Cyber resilience closely linked to GDP: SecurityScorecard CEO tells France 24

The World Economic Forum has kicked off in Davos, bringing together nearly 3,000 global leaders including some 60 heads of state and government, corporate bosses and prominent figures in public institutions.

App and cyber security: The risks are real

 The latest revelations about a private IT company building malware for Russian intelligence services have again put cyber security in the spotlight. In Ukraine, the Kremlin's war rages on thanks also to cyber-attacks on local infrastructure. Meanwhile, tensions between the US and China are increasing over the question of whether TikTok poses a threat to American national security.

Pegasus: Flying on the wings of Israeli ‘cyber-tech diplomacy’?

 

What was the role of the Israeli state in the spread of an insidious piece of malware? Plus, PR companies and the work they do with controversial governments.

A global cyber-surveillance scandal – spyware developed in Israel – has put the government there under the media microscope, and its story does not add up.

Censorship, social media and Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia orders Snapchat to block Al Jazeera in latest move after Riyadh-led bloc imposed blockade on Qatar in June.

Snapchat is one of the most popular social media platforms in Middle Eastern countries, especially in Saudi Arabia with more than seven million users a day.

However, they are not being allowed to see the Al Jazeera Discover Publisher Channel on Snapchat.

It is blocked by Snapchat because the Saudi government said the channel's content violates the cybercrime laws.

It is the latest measure announced by Saudi leaders after they cut diplomatic ties with Qatar n June 5 and imposed a land, sea and air blockade on it along with few neighbouring states. 

The great firewall update: Clamping down on VPNs

As China and Russia limit the use of VPNs, we examine repercussions for media freedom. Plus, police vs press in Uganda.

The great firewall update: Clamping down on VPNs

Russia and China have both recently taken action against the use of VPNs, virtual private networks. VPNs enable internet users in one country to surf the web as if they are in another.

China has taken a selective approach to prohibiting VPN use - usually choosing to look away when people tunnelled through the "great firewall" that Beijing has put in place to regulate access to the internet.

Their new approach requires the support of companies like Apple, which has obeyed an order to remove VPN apps from its Chinese App store.

Russia has a more open internet than China, but it has just passed a new law targeting VPNs and other proxy servers.

In both countries, the pattern is unmistakable: the powers that be are out to limit - and, in effect, decide - what you can or cannot see and do online.

How can cyberattacks be stopped?

Thousands of computers go down in yet another large-scale cyberattack targeting companies around the world.

Cyber security has become one of the most important aspect of life in the 21st century, which means keeping computer systems secure becomes paramount for governments and companies.

Now, a major cyberattack that began in Ukraine has crippled computer systems around the world.

It has shut down government agencies and impacted thousands of businesses from India to Denmark.

It is linked to the so-called WannaCry ransomware, a virus that holds data hostage until a payment is made.

No one knows who is behind this attack, yet but the United States says it is investigating.

What's the cost to privacy in our connected lives?

Balancing security and privacy against ease and convenience - is a more technologically connected world a better one?

An extrordinary array of gadgets are on display at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, both technologies already on the market and ones that will be soon.

There is less discussion about the privacy and security costs that come with our increasingly connected world.

Many of us live our entire lives "connected" by smartphones, which we carry every day and everywhere.

Phone apps turn your house lights ON and switch OFF air conditioning.

Cars monitor not only our location but our driving habits and send that information back to the vehicle's manufacturer, among others.

What tech companies call the "Internet of Things" will make us healthier and safer, they say.

Will conflicts of interest drag down Donald Trump?

In first press conference as president-elect, Donald Trump says he rejects claims of Russian campaign against him.

US President-elect Donald Trump says he is already working on creating jobs, replacing "Obamacare" health insurance and appointing a new Supreme Court judge.

However, reporters repeatedly returned to questions about Russia at his first press conference since winning the election.

After weeks of denials, Trump for the first time accepted that Russian hackers tried to influence the presidential vote, but rejected allegations of a Russian campaign to blackmail him. 

The news conference highlighted a tangle of potential problems and conflicts of interest.

Trump announced he would be distancing himself from his global real estate business.

The director of the US office of government ethics criticised Trump's plan to let his sons run the family empire.