Information Society

It was another busy week in security as cyber fears continued to plague large businesses. Amazon was the latest to face a security alert after several user accounts were thought to have been compromised on the eve of the busiest shopping period of the year.

Indeed, security experts warned that Black Friday and Cyber Monday could be exploited by cyber criminals to target under-prepared internet users.

Meanwhile, arrests continued in the TalkTalk case as an 18-year-old from Wales was held on suspicion of blackmail.

Read on for the top security stories of the week from V3:

Firms must focus on protecting the ‘crown jewels’ when deploying defences

Businesses and their security teams should focus on protecting their ‘crown jewels’ rather than the entire castle, according to a panel of leading security professionals this week.

Dell admits second root certificate security blunder

Dell faced further criticism after a second root certificate flaw was discovered in its retail computer systems.

The flaw, which affects a root certificate called DSDTestProvider, can give hackers the ability to launch a man-in-the-middle attack to snoop on internet traffic, impersonate legitimate websites, install malicious software and even decrypt HTTPS traffic.

FBI links hacker to Russian gang responsible for theft of 1.2 billion records

The FBI is closing in on a hacker linked to the CyberVor gang responsible for the theft of 1.2 billion internet records and up to 500 million email addresses.

Milwaukee-based security firm Hold Security revealed last year that an operation carried out by cyber criminals in Russia resulted in the loss of sensitive data from 420,000 different websites.

Amazon resets passwords following Black Friday leak fears

Amazon reset a number of user account passwords after fears that log-in details had been compromised as the online retailer enters one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.

TalkTalk hack: Met Police arrests fifth suspect in relation to breach

A fifth person was arrested in connection with the data breach at TalkTalk, the Metropolitan Police confirmed this week.

Detectives from the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit, in collaboration with the Southern Wales Regional Organised Crime Unit, arrested an 18-year-old male at an address in Llanelli, Wales.

Malwarebytes takes time out from global expansion to celebrate nomination

Ahead of the V3 Technology Awards 2015, V3 caught up with Anthony O’Mara, VP of sales EMEA at Malwarebytes, to hear more about the company’s plans for the future.

Online retailers and shoppers urged to stay safe as Black Friday and Cyber Monday loom

Online shoppers planning to splash out on deals as Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach need to be aware of the risk of cyber crime, security experts warned this week.

Trend Micro tackles security threats to help firms thrive in the digital era

Ahead of the V3 Technology Awards 2015, we spoke to Trend Micro cyber security consultant Bharat Mistry to learn the secret of the firm’s success and get an insight into its plans for the year ahead.

Russian group using Witchcoven supercookies to profile government workers

Over 100 websites were compromised in a suspected Russia-led campaign designed to scoop up the web browsing data of government workers, a FireEye report revealed.