Keeping up with the latest news from cyberspace can be a challenge. We are experts in the field, we pick up daily alerts and still we learn something new each week, there’s simply so much happening.
Trying to keep up with the latest movements in IT security, the latest available technologies, and ensuring you’re in the know each week can be daunting, especially when it’s not your sole focus.
With this in mind we’ve compiled a roundup of some of the biggest IT stories from the week commencing May 5, 2017.
UK overtakes US for cybercrime risk
huge topic of global discussion, as the war against cyber-crime rages on, is the breaking news that Europe has overtaken the United States to become the largest perpetrator of global cybercrime.
Data released on Monday revealed that 50 per cent more cyberattacks originated from Europe than from any other global region over the last 90 days, overtaking the United States for the first time. The UK and Netherlands, in particular, have become cybercrime hubs and are seeing a huge growth in online fraud rings.
Worryingly, tools and techniques are becoming ever more sophisticated making it crucial that businesses act now to stay one step ahead.
Google exposes Microsoft’s weaknesses
July 2014 saw Google announce the creation of Project Zero – an initiative to make the Internet safer for users by identifying vulnerabilities in the software we use. Not limited strictly to Google software, the initiative includes any app that puts your online safety at risk.
This week Project Zero discovered weaknesses in Microsoft's Edge and Internet Explorer browsers, LastPass, Norton antivirus, and even the Linux kernel.
Perhaps the most notable of the finds is a critical flaw uncovered in the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine, a security tool used in all modern Windows systems. The bug allowed total remote control over a vulnerable PC just by sending an email. More concerning, the email didn’t even require opening, simply receiving it on a Windows machine was enough for the hack to work. Security engineer Tavis Ormandy claims it’s "the worst [of its kind] in recent memory" describing it as “crazy bad”. Read more about the find here.
[Note that Microsoft has acted quickly to rectify this bug and minimise the threat]
Uber’s AI plans for speedy self-driving development
While self-driving cars may still seem to some like a thing of science fiction, Uber put down a marker this week.
The company announced it is to set up a lab in Toronto dedicated to the development of Artificial Intelligence that will allow cars to recognise objects in order to improve safely. Safety was always going to be a significant issue in the development of self-driving vehicles but Uber is hoping some of the brightest minds in tech will be able to take it forward. The research team, led by prominent professor in computer science, Raquel Urtasun from the University of Toronto, will allow Uber the opportunity to access tech and talent from across the global AI arena to aid the advancements.
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