U.K. may ban TikTok / Mitiga raises $45M / MI5 launches cybersecurity agency

Plus: Microsoft adds security features for OneNote

Inside.com Part of   Network March 14, 2023

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The U.K. government has asked relevant cybersecurity authorities to review TikTok. The country's security minister has not ruled out banning the app. More: The task of reviewing the app and pinpointing the exact security risks has been delegated to the National Cyber Security Center. Security minister Tom Tugendhat stated that whether the country bans the app or not will depend on the findings of the National Cyber Security Center. TikTok has stated that it has taken steps such as storing U.K. user data in its European data centers and tightening data access controls in order to ensure government officials of its commitment to data privacy. Zoom Out: TikTok and its privacy policy have been at the center of discussion for over two years.  Recently, the European Commission decided to ban the app for all government employees. The Belgian federal government has also taken the same decision. In the U.S., the House of Representatives ordered all employees to delete the app from their devices only three months ago. States such as Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, Tennessee, Iowa, North Dakota, and others have all banned the app for their federal employees.

Mitiga has raised a $45M Series A funding round from investors such as Samsung and Blackstone to protect companies from cloud-based cyberattacks. The company is now valued at $100M. More: Mitiga aims to shorten the needed time to investigate a breach by connecting to the cloud and consistently downloading a company's data. Whenever a client calls asking for help, the company already has all the data it needs to analyze the effects of the cyberattack. ClearSky Security led the funding round, with participation from Samsung Next, Blackstone, Atlantic Bridge, and DNX. The company aims to use the funding to boost its product development and expand its team. Since its inception in 2019, the company has raised $77M. Mitiga is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

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MI5 has launched a cybersecurity agency that aims to protect the U.K. from state-backed hackers. This agency will be named The National Protective Security Authority. More: The U.K. government has defined the agencies tasks as follows: Raise awareness of nation-state threats to U.K. businesses, research bodies, and institutions Work with police and other organizations to help in the fight against terrorist attacks, Deliver online training and in-person industry engagement, Offer advice designed specifically for individual verticals, etc. The decision to form this agency comes as the U.K. has announced it will invest over $5B in technology and defense. According to the announcement, the U.K. aims to increase its defense spending to 2.5% of GDP in the longer term.

Microsoft is adding new security features for OneNote after a series of cyberattacks targeting the application. Users will now receive a notification when opening a suspicious embedded file. More: This update comes after a recent wave of phishing attacks in which hackers used maliciously crafted OneNote documents with ".one" file extensions and embedded files hidden behind overlays asking the targets to click to view the document. To thwart phishing attacks, researchers have recommended setting up secure mail gateways or mail servers to automatically block OneNote documents with ".one" extensions. Windows admins can also use Microsoft Office group policies to prevent embedded OneNote files from launching.

The YoroTrooper hacker group is targeting energy organizations in the Commonwealth and European embassies. Its first activity was tracked in 2022. More: The threat actor has hacked the accounts of a critical European Union agency engaged in healthcare, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and numerous European embassies. YoroTrooper uses information stealers, remote access trojans, and Python-based malware. Its preferred threat vector is phishing via emails that contain malicious attachments. The group has been previously tied with cyberattacks that breached targets in Belarus and Azerbaijan.

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Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. Editor Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 and 1972 Fords.

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