A report on the utilisation of telecommunications-interception legislation revealed that Australian authorities accessed over 237,000 records last year using new metadata-retention powers.
Comparisons of enterprise-class cybersecurity vendors revealed CISOs’ favourite solutions, while an Australian cybersecurity specialist revealed that it had taken 5 years of actuarial research to design an insurance and security-tools bundle that would adequately cover cybersecurity-related losses.
Amazon Web Services launched an automatic, AI-driven data classification system called Macie that is designed to help companies maintain policy-based controls over their data.
Google removed numerous Telegram derivatives that were laced with spyware, while security researchers discovered that attackers are testing out potential uses for a previously known Microsoft remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office’s OLE code.
Attackers are also using a new form of DDoS attack to target multiple targets. This, as reports suggested the NotPetya ransomware attack could cost shipping giant Maersk $US300m ($A377m) – and that some systems still hadn’t been recovered.
A US review of Uber’s privacy practices blamed the company for its 2014 hack, which exposed the details of 100,000 drivers.
Also on the data-protection front, there were revelations that a Philips X-ray management tool could expose patient information thanks to an unencrypted hard-coded password.
Better identity management can help avert such issues and smartphone-based authentication is rapidly emerging as a powerful step in that direction. It’s one of many steps that businesses should take to prepare for the future security threat landscape.
Such findings reinforce the importance of protecting data – which has become an increasingly important part of executive protection. With business email compromise and ‘brandjacking’ attacks surging, the need for a comprehensive data defence has never been greater.