News

IT for government and public sector

• January 27, 2023 27 Jan'23

  Lords question ‘extensive’ government online safety powers

  Digital minister Paul Scully defends government Online Safety plans to give secretary of state powers to direct Ofcom

• January 27, 2023 27 Jan'23

  Hive ransomware gang taken down after FBI hacks back

  The FBI hacked into Hive’s servers, stole its decryption keys and then took down its servers in a major action that has successfully disrupted a prolific and dangerous ransomware operation

• January 25, 2023 25 Jan'23

  NCSC exposes Iranian, Russian spear-phishing campaign targeting UK

  Spear-phishing campaigns likely linked to Iranian and Russian espionage activity are targeting persons of interest in the UK, warns the NCSC

• January 25, 2023 25 Jan'23

  UK Treasury recruiting digital currency leader

  The UK government’s investigation into the merits of a central bank digital currency gathers pace at it looks for a team leader

• January 25, 2023 25 Jan'23

  Boards struggle to resolve cyber risk in digital supply chains

  Accelerated digitisation of supply chains is introducing more cyber risk for which many organisations seem unprepared, according to the BSI’s annual report on supply chain risk

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  UK insurers need to up their game on cyber gaps, says PRA

  Gaps and limitations in how insurers respond to cyber risk need to be addressed, according to the Bank of England regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  SSRF attacks hit 100,000 businesses globally since November

  There has been a dramatic increase in attacks exploiting the ProxyNotShell/OWASSRF exploit chains to target Microsoft Exchange servers

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  Fake online contest makes Yahoo! most phished brand of Q4 2022

  Yahoo! was the most frequently phished brand during the last three months of 2022, according to a report

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  Executive interview: Andrew Roughan, CEO, Plexal

  Plexal CEO Andrew Roughan talks about how tech startups collaborate with the government to transform public services, the barriers to entry, and how the process can be improved

• January 23, 2023 23 Jan'23

  Royal Society calls on public sector to pilot privacy tech

  The Royal Society says public sector bodies should lead the way in piloting privacy-enhancing technologies to unlock the value of data without compromising privacy and data rights, but lack of standards and incentives mean adoption is slow

• January 20, 2023 20 Jan'23

  Barclays Eagle Labs awarded Digital Growth Grant over Tech Nation

  Barclays Eagle Labs incubator to take over Tech Nation’s role in administering UK government digital growth grant amid backlash from startup ecosystem

• January 20, 2023 20 Jan'23

  WhatsApp’s £4.8m fine raises questions for organisations using behavioural advertising

  The Irish Data Protection Commissioner has fined WhatsApp, owned by Meta, in a case that will raise questions for organisations that rely on contracts rather than consent to comply with GDPR when offering behavioural advertising

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  UK seeks to ban sharing ‘positive’ Channel crossing videos online

  Under UK government amendments to the Online Safety Bill, video footage that shows people crossing the Channel in a ‘positive light’ could be added to a list of illegal content that all tech platforms must proactively prevent from reaching users, ...

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  Newham Council rejects use of live facial-recognition tech by police

  Live facial-recognition technology should not be used by police in Newham until biometric and anti-discrimination safeguards are in place, according to a motion passed unanimously by the council, but the Met Police and the Home Office have indicated...

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  Outdated IT infrastructure poses growing risk to UK Security Vetting

  Delays to UKSV’s important work in safeguarding the country’s national security are in part down to a legacy IT estate in dire need of modernisation, says the NAO

• January 19, 2023 19 Jan'23

  Swedish government launches accelerated digitisation plan

  The Swedish government has launched a four-year plan which will help to digitally transform the country’s public sector

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  David Anderson KC to review UK surveillance laws

  Home Office commissions independent review of the Investigatory Powers Act, known as the snoopers’ charter. It will include a review of bulk datasets and government access to internet connection records held by phone and internet companies

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  Oracle and CBI: companies cautious, selective in 2023 IT, business investment

  Oracle and the CBI are seeing much the same picture of cautious technology investment of UK businesses in 2023, in the context of long Covid and the energy price inflation crisis

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  Advisory board goal for Post Office scandal victims to be returned to rightful financial position

  The board set up to monitor the compensation scheme for Post Office scandal victims agrees goal of returning them to the financial position they would be in had the scandal never happened

• January 17, 2023 17 Jan'23

  Claim IR35 reform repeal and U-turn cost the government ‘nothing’ called into question

  After responding to a question about the cost of the government’s repeal of the IR35 reforms and its subsequent U-turn on the decision, the financial secretary has come under fire for claiming no additional costs were incurred by its flip-flopping

• January 17, 2023 17 Jan'23

  Crest throws support behind CyberUp CMA reform campaign

  Cyber accreditation association Crest International has lent its support to the CyberUp campaign for reform to the Computer Misuse Act of 1990

• January 14, 2023 14 Jan'23

  Experts concerned over silence around government obligation to review UK surveillance laws

  The government is required to review the UK’s surveillance law, the Investigatory Powers Act, but experts say they are in the dark about its plans. The National Crime Agency’s operation Venetic has highlighted the need for urgent reforms

• January 13, 2023 13 Jan'23

  Government given until autumn 2023 to create technology roadmap to support net-zero strategy

  Review into the government’s progress in hitting its 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal highlights need for more action on the technology front

• January 13, 2023 13 Jan'23

  Cabinet Office looks to expand public data sharing for digital ID

  Cabinet Office seeks feedback on proposed legislation to enhance data sharing across the public sector, in support of the UK government’s ambition to have a single sign-on identity-check system for all public services

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  UK government completes trials of age estimation technology

  Government-led trials of age estimation and verification technologies for the sale of alcohol in nightlife venues and supermarkets have been completed, with both government and retail lobbyists pushing for legislation that would allow retailers to ...

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  Government accused of leaving umbrella company regulation in limbo by shelving enforcement body

  The UK government is coming under pressure to reveal the state of its plans to regulate umbrella companies after it emerged that the enforcement body it promised to create is unlikely to materialise

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  Internet shutdowns cost global economy $24bn in 2022

  Deliberate disruption of people’s access to the internet by governments is having a substantial economic impact and contributing to a range of human rights abuses, primarily against protestors

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  Microsoft fixes EoP zero-day on January Patch Tuesday

  On the first Patch Tuesday of 2023, Microsoft fixed an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call, which has been actively exploited in the wild and may be co-opted into ransomware campaigns

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  Davos 2023: Pervasive cyber crime and cyber security gaps pose severe risk to organisations

  Governments and organisations face tough trade-offs as they balance immediate problems caused by economic recession, energy shortages and rising interest rates with longer-term risks, including the impact of global warming

• January 10, 2023 10 Jan'23

  Insurer Beazley introduces catastrophe bond to ease cyber risk

  Insurance company Beazley says that its $45m cyber catastrophe bond will help to protect its balance sheet and enable it to offer more cyber insurance cover

• January 10, 2023 10 Jan'23

  Former subpostmaster Alan Bates, who ‘pulled up trees and moved mountains’, turns down OBE offer

  Alan Bates, who fought for decades to expose the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, says it would be inappropriate to accept an OBE when former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells still holds her CBE

• January 06, 2023 06 Jan'23

  Vice Society cyber gang targeted multiple UK schools

  The Vice Society ransomware gang has made a habit of attacking educational institutions, and now appears to have struck multiple schools, colleges and universities in the UK

• January 04, 2023 04 Jan'23

  Diversity and inclusion figures high in New Year Honours List 2023

  The New Year Honours List 2023 hailed those in the technology community who promote diversity and inclusion

• December 30, 2022 30 Dec'22

  Top 10 information management stories of 2022

  Data for good is a theme of the information management stories of 2022 selected here. From tracking space junk, through medical kits for Ukraine, to professionalising data science to benefit society

• December 29, 2022 29 Dec'22

  Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022

• December 29, 2022 29 Dec'22

  Top 10 Nordic IT stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly's top 10 Nordic IT articles of 2022

• December 28, 2022 28 Dec'22

  Complaints that NCA failed in duty of candour over EncroChat warrants ‘incredible’, court hears

  NCA lawyers argue that a decision by an NCA intelligence officer to disclose notes of a key meeting after two-and-a-half years boosts her credibility as a witness

• December 28, 2022 28 Dec'22

  Top 10 government IT stories of 2022

  The UK government has been in turmoil for much of 2022, but there’s been plenty going on around the digital transformation of the public sector and the UK economy

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 cyber security stories of 2022

  The war in Ukraine loomed large over the cyber security news agenda, but 2022 also saw growing awareness of open source security, discussion around cyber insurance, and more besides

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2022

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2022

  Cyber crime continued to hit the headlines in 2022, with impactful cyber attacks abounding, digitally enabled fraud ever more widespread and plenty of ransomware incidents

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Digital Economy Council: UK tech sector number one in Europe

  Despite the tumultuous economic landscape, the UK has maintained its spot as having the number one tech sector in Europe, with its impressive investment figures

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Four-day working week set to stay at Atom bank

  Challenger bank Atom has formalised a four-day working week policy after a successful trial

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Government shuts ‘Help to Grow’ doorway for SMEs

  The government’s Help to Grow: Digital scheme, which aimed to help small businesses access productivity-enhancing software, has been closed, to the disappointment of TechUK

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Top 10 IR35 stories of 2022

  The implementation of the UK government’s IR35 reforms has continued to generate headlines for Computer Weekly in 2022

• December 16, 2022 16 Dec'22

  UK unis implement new IP traffic policies to combat ransomware

  Jisc will introduce new measures to protect UK universities and research institutions from ransomware attacks that exploit the Remote Desktop Protocol remote-access feature

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  Digital Ethics Summit: Who benefits from new technology?

  Experts at the 2022 Digital Ethics Summit say expedited development cycles and obviously over-hyped PR material, in tandem with the public’s near-total exclusion from conversations around technology, is creating distrust towards the tech sector

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  NCA officer questioned in Investigatory Powers Tribunal over failure to disclose EncroChat notes

  EncroChat hacking warrant was unlawful and in breach of human rights law, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal hears

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Criminal Cases Review Commission calls on more convicted subpostmasters to come forward

  The Criminal Cases Review Commission wants more former subpostmasters to come forward if they think they were prosecuted by the Post Office based on data from the error-prone Horizon computer system

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Advanced Azov data wiper likely to become active threat

  Check Point deep dives into an emergent data wiper strain known as Azov, which is making waves with hundreds of new samples being submitted to VirusTotal daily