Tag Archives: Data and computer security | The Guardian

BA, Boots and BBC cyber-attack: who is behind it and what happens next?

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A cybercrime group has exploited a flaw in MOVEit software, and is now demanding a ransom

British Airways, Boots and the BBC have been hit with an ultimatum to begin ransom negotiations from a cybercrime group after employees’ personal data was stolen in a hacking attack.

On Wednesday it emerged that the gang behind a piece of ransomware known as Clop had posted the demand to its darkweb site, where stolen data is typically released if payments are not made by the victims.

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Real estate agents push back against Australian privacy law changes designed to protect personal data

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Real Estate Institute of Australia president says additional layer of responsibility could force smaller agencies to close down

Real estate agents are pushing back against proposed privacy law changes, saying small businesses should not face more red tape to keep customer and tenant data safe.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia president, Hayden Groves, said that an “additional layer of responsibility is really not necessary” on top of agents’ existing duties, saying that increased regulatory risks could be “the last straw” for smaller agencies which may shut up shop.

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Ambulance Victoria data breach reveals drug and alcohol tests of graduate paramedics

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Privacy watchdog will be asked to investigate after information became available for all employees to view on the staff intranet

The confidential drug and alcohol test results of graduate paramedics were available for every Ambulance Victoria staff member to view under a significant breach that is set to be reported to the state’s privacy watchdog.

According to an email sent late Thursday to members of the Victorian Ambulance Union, confidential spreadsheets relating to pre-employment testing of graduate paramedics in 2017 and 2018 were available on the staff intranet until the union alerted Ambulance Victoria to the problem.

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Twitter admits to ‘security incident’ involving Circles tweets

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Feature allows users to set a list of friends and post tweets that only they are supposed to be able to read

A privacy breach at Twitter published tweets that were never supposed to be seen by anyone but the poster’s closest friends to the site at large, the company has admitted after weeks of stonewalling reports.

The site’s Circles feature allows users to set an exclusive list of friends and post tweets that only they can read. Similar to Instagram’s Close Friends setting, it allows users to share private thoughts, explicit images or unprofessional statements without risking sharing them with their wider network.

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UK competition watchdog launches review of AI market

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CMA to look at underlying systems of artificial intelligence tools amid concerns over false information

The UK competition watchdog has launched a review of the artificial intelligence market, as it warned of threats from AI tools including the distribution of false or misleading information.

In an announcement that comes as global regulators increase scrutiny of the technology, the Competition and Markets Authority said it would look at the underlying systems, or foundation models, behind AI tools such as ChatGPT.

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Labor to appoint dedicated privacy commissioner to combat data breaches

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The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will also be restored to a three-commissioner structure after defunding by Coalition

The federal government will appoint a dedicated privacy commissioner to deal with the increasing threat of data breaches, the attorney general has announced.

Mark Dreyfus revealed late on Tuesday evening that the Albanese government would also restore the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to a three-commissioner structure, saying the appointments were necessary to deal with “the growing threats to data security and the increasing volume and complexity of privacy issues”.

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Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth hit by Russian-linked ransomware attack

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Cyberattack resulted in hacking of 4TB of data including IDs, finance reports, accounting data, client documents and credit card details

The Australian commercial law firm HWL Ebsworth has fallen victim to a ransomware attack, with Russian-linked hackers claiming to have obtained client information and employee data.

Late last week, the ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware group posted on its website that 4TB of company data had been hacked, including employee CVs, IDs, financial reports, accounting data, client documentation, credit card information, and a complete network map.

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Australians report record $3.1bn losses to scams, with real amount even higher, ACCC says

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Investment fraud amounts for biggest share at $1.5bn, followed by remote access and payment redirection rorts

Australians lost a record amount of more than $3.1bn to scams in 2022, up from the $2bn lost in 2021, a new report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has revealed.

The Targeting Scams report, which compiles data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, major banks and money remitters, was based on an analysis of more than 500,000 reports.

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Labour glitch put voting intentions data of millions at risk

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Exclusive: Experts say sensitive information could potentially have been harvested and used for targeted election interference

The voting intentions of millions of Britons in local authority wards across the country could have been at risk of misuse as a result of a glitch in the Labour party’s main phone-banking system, the Guardian understands.

Experts had warned that the sensitive data could potentially have been harvested via an automated programme and used for targeted election interference by campaign groups or even hostile states.

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Former TSB chief information officer fined £81,000 over IT meltdown in 2018

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Regulator says Carlos Abarca ‘failed to take reasonable steps’ to ensure outsourcing firm was ready to migrate accounts en masse

UK regulators have imposed an £81,000 fine on a former TSB information officer over the bank’s IT meltdown in 2018 that left millions of customers locked out of their accounts.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said Carlos Abarca, who was TSB’s chief information officer at the time of the meltdown, “failed to take reasonable steps” to ensure that an outsourcing firm owned by TSB’s parent company was ready to carry out the IT migration of customers en masse.

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