Cyber Security

In the new BBC TV drama ‘Trust Me’ the story focuses on a nurse who steals a friend’s identity to win a job as a doctor. While this is a work of fiction, identity fraud company Equifax is urging people to think about how easy it would be for friends or associates to steal their identity by gathering useful facts from social media. “While the lead character in the drama uses her friend’s CV to get a new job, it wouldn...

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have developed a new device that lets you control a drone with simple hand gestures. Designed to be easy and intuitive, the new Empa innovation works through 3D printing and original sensor technology: a wave to the left, and the drove moves to the left; a wave to the right, the drone moves to the right.

Like many kids, Amir Hirsch ’06, SM ’07 grew up playing with LEGOs. But unlike many adults, he is still playing with them as part of his job as CEO and co-founder of Flybrix. Started in 2015, the company sells kits for children and adults alike to build their own reusable drones out of the popular plastic building bricks. “It lets you tinker around with LEGOs, come up with a design you like, and see it fly,” Hirsch sa...

Last month in Bristol the first weekend camp for teenage hackers took place. The National Crime Agency (NCA) set up the course to 'redirect' hackers from a life of crime. The pupils were encouraged to use their talents for good through cyber skills workshops and advice about careers in computer security. According to Ethan Thomas, an operations officer in the NCA's Prevent team, which engages with young cyber-offenders, the attendees chosen ...

Provider of cyber security solutions that protect business-critical data and applications, Imperva, has released its research report, Beyond Takeover – Stories from a Hacked Account. The report reveals common patterns in phishing attacks and how hackers find and use data in compromised accounts. To discover details about compromised credentials, Imperva researchers went undercover by creating several fake user accounts, including ...

Virtualisation can bring a wide variety of benefits to industrial control applications without compromising on the level of security delivered by traditional physical infrastructure, as long as you have selected the right software platform. Guest blog by Charlie Ashton.

Recent news reports have revealed that millions of products ranging from airport surveillance cameras, sensors, networking equipment and IoT devices are vulnerable to a flaw that allows attackers to remotely gain control over devices or crash them. The vulnerability, named Devil’s Ivy, was identified by researchers who singled out high-end security cameras manufactured by Axis Communications. The researchers at Senrio said that 249 models o...

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) has worked with InsurTech startup Flock to develop digital insurance solutions for the growing drones or ‘Unmanned Aircraft Systems’ (UAS) market. The partnership’s first product, to be launched later this year in the UK market, is a mobile app (for Android and iOS devices) enabling operators to purchase ‘pay-as-you-fly’ drone insurance at the touch of a bu...

Police have warned that household appliances which connect to the internet will increasingly be hacked by criminals seeking to steal your identity, rob your home or bank accounts. Chief Constable, Mike Barton, who leads the National Police Chiefs Council on crime operations, has warned about the dangers of the Internet of Things (IoT) as more ordinary household items become connected.  

A public service announcement about the improper security and privacy protections provided by manufacturers of Internet-connected smart toys, also known as IoT toys, has been issued by the Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3), a division of the FBI. The announcement comes after numerous issues were reported where smart toys had leaked the personal details of small children and vulnerabilities allowed hackers to spy on children.