X-Industry

Surprisingly, the British and US governments refused to sign the international agreement on Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the global summit in Paris on the 10th and 11th of February 2025. The statement, which has been signed by dozens of countries, including France, China, and India, pledges an "open," "inclusive," and "ethical" approach to the technology's development.

In a brief statement, the British government said it had been unable to add its name to it because of concerns about national

Businesses in the UK are set to be protected by a new ransomware ban to address the threat of cybercrime, which is estimated to cost the UK economy billions of pounds every year.   The proposed legislation follows a series of serious ransomware attacks on the National Health Service (NHS), the British Library and the Royal Mail, that have caused severe disruption and cost millions in recovery costs.   The intention is to make public sector and infrastructure organizations less appealing as targe

The Five Eyes are the intelligence agencies of the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australian governments. This group has launched a new program designed to help their tech startups improve baseline cybersecurity measures in the face of escalating state-backed threats. Secure Innovation was originally a UK initiative run by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and MI5’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA). However, it has now been adopted and promoted by all Five Eyes intellig

Recently, the Dutch police have announced the takedown of Bohemia and Cannabia, which has been described as the world's largest and longest-running dark web market for illegal goods, drugs, and cybercrime services.  The takedown is the result of a collaborative investigation with Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States that began towards the end of 2022, the disclosure reported.  The marketplace discontinued its operations in late 2023 following reports of service disruptions and exit

In the months before his attackers tracked him down, the exiled Iranian journalist had been moved in and out of safe houses by London’s Metropolitan Police, given a secret way to signal rescue units and had monitoring devices installed in his home.

British authorities had done even more to protect Iran International, the London-based satellite news channel that airs the weekly program of the journalist, Pouria Zeraati, and has built an audience of millions in Iran despite being outlawed by the I

Apple appears to have misled the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in a regulatory filing that attempts to downplay competition concerns, according to Open Web Advocacy (OWA).  OWA, a web technology lobbying group, flagged the alleged misstatement on 4 September document [PDF] filed by Apple last month in conjunction with the CMA's competition inquiry into the mobile browser and cloud gaming markets.

In footnote 142 on page 47, Apple says the CMA's analysis of the mobile browser marke

The staff at a poultry factory in Norfolk, UK have had their personal details stolen in a recent cyber-attack.  Banham Poultry, based in Attleborough, UK said cyber criminals had remotely accessed its system in the early hours of 18 August.  In an email sent to staff the company said information such as National Insurance numbers, copies of passports and bank details were accessed.

The company said it was providing staff with advice, credit monitoring and fraud detection following the security b

More than 1,000 planned operations and over 3,000 outpatient appointments have been postponed amid ongoing disruption caused by a cyber-attack that impacted London hospitals.  Synnovis, an agency which manages labs for NHS trusts and GPs in south-east London, was the victim of a data hack on 3 June.[1]

New figures from NHS England show that since then, 3,396 appointments and 1,255 elective procedures have been postponed.  In a statement, the chief executives of two affected trusts said they were

Qilin, the ransomware group behind an attack that has disrupted healthcare across London, has listed the victim organization Synnovis on its darknet extortion site.  The attack earlier this month on Synnovis, a business providing pathology services for hospitals and local clinics in the capital, prompted major disruptions to services, with blood tests in South East London operating at approximately 10% normal capacity.  “Half of this capacity has been ringfenced to support patients in the acute

Hospitals and healthcare subsidiaries have been in the cyber security headlines for over a year now.  And attacks appear to have not slowed.  More than 1,130 planned operations and 2,190 outpatient appointments have been postponed after a cyber-attack hit London area hospitals.  The disruption was caused when hackers targeted pathology services provider Synnovis.  NHS England said two NHS trusts, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, were aff

European Police Chiefs said that the complementary partnership between law enforcement agencies and the technology industry is at risk due to End-to-End Encryption (E2EE).  They called on the industry and governments to take urgent action to ensure public safety across social media platforms. "Privacy measures currently being rolled out, such as End-to-End Encryption, will stop tech companies from seeing any offending that occurs on their platforms," Europol said.  "It will also stop law enforce

Let’s face it, we are all aware of the ever-increasing cyber risk in both our personal lives, workplace and wider society.  As consumers we hand over ever-increasing volumes of valuable personal data in the expectation that organizations will invest in robust cyber security to protect it and keep it secure.  Legislation also exists to drive standards through UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with the potential for up to a 4 per cent fine on global turnover for companies failing to adh

Britain’s democracy is under threat from Chinese cyber-attacks, this reported as Parliament was informed on 25 March of this warning after the hacking of voter details and the targeting of several China hawks in Parliament has occurred.  The UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, briefed MPs on the cyberthreat from China and is expected to announce reprisals against those believed to be involved, according to government insiders.  He pointed the finger at China over an alleged hacking that hit British vote

The first person in the UK to be convicted of a ‘cyber flashing’ offence has been jailed for 66 weeks after a judge warned him, she had a “duty to protect” victims.  The sentence was passed down at Southend Crown Court after sending unsolicited explicit photos to a 15-year-old and a woman.  The 39-year-old male, from Basildon, Essex, sent the victims digital pictures of his genitals on 9 February 2024.[1] 

Cyber flashing refers to the sending of an unsolicited sexual image to people via social m

A gang of hackers who targeted the private King Edward VII’s Hospital are threatening to reveal the health data from the Royal Family unless they are paid £300,000 in Bitcoin.  The hospital notably treated Kate, the Princess of Wales and the hackers have claimed they have ‘X-rays, letters from consultants, registration forms, handwritten clinical notes, and pathology forms.’[1]

The gang is referred to as ‘Rhysida,’ which is a venomous tropical centipede, and previously targeted the British Libra

The UK’s Sellafield nuclear facility has denied reports that its IT networks have been attacked by cyber groups linked to Russia and China.  The Guardian said an investigation into the nuclear site in Cumbria found security breaches, dating back to 2015, which it says were not reported to regulators for “several years.”

The year-long investigation, named ‘Nuclear Leaks,’ said sleeper malware which can be used to spy on or attack systems had been embedded in the networks and could still be there.

A cyber-attack on Australian utility company, Energy One Limited (EOL), could have international impact with the firm’s corporate systems in the UK, which was also affected.  The company, a global supplier of software and services to the wholesale energy market, confirmed that it had taken steps to limit the impact of the incident and had alerted both the Australian Cyber Security Centre and “certain UK authorities.”

According to a document signed by Andrew Bonwick, Board Chairman of EOL, it was

British prosecutors say teen Lapsus$ member was behind hacks on Uber, Rockstar.  Earlier this week a British Crown Court lifted a reporting restriction, allowing the naming of a teenager who is accused of hacking Uber, Revolut, and video game developer Rockstar Games in a short period of time last September.  The teen, who is now 18, has been deemed not fit to stand trial by medical professionals.  The jury will decide whether he is liable for the hacking incidents rather than guilty of them.[1]

The US Department of Energy and several other federal agencies were compromised in a Russian cyber-extortion gang’s global hack of a file-transfer program popular with corporations and governments. Still, the impact was not expected to be great, Homeland Security officials said on 15 June 2023.  But for others, among what could be hundreds of victims from industry to higher education, including patrons of at least two state motor vehicle agencies, the hack was beginning to show some serious impa

The Five Eyes agencies recently issued cybersecurity guidance and best practices for smart cities.  The document describes potential risks and provides recommendations for addressing them.   Those readers who do not follow the novels Tom Clancy and John le Carre may not be familiar with The Five Eyes.  The Five Eyes are the intelligence agencies of the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand that share intelligence.[1]

Smart cities integrate Information and Communication Technologies (IC