Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Crime (291 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Crime

Sky Mobile Moves to Protect UK Customers from SIM Swap Fraud

25th February, 2022 (3 Comments)

Sky (Sky Broadband) has today announced that they’re implementing JT‘s Fraud Protection Services (FPS) on their Sky Mobile service, which will introduce additional security measures to help protect customers that are carrying out financial transactions on their mobile device.

Ofcom Crackdown on Number Spoofing to Tackle UK SPAM Calls

23rd February, 2022 (11 Comments)

Last year the national telecoms regulator, Ofcom, estimated that 44.6 million UK people may have received scam calls and text messages during just the three months of summer (here), with 2% of recipients being duped by them. In response, the regulator has today proposed changes to tackle the use of fake phone numbers.

Censorship Blocked Website Message by UK ISP

High Court Orders Big UK ISPs to Block Cyberlocker Website

7th February, 2022 (18 Comments)

The High Court has ordered six of the UK’s largest broadband ISPs – Sky Broadband, BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and EE – to block customers from accessing a website called Mixdrop, which is described as a “cyberlocker” that facilitated internet piracy (copyright infringement) by allowing users to stream or download TV and film content.

Copper Cable Thieves Cut Broadband in Lincolnshire UK Village UPDATE

1st February, 2022 (12 Comments)

The Lincolnshire Police are appealing for witnesses after criminals ripped up 1,000 metres worth of Openreach’s (BT) copper broadband and phone cable from Mareham Lane in Scredington, south of Sleaford. As a result, local homes and businesses in the village are said to have been left cut-off for days.

broken network cable with suspicious hamster

PLEASE Put Those Exposed “WiFi Cables” in a Proper Conduit

29th January, 2022 (12 Comments)

A number of residents in several parts of Edinburgh (e.g. Bonnington, Newhaven and Great Junction Street) have been left without a working broadband ISP or phone service for up to a week, which occurred after vandals cut through the exposed “WiFi cables” that ran outside their homes and flats.

GBP20,000 Reward to Help Catch Openreach UK Cable Thieves

20th January, 2022 (29 Comments)

A string of damaging copper cable thefts in rural Cambridgeshire (England), which repeatedly knocked out broadband and phone services for hundreds of homes on Openreach’s (BT) network in the villages of Swavesey and Witchford, have resulted in the operator offering a reward of £20,000 to help catch those responsible.

Security Flaw in NetUSB Hits Millions of Broadband and WiFi Routers

12th January, 2022 (2 Comments)

Security firm SentinelLabs has revealed a serious new vulnerability in KCodes NetUSB kernel module, which could enable hackers to remotely hijack various routers. Sadly, the flaw appears to affect millions of end user broadband and WiFi routers from major brands (e.g. NETGEAR, Edimax, D-Link, Tenda, TP-Link and Western Digital).

Criminals Attack Openreach’s Network in Witchford.. AGAIN

4th January, 2022 (23 Comments)

Broadband and phone services have been disrupted for a second time in the Witchford area of Cambridgeshire (England) after thieves caused “significant damage” by cutting through one of Openreach’s secure boxes. But it’s unclear what, if anything, was actually stolen as a result of this attack.

Cable Theft Knocks Out Broadband for 1,000 Premises Around Ely UPDATE

17th December, 2021 (7 Comments)

Around 1,000 premises in the Witchford and Ely area of Cambridgeshire (England) have been left without a fully working broadband ISP and phone connection after criminals ripped up and stole some of Openreach’s underground copper cables. Local residents have been told that the damage could take up to 14 days to fix.

Fake Virgin Media UK Broadband Engineers Charged Over Thefts

29th November, 2021 (2 Comments)

The Leicester Crown Court has sent one man to prison, with another facing an arrest warrant, after the pair were found to have posed as fake broadband ISP engineers in order to steal telecoms equipment from several storage containers, which belonged to Virgin Media (VMO2).

Ofcom Tell UK Phone Operators to Block Foreign VoIP Scam Calls UPDATE

25th October, 2021 (23 Comments)

The UK telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has reportedly taken radical action to curb the plague of scam calls, which it is attempting to achieve by “ordering” major phone operators to automatically block any “suspicious” Voice-over-Internet (VoIP) calls that come from abroad if they pretend to come from numbers in the UK.

Scam Calls and Texts Hit 45 Million UK People Over Summer UPDATE

20th October, 2021 (16 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has estimated that 44.6 million UK people may have received scam calls and text messages during the past three months (summer period). But worryingly, around 2% of those who received such a message or call (roughly a million people) reported following the scammers’ instructions.

Apple’s Private Relay Service Creates Challenges for UK ISPs

5th October, 2021 (24 Comments)

Technology giant Apple recently released their iOS 15 software for iPad (15.5) and iPhones, which introduced a new feature called ‘iCloud Private Relay’ that “hides your IP address and browsing activity [when using Safari] so that no one – including Apple – can see [it].” Naturally, the UK Government and broadband ISPs have concerns.

Openreach Offer GBP20K Reward for Info on Essex Cable Thefts

29th September, 2021 (3 Comments)

Network access provider Openreach (BT) are offering a reward of up to £20,000 – via Crimestoppers – for information that results in the conviction of those responsible for a string of copper telecoms (broadband and phone) cable thefts in Essex (England), which have recently plagued parts of Roothing, Epping and Harlow.

smartphone with incoming call from unknown person

Gov Proposes Tougher UK Penalties for Nuisance Calls and Texts

9th September, 2021 (14 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that their planned data reform, which covers a multitude of areas (many of which are outside our focus), will also set out plans to impose tougher penalties and fines for nuisance calls and text (SMS) messages. But it’s unclear how much impact this will actually have.

Judge Blocks Crowdfunded Legal Challenge to UK 5G Rollout

30th July, 2021 (0 Comments)

The High Court has blocked a highly questionable crowd-funded legal challenge by the Action Against 5G campaign, which had been attempting to disrupt the rollout of ultrafast 5G (mobile broadband) services over fears that “radio-frequency radiation from masts and wireless devices puts health and life at risk.“

High Court Orders Big UK ISPs to Block 19 More Piracy Websites

23rd July, 2021 (20 Comments)

The High Court in London has, following a case raised by the Motion Picture Association of Europe (MPA), issued a new injunction that forces most of the major UK broadband ISPs (e.g. BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Plusnet etc.) to block 19 websites that were found to be facilitating internet copyright infringement (piracy).