Tag Archive for: urgently

Government must urgently awaken to threat ransomware poses to UK national security

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In May 2021, president Joe Biden declared a national state of emergency after a ransomware attack by Russian DarkSide forced one of the United States’ largest and most vital oil lines to shut down for six days.

Today in the UK we are at high risk of a catastrophic cyber-attack at any moment. Ransomware is a type of malicious software — ‘malware’ — designed to damage and destroy computer systems, usually to facilitate extortion.

It can cause severe disruption to the delivery of core government services, including healthcare and child protection, as well as ongoing economic losses. Swathes of UK critical national infrastructure (CNI) – much of which is operated by the private sector — remain vulnerable to ransomware, especially where sectors still rely on legacy IT systems. 

Victims have described going ‘back to a pre-computer era of the 1950s in mere minutes’ as they were locked out of digital systems and forced to resort to pen and paper. A coordinated and targeted attack has the real potential to bring the country to a standstill. 

The majority of ransomware attacks against the UK are from Russian-speaking perpetrators, and the government is almost certain that Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 general elections. With new UK and US elections on the horizon, we can expect to see the integrity of our democratic systems tested again soon.

But as the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy that I chair reports today, the UK’s response to this national security threat is severely lacking. Our main legislative framework, the Computer Misuse Act, is irresponsibly outdated – it was introduced before the arrival of the internet – and government missed another chance to rectify this in the latest King’s Speech.

The agencies tasked with detecting, responding to, and recovering from ransomware attacks – and degrading further attack capabilities – are under-resourced and lacking key skills and capabilities: a…

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Apple: Update your iPhones and iPads urgently to avoid being hacked

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A

pple is urging all iPhone and iPad users worldwide to urgently update their devices to iOS 16.5 and iPad OS 16.5, or risk being hacked by cybercriminals.

The tech giant issued advice last week warning that there are three cybersecurity flaws, known commonly as “zero-day exploits”, that are being actively exploited by hackers and cybercriminals on unpatched devices.

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India Urgently Needs Fighter Squadrons

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Emphasising induction of modern aircraft to sustain and enhance the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) combat potential, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari has said that force urgently needs 5-6 squadrons of 4.5 generation aircraft. Air power remains the most potent means of prosecuting war. It provides long range, precision, and flexibility. Modern fighters are omni-role, thus can do multiple missions in a single sortie. The ranges have been extended with aerial refuelling. The AEW&C gives cover deep in enemy territory.

India is one of the most threatened nations in the world. It has two nuclear weapon-possessing neighbours. With both there are serious boundary disputes, wars and border skirmishes. For long it is very clear that for ground or sea war to be won there is a need for dominance in the air. The fighter aircraft remains the most potent platform for both offensive and defensive operations. While many are predicting the future to be unmanned, practically all the fifth and sixth generation fighters that will see the world through this century are evolving as manned fighters.

The IAF today is at an all-time low of 30 fighter squadrons. The government has already announced that the four remaining MiG-21 Bison squadrons will be retired by 2025. In this period, only around two squadrons of LCA, at best, will induct. This would mean further depletion of the squadron strength. At the same time Pakistan Air Force (PAF) currently has over 450 fighter aircraft in 22 fighter squadrons. China has nearly 59 fighter brigades in the theatre commands with each having 24-28 aircraft. Additional 20 plus Brigades are with the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) HQ at Beijing. China also has additional air power with the PLA Navy (PLAN) with nearly 500 aircraft and an expanding number of aircraft carriers. Clearly India’s neighbours are expanding air power. Significant part of the PLAAF may be committed on China’s Pacific front, but air power’s speed and flexibility allows forces to be brought to bear in other sectors in a short period.

J-20 Fighter. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Growing PLAAF: Know the Adversary

With the support of indigenous industry which is producing all genres of aerial platforms, PLAAF is fast acquiring…

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Vietnam urgently strengthens information security on mobile devices | Science/technology

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Vietnam urgently strengthens information security on mobile devices ảnh 1International conference and exhibition on information security in the Southern region in 2022, held in HCMC


Vice Chairman Tran Minh Triet of Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) shared that smart phones have been one essential equipment piece for Vietnamese people to participate in digital transformation. It is, therefore, necessary to closely monitor different cyber-attack methods on smart phones and be more cautious launching applications on them.

Chairman of VNISA – Southern region Ngo Vi Dong mentioned that unless information security is effectively guaranteed, there will be much trouble carrying out the digital transformation process as citizens encounter information leak (loose confidentiality) or unworking applications (application unavailability).

Because of a sharp increase in computer and mobile device use in Vietnam, the country has become a lucrative target of cyber criminals. Adding to this is the bad habit of Vietnamese people to install cracked software, to have so low an awareness about cyber-attacks.

Statistics from the Authority of Information Security (under the Information and Communications Ministry) reveal that among over 7,600 cyber-attacks in Vietnam in the first 7 months this year, there were 4,703 malicious code attacks, 4.3 times as many as interface change attacks. Each month, more than 760,000 Vietnamese IP addresses are in botnets, many of which are official IP of state agencies and organizations.

These figures have shown the essence of information security maintenance when the Government is carrying out digital transformation nationwide, so that citizens can see the reliability of the digital environment that is honest, civilized, and healthy.

In particular, Acting Director of Vietnam Cybersecurity Emergency Response Teams (VNCERT) Nguyen Duc Tuan commented that it is necessary to promote security applications to protect Internet users in Vietnam, to deliver guidance on proper behaviors in the cyber space.

Vice Chairman Tran Minh Triet added that each province and municipality should develop its own strategic plan for information security, which is corresponding with its actual digital transformation status and its capacity….

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