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Articles for Category Tag - Security

Internet and UK Telecoms Security Picture

BT Report HUGE Rise in Malicious IP Scanners Across UK Network

12th September, 2024 (4 Comments)

Telecoms and broadband ISP giant BT has today revealed that their UK network is logging 2,000 signals of potential cyber-attacks a second (200 million per day), while malicious scans of online (Internet Protocol) networks and devices have surged by over 1,234% in the last year alone.

Government Classifies UK Data Centres as Critical National Infrastructure

12th September, 2024 (13 Comments)

The Government’s Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) has today announced that they’ve classed data centres – the buildings which store much of the networking and data generated in the UK – as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). The move affords such sites greater protections, much like energy supply, water supply, transportation, health and telecoms (e.g. broadband and mobile).

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Gov Asks UK Broadband ISPs to Offer 8 Hours of Battery Backup

10th September, 2024 (35 Comments)

The UK Government’s Minister for Telecoms, Sir Chris Bryant, has written a new letter to the bosses of major broadband ISPs that calls on them to help protect vulnerable users during the switchover from analogue (PSTN) to digital (IP) phone solutions by refraining from re-starting non-voluntary migrations and offering battery backup that can last “up to” 8 hours.

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Ofcom Sets Guidance to Improve Resilience of UK Broadband and Mobile Networks UPDATE

6th September, 2024 (13 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today set out how they intend to update their guidance on network resilience in order to give broadband ISPs, mobile operators and other digital network providers greater clarity on how they can “reduce the risk of network outages“. But proposals to improve battery backup on mobile networks will come later.

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ISP Equity Networks Add Paid Security Feature to UK Users Without Consent

6th September, 2024 (11 Comments)

Business broadband ISP and managed service provider Equity Networks has recently become the latest company in a growing list to irritate some of their UK customers, which it did by automatically adding a paid (£12.99 a month) internet security feature – ‘SafeWeb’ – to their accounts, without first getting explicit consent.

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Daisy Comms Adds Paid SafeWeb Service to UK Accounts Without Asking

30th August, 2024 (14 Comments)

Business broadband ISP, cloud and technology provider Daisy Communications has managed to irritate some of their UK customers after the provider automatically added a new internet security feature – ‘SafeWeb Plus’ – to their accounts, at a cost of £11.99 ex. VAT per month, without first getting consent.

Scam Alert UK Finger on Computer Keyboard Warning

Sky UK Warn of Fake Premium Rate Call Sites Targeting Customers

28th August, 2024 (15 Comments)

Sky UK (Sky Broadband, Sky TV etc.) has warned customers of their services to be aware of “scam” websites that operate by “manipulating Google results or using deceptive ads” to target people looking for Sky’s support. Such sites are designed to “mislead customers” into calling premium rate numbers instead of the correct ones.

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Complaints Raised Over UK Broadband ISP Onestream’s NordVPN Offer UPDATE

23rd August, 2024 (22 Comments)

Customers of Hampshire-based UK ISP Onestream, which sells broadband packages using Openreach’s national full fibre network, have criticised the provider after they claim to have been automatically opted-in to take a service from VPN firm NordVPN that indicated they could be charged an extra £4.95 per month if they don’t opt out.

Error message concept. Alert, attention notification. Important reminder

Hiya – Spam Phone Calls Declined in the UK During H1 2024

22nd August, 2024 (6 Comments)

The latest H1 2024 data from caller ID verification firm Hiya, which also works with broadband ISPs BT (EE) and Virgin Media (O2) to help detect and block SPAM and fraud calls, has revealed that residents of the UK received only 3 spam calls per person each month (down from 4 at the same time last year) – one of the lowest rates in Europe.

Broadband ISP Onestream Boosts UK Online Security via NordVPN

14th August, 2024 (7 Comments)

Hampshire-based internet access provider Onestream, which sells broadband packages using Openreach’s national UK full fibre network, has today announced a new partnership with Virtual Private Networking provider NordVPN that will give customers access to the VPN service “at a discounted rate“.

Internet and UK Telecoms Security Picture by 123rf

Mobile UK Travel SIM Provider easySim Global Suffers Data Breach UPDATE

9th August, 2024 (1 Comment)

Mobile provider easySim.global, which is part of the Stelios-linked easy® family of brands (easyJet, easyCar etc.) and offers low cost travel data (mobile broadband) to use all around the world via eSIM, has informed customers that they recently suffered a data breach after their database was “accessed remotely by a hacker“.

UK Broadband and Mobile Providers Balk at Ofcom’s Call for Battery Backup

7th August, 2024 (24 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has published some of the responses they’ve received from fixed broadband ISPs and mobile operators to their consultation on enhancing network resilience in order to “reduce the risk of network outages“ (here). Suffice to say that many operators are balking at the costs of deploying national battery backup.

Competition Watchdog Delays Three UK and Vodafone Merger Decision

2nd August, 2024 (32 Comments)

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it will need an additional 8 weeks to reach a conclusion on their Phase 2 investigation of the proposed mega-merger (here) between mobile operators Three UK and Vodafone. As a result, the deadline has been extended from 18th September 2024 to 7th December 2024.

Three UK Warn Customers Over Rise in Missed Parcel SMS Scams

2nd August, 2024 (12 Comments)

Mobile network operator Three UK has warned customers this week about an increase in fraudsters using “missed parcel” SMS (text) scam messages this summer, which are not a million miles from the fake DHL or FedEx delivery messages that tried to infect phones with malware a few years ago (and continue to do so today).

Internet Danger Websites with Scam Ads and Malware

Ofcom Orders UK Phones Providers to Add Tougher Scam Call Blocking

29th July, 2024 (10 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today given UK phone providers (fixed line and mobile) six months to implement changes that aim to help tackle scammers who call from abroad and imitate UK landline numbers (i.e. spoofed calls), which requires stricter measures against “Presentation Numbers” that are used to identify who is making a call.

Ofcom Propose New Ban to Tackle Abuse of UK Mobile Networks

22nd July, 2024 (8 Comments)

Market regulator Ofcom has proposed to ban UK telecoms operators from leasing Global Titles – numbers like +44 (for the United Kingdom) that support mobile services – to third parties. This is because such leasing can be misused to try and intercept messages and calls, disrupt the operation of networks and track the location of users of other networks.

Ofcom UK Hit BT with £17.5m Fine for 999 Call Handling Fault UPDATE

22nd July, 2024 (17 Comments)

The national regulator, Ofcom, has this morning hit BT with a fine of £17.5m for being “ill-prepared to respond to a catastrophic failure of its emergency call handling service last summer” (here), which readers may recall occurred after a technical fault (“complex software issue”) resulted in 14,000 emergency calls being disrupted. The disruption lasted for 10.5 hours.