Anatomy of an email based virus #1

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Category: Cyber Security (Personal)

The email which arrives in your mailbox. Poorly written and not massively convincing.

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News of the World phone hacking is the just the tip of the iceberg, according to security expert

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Category: Cyber Security (Personal)

As with every news story, after a few days or sometimes weeks it blows over. The old story is forgotten as a new one replaces it. The Levenson Inquiry has been released recently, with some backlash from the main three political parties. You may think with the publication of the Levenson Inquiry all the problems and vulnerabilities have gone. Think again.

To pull off a “phone hack” was relatively easy and required little information or technical knowledge. Today people still use a default PIN or a simple-to-guess PIN which means a lot of people are still vulnerable. A more sinister problem still exists in the UK and abroad: interception of telephone calls and text messages.

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Concerned about data security? Why the ICO and FSA do not do businesses any favours.

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Category: Cyber Security (Personal)

In 2011 Sony was fined £250,000 for leaking personal data including passwords, email addresses, names and possibly financial details (story: 24/1/2013). Stories relating to data breaches are often seen in the press, inciting strong comment from the Financial Services Authority and the Information Commissioners Office. David Smith, the ICO’s deputy, said “there’s no disguising that this is a business that should have known better”.

With data breaches happening frequently, the general public would think the FSA and ICO are taking the necessary steps to make legislation and guidance clear. Well think again. When contacting these organisations with a question, businesses can expect to wait up to a month for a response.

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