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Tag Archives: security

Protect security online with quantum mechanics

Cryptography is vital today to protect information online and keep it secure, whether that’s for ordinary folks doing online banking and shopping or for commercial organisations and governments wishing to keep commercial and state secrets confidential. However, the advent of powerful quantum computers might leave such information vulnerable to attack. To counter such a threat […]

Kaspersky launches its own secure OS

Russian security software company Kaspersky has announced the development of a secure operating system. Installed on a network switch, this K-OS has been designed from scratch without borrowing from Linux, yesterday’s Le Monde Informatique reports In security as doubtless elsewhere we are never better looked after than by ourselves. That’s what Kaspersky must be thinking […]

Ubuntu Forums compromised – 2 mn. email addresses stolen

Hackers have succeeded in retrieving part of the Ubuntu Forums database by exploiting a security flaw in the Forum Runner extension for vBulletin. Some 2 million user names and associated email and IP addresses were stolen, Le Monde Informatique reports, although the attackers failed to obtain users’ passwords. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, announced […]

Bulk data collection only lawful in serious crime cases, Advocate General rules

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that bulk data collection in the UK – as enabled under the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (Dripa) 2014 is illegal, except in the fight against serious crime, yesterday’s Guardian reports. The case had been brought by Labour deputy leader Tom Watson […]

Latest version of Snoopers’ Charter before Parliament this week

This week the House of Commons is due to debate the Investigatory Powers Bill, the latest version of the Snoopers’ Charter (news passim), that will allow the United Kingdom’s police and services to regard the entire UK population as potential organised criminals, suspected terrorists and other assorted ne’er-do-wells and enable those same services to monitor […]

Linux Mint security advisory

Linux Mint is a great and popular Linux distribution. Unfortunately its servers were recently compromised by malicious persons. If you’ve downloaded a Linux Mint disk image recently, we advise you to read on, as the text below appeared yesterday on and is reposted from the Linux Mint blog. I’m sorry I have to come with […]

UK government still wants to have its encrypted cake and eat it

When the UK government started to prepare the ground for the latest version of the Snoopers’ Charter, the Investigatory Powers Bill, Prime Minister David Cameron was quite adamant that the government should be able to decipher encrypted material. According to The Guardian, the technologically ignorant PM is on record as saying: “In extremis, it has […]

Email encryption talk in Bristol

As part of Alternative Bristol’s Breaking the Frame series of talks, an email encryption talk for beginners will be taking place at Hydra Books in Old Market Street, Bristol (map) from 7.30-9.30 p.m. on Friday 22nd January. According to the organisers, an ordinary e-mail is like a postcard without an envelope: anybody who can put […]

Orly airport brought to standstill by Windows NT 3.1 software crash

Last Saturday, Orly airport‘s air traffic was severely disrupted, leaving thousands of passengers stranded on the ground, Le Monde Informatique reports. The cause: a computer failure of the weather data management system running on Microsoft’s antediluvian Windows NT 3.1 operating system. Computer system failures in the aeronautical world are nothing exceptional, but always have a […]

NTP updated to counter attacks

It’s that time of year again when summer daylight saving time has just ended in Europe and the developers of the NTP time synchronisation service are responding to a series of new attacks with an update, German IT news site heise reports. With these attacks communication between servers and clients can be manipulated so that […]

Quantum cryptography technology wins top prize in New Enterprise Competition

New quantum technology to ensure data is secure has won the University of Bristol’s equivalent to Dragon’s Den and a share of over £35,000 in prize money, the University reports. KETS, a company formed by Dr Chris Erven, Dr Jake Kennard, Phil Sibson and Professor Mark Thompson, uses quantum cryptography to improve data encryption – […]

UWE hosts cyber security training camp

UWE’s press office reports that the university is hosting a training camp designed for students interested in careers in cyber security. The camp, which takes place from 10-12th October, offers an opportunity to learn about cyber defence from experienced professionals. Around 40 candidates will spend three days living on site where they will get an […]

Bristol University, information leakage and sensitive personal data protection

A new generation of digital devices that will protect consumers from cyber-attacks could be a step closer thanks to a grant of over £1 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) awarded to the University of Bristol for a research project to protect consumers’ sensitive data.

Don’t let the Snoopers’ Charter bounce back

In the Queen’s Speech the Government announced it’s going to introduce an Investigatory Powers Bill (news passim). This is the new Snoopers’ Charter and will more than likely comprise even greater powers for the police and GCHQ to spy on British citizens. (Will the Government’s longer term aim of a British Bill of Rights comprise […]

GnuPG can now employ second developer

GnuPG, the most important free encryption program, will in future be developed by two paid employees, German IT news site heise reports. After a flood of donations he has been able to employ a second developer, programmer Werner Koch stated in a blog post. “The financial crisis of The GnuPG Project is over”, he wrote. […]