News

Google is set to acquire Wiz, a cloud security platform founded in 2020, for $32bn in an all-cash deal

Flashpoint data points to a surge in data breaches fueled by compromised credentials, ransomware and exploits

Bitdefender said the malicious app campaign has resulted in more than 60 million downloads of malicious apps from the Google Play Store

Bitsight reveals that UK companies are more exposed to cyber risk than global peers via their digital supply chains

Really interesting research: “How WEIRD is Usable Privacy and Security Research?” by Ayako A. Hasegawa Daisuke Inoue, and Mitsuaki Akiyama:

Abstract: In human factor fields such as human-computer interaction (HCI) and psychology, researchers have been concerned that participants mostly come from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) countries. This WEIRD skew may hinder understanding of diverse populations and their cultural differences. The usable privacy and security (UPS) field has inherited many research methodologies from research on human factor fields. We conducted a literature review to understand the extent to which participant samples in UPS papers were from WEIRD countries and the characteristics of the methodologies and research topics in each user study recruiting Western or non-Western participants. We found that the skew toward WEIRD countries in UPS is greater than that in HCI. Geographic and linguistic barriers in the study methods and recruitment methods may cause researchers to conduct user studies locally. In addition, many papers did not report participant demographics, which could hinder the replication of the reported studies, leading to low reproducibility. To improve geographic diversity, we provide the suggestions including facilitate replication studies, address geographic and linguistic issues of study/recruitment methods, and facilitate research on the topics for non-WEIRD populations.

The moral may be that human factors and usability needs to be localized.

Cloudflare introduces E2E post-quantum cryptography, enhancing security against quantum threats

From March 17, Ofcom will enforce rules requiring tech platforms operating in the UK to remove illegal content, including child abuse material

DarkAtlas researchers have uncovered a direct link between BlackLock and the Eldorado ransomware group, confirming a rebranded identity of the notorious threat actor

A bipartisan delegation of US Congresspeople and Senators has asked the hearing between the UK government and Apple to be made public

Action Fraud reported a spike in social media and email account hacks in 2024, resulting in losses of nearly £1m