The UK, US and India are among the top countries facing the increasing threat of nation-sponsored attacks, new data reveals. According to a Thomson Reuters Labs blog, 22 countries are suspected to have sponsored cyber operations with financial backing from the state. Notable historic cases include the 2017 attack on Solarworld, an owner of cutting-edge IP and global contracts in the steel industry. The attacks were attributed to China. Vitaly Kamluk of Kaspersky Labs warned the attacks are a “growing concern”.

Chinese multinational technology company Huawei has been suspended from a membership to an exclusive forum designed to tackle security breaches. The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, otherwise known as FIRST, confirmed that the company will not be involved. Executive Director Chris Gibson said: “After extensive consultation and review, we regret ending up in a position where we had to suspend Huawei’s membership in order to ensure we meet these evolving regulations, and we intend to work closely with both Huawei and the Bureau of Industry and Security to address any concerns related to their participation in FIRST.”

A Google Trends data study from 2004 to 2019 has revealed the top search terms for those interested in cybersecurity. Among the finds were the top names of those in the cybersecurity business, as well as companies which were most likely to be used in phishing attacks. Apple ranked as number one for the most often used company name in scam emails, along with PayPal, HMRC, Amazon and Natwest. Equifax has the poorest reputation based on search results, thanks to a data breach in 2017 which led to 150 million people’s data being exposed.

A data breach affecting 20 million people – 3 million more than the population of Ecuador – is said to potentially expose every Ecuadorian citizen’s data. Among the victims are the Ecuadorian president Lenín Moreno and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently residing at the Ecuadorian Embassy. The exposed data has been sourced to government registries, as well as a national bank and automotive association. It includes taxpayer identification numbers, driving records and back account records.

September 2019 will see the launch of a new ecommerce authentication law as set out by the EU. Strong customer authentication, otherwise known as PSD2, will require all customers buying and banking online to use two-factor authentication to identify themselves, for example password and fingerprint. Enterprises around the EU are now trying to identify the banks that recognise the new law so that they can transition effectively without fines.

A London-based university has announced the launch of a new cybersecurity centre which will unite the UK, US and Japan. During a launch meeting in Tokyo, proponents of the new centre said it would bring together experts in the field to tackle emerging challenges in cybersecurity. Issues that the centre will tackle involve security for large-scale events, such as the forthcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The centre has five founding institutions, including the University of Maryland, Keio University and Royal Holloway.