Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

46% say age checks are easy to bypass, and nearly a third admit getting around them It’s been months since the UK government began requiring stronger age checks under the Online Safety Act, and recent research suggests those measures are falling short of keeping kids away from harmful content. In some cases, even drawing on a mustache has been reported as enough to fool age detection software.…

Nothing says 'We want honest opinions' like a 36,000-letter mailshot with no awkward questions allowed Members of the UK government’s People’s Panel on Digital ID will spend two weekends in Birmingham and three evenings on Zoom discussing how Britain should build a national digital identity system, earning £550 plus expenses for their trouble.…

Four-week call for evidence intended to help shape laws aimed at devices linked to crime The UK government is seeking views on radiofrequency jammers as it prepares legislation to ban the controversial devices.…

We could tell you no for free The UK government will spend about £630,000 running a discussion panel on its digital identity card plans, which minister James Frith said will "consider different perspectives and debate trade-offs" alongside a formal consultation.…

300 families undergo 6-week trial to test impact on sleep, school, and home life The UK government will trial different levels of restrictions on social media for under-16s with the help of 300 families, alongside a public consultation that has already gathered nearly 30,000 responses.…

Lack of clear criteria risks encouraging firms to lean on state support instead of worrying about insurance The UK's cyber watchdog has warned that the government's £1.5 billion bailout of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) risks setting a troubling precedent for how Britain handles major cyber crises.…

Audit trails aplenty, but no price tag – and no clue how long your data sticks around Opinion Last week's UK government consultation on its plans for digital identity had quite a few things missing. It did not include a price estimate - something it said was due to decisions yet to be taken on the scheme's scope - or how long the government would keep "audit trail" records of ID checks.…

Reflecting on the relaunch of the UK Cyber Team and introducing the next phase of leadership Partner Content The UK Cyber Team is a government initiative led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in partnership with SANS Institute. Its purpose is to identify, develop, and support the UK’s most promising emerging cyber talent, while ensuring the UK is represented with confidence and credibility on the international cyber stage.…

PLUS: Firefox adds XSS protection; Leadership turnover at CISA; FTC exempts some data collection Infosec In Brief DNS vulnerabilities are being addressed 84 percent faster in the UK public sector thanks to an automated vulnerability scanning system established as part of a program kicked off early last year.…

Digital burglaries remain routine, and data shows most corps still don't stick to basic infosec standards Britain is telling businesses to "lock the door" on cybercrims as new government data suggests most still haven't even found the latch.…

UK government grilled over progress made to prevent a second life-threatening leak Legacy IT issues are hampering key technical measures designed to prevent highly sensitive data leaks, UK government officials say.…

Reports say Salt Typhoon attackers accessed handsets of senior govt folk Chinese state-linked hackers are accused of spending years inside the phones of senior Downing Street officials, exposing private communications at the heart of the UK government.…

Minister dodges cost questions while promising smartphone-free access and 'robust' verification The UK government has revealed some thinking about digital identity in response to written questions from MPs, while continuing to say next to nothing about the scheme's cost.…

Much owed to the few, but takeup is under 1% More than 15,000 former members of the UK's armed forces have successfully applied for a digital version of their veterans ID card since its launch in October, according to the Government Digital Service (GDS). …

Labour's latest U-turn? 61 backbenchers pile pressure for Starmer to back Tory peer's amendment The British government may impose a ban on under-16s using social media, despite Labour prime minister Keir Starmer having previously expressed skepticism over the measure.…

U-turn leaves questions on costs, funding, and benefits unanswered The UK government has backed down from making digital ID mandatory for proof of a right to work in the country, adding to confusion over the scheme's cost and purpose.…

Project Nightfall aims to deliver a UK-built long-range strike capability at speed The British government is asking defense firms to rapidly produce a new ground-launched ballistic missile to aid Ukraine's fight against Russia - hardware that might also be adopted by UK's armed forces in future.…

Ministers promise equivalent standards just without the legal obligation ANALYSIS From May's cyberattack on the Legal Aid Agency to the Foreign Office breach months later, cyber incidents have become increasingly common in UK government.…

Image generation paywalled on X after ministers and regulators start asking awkward questions Grok has yanked its image-generation toy out of the hands of most X users after the UK government openly weighed a ban over the AI feature that "undressed" people on command.…

Central government will supposedly be as secure as energy facilities and datacenters under new proposals The UK today launches its Government Cyber Action Plan, committing £210 million ($282 million) to strengthen defenses across digital public services and hold itself to the same cybersecurity standards it's imposing on critical infrastructure operators.…