…let the UK Government scrutinise your security patches before you are allowed to publish them to your vulnerable customers!
Sounds like a bad dream. Read on.
Security Patches are Important
Alarm surrounds a clause in the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act. According to the proposed legislation, tech firms will be mandated to share security patch details with the UK Government before release. Government will have the power to delay or even halt the dissemination of essential security patches, increasing cybersecurity risk for all computer users.
Deliberate delays in releasing security patches have the potential to erode global internet security and users have no way to contest such decisions. Not only that, the UK Government itself currently exploits some vulnerabilities for surveillance activities and will be able to obstruct security patches that “close that gap”.
Security Patches – The UK will be out of step with everyone
This proposed law does not align with international agreements like the EU’s GDPR or the US CLOUD Act, creating compliance challenges for companies like Apple. They could undermine user security, facilitate malware proliferation, and pose a threat to an already fragile economy.
Companies like Apple, WhatsApp, and Meta are contemplating suspending messaging services for UK users. Apple, in particular, has issued a comprehensive statement outlining its fears. Apple has cautioned that these provisions might coerce companies to strip critical security features from the UK market, leaving users exposed.
UK organisations and individuals could be targetted by cybercriminals for using operating systems and other software and firmware without the latest security patches, which will cause huge problems. The Act is critiqued as shortsighted and potentially economically damaging.
This is yet another reason to take advantage of our SOC-as-a-service, as our experts can identify suspect activity in your systems and head off cyber attacks. It starts at £10 per month so you can afford it!
Diana Catton MBA – by line and other articles
References
Evans. (2023). New law could turn UK into a hacker’s playground. Computerworld. https://www.computerworld.com/article/3705370/new-law-could-turn-uk-into-a-hackers-playground.html
