Cyber-criminals have attacked 90 per cent of major British companies – costing the economy tens of billions of pounds, it emerged. Figures reveal that the threat from hackers trying to steal confidential data is rising steeply.

Experts warned the typical cost to big firms of the most severe information security breaches had nearly tripled. The country faces advanced and persistent threats every day, a top official at the GCHQ spy agency warned. The attacks show little sign of abating and include threats from hostile states, terror groups and malicious hackers known as hacktavists. 

UK data breach investigations within the financial services industry almost trebled over the last two years, according to security figures acquired via a Freedom of Information request to the Information Commissioner’s Office, with human error almost always responsible.

The figures come during a period of increased scrutiny of how the financial services industry handles confidential personal and corporate data. Most recently, the Bank of England was revealed to have inadvertently sent sensitive financial information regarding contingency plans if the UK left the EU to the wrong email address. Human error was blamed for the vast majority of the breaches. 

Convictions for crimes under a law used to prosecute internet "trolls" have increased ten-fold in a decade with five a day, official figures reveal. 

The new figures revealed a similar rise in the number of convictions under the Malicious Communications Act, which states that it is an offence to send a threatening, offensive or indecent letter, electronic communication, message or article with the intent to cause distress or anxiety. It is a crime under the Communications Act to send by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other material that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character. 

It's common sense to reset an Android phone to its factory state before selling or disposing of it. But beware, security researchers recently found that this often fails to properly wipe all sensitive user data from the device.

A test on 21 second-hand smartphones running Android versions between 2.3.x and 4.3 revealed that it's possible to recover emails, text messages, Google access tokens and other sensitive data after the factory reset function had been used. The study was done by researchers Laurent Simon and Ross Anderson from the University of Cambridge in the UK on used devices bought from eBay between January and May 2014. 

The internet is heading towards a capacity crunch as it fails to keep up with our demand for ever faster data, scientists have warned. Leading engineers, physicists and telecoms firms have been summoned to a meeting to discuss what can be done to avert a web crisis.

The boom of internet television, streaming services and ever-more powerful computers has increased the strain on our communications infrastructure. In just 20 years, if usage rates continue, all of Britain's power supply could be consumed by internet use. The cables and fibre optics that send information to our laptops, smartphones and tablets will have reached their limit to send data within eight years, experts warn.

72% of British adults are concerned about their private information online. According to a research, 32% of respondents would be willing to pay to protect their information online. 

The findings come two years after the Edward Snowden leaks revealed that the US and UK security forces had access to and collected private data without permission, causing a backlash in the technology and security industries. The survey indicates that many of those surveyed shared personal information online when signing up for websites and services. More than half of those surveyed said they did not want to pay for online protection. 

Highly sensitive details of the pension pots of millions are being sold for as little as 5p and ending up in the hands of criminals. An investigation reveals how private financial information is being passed on by firms without their customers’ knowledge.

This valuable data is then repeatedly sold on, ending up in the hands of fraudsters and cold-calling firms. The troubling revelations come on the eve of major government reforms that will hand millions the chance to cash in their pension pots – giving them access to huge sums previously locked away. Some firms were willing to sell financial data on thousands of people. 

The UK's Court of Appeal won't block a privacy lawsuit that alleges Google tracked Safari users without authorisation, so the three plaintiffs can continue their legal fight against the search company.

These claims raise serious issues which merit a trial. They concern what is alleged to have been the secret and blanket tracking and collation of information, often of an extremely private and safe nature, as specified in the confidential schedules, about and associated with the claimants' internet use, and the subsequent use of that information for about nine months. 

In classical mythology, Aquila is the eagle carrying Jupiter’s thunderbolts skyward. At Facebook, it is the code name for a high-flying drone, indicative of the social networking company’s lofty ambitions.

The V-shaped unmanned vehicle weighs less than a small car, is the centerpiece of Facebook’s plans to connect with the five billion or so people it has yet to reach. Taking to the skies to beam Internet access down from solar-powered drones may seem like a stretch for a tech company that sells ads to make money. Facebook is under pressure to show that it can pursue projects that are more speculative than product.

Anyone who banks online will know how difficult it can sometimes be to remember multiple passwords and pin numbers on a daily basis. Halifax believes it could have a solution: a wristband that identifies customers by their heartbeat.

Apparently everyone has a unique heart rhythm, which can be used to identify us much in the same way as fingerprints. Customers would put the band on their wrists, which measures their electrocardiogram or ECG. The ECG data is read when a customer wears the band on one wrist and touches the top sensor with a finger on the other hand.