Cyberthreat News
About Cyberthreat News
A threat is anything that harms systems or data-and by extension, the people and organizations associated with them-through destruction, theft, alteration, disclosure or denial of access/service. The term itself traces back to 1971 and an engineer’s proof of concept called Creeper, which moved from one computer to another via a teletype message: “I’m the Creeper. Catch me if you can.”
This month, cybercrime went mobile as Apple iPhone jailbreaks and rogue Android apps were top headlines. A gang targeting software flaws was behind the hack of a firm that provides payroll services for half of FTSE 100 companies, while a Marriott breach impacted some 6 million customers. A Canadian hack exposed decades of personal information on public servants, armed forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. And the high-profile departure of Sam Altman from OpenAI was big news in artificial intelligence circles.
But more good news: A recent survey found that mainstream journalists are evolving their coverage of cybersecurity stories in laudable ways, shifting away from sensationalistic and surface-level reporting and instead exploring the deeper technology questions and core democratic values at stake in these issues. That’s a trend we can support, and we hope to see it continue. As for what could improve, it would be nice to see more reporting on phishing attacks and the security risks of passwordless technologies. We also expect to see greater clarity about the impact of GDPR and similar regulations on business operations in Europe and beyond.