Top IT News of the Week (21/2021)

IT news #1: Twitter hack leaves experts questioning security measures

Topic: Cybersecurity

 
Security experts have questioned Twitter’s response to one of the most unprecedented cyberattacks ever. The hack allowed attackers to take over some of the world’s biggest Twitter accounts, posting messages that encouraged anyone reading to send bitcoin to a specific address and falsely promising that they would receive yet more cryptocurrency in return. The posts came from the official accounts of people including tech billionaire and Tesla founder Elon Musk, former president Barack Obama, current president Joe Biden, and reality television star Kim Kardashian. The confusing response from Twitter included temporarily blocking all posts from verified accounts. It took hours to stop the posts and take them down. The hackers then “used this access to take control of many highly visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf.”

IT news #2: Train Firm ‘worker bonus’ email turns out to be a cyber test

Topic: Cybersecurity

West Midlands Trains workers discovered a promising email about a one-off payment that turned out to be a ‘phishing simulation test’. A rail union has hit out at a “cynical and shocking stunt” after the train company emailed its staff to promise a bonus to workers who had run trains during the pandemic – only to reveal it was, in fact, a test of their cybersecurity awareness. West Midlands Trains emailed about 2,500 employees with a message saying its managing director, Julian Edwards, wanted to thank them for their hard work over the past year during COVID-19. The email said they would get a one-off payment as a thank you after a “huge strain was placed upon a large number of our workforce”. But those who clicked through on the link to read Edwards’ thank you were instead emailed back with a message telling them it was a company-designed phishing simulation test and there was no bonus.

IT news #3: Apple criticised for storing data inside China

Topic: Cybersecurity

Apple confirmed that it’s storing Chinese customers’ data inside data centres based in China. However, Apple also claimed that it had “never compromised the security” of either its customers or their data and said it was complying with Chinese law concerning the data storage of its nationals.
However, one expert told the BBC the tech company was effectively “handing over the keys” to the Chinese government by doing this. China has long been accused of using technology to track its citizens for mass surveillance. In 2019, Google abandoned a project to launch a censored version of its search engine in China, following criticism from its own staff.

IT news #4: Apple to prevent one million risky apps from entering App store

Topic: Cybersecurity

Apple stopped nearly one million risky or vulnerable apps from being included in the App Store in 2020 as part of their efforts to protect users from being manipulated. Of those rejections, 48,000 were executed due to the apps containing hidden or undocumented features. More than 150,000 apps were also rejected because they turned out to be spam, copycats, or misleading to users in ways such as manipulating them into making a purchase. In 2020, Apple’s app review team also rejected over 215,000 apps due to developers either seeking more user data than they needed or mishandling user data.

Curated with love by TWC IT Solutions.