported soaring revenues and profits this month, thanks to millions of downloads from non-monogamous, queer and kinky users across the world.

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Ticketmaster hit by data hack that may affect 560m customers

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Cybercrime group ShinyHunters reportedly demanding £400,000 ransom to prevent data being sold

Ticketmaster has been targeted in a cyber-attack, with hackers allegedly offering to sell customer data on the dark web, its parent company, Live Nation, has confirmed.

The ShinyHunters hacking group is reportedly demanding about £400,000 in a ransom payment to prevent the data being sold.

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No more 12345: devices with weak passwords to be banned in UK

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Makers of phones, TVs and smart doorbells legally required to protect devices against access by cybercriminals

Tech that comes with weak passwords such as “admin” or “12345” will be banned in the UK under new laws dictating that all smart devices must meet minimum security standards.

Measures to protect consumers from hacking and cyber-attacks come into effect on Monday, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.

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No 10 tells MPs to be cautious about unsolicited messages after attempted ‘honeytrap’

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Message comes as pressure builds on Tories to take disciplinary action against MP William Wragg

Downing Street has urged MPs to be cautious when responding to unsolicited messages, after the “spear-phishing” attack that targeted more than a dozen MPs, staff and journalists working in Westminster.

Number 10 issued the warning on Monday morning, days after two police forces launched an investigation into what is being described as an attempted “honeytrap”.

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Tory MP Luke Evans reveals he was targeted in Westminster sexting scandal

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Evans says he was first to alert authorities after receiving messages in what is suspected to be part of wider attempt to target MPs

A Conservative MP has revealed that he was targeted in the Westminster sexting scandal and was the MP that first alerted the authorities.

Luke Evans said he was messaged in what is suspected to be part of a wider attempt to target MPs.

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Senior Tory ‘mortified’ after reportedly passing MPs’ data to dating app contact

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William Wragg says he was pressed for colleagues’ details after sharing compromising photos of himself

A senior Conservative MP has reportedly admitted to giving out the personal phone numbers of colleagues to a person he met on a dating app.

William Wragg told the Times that he gave the information after he had sent intimate pictures of himself, saying he was “scared” and “mortified”.

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Millions more in cash needed to fund UK’s open-banking watchdog

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Exclusive: £10m needed for regulator charged with developing tools to thwart financial crime and protect consumers

Banks are under pressure to stump up millions of pounds in interim funding for the organisation that polices open banking, with regulators saying the new money is needed to prevent financial crime and protect consumers if things “go wrong”.

Large banks including NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK were among more than 40 City firms summoned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last week to discuss a cash injection into Open Banking Limited (OPL), the body that oversees innovation in this area.

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Dozens in Jordan targeted by authorities using NSO spyware, report finds

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Findings suggest Jordan is relying on cyberweapon to quash dissent and its use is ‘staggeringly widespread’

About three dozen journalists, lawyers and human rights workers in Jordan have been targeted by authorities using powerful spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group amid a broad crackdown on press freedoms and political participation, according to a report by the lobbying group Access Now.

The information suggests the Jordanian government has used the Israeli cyberweapon against members of civil society, including at least one American citizen living in Jordan, between 2019 and September 2023.

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Hackers steal customer data from Europe’s largest parking app operator

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Owner of RingGo and ParkMobile says data including parts of credit card numbers taken in cyber-attack

Europe’s largest parking app operator has reported itself to information regulators in the EU and UK after hackers stole customer data.

EasyPark Group, the owner of brands including RingGo and ParkMobile, said customer names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and parts of credit card numbers had been taken but said parking data had not been compromised in the cyber-attack.

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Australia news live: Reserve Bank to deliver year’s last interest rates decision as economists tip no change

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Poll finds 28 of 30 economists expect central bank to keep cash rate steady at 4.35%. Follow the day’s news live

Good morning, and happy Tuesday.

I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be with you on the blog today – many thanks to Martin for kicking things off.

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Politics live: cyber chief takes leave as defence department announces recall over ‘workplace matter’

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Follow the day’s news live

And here is the standard of some of the “debate” among senior parliamentarians.

Meanwhile, Australia’s sense of social cohesion is at its lowest recorded ebb.

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Greater Manchester police officers’ data hacked in cyber-attack

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Details of thousands of officers may have been taken in ransomware attack on third-party supplier

The personal details of tens of thousands of public sector workers could have been breached in a cyber-attack that has hit two of Britain’s biggest police forces, an expert has said.

More than 12,500 Greater Manchester police (GMP) officers and staff were put on alert on Thursday that their private data had been compromised in a hack that also hit the Metropolitan police last month.

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Customer data used for unwanted romantic contact, UK poll shows

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Almost one in three people aged 18-34 have been messaged by staff after giving personal details to a business

Almost one in three people aged 18-34 have received unwanted romantic contact after giving their personal information to a business, a UK poll has shown.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has called for recipients of such texts to come forward to help the regulator gather evidence of the impact of this phenomenon.

The ICO has an online form for people who want to report an experience of unwanted contact.

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Norfolk and Suffolk police admit breach involving personal data of 1,230 people

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Information about victims of crime, witnesses and suspects included with freedom of information responses, forces say

Two police forces in England have admitted mishandling the sensitive data of victims, witnesses and suspects in cases including domestic abuse incidents, sexual offences, assaults, thefts and hate crime.

Norfolk and Suffolk police said the data of 1,230 people was included in files responding to freedom of information requests and apologised.

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Dissident republicans obtained leaked police data, says PSNI chief

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Force’s chief constable believes thousands of officers’ personal details are in paramilitary hands

Republican paramilitaries have obtained the information that leaked in a Police Service of Northern Ireland data breach, according to the force’s chief constable.

Simon Byrne said on Monday that he believed dissident republicans had the dataset that mistakenly disclosed the personal details of more than 10,000 officers and staff last week.

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Hacked UK voter data could be used to target disinformation, warn experts

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Data from Electoral Commission breach could allow rogue actors to create AI-generated messages in effort to manipulate elections

Data accessed in the Electoral Commission hack could help state-backed actors target voters with AI-generated disinformation, experts have warned.

The UK elections watchdog revealed on Tuesday that a hostile cyber-attack had been able to access the names and addresses of all voters registered between 2014 and 2022.

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Home affairs cyber survey exposed personal data of participating firms

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Shadow minister says leak of ‘sensitive’ information after research into the Optus and Medibank hacks was ‘deeply ironic’

The home affairs department exposed the personal information of more than 50 small business survey participants who were sought for their views on cybersecurity, Guardian Australia can reveal.

The names, business names, phone numbers and emails of the participants in the survey were published on the parliament website in response to a question on notice from May’s Budget estimates hearing.

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HWL Ebsworth hack: Queensland says its files were taken after criminals release Victorian documents

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State’s chief information security officer says information from Victorian departments and agencies was accessed

Highly sensitive legal documents from the Victorian government have been published on the dark web by cybercriminals, with Queensland also confirming files from at least one of its departments are included in the breach.

The breach is connected to data that was stolen from the law firm HWL Ebsworth in April by a Russian-linked ransomware gang, known as ALPHV/Blackcat, and posted online.

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