News

IT for government and public sector

• January 26, 2022 26 Jan'22

  Demands on Fujitsu to contribute to £1bn Horizon scandal compensation costs

  Fujitsu cannot hide away as taxpayers pick up the bill for the Post Office scandal triggered by its IT system, say peers

• January 25, 2022 25 Jan'22

  Prepare, but don’t panic, over supposed Russian cyber threat

  A fresh alert from the US Department of Homeland Security may have IT security teams jumpy over the possibility that their organisations could be targeted by Russian state actors

• January 25, 2022 25 Jan'22

  Cyber Essentials programme gets biggest update since launch

  NCSC implements a thorough revision of its Cyber Essentials scheme to reflect the changing security landscape

• January 25, 2022 25 Jan'22

  UK launches international data transfer council

  Businesses, academics and trade bodies convene to help the UK seize data-sharing opportunities

• January 25, 2022 25 Jan'22

  Subpostmaster campaign group to meet government over unfair compensation settlement

  A group of subpostmasters excluded from fair compensation in the Horizon scandal is to meet government department to discuss their demands

• January 24, 2022 24 Jan'22

  MPs say Online Safety Bill fails to tackle full range of harms

  A DCMS select committee has warned that the Online Safety Bill should be expanded to cover more types of harmful content, such as child abuse material designed to circumvent content removal

• January 24, 2022 24 Jan'22

  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can ask Supreme Court to hear extradition appeal

  Senior judges said today that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can petition the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear an appeal against his extradition to the US

• January 24, 2022 24 Jan'22

  Outdated systems core to DWP £1bn pension underpayment blunders

  Old software is among the main reasons behind the pension errors affecting 134,000 people, says a House of Commons committee report

• January 21, 2022 21 Jan'22

  ICO criticises government-backed campaign to delay end-to-end encryption

  Data protection watchdog warns that delaying end-to-end encryption will put children at risk

• January 21, 2022 21 Jan'22

  MoJ faces ICO enforcement over subject access requests backlog

  Ministry of Justice receives enforcement notice from information commissioner over ‘substantial’ backlog of subject access requests described as being of ‘significant concern’

• January 20, 2022 20 Jan'22

  Government ‘has nothing against’ paying 555 subpostmasters fair compensation

  Government officials are open to finding a way to properly compensate victims of the Horizon scandal without setting a dangerous legal precedent

• January 20, 2022 20 Jan'22

  Data of 515,000 vulnerable people stolen in Red Cross attack

  The International Committee of the Red Cross is probing a cyber attack that has already seen the personal data of hundreds of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable people compromised

• January 20, 2022 20 Jan'22

  MoonBounce firmware bootkit shows advances in malicious implants

  MoonBounce firmware bootkit shows evident technical improvements over others, making it a more dangerous threat to organisations. It is being used by Chinese state-backed actors

• January 20, 2022 20 Jan'22

  UK SMEs to receive tech skills and software boost

  A new government scheme aimed at helping businesses improve their productivity and sales online has opened for applications

• January 19, 2022 19 Jan'22

  Government funds charity campaign to warn big tech over the risks of encryption to children

  Barnardo’s and other charities begin a government-backed PR campaign to warn of the dangers end-to-end encryption poses to child safety, which has been criticised as being ‘one-sided’

• January 19, 2022 19 Jan'22

  Danish digitisation partnership delivers plan to government

  Public-private collaboration submits plan setting out “how Denmark can take advantage of the opportunities presented by digitisation moving forward into the future”

• January 19, 2022 19 Jan'22

  Content removal will not stop misinformation, says Royal Society

  Censorship of scientific misinformation online could exacerbate feelings of distrust, so government should look at information literacy and funding fact checkers instead, says report

• January 19, 2022 19 Jan'22

  Twelve million jobs to be lost to automation in Europe by 2040

  Millions of current jobs in Europe will be carried out by robots as software robots automate processes

• January 18, 2022 18 Jan'22

  Government widens subpostmaster miscarriage of justice compensation

  Government changes its position in billion-pound Horizon scandal compensation

• January 17, 2022 17 Jan'22

  Test police algorithms in court rather than legislate, Lords told

  Police algorithms and their impacts should be tested and challenged in court, rather than controlled by new laws, says policing minister

• January 17, 2022 17 Jan'22

  ‘Russian-backed’ hackers defaced Ukrainian websites as cover for dangerous malware attack

  Kiev claims that a hacking group in Belarus – a close ally of Russia – was responsible for hacking Ukrainian government websites amid threats of military action

• January 14, 2022 14 Jan'22

  Nato offers tech support after 'massive cyber attack' hits Ukraine

  Speculation mounts that Russia is behind a cyber attack which defaced Ukrainian government websites amid growing international tension

• January 14, 2022 14 Jan'22

  Socitm outlines public sector digital trends for 2022

  Report identifies the key areas of focus for technology decision-makers in government in the months ahead, across areas from cyber and data to digital identity and 5G

• January 14, 2022 14 Jan'22

  Microsoft veteran turns her attention to levelling up IT industry for women

  Diversity goes beyond balancing the internal workforce and should include working with partners that also have diversity as a core objective, says Gavriella Schuster

• January 14, 2022 14 Jan'22

  Post Office received £1bn taxpayer subsidy last year as part of IT scandal compensation

  The Post Office has received over £1bn in taxpayer subsidies for its Horizon scandal compensation scheme

• January 13, 2022 13 Jan'22

  Councillors refuse public release of IT audit of Hackney Psya ransomware attack

  Hackney councillors claim an IT audit report is exempt for disclosure as it relates to action taken in relation to the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime

• January 13, 2022 13 Jan'22

  NCSC sounds alarm over Russia-backed hacks

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre joins US calls to be wary of Russian state interference in critical national infrastructure IT systems

• January 13, 2022 13 Jan'22

  ICO investigates police use of app to covertly record calls from mobile phones

  Surrey and Sussex police forces call in regulators after 1,000 police officers downloaded an app to covertly record phone calls on police-issued mobile phones

• January 12, 2022 12 Jan'22

  MEPs demand EU probe into Pegasus spyware abuse

  A group of European Parliament Members has called for an EU-wide investigation into NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware after it emerged EU member states may have used it

• January 12, 2022 12 Jan'22

  UK government bodies challenged on secure identity

  Public sector bodies in the UK recognise secure identity and access management as critical to the roll-out of digital services, but face challenges in addressing this

• January 12, 2022 12 Jan'22

  Government backs Turing Institute in bid to set global AI technical standards

  The DCMS has announced an AI Standards Hub, comprising The Alan Turing Institute, the National Physical Laboratory and the British Standards Institution to set a global bar for AI technical standards

• January 12, 2022 12 Jan'22

  Microsoft fixes six zero-days in January Patch Tuesday update

  A larger than of late Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft comes as defenders continue to grapple with Log4Shell

• January 12, 2022 12 Jan'22

  Dutch cyber volunteers receive major funding boost

  The Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure has received a $100,000 donation to expand the scope of its work

• January 12, 2022 12 Jan'22

  Macquarie joins NSW government’s cloud supplier panel

  New South Wales state agencies will be able to access Macquarie’s sovereign cyber expertise and secure cloud, network and datacentre services

• January 11, 2022 11 Jan'22

  Almost half of Log4j downloads still dangerously exposed

  Whether by error or design is unclear, but a great many IT teams are still exposing themselves by downloading outdated, insecure versions of Apache Log4j

• January 11, 2022 11 Jan'22

  Post Office can’t access records of all money paid to it by victims of the Horizon scandal

  A parliamentary select committee was told that the Post Office is unable to access information to accurately calculate compensation for some Horizon scandal victims

• January 11, 2022 11 Jan'22

  NHS England urged to produce tech roadmap to cope with pandemic backlog

  Tech can help to ease the pressure on the health and care system, but basic infrastructure is lacking, a House of Commons report has found

• January 11, 2022 11 Jan'22

  Companies propose scanning content pre-encryption to fight CSAM

  Firms working on the UK government’s Safety Tech Challenge have suggested that scanning content before encryption will help prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material – but privacy concerns remain

• January 11, 2022 11 Jan'22

  Cyber security failure one of biggest risks facing countries and businesses, warns WEF

  Cyber risks are among the top five risks facing organisations and governments over the next two to five years. Digital inequality and the over-crowding of space with communication satellites present further risks 

• January 10, 2022 10 Jan'22

  Public sector IT and communications spend down 4% last year

  Public sector spending on IT and communications was down in 2021, but some departments bucked the trend with major investments

• January 10, 2022 10 Jan'22

  Ministry of Justice caught up in multiple cyber incidents

  Besides multiple disclosed data breaches, department was also affected by two ransomware attacks

• January 10, 2022 10 Jan'22

  MPs call for fair compensation for excluded victims of Post Office scandal

  Almost 100 MPs have backed a call for the government to reverse its decision to exclude 555 subpostmasters from fair compensation for their suffering and losses as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal

• January 06, 2022 06 Jan'22

  How far has Saudi Arabia come with open data?

  While clearly on the right path, Saudi Arabia still has a lot to do before it reaps the full benefits of open data

• January 06, 2022 06 Jan'22

  Government cans electronic monitoring overhaul

  Nearly £100m of taxpayer money has been spent in tech that will not result in future benefits, according to the Ministry of Justice's annual accounts report

• January 05, 2022 05 Jan'22

  Google buys Siemplify in first phase of cyber investment

  Once integrated into Google Cloud, Siemplify’s platform will serve as the basis for deeper security development at Google

• January 05, 2022 05 Jan'22

  NHS App exceeds 22 million user mark

  Boosted by Covid-19 pass functionality, the NHS App is one of the most downloaded apps in the UK

• December 31, 2021 31 Dec'21

  Top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2021

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2021

• December 31, 2021 31 Dec'21

  Top 10 Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcasts of 2021

  The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast team began the year discussing the online fallout from the storming of the White House and finished it discussing IT and climate change, touching on bees and datacentres along the way

• December 30, 2021 30 Dec'21

  Top 10 information management stories of 2021

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 information management stories of 2021

• December 30, 2021 30 Dec'21

  Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2021

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2021

• December 30, 2021 30 Dec'21

  Top 10 Post Office Horizon stories of 2021

  The past 12 months have seen some of the biggest landmarks in the unravelling of the Post Office Horizon scandal. Computer Weekly takes a look at a selection of key articles in 2021

• December 29, 2021 29 Dec'21

  Top 10 Nordic IT stories of 2021

  Computer Weekly selects some of the biggest Nordic tech stories of 2021

• December 24, 2021 24 Dec'21

  Top 10 IR35 stories of 2021

  The extension of the IR35 reforms to the private sector in April 2021 has provided Computer Weekly with lots to write about this year

• December 22, 2021 22 Dec'21

  Top 10 government and public sector IT stories of 2021

  Technology is an increasingly important part of government policy in the UK – while the digital transformation of the public sector continued during 2021, albeit slowly in some places

• December 21, 2021 21 Dec'21

  IT services spending recovery to get renewals boost in 2022

  IT services and BPO deals worth $18.5bn globally up for renewal next year, adding fuel to already-expected high growth

• December 21, 2021 21 Dec'21

  Top 10 cloud storage, DR and datacentre storage stories of 2021

  Key articles from 2021 that demonstrate the growing importance of cloud storage and disaster recovery, but also the snags that lead to cloud repatriation and difficulties restoring from the cloud

• December 20, 2021 20 Dec'21

  Defra and MoJ hit with £120m IR35 tax bill despite using HMRC guidance

  Government departments landed with tax bills totalling just over £120m over contractor IR35 status errors, despite receiving HMRC guidance and training

• December 17, 2021 17 Dec'21

  CDEI research pinpoints barriers to trustworthy AI exploitation

  Survey of UK business by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has disclosed the patchiness of artificial intelligence and data-driven technology adoption across different economic sectors

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  Pressure on government to pay fair compensation to subpostmasters left out of current schemes

  MPs demand that the subpostmasters who defeated the Post Office in court should be properly compensated for their losses and suffering

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  Gig economy algorithmic management tools ‘unfair and opaque’

  Report published by Worker Info Exchange warns of algorithmically enabled rights abuses in the gig economy, noting the insufficient transparency of employers and the lacklustre nature of legal redress

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  After Log4j, December Patch Tuesday piles on the pressure

  December’s Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft contains several critical CVEs, but this month all attention is focused on the fall-out from Log4Shell, and burn-out is becoming a real issue

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  Digital Ethics Summit: Innovation needs regulation to be ethical

  Experts attending the 2021 Digital Ethics Summit spoke out against the idea that regulation will stifle technological innovation, arguing that setting clear rules will produce more ethical innovation

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  UK government to take ‘whole-of-society’ approach to cyber

  Second iteration of the UK’s National Cyber Strategy broadens its focus to build a ‘whole-of-society’ security posture

• December 15, 2021 15 Dec'21

  UK advances research of autonomous robots in lab environments

  The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has been awarded new funding to develop the equipment alongside industry and academia

• December 14, 2021 14 Dec'21

  Almost half of networks probed for Log4Shell weaknesses

  Close to half of corporate networks have already been actively targeted by individuals seeking to exploit the critical Log4Shell Apache bug

• December 14, 2021 14 Dec'21

  Joint committee publishes report on improving Online Safety Bill

  MPs and peers release report on Online Safety Bill following five-month inquiry into the draft legislation and make a number of recommendations on how it can be improved to deal with harmful content and abuse on the internet

• December 14, 2021 14 Dec'21

  Lords urge regulators to evolve as digital change accelerates

  A cooperative approach with common objectives is needed to resolve potential conflicts between bodies in digital regulation as well as better oversight, according to a House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee report

• December 14, 2021 14 Dec'21

  Government must go further after agreeing to pay compensation for wrongly convicted subpostmasters

  The government has agreed to pay compensation to former subpostmasters wrongly convicted in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, but continues to refuse to pay a significant group of victims

• December 13, 2021 13 Dec'21

  Scottish government announces support for right to disconnect

  The Scottish government is the first in the UK to publicly support a right to disconnect, which would give people the ability not engage in digitally enabled work-related activities outside of their contracted hours

• December 13, 2021 13 Dec'21

  What is Log4Shell, and why are we panicking about it?

  It’s been described as a ‘design failure of catastrophic proportions’ that threatens the very fabric of the digital world. Find out what the Log4j2 Log4Shell panic is all about, and what you should do about it

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  SMEs dominate list of 200 fastest growing tech companies

  List of 200 fastest growing companies in the public sector is made up primarily of small and medium-sized enterprises, which collectively earned £936m from government contracts in the past fiscal year

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Julian Assange can be extradited to the US to face espionage and hacking charges, court rules

  High Court overturns decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder after US government gives assurances over his treatment

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Singapore and UK sign digital trade deal

  Described as the world’s most comprehensive digital agreement between two countries, the deal supports the UK’s bid to join Trans-Pacific Partnership to build trade connections with 11 Indo-Pacific markets

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Drone killer app saves Swedish lives

  Drones could get life-saving equipment to heart attack victims ahead of emergency services staff, increasing survival rates

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Channeling Nordic startup innovation towards global survival

  Nordic startup innovation offers global organisations the green light towards sustainability

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  Loan charge: Tax experts call on chancellor for simpler, more affordable policy settlement terms

  A group of tax barristers and accounting experts are calling on Rishi Sunak to force HMRC to revise its loan charge settlement terms

• December 10, 2021 10 Dec'21

  PAC scrutinises failure of large government IT modernisation projects

  From unskilled senior government officials to over-reliance on outsourcers and contractors, the factors underpinning unsuccessful tech-driven transformation initiatives are investigated in a new report

• December 09, 2021 09 Dec'21

  CDEI publishes roadmap for UK AI assurance ecosystem

  Publication from CDEI sets out the steps required to verify the effectiveness, trustworthiness and compliance of artificial intelligence systems

• December 09, 2021 09 Dec'21

  Home Office slammed over police IT legacy replacement delays

  Modernisation initiative has seen a significant increase in costs and several changes in scope, and measures introduced to address issues seem ineffective, says Public Accounts Committee report

• December 09, 2021 09 Dec'21

  What are the challenges associated with the MITRE ATT&CK framework?

  Businesses sometimes struggle to use the MITRE ATT&CK framework effectively. Learn more about some of the challenges, and how to overcome them

• December 08, 2021 08 Dec'21

  2021 another record-breaker for vulnerability disclosure

  More than 50 CVEs were logged every day in 2021, more than at any time since records began, while ethical hackers continue to prove their value

• December 08, 2021 08 Dec'21

  CIO interview: Nicola Wadham, Financial Ombudsman Service

  CIO Nicola Wadham brings Computer Weekly up to speed on the Financial Ombudsman Service’s IT challenges and successes

• December 08, 2021 08 Dec'21

  UK privacy chief denies conflict of interest in new role

  UK information commissioner will join a private law firm that represents technology companies she used to regulate, raising questions about conflicts of interest and drawing ‘revolving door’ criticisms

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  Loan charge: MPs call on financial secretary for new independent review into HMRC policy

  In a seven-page letter to newly appointed Treasury minister Lucy Frazer, MPs highlight the legal flaws in HMRC's controversial loan charge policy and demand a new independent review

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  UK technology issues contributed to Afghanistan withdrawal chaos

  Multiple problems including email management, collaboration restrictions and lack of technical expertise may have risked the lives of thousands of Afghans, according to whistleblower Raphael Marshall

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  Labour reshuffle expands shadow ministerial team on digital, technology and innovation policy

  New Shadow Cabinet includes three Labour spokespeople covering issues around digital, data, technology, science and innovation issues

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  Government makes £116m pledge to help UK's green-tech firms innovate to fight climate change

  The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has outlined its commitment to helping UK green-tech businesses bring to market innovations that could help fight climate change

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  Digital measures confirmed under UK procurement overhaul

  A new platform and data standard will be introduced as part of a government move to bring simplicity and transparency to contracting

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  AI assistant Bürokratt to reduce bureaucracy in Estonian government

  Estonia to launch a Siri-like digital assistant that will automate the completion of government service requests

• December 06, 2021 06 Dec'21

  Parents more equipped for home learning than teachers

  Home learning was more easily embraced by parents than teachers, with parents saying they had the tech in place for remote schooling

• December 06, 2021 06 Dec'21

  IT Priorities 2022: Pandemic’s long tail for cyber buyers

  Pandemic response has been top of mind for cyber leaders these past 18 months, and as Covid-19 turns two, the TechTarget/Computer Weekly IT Priorities 2022 study shows buyers are still focused on how Covid has upended the workplace

• December 06, 2021 06 Dec'21

  Winter plan for health and social care gets £250m tech boost

  Upgrades in screening to reduce waiting times and remote monitoring are among the initiatives to benefit from the budget allocation

• December 06, 2021 06 Dec'21

  Cyber attacks and severe space weather among extreme risks faced by UK

  An attack on the country’s critical infrastructure and severe space weather events could bring the UK to a halt, says Lords report

• December 05, 2021 05 Dec'21

  Australia’s NSW to build A$40m digital twin

  The spatial digital twin brings together government data sources to provide insights for urban planners and residents to support decision-making and see into the future

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  IR35: Government consultation on umbrella companies fuels regulation hopes

  The government has embarked on a consultation to understand better how the umbrella market works, which is a move that has been cautiously welcomed by contracting market stakeholders

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  Serious violence duty in PCSC Bill would gut UK data rights

  Proposed data gathering powers for UK police could override existing data protection rules, damage citizens’ trust in essential public services and further entrench discriminatory policing practices

• December 02, 2021 02 Dec'21

  UK government publishes tech-enabled adult social care plan

  Ten-year plan will see NHSX working on areas such as assistive technologies, and improved connectivity for care homes

• December 01, 2021 01 Dec'21

  Unesco member states adopt AI ethics recommendation

  The non-binding recommendation seeks to define a common set of values and principles to guide the development of ethical AI globally

• December 01, 2021 01 Dec'21

  Wolverhampton to pilot app that rewards healthy behaviours

  Tool is aimed at helping local residents eat better and exercise more

• November 30, 2021 30 Nov'21

  MI6 will ‘open up’ to tech firms to innovate faster than adversaries, says chief Richard Moore

  MI6 will use investment fund to back tech companies to develop long-term technologies that will help it to keep pace with China and Russia