News
IT legislation and regulation
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May 07, 2021
07
May'21
NCSC publishes smart city security guidelines
Guidance for local authorities, IT and cyber professionals aims to ensure the security of connected, smart city projects
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May 07, 2021
07
May'21
Cyber accreditation to improve legal standing of security pros
Institute of Cyber Digital Investigations Professionals will help incident responders and cyber investigators get the professional recognition they deserve
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May 06, 2021
06
May'21
Government urged to add scam protections to Online Safety Bill
Group of organisations calls for the government to use the Online Safety Bill to protect people from cyber scams
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May 06, 2021
06
May'21
Scammers accidentally reveal fake Amazon review data
More than 13 million records relating to an organised fake review scam have been found on an unsecured ElasticSearch database, implicating hundreds of thousands of people in unethical behaviour
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May 05, 2021
05
May'21
Why ITAM can aid IT-fuelled business recovery
As a sense of normality returns, we look at why IT asset management is the stealth tool for clearing a path towards greater digitisation
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April 30, 2021
30
Apr'21
MPs accuse government of unduly interfering in information commissioner appointment
Cross-party group of MPs says government is influencing the appointment of a new information commissioner by explicitly seeking a candidate who will support its policy agenda, rather than regulate independently
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April 30, 2021
30
Apr'21
Government gets updated powers to intervene on tech-related M&A deals on national security grounds
The National Security and Investment Bill has secured royal assent, giving the government the legislative support it needs to intervene on business transactions in a variety of tech-related industries on national security grounds
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April 29, 2021
29
Apr'21
G7 countries to cooperate on digital regulation
Digital and technology ministers outline their agenda for how technology can be used to facilitate the post-Covid recovery, signalling closer collaboration in key areas of the digital economy
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April 28, 2021
28
Apr'21
Covid-19 security challenges leave bank customers at risk
Challenges arising from the pandemic have left gaping holes in banking security, putting consumers at risk of fraud
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April 28, 2021
28
Apr'21
NHS App to serve as vaccine passport for foreign holidays
Existing NHS App will have vaccine passport functionality added to it, transport secretary confirms
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April 27, 2021
27
Apr'21
UK supermarkets to trial age estimation tech for alcohol purchases
Biometric age estimation technology developed by Yoti to be tested in UK supermarkets for alcohol purchases as part of government-led digital identities initiative
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April 27, 2021
27
Apr'21
Apple OS updates patch multiple security holes
The much-heralded release of the privacy-centric iOS 14.5 also brings patches for multiple CVEs, and users of Apple smartphones, tablets and notebooks are best advised to update as soon as possible
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April 23, 2021
23
Apr'21
HMRC downplays significance of CEO email ‘questioning’ legal basis of loan charge policy
A document dump of emails shared between HMRC officials has prompted loan charge campaigners to further question the legal footing of the government’s controversial disguised remuneration policy
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April 22, 2021
22
Apr'21
GCHQ: Cyber investment a guarantor of UK’s global status
GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming sets out a vision for the UK’s cyber security future
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April 22, 2021
22
Apr'21
Researchers shed more light on APT29 activity during SolarWinds attack
RiskIQ’s Atlas threat intel team uncovers new patterns and threat infrastructure used in the SolarWind’s attacks
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April 21, 2021
21
Apr'21
NCSC offers teachers free cyber security training
The NCSC’s latest security training offer builds on a package of measures designed to protect schools from cyber attack
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April 21, 2021
21
Apr'21
EU lays out plans to regulate AI development
Proposal aims to encourage the development of ethical artificial intelligence systems that do not infringe the human rights of EU citizens
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April 20, 2021
20
Apr'21
Health app myGP adds Covid-19 vaccine passport function
The new feature is described as the UK’s first NHS-assured Covid-19 certification feature
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April 20, 2021
20
Apr'21
UK’s proposed IoT cyber security law gathers momentum
New statistics appear to vindicate UK government proposals to force suppliers to be upfront about IoT security
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April 15, 2021
15
Apr'21
Biden sanctions Russia over SolarWinds cyber attacks
US president imposes new sanctions on Russia following malicious cyber attacks against the US and allies
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April 15, 2021
15
Apr'21
Ireland’s DPC launches probe into Facebook leak
The Irish Data Protection Commission has launched an ‘own volition’ inquiry into the leak of data from 500 million Facebook profiles
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April 14, 2021
14
Apr'21
CMA provisionally clears merger of Virgin and O2
Six months after being requested to review joint venture that could transform UK’s wired and wireless communications provision, UK competition watchdog CMA removes potential major hurdle to Virgin and O2 merger
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April 14, 2021
14
Apr'21
FBI accesses ProxyLogon target servers to disrupt cyber criminals
US Justice Department reveals successful court-authorised effort to clamp down on ProxyLogon exploitation
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April 14, 2021
14
Apr'21
Remote workers largely supportive of a UK right to disconnect
The introduction of a “right to disconnect” in the UK is popular among workers and has backing from trade unions
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April 14, 2021
14
Apr'21
EU set to tilt AI balance in favour of citizen rights
New draft EU regulations aim to protect people from biased decision-making
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April 13, 2021
13
Apr'21
EncroChat lawyers raise questions over use of PII secrecy orders on UK decryption capabilities
Lawyers claim that public interest immunity certificates may have been used to withhold information on UK intelligence agencies’ ability to decrypt encrypted communications
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April 09, 2021
09
Apr'21
Egypt, Italy and US most affected in Facebook leak
Researchers at VPN firm Surfshark have been analysing data on 533 million people leaked from Facebook
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April 09, 2021
09
Apr'21
Loan Charge Group MPs demand IR35 shake-up to stop contractors becoming ‘zero-rights employees’
Inquiry by Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group calls on government to tweak IR35 legislation during passage of next Finance Bill
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April 08, 2021
08
Apr'21
Nation-state cyber attacks double in three years
Cyber attacks backed by nation states are becoming more frequent and varied, moving the world closer to a point of ‘advanced cyber-conflict’, according to a University of Surrey research project
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April 07, 2021
07
Apr'21
Facebook ducks calls to apologise over huge data leak
Facebook gives its side of the story as data on millions of its users leaks, but is yet to apologise for security lapses that put half a billion people at risk of compromise
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April 07, 2021
07
Apr'21
Digital Markets Unit starts work on codes of conduct for tech giants
Digital markets regulator officially launched to ensure tech giants such as Facebook and Google cannot exploit their market dominance to crowd out competition and stifle innovation online
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April 07, 2021
07
Apr'21
Irish employees’ ‘right to disconnect’ enshrined in code of practice
A code of practice giving employees the ‘right to disconnect’ from work and not engage in electronic communications outside of their normal hours has come into effect in Ireland
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April 06, 2021
06
Apr'21
Facebook data leak could be outside scope of GDPR
Regulators may be unable to do much about leaked data on 533 million Facebook users, as it seems to have been stolen before GDPR came into force
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April 06, 2021
06
Apr'21
US court issues Google API with Java ruling
US Supreme Court rules that specifying an API function call to enable third-party developers to access functionality should not be copyrighted
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April 06, 2021
06
Apr'21
IR35 reforms: Private sector start date prompts mixed picture of predictions for contracting market
The IR35 tax avoidance reforms take hold in the private sector, prompting a mixed picture of predictions from stakeholders about what the future holds for contractors in the UK
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April 01, 2021
01
Apr'21
Clearer service information could add 1.6 million full-fibre homes by 2025
Report finds that the speed at which Britain could benefit from the economic and social impact of billions of pounds of full-fibre infrastructure investment could be improved by clear labelling and information on broadband services
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April 01, 2021
01
Apr'21
EncroChat hearings delayed as lawyers seek disclosure on police hacking
Court hearings precipitated by police cracking the EncroChat secure mobile phone network have been delayed after defence lawyers request further disclosures on police decryption capabilities
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April 01, 2021
01
Apr'21
IR35 reforms: Loan charge and employers’ NI issues prompt calls for legislative revamp
As the government prepares to extend the IR35 reforms to the private sector, contracting stakeholders say it is high time the ‘flawed’ legislation was scrapped entirely
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March 31, 2021
31
Mar'21
IR35 reforms: HMRC denies ‘squandering’ datasets that could rid umbrella sector of rogue players
Concerns grow about the number of IT contractors at risk of joining non-compliant umbrella firms ahead of the IR35 reforms taking hold in the private sector
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March 31, 2021
31
Mar'21
Nordics run information sharing on digital vaccination passports
Nordic countries advance plans for digital Covid-19 vaccination passports in a bid to kick-start their economies
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March 30, 2021
30
Mar'21
IR35 reforms: Slow government progress on umbrella regulation exposes IT contractors to tax risks
With thousands of IT contractors set to start working through unregulated umbrella companies for the first time when the IR35 reforms take hold in the private sector, concerns are growing about the danger this could pose to their income and tax ...
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March 29, 2021
29
Mar'21
How far has open banking come in Europe?
Open banking is a relatively new concept, having come into effect in Europe only in the last couple of years. So what is the state of play?
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March 29, 2021
29
Mar'21
Backup survey: UK councils’ downtimes five times longer than average
Backup product supplier Veeam’s freedom of information request finds councils’ average downtime is seven hours and that backup and disaster recovery testing is not done frequently
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March 29, 2021
29
Mar'21
UK courts face evidence ‘black hole’ over police EncroChat mass hacking
French investigators have refused to disclose how they downloaded millions of messages from a supposedly secure cryptophone network used by organised criminals – leaving UK courts to grapple with a forensic ‘black hole’ of evidence
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March 26, 2021
26
Mar'21
Openreach defies Covid to hit full-fibre target
BT-owned broadband provision division includes more than 170 city locations in multi-billion-pound gigabit broadband build including cities of Birmingham, Belfast, London and Manchester
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March 25, 2021
25
Mar'21
Cyber security complacency puts UK at risk, says NCSC head
National Cyber Security Centre CEO Lindy Cameron, in her maiden speech in the role, warns of challenges ahead for the UK and sets out the future agenda for cyber
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March 23, 2021
23
Mar'21
IR35 reforms: Confusion over who pays employers’ NI leaves IT contractors out of pocket
Litigators are circling as thousands of contractors realise that the 2017 roll-out of IR35 reforms to the public sector may have resulted in unlawful tax deductions – and the private sector could be next
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March 22, 2021
22
Mar'21
Altnet association warns of threat to UK full-fibre roll-out
Independent Networks Co-operative Association warns that recent momentum in gigabit broadband implementation could be delayed if independent providers and their investors believe UK comms regulator is not willing to listen to their concerns
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March 22, 2021
22
Mar'21
CIO interview: Juliette Atkinson, IT director, Bradford University
Bradford University’s IT director took a different route than most to get into IT leadership
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March 19, 2021
19
Mar'21
UK government aims to get national broadband project back on track with Project Gigabit
First areas revealed in £5bn government scheme to deliver gigabit broadband connections to help recovery from the pandemic, achieve growth and levelling up