The rise of Cyberchondria: Search engines are wrongly making us believe we have terrible diseases May 7, 2015 You're feeling a bit funny – what could the cause be? A life-threatening disease? If MrDoctor123 on unknown medical blog considers it to be a vague possibility, then surely there's a genuine risk of imminent death. This over-reliance on the internet to self-diagnose our medical problems is spreading across the world faster than a highly [...]
Loyalty membership Costa lot as coffee card scheme data hacked April 23, 2015 Costa Coffee suspended millions of Coffee Club Card online accounts yesterday after hundreds of its loyalty scheme members suffered a security breach. The Whitbread-owned coffee shop said that it had identified a small number of members who had “some unusual activity” on their accounts after carrying out security checks. A spokesperson told City A.M. the [...]
Hackers force British Airways to freeze-frequent flyer accounts March 29, 2015 Tens of thousands of British Airways frequent-flyer accounts have been hacked, meaning executive club flyers will be unable to use their points. The carrier said no personal information had been viewed or stolen on the small proportion of its customers who were affected, whose accounts have now been frozen while the issue has been resolved. [...]
These are the four biggest threats to financial stability, according to the Bank of England March 26, 2015 The financial policy committee (FPC) which looks after financial stability over at the Bank of England, has outlined the areas it intends to keep a closer eye on in its quarterly assessment released today. 1. Geopolitical turmoil Eurozone turmoil could pose a threat to future financial stability. There have been some encouraging signs recently but [...]
Chinese government cyber division accused of hacking Google March 25, 2015 A wing of the Chinese government has been accused of being behind a recent attack on Google, as well as previous hacks on Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo. Anti-censorship organisation GreatFire.org today highlighted a recent admission by Google that it had been the subject of a “man in the middle” (MITM) attack which it traced [...]
PayPal sets up cyber security centre in Israel and buys startup CyActive March 11, 2015 Online payments company PayPal yesterday announced it was establishing a cyber security centre in Beersheba, Israel, and has bought local startup CyActive to help to launch the development. PayPal, which is due to be spun off from eBay later this year, did not disclose financial details, but Israeli media have said the purchase was worth [...]
PayPal boosting cyber security with buyout of Israeli CyActive March 9, 2015 ONLINE payments company Paypal is set to expand its cyber security business with the acquisition of the Israeli tech firm CyActive, it emerged yesterday. The $60m (£40m) buyout of CyActive will be Paypal’s second acquisition of an Israel-based company, after it purchased FraudSciences in 2008 for $169m. CyActive was founded in 2013 and provides companies [...]
Chinese hackers managed to spy on companies via the Forbes website, and could still have access in some cases February 10, 2015 A Chinese hacking group managed to gain access to to the computer systems of thousands of businesses via the Forbes website. From 28 November to 1 December last year, the well established group Cosodo circumvented the company's cyber security measures by exploiting a loophole in its Adobe software, allowing it to infiltrate all [...]
Safer Internet Day: How to protect your business against cyber attacks February 10, 2015 Today is Safer Internet Day – an annual event dedicated to the importance of cyber security in an increasingly digital world. For businesses, one of the most difficult and growing challenges they face is protecting against hackers, who are becoming more frequent and severe in their attacks as they develop new and improved [...]
Sony Pictures co-chief Amy Pascal steps down after North Korea hack February 5, 2015 Sony Pictures co-chief Amy Pascal is stepping down from the entertainment company just months after it was targeted by hackers causing one of the largest leaks of information in corporate history. The head of the movie studio is leaving to set up her own production company in the wake of the leaks which caused embarrassing [...]