A Brief Weekly Review of Top Stories that Dominated the Cyberworld

The outgoing week saw legions of developments on the cybersecurity front. From technology giant Apple delaying the rollout of child protection tools, to the FBI’s warning about the impact of a ransomware attack on the food supply chain, the security domain had its fair share of headline-grabbing events.

Here’s a brief review of the major developments of the past week.    

Apple Delayed Rollout of Child Protection Tools

Technology behemoth Apple revealed it would delay the rollout of its contentious new child pornography safety tools, accused by some of disrupting the confidentiality of its devices and services.

Apple cited the feedback from customers, human rights groups, researchers and others for the delay.

In a statement, the company said: “We have decided to take additional time over the coming months to collect input and make improvements before releasing these critically important child safety features,” the company said in a statement.

FBI Warned Ransomware Attack Could Impact Food Supply Chain

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned businesses in the Food and Agriculture sector about a surge in ransomware assaults that could disrupt the food supply chain.

The high dependance on smart technologies, Internet-connected (IoT) devices, and industrial control systems expose the sector to several types of cyberattacks that might lead to disrupted processes, impacting the whole food supply chain.

The FBI said that all types of organizations in the sector — including farms, manufacturers, markets, and restaurants — were vulnerable.

BladeHawk Hackers Spied on Kurds with Forged Android Apps 

Experts at ESET said that bogus Android apps were being installed on the handsets of Kurds in a spying drive promoted across social media.  

The researchers also said that a string of attacks executed by the BladeHawk hacking group was focused on targeting the Kurdish ethnic group through their Android handsets.

Believed to have been active for more than a year, the campaign was exploiting Facebook and using the social media platform as a trigger for the distribution of forged mobile apps.