What is the National Cybersecurity Strategy? A cybersecurity expert explains what it is and what the Biden administration has changed

Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County The Biden administration released its first National Cybersecurity Strategy on March 2, 2023. The last version was issued in 2018 during the Trump administration. As the National Security Strategy does for national defense, the National Cybersecurity Strategy outlines a president’s priorities regarding cybersecurity issues. The document is not… Continue reading What is the National Cybersecurity Strategy? A cybersecurity expert explains what it is and what the Biden administration has changed

Scammers can slip fake texts into legitimate SMS threads. Will a government crackdown stop them?

Suranga Seneviratne, University of Sydney and Carol Hsu, University of Sydney Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to SMS scams. And losses have surged in recent years. In 2022 SMS scam losses… Continue reading Scammers can slip fake texts into legitimate SMS threads. Will a government crackdown stop them?

What the Coincheck hack tells us about how Australian regulators will handle a cryptocurrency hack

Philippa Ryan, University of Technology Sydney New risk rules for cryptocurrency exchanges will be put to the test with the latest hack on Japanese exchange Coincheck. Hackers stole US$660 million worth of NEM (its native cryptocurrency). In the past eight years, more than a third of all cryptocurrency exchanges have been hacked. The total losses… Continue reading What the Coincheck hack tells us about how Australian regulators will handle a cryptocurrency hack

Phishing scams are becoming ever more sophisticated – and firms are struggling to keep up

Emma Williams, University of Bath and Debi Ashenden, University of Portsmouth Companies are bombarded with phishing scams every day. In a recent survey of more than 500 cyber security professionals across the world, 76% reported that their organisation fell victim to a phishing attack in 2016. These scams take the form of emails that try… Continue reading Phishing scams are becoming ever more sophisticated – and firms are struggling to keep up

Why has healthcare become such a target for cyber-attackers?

Myrsini Athinaiou, University of Brighton More than 16m patient records were stolen from healthcare organisations in the US and related parties in 2016. That year, healthcare was the fifth most targeted industry when it came to cyber-attacks. And earlier this year, Britain’s National Health Service was crippled by a ransomware attack that locked up the… Continue reading Why has healthcare become such a target for cyber-attackers?

How Bodyguard raised the very real issue of insider threats in big organisations

Rona S Beattie, Glasgow Caledonian University Jed Mercurio’s gripping, if at times hysterical, BBC drama Bodyguard raised a storm of discussion about the likelihood – or not – of police and security service bodyguards engaging in physical and emotional relationships with the people they are protecting. While not disputing that this is an important issue… Continue reading How Bodyguard raised the very real issue of insider threats in big organisations

WhatsApp hacked and bugs in Intel chips: what you need to know to protect yourself

Robert Merkel, Monash University It’s been a day of high-profile security incidents. First there was news the popular WhatsApp messenger app was hacked. Updated versions of WhatsApp have been released, which you should install if you’re one of the more than one billion people who use the app. There was also news of several security… Continue reading WhatsApp hacked and bugs in Intel chips: what you need to know to protect yourself

‘Digital sovereignty’: can Russia cut off its Internet from the rest of the world?

Francesca Musiani, Mines Paris; Benjamin Loveluck, Télécom Paris – Institut Mines-Télécom; Françoise Daucé, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), and Ksenia Ermoshina, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) The Internet infrastructure is based on the principle of the internationalisation of equipment and data and information flows. Elements of the Internet with a… Continue reading ‘Digital sovereignty’: can Russia cut off its Internet from the rest of the world?

Why 50,000 ships are so vulnerable to cyberattacks

Keith Martin, Royal Holloway University of London and Rory Hopcraft, Royal Holloway University of London The 50,000 ships sailing the sea at any one time have joined an ever-expanding list of objects that can be hacked. Cybersecurity experts recently displayed how easy it was to break into a ship’s navigational equipment. This comes only a… Continue reading Why 50,000 ships are so vulnerable to cyberattacks