Author Archives: andrej

Security breaches in UK businesses increased by 81% in 2015

By | 5th April 2016

According to a survey commissioned by the HM Government and produced by the international consultancy PwC, 90% of large organisations and 74% of small businesses experienced a security breach in 2015. The 2014 figures were 81% and 60% respectively, which for the small businesses represents an increase of 23%. What is even more concerning, is… Read More »

Web ads: a nuisance or a serious threat?

By | 19th March 2016

Odious web ads that pop up or otherwise make themselves a nuisance have been around since the internet dark ages. Occasionally, they can be more than a nuisance, especially when appearing on lesser known or unsavory websites. Adware, spyware or even malicious exploits can be served up from a web ad. Last week exactly that… Read More »

Lack of employee cyber security awareness puts UK firms at risk

By | 8th March 2016

According to the latest research by Axelos, published in the SC Magazine, UK firms are putting themselves under significant risk of cyber breaches due to the lack of cyber security awareness in their employees. Up to 50% of severe breaches are thought to be down to human error, which could be avoided with better training… Read More »

Official: the “worst” passwords of 2015

By | 20th February 2016

The internet security firm SplashData publishes an annual list of the top 25 “worst” passwords among the prevalently North American and West European users. For the year 2015, the list is topped by: “123456”, “password” and “12345678”. Anyone who continues to use a password that is on SplashData’s list published by TeamsID.com is simply asking… Read More »

HM Revenue and Customs cyber security warning – and the phishing email I received just days later

By | 31st January 2016

HM Revenue and Customs are warning of the increased risk of phishing attacks at the time of the annual peak Self Assessment activity heading for the deadline of 31st January. Typically, you will receive an email purporting to be from HMRC urging you to either request a payment of a tax refund,  or to pay… Read More »

The threat of “whaling” – SMEs beware

By | 8th January 2016

Whaling is a type of phishing – an attempt to trick a person to disclose valuable information, usually login details, by way of spoofing an email or a website or by social engineering. Phishing becomes whaling, when targeting high value individuals, such as business managers, company directors or financial controllers. The goal is to either… Read More »

HM Government is offering businesses Cyber Security Innovation Vouchers worth up to £5,000

By | 15th December 2015

Businesses can get an Innovation Voucher worth £5,000 to pay for an external expert to help them improve cyber security. This could include advice and assistance with achieving Cyber Essentials (excluding the certification costs) or all costs of a Cyber Essentials Plus certification, or even setting up an ISO/IEC 27000 compliant information security management system.… Read More »

Cyber security is now a necessity since everyone is a target

By | 12th December 2015

Over the past decade, the landscape of cyber threats has multiplied in size but also transformed. Arguably, every computer with any kind of direct or indirect connection to the internet is now a target. The greatest transformation occurred in the use of automated tools by cyber criminals, which allows them to operate at massive scales.… Read More »