Quantum investment must go hand-in-hand with cybersecurity, warns industry expert
The UK Government’s £121 million pledge to turbocharge the quantum technology sector has been broadly welcomed by industry figures — but also comes with a word of caution.
“As quantum computing advances, it’s changing how we think about data security and ensuring information remains confidential as it travels across networks,” said Paulina Gomez, senior advisor of portfolio marketing at global networking firm Ciena.
“The opportunity now lies in building networks that aren’t just faster and more agile, but resilient against the future threats posed by quantum-enabled attacks.”
US Cyber Trust Mark launches to boost IoT device security standards
The US Cyber Trust Mark is a cybersecurity labelling programme led by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designed to help users assess a product’s cybersecurity, similar to how EnergyStar labels help consumers identify energy-efficient appliances.
At the start of the year, it was announced that makers of Internet of Things (IoT) devices ranging from smart locks to voice-activated assistants can have their products tested against cybersecurity criteria developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to earn the Cyber Trust Mark label.
Iran bans officials from using connected devices amid cybersecurity fears
Iran’s Cybersecurity Command instructed high-ranking officials and their security teams to cease using any devices that connect to public communication or telecoms networks.
The directive, reported by the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency, forbade the use of smartphones, laptops, smartwatches and other connected tools. It warned that even powering down such devices may not prevent geolocation tracking.
Bouygues Telecom data breach: The reality of cyberattacks on telecoms
French telecoms giant Bouygues Telecom confirmed a cyberattack and data breach that impacted millions of its customers, as threat actors accessed personal account data.
The attack in August meant that millions of Bouygues Telecom customers were impacted, with the company sharing that the incident enabled hackers to access the personal information on 6.4 million customer accounts.
Orange investigates cyberattack after hacker leaks stolen data
Orange confirmed it experienced a cyberattack in February, investigating claims that valuable data was stolen.
The news came as a member of the HellCat ransomware group, known as Rey, gained access to a ‘non-critical application’ belonging to a local branch in Romania.
After gaining access, the hacker had stolen 380,000 unique email addresses, source code, invoices, contracts and both customer and employee information, amounting to around 12,000 files, BleepingComputer claimed.
Salesforce faces cyberattack extortion
Salesforce faced extortion threats after a hacker group launched a website claiming to have stolen about a billion records from companies using its cloud databases.
The group, known as Lapsus$, Scattered Spider and ShinyHunters, created a dark web site called Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters, which pressured victims to pay the hackers to prevent their stolen data from being published.
According to reports, the hackers demand that Salesforce negotiate a ransom, warning, “all your customers data will be leaked.”
Orange hit by recent cyberattack
The telecoms giant warned that customers were going to be affected by its response to the attack, however, it did not disclose the incident itself. In a statement, the company said: “At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest that any customer or Orange data has been extracted. We remain vigilant in this regard.”
The attack took place on Friday 25 July
Hacker hype vs. real risks: Inside the true scale of India-Pakistan cyber clash
A February report from cybersecurity firm CloudSEK suggested that the surge in claimed cyberattacks by Pakistan-linked hacktivist groups in the wake of clashes in Kashmir was exaggerated, recycled, or outright fabricated.
According to CloudSEK’s analysis, multiple hacktivist groups collectively claimed responsibility for more than 100 breaches against Indian government websites, educational institutions, and critical infrastructure during May 2025.
Colt becomes latest telecom giant to be hit by cyberattack
Colt Technology Services suffered a cyberattack within its internal system in August 2025. In a blog post, the company, which connects 900 data centres across Europe, Asia and North America, confirmed the attack but stressed the affected system was separate from customer infrastructure.
Speaking exclusively to Capacity in October, company CEO Keri Gilder said: “Almost every conversation that we had with our customers and suppliers started with them saying: If it wasn’t you, it would be us.
“The main lesson learned is that the crisis plans and preparation most leadership teams practice with is for the physical part of the attack – systems down, manual processes, business continuity.”
Cloudflare down as parts of the internet grind to a halt
Finally, Capacity’s top story of 2025 was covering the recent Cloudflare outage that saw parts of the internet stall.
Cloudflare confirmed an issue is ongoing and it has already seen some services recover, but that customers may continue to observe higher-than-normal error rates as it tries to fix the problem.
The company said online that it is investigating the issue, posting on its Cloudflare System Status page: “Cloudflare is experiencing an internal service degradation. Some services may be intermittently impacted. We are focused on restoring service. We will update as we are able to remediate. More updates to follow shortly.”
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