Stories by John E Dunn

Bin Laden used USB sticks to send messages

Far from scratching messages in Arabic on paper, Osama Bin Laden communicated with the outside world using a security-conscious mix of offline email and a large library of USB sticks, US sources have reported.

Security minister resigns

Security and Counter-Terrorism Minister Baroness Neville-Jones has resigned after reportedly clashing with Home Secretary Theresa May.

CESG widens smartphone approval beyond BlackBerry

The range of Smartphones in use by government departments could be about to widen after the Communications-Electronics Security Group (CESG) published new guidelines on securing devices from a range of platforms.

Russia denies plan to ban Skype and Gmail

Russian Internet users are still in the dark over whether they country is planning to impose restrictions on the use of Skype, Gmail and Hotmail after an official expressed concerns that the services' use of encryption hampers police surveillance.

Gucci admin accused of $200,000 IT rampage

A network engineer fired by fashion house Gucci has been charged with going on an IT rampage against his former employer in which he deleted data, shut down servers and left the company nursing an estimated $200,000 cleanup bill.

Mobile phone VAT scammer gets 7 years

The final member of a mobile phone import gang said to have scammed £60 million ($97 million) in VAT rebates from the UK Government has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

CPP faces probe into ID theft insurance

The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) has pounced on card protection giant CPP over suspicions that it might have exaggerated the risks of identity theft when selling consumers one of its products.

MIT and University of Wales to train cyber-techies

The <a href="http://www.wales.ac.uk/en/Home.aspx">University of Wales</a> could become one of the UK's foremost cybersecurity education and training centres after a recent conference produced a deal to work with the prestigious <a href="http://geospatial.mit.edu/SmarterSoftwareforaBetterWorld/">MIT Geospatial Data Centre</a> in the US.

Security B-Sides event showcases UK security talent

The organisers of London's <a href="http://news.techworld.com/security/3258572/security-industry-invited-to-london-b-sides-event/">forthcoming Security B-Sides conference</a> have announced a speaker line-up that promises to serve up a slice of the event's free-thinking approach to security themes.

SMEs get peak at proposed security standard

The Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) has published what it says is the <a href="http://www.issa-uk.org/issa_5173/ISSA-UK_Draft_Standard_on_Information_Security_for_SMEs.pdf">first ever guide to best security practice for SMEs</a>, a sector normally seen as beyond the reach of security standards.

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