News

IT legislation and regulation

• October 04, 2022 04 Oct'22

  IR35 reforms to be scrapped: What IT contractors need to know

  News of the government’s plans to scrap the IR35 reforms took the contracting world by surprise, but IT contractors are being warned off making hasty changes to the way they work just yet

• October 04, 2022 04 Oct'22

  Tories to replace GDPR

  IT industry reacts to the government’s plan to replace the pan-European data protection regulation

• October 04, 2022 04 Oct'22

  Next phase of open banking already gathering pace

  Open banking has had a major impact on the banking industry as finance forms harness data to provide better services, but the next phase of open finance promises even more

• October 04, 2022 04 Oct'22

  Vodafone confirms Three UK merger talks

  UK’s mid-sized operators begin negotiations on consolidation to gain the scale to accelerate roll-out of 5G in the UK, expand broadband connectivity to rural communities and small businesses, and offer stronger competition

• September 30, 2022 30 Sep'22

  Surveillance tech firms complicit in MENA human rights abuses

  Research finds companies are profiting from surveillance technologies that facilitate human rights abuses against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in the Middle East and North Africa, with little to no oversight

• September 28, 2022 28 Sep'22

  Online Safety Bill needs complete overhaul, say rights groups

  Civil society groups write to new digital minister to challenge various aspects of the upcoming Online Safety Bill, which they say threatens rights to privacy and freedom of expression

• September 26, 2022 26 Sep'22

  How Russian intelligence hacked the encrypted emails of former MI6 boss Richard Dearlove

  Hack by Russian-linked ColdRiver group exposed former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove’s contacts and email communications with government, military, intelligence and political officials

• September 26, 2022 26 Sep'22

  Data analysis and artificial intelligence key industrial strategy missions for Labour

  Shadow business secretary announces Labour’s proposed industrial strategy, in which data would take a central role

• September 23, 2022 23 Sep'22

  Mini-Budget 2022: HMRC tells firms to update payroll software ahead of November NI tax cut

  HMRC is urging employers to ensure their payroll software systems are updated now, before the reversal of the previous government’s National Insurance tax hike kicks in

• September 22, 2022 22 Sep'22

  Ofcom turns its attention to the hyperscalers

  The regulator sees its role expanding into emerging areas of communications technologies and public cloud services

• September 22, 2022 22 Sep'22

  Privacy Pledge signatories dream of alternative internet

  A group of privacy-focused organisations have come together to establish a set of principles for taking the internet back from big tech and surveillance capitalism

• September 21, 2022 21 Sep'22

  Contractors call for IR35 review and tax cuts in Chancellor’s mini-Budget

  The contractor community is patiently awaiting the outcome of this Friday’s mini-Budget, with hopes for some concrete details on the Prime Minister’s proposed IR35 review and news of a corporation tax cut

• September 21, 2022 21 Sep'22

  European Central Bank working on prototypes of digital Euro interfaces

  European Central Bank’s digital Euro investigation phase is at the point of developing and testing systems that might interface with consumers

• September 15, 2022 15 Sep'22

  EU Cyber Resilience Act sets global standard for connected products

  European Commission lays out proposed security regulations on device and software security to better protect consumers and drive global standards

• September 15, 2022 15 Sep'22

  New player pioneers ‘active cyber insurance’ for UK market

  Arrival of US-based insurer Coalition in London will supposedly offer SMEs more options when it comes to cyber security insurance

• September 15, 2022 15 Sep'22

  Organisations failing to account for digital trust

  The vast majority of businesses are well aware of the importance of digital trust, yet very few have a dedicated staff role responsible for it, report finds

• September 15, 2022 15 Sep'22

  US charges three Iranians over CNI cyber attacks

  Three Iranian nationals have been indicted over a spate of ransomware attacks against organisations in the US, UK, Israel and Iran

• September 14, 2022 14 Sep'22

  Ex-CISA head Krebs: Disrupt ransomware support networks to win the war

  Speaking at an event hosted by data protection specialist Rubrik, former CISA director Chris Krebs calls for the security community to work collectively to kick out the supports from under ransomware gangs

• September 12, 2022 12 Sep'22

  Contractors lack confidence in prime minister to follow through with promised IR35 review

  Contractor poll suggests lack of faith among freelancers about new prime minister Liz Truss honouring her pledge to review the IR35 rules

• September 12, 2022 12 Sep'22

  Mistakenly transferred $504m to be returned to Citigroup

  Judge rules that creditors should return $504m that was accidentally transferred to them by Citigroup

• September 08, 2022 08 Sep'22

  NCSC CyberUK event heads to Belfast in 2023

  National Cyber Security Centre’s annual CyberUK roadshow is crossing the Irish Sea to Belfast in April 2023

• September 08, 2022 08 Sep'22

  The changing role of CIO in Sweden

  New technologies and evolving business models are changing the missions of IT leaders around the world – and in most cases, the result is slightly different from one country to another

• September 07, 2022 07 Sep'22

  Albania cuts diplomatic ties with Iran after cyber attack

  In a global geopolitical first, the Albanian government has severed diplomatic ties with Iran and expelled its ambassador after it was targeted by an APT backed by Tehran

• September 06, 2022 06 Sep'22

  Campaigners call on Truss to change UK’s archaic hacking laws

  The CyberUp coalition, a campaign to reform the Computer Misuse Act, has called on Liz Truss to push ahead with needed changes to protect cyber pros from potential prosecution

• September 06, 2022 06 Sep'22

  New prime minister Liz Truss urged to press on with IR35 and loan charge policy reviews

  Contracting stakeholders are calling on Liz Truss to make good on her pledge to undertake a review of the IR35 rules when she became prime minister

• September 05, 2022 05 Sep'22

  UK payments upgrade to add more than £3bn to GDP, but much more on offer

  UK GDP will increase when its ageing payments infrastructure is replaced with the latest technology to enable real-time payments

• September 05, 2022 05 Sep'22

  Huge leap to contactless payments in past three years

  Covid-19 pushes the use of contactless payments for face-to-face transactions to 90% of total

• September 02, 2022 02 Sep'22

  HMRC to review how IR35 works in practice following PAC criticism

  Several months have passed since the Public Accounts Committee issued its damning report on the fallout from the introduction of the IR35 reforms in the public sector, and HMRC has shared its feedback on its contents

• September 01, 2022 01 Sep'22

  Swedish Electronics Protection Act coincides with major cyber spend

  Swedish cyber security law comes at a time of heavy government investment

• September 01, 2022 01 Sep'22

  Arm sues Qualcomm over Nuvia tie-up

  Qualcomm hopes to integrate Nuvia’s technology into its system-on-a-chip products based on Arm cores – but Arm says this infringes its IP

• August 31, 2022 31 Aug'22

  Four years into GDPR, Norway hopes for safer data transfer to US

  Much of the data on the internet ends up on US servers at some point, and that is not always compatible with the General Data Protection Regulation, says Norwegian data protection authority

• August 30, 2022 30 Aug'22

  UK government presses on with new cyber rules for telcos

  Government has finalised new security rules for telecoms companies and will move to make them binding in the near future

• August 30, 2022 30 Aug'22

  One Login digital identity project makes headway

  Government services are lining up to work with the GDS on its One Login digital identity system, according to its director of digital identity, Natalie Jones

• August 24, 2022 24 Aug'22

  Alleged Twitter security failings spell trouble ahead

  Twitter’s former security head, Peiter Zatko, has alleged a number of serious cyber failures at the social media platform, raising the spectre of investigations and sanctions

• August 23, 2022 23 Aug'22

  Altice gets regulatory green light for added stake in BT

  Despite previous worries by UK government of potential threat to levelling-up agenda on broadband, corporate regulatory probe finds no issue with increase in stakeholding by long-rumoured potential buyer of UK incumbent telco

• August 22, 2022 22 Aug'22

  Contracting market weighs in on Liz Truss pledge to review IR35 rules if she becomes prime minister

  As Liz Truss continues her Conservative Party leadership campaign, she tells the national press of her plans to review the IR35 rules should she succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister

• August 22, 2022 22 Aug'22

  Lloyd’s to end insurance coverage for state cyber attacks

  Lloyd’s of London has instructed its members to exclude nation state cyber attacks from insurance policies beginning in 2023, saying they pose unacceptable levels of risk

• August 18, 2022 18 Aug'22

  LexisNexis sued by immigration advocates over data practices

  Four immigration advocacy groups launch lawsuit in Illinois alleging data broker’s collection, aggregation and sale of people’s personal data, including non-public information, to corporations and government bodies

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  Lawyers and journalists sue CIA and Mike Pompeo over Assange surveillance claims

  CIA and its former director sued over allegations that they authorised unlawful spying on US citizens when they visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  How clean data helps Southern Water identify vulnerable customers

  Escalating prices means households around the country are having to tighten spending, with many struggling to pay their bills. Water4All, a consortium led by Southern Water, is using data to identify low-income and vulnerable households so they can ...

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  England and Wales councils unprepared for PSTN withdrawal in 2025

  Freedom of information act request reveals worrying finding that over half of councils in England and Wales have no strategy for the prospective withdrawal of traditional PSTN communications networks

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  Report reveals consensus around Computer Misuse Act reform

  A study produced by the CyberUp campaign reveals broad alignment among security professionals on questions around the Computer Misuse Act, which it hopes will give confidence to policymakers as they explore its reform

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  UK government aims to allow struggling families access to cheaper broadband

  New support scheme designed to enable customers to give permission to broadband providers to confirm their eligibility for cheaper deals

• August 15, 2022 15 Aug'22

  FCSA appoints independent panel to bolster dispute resolution protocols for umbrella firms

  In a statement to Computer Weekly, the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association says the panel will provide umbrella companies with a route to appeal against the decisions made by its CEO

• August 12, 2022 12 Aug'22

  Department of Health investigates bias in medical devices and algorithms

  The government has launched a review to look at the problem of discrimination in medical devices and decision-making software

• August 12, 2022 12 Aug'22

  Online Safety Bill ‘not fit for purpose’, say tech experts

  IT specialists lack confidence that legislation compelling tech firms to tackle online harms will work as intended, with only a small minority believing ‘harmful but legal’ content can be effectively and proportionately policed by internet platforms

• August 10, 2022 10 Aug'22

  UK to surveil convicted migrants with facial recognition

  A Home Office scheme to biometrically scan the faces of convicted migrants who have already carried out punishments has come under fire from privacy and human rights groups for being discriminatory

• August 09, 2022 09 Aug'22

  HS2 sets aside £9.5m to cover cost of IR35 non-compliance

  HS2 has become the latest public sector entity to have fallen foul of the IR35 rules, with its accounts confirming that it is anticipating a tax bill of £9.5m for failing to assess the status of contractors provided to it by a third party

• August 08, 2022 08 Aug'22

  Internet giants in favour as Ireland tightens rules on datacentres

  Irish premier Michael Martin has insisted its temporary squeeze on datacentre construction is not a moratorium on the industry

• August 04, 2022 04 Aug'22

  Financial services regulator opens digital delivery centre in Leeds

  The Financial Conduct Authority is increasing the number of tech experts in its workforce through a new digital delivery centre in Leeds