News

IT for government and public sector

• October 02, 2024 02 Oct'24

  Detective behind ‘unlawful’ surveillance blamed Catholics for ‘perverse’ court decisions

  A former detective claimed Irish judges were ‘sectarians in robes’ after a court found police had unlawfully arrested journalists who produced a film exposing collusion with paramilitary murderers

• October 02, 2024 02 Oct'24

  Post Office spending £80,000+ a week on engineers who can’t work, as IT project burns cash

  Revelation is latest evidence of the Post Office’s struggles to replace Fujitsu’s controversial Horizon software used in branches

• October 01, 2024 01 Oct'24

  Detective reported journalist’s lawyers to regulator in ‘unlawful’ PSNI surveillance case

  Former Durham detective Darren Ellis told the Investigatory Powers Tribunal that he had concerns about lawyers acting for journalists placed under surveillance by Northern Irish police

• October 01, 2024 01 Oct'24

  Cyber teams say they can’t keep up with attack volumes

  Over 60% of European security pros say their teams are understaffed, and over 50% don’t have enough budget, according to data from ISACA

• September 30, 2024 30 Sep'24

  Investigation finds 'reasonable likelihood' Post Office Capture software caused accounting losses

  An independent forensic analysis finds the predecessor to Horizon IT system was also likely to have caused shortfalls for which subpostmasters were blamed, years before the Post Office scandal

• September 27, 2024 27 Sep'24

  UK on high alert over Iranian spear phishing attacks, says NCSC

  The NCSC and counterpart agencies in the US have issued a warning over enhanced Iranian spear phishing activity targeting politicians, journalists, activists and others with an interest in Middle Eastern affairs

• September 27, 2024 27 Sep'24

  More parallels between Post Office Capture and Horizon scandal revealed

  Post Office dramatically increased the number of investigations into subpostmasters after Capture Software was introduced

• September 26, 2024 26 Sep'24

  Subpostmasters living years with disputed but unresolved debts to the Post Office, inquiry told

  Continued errors with the Horizon system mean subpostmasters have unresolved account shortfalls hanging over them for years

• September 26, 2024 26 Sep'24

  Government plans reverse pitch events to drive digital change

  The government will hold three events for startups to showcase and collaborate with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Justice to solve key problems faced by the departments

• September 26, 2024 26 Sep'24

  Fujitsu accused of ‘paying lip service’ to Post Office scandal victims

  Victims of the Horizon scandal believe Fujitsu’s offer of support to be a 'box-ticking' exercise with no commitments, nine months after seemingly heartfelt pledges

• September 25, 2024 25 Sep'24

  Post Office IT procurement mess saw £35m spent on air conditioner, says board member

  Post Office IT procurement mistakes have wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers money, non-executive board member tells public inquiry

• September 24, 2024 24 Sep'24

  Unique malware sample volumes seen surging

  BlackBerry’s latest ‘Global threat intelligence’ report details a surge in unique malware samples as threat actors ramp up the pace of targeted attacks

• September 24, 2024 24 Sep'24

  Post Office IT department’s focus on chasing a discount meant botched procurement

  Post Office IT team and executives slammed for rushing into tech hardware purchase while eyeing a discount

• September 23, 2024 23 Sep'24

  Fujitsu faces financial challenges, with doubts over its commitment to righting Post Office wrongs

  Fujitsu worker tells Computer Weekly that firm only cares about shareholders and not subpostmaster suffering

• September 23, 2024 23 Sep'24

  Home Office eVisa scheme is ‘broken’, says Open Rights Group

  Digital rights campaigners say the Home Office’s plan to make its new electronic Visa scheme a real-time online-only process is part and parcel of the 'hostile environment' around immigration status

• September 23, 2024 23 Sep'24

  UK, US and Canada to collaborate on AI and cyber security

  International collaboration agreement will see the governments of Canada, the UK and the US work together to research, evaluate and test new defence technologies

• September 20, 2024 20 Sep'24

  UN body urges ‘globally inclusive and distributed’ AI governance

  A United Nations body set up to investigate the international governance of AI says the nature of how the technology currently operates requires a global approach to regulation that prioritises equity and inclusion

• September 19, 2024 19 Sep'24

  Post Office scandal victim becomes first to receive £600,000 under new redress scheme

  The compensation payment raises hopes that other wrongly convicted subpostmasters will receive payments far more quickly under new scheme

• September 19, 2024 19 Sep'24

  Government on the hunt for science and tech leaders

  The prime minister’s Council for Science and Technology is looking for 10 members to join the council, which advises government on science and technology issues

• September 18, 2024 18 Sep'24

  Dreamforce 24: Salesforce taps Nvidia to power Agentforce

  At Dreamforce in San Francisco, Salesforce and Nvidia detail some of the tech that will power the software giant's newly launched Agentforce service

• September 18, 2024 18 Sep'24

  Europol provides detail on Ghost encrypted comms platform takedown

  Law enforcement bodies from across the world have revealed how they collaborated to bring down encrypted network Ghost and the new ways of working that have been established with Europol at the centre

• September 18, 2024 18 Sep'24

  Public digital transformation will be challenged by austerity

  Public sector and IT industry figures gathered at TechUK’s 10th annual Building the Smarter State event discussed how Labour’s ‘mission-driven’ policy approach can drive digital transformation efforts in the context of fresh austerity measures

• September 18, 2024 18 Sep'24

  Dreamforce 2024: Salesforce calls on customers to flesh out AI vision

  A stream of customers helped Salesforce make the case for its Agentforce artificial intelligence offering on the opening day of the annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco

• September 18, 2024 18 Sep'24

  Police make arrests after hacking Ghost encrypted comms app

  An international police operation has penetrated an end-to-end encrypted communications service allegedly used by organised criminals in Australia, Ireland, Sweden and Italy

• September 17, 2024 17 Sep'24

  Fujitsu loses £50m in sales after Post Office scandal furore

  Supplier of the controversial Horizon IT system has been hit by public outrage after the Post Office scandal became mainstream news

• September 13, 2024 13 Sep'24

  Mid and South Essex deploys shared care record

  The shared care record is live across the region’s NHS providers, allowing them to share patient information from GPs, hospitals, and mental health and community services

• September 13, 2024 13 Sep'24

  Municipal makeover: Indian cities embrace cutting-edge tech

  From AI-powered stray dog management to blockchain-secured building permission certificates, municipal corporations across India are ditching outdated processes for digital tools

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Teenager arrested in TfL cyber attack investigation

  New security measures following the cyber attack, which took down some of TfL’s services, have led to delays in contactless roll-out

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Lord introduces bill to regulate public sector AI and automation

  A private members’ bill seeking to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated technologies throughout the public sector has been brought to Parliament

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Data sharing for immigration raids ferments hostility to migrants

  Data sharing between public and private bodies for the purposes of carrying out immigration raids helps to prop up the UK’s hostile environment by instilling an atmosphere of fear and deterring migrants from accessing public services

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Government receives report on second controversial Post Office IT system

  Former subpostmasters suffered as a result of unexplained accounting shortfalls which they believe were caused by errors in Post Office Capture software, used before the controversial Horizon system

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Keir Starmer vows to create a ‘digital NHS’ following damning Darzi review

  The prime minister promises to move from an analogue to a digital NHS after Lord Darzi’s rapid review of the health service found an NHS in disrepair, with outdated IT and low productivity

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Mphasis expands UK roots with leap into quantum computing

  Indian heritage software development services supplier opens London hub to help customers integrate the latest technologies into their business plans

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  UK and others sign first ‘binding’ treaty on AI and human rights

  The UK, US and EU have all signed a treaty from the Council of Europe that aims to mitigate the threat AI poses to human rights, democracy and the rule of law, but commentators say it lacks enforcement mechanisms and creates loopholes

• September 11, 2024 11 Sep'24

  HMRC could lose millions in unpaid tax as non-compliant umbrella enters pre-pack administration

  HMRC looks set to miss out on millions of pounds in unpaid tax it is owed by a non-compliant umbrella company that slipped into administration, prompting renewed calls for the sector to be regulated

• September 11, 2024 11 Sep'24

  Under-pressure Post Office botches hardware procurement in project to replace error-prone system

  Pressured decision-making caused mistakes in the Post Office project to replace the system at the heart of national scandal

• September 11, 2024 11 Sep'24

  Fujitsu cuts annual staff pay rise as Post Office scandal bites

  UK staff morale is at an all-time low as Japanese IT giant deals with the backlash from its involvement in the Post Office Horizon scandal

• September 10, 2024 10 Sep'24

  Ada Lovelace Institute warns NHS against deploying genomics AI

  A report has found that widespread use of artificial intelligence-powered genomic health prediction in the NHS could lead to privacy and ethical issues, discrimination and dependency on the private sector

• September 09, 2024 09 Sep'24

  Post Office scandal victims given route to appeal unfair financial settlements

  Subpostmasters who feel they received inadequate financial redress in the Horizon Shortfalls Scheme can appeal the settlements through a new independent process

• September 06, 2024 06 Sep'24

  China dominates AI and advanced analytics research

  Research looking at each country’s AI contribution, based on the quantity and quality of researchers papers published, shows China is leading the way

• September 05, 2024 05 Sep'24

  NCSC and allies call out Russia's Unit 29155 over cyber warfare

  The NCSC and counterpart agencies from the US and other countries have exposed a long-running campaign of Russian cyber espionage and warfare conducted by GRU Unit 29155

• September 05, 2024 05 Sep'24

  Ongoing TfL cyber attack takes out Dial-a-Ride service

  The Dial-a-Ride assisted transit service for disabled people had to temporarily suspend part of its operations as Transport for London deals with an ongoing cyber attack, but the service has now been recovered

• September 05, 2024 05 Sep'24

  Government plans for NHS Digital Health Check roll-out

  The digital health check, originally planned to be deployed in spring 2024, will be piloted at three local authorities, covering 130,000 people

• September 05, 2024 05 Sep'24

  Canadian arrested by France after cooperating with US on Sky ECC cryptophone investigation

  Thomas Herdman, who faces charges in France over his involvement in distributing Sky ECC encrypted phones, was arrested by French police despite agreeing to cooperate with US law enforcement

• September 04, 2024 04 Sep'24

  Retailers question using live facial recognition for shoplifting

  Retailers praise benefits of retrospective over live facial recognition in dealing with shoplifting, but stress there are ongoing concerns around the ethical, legal and safety implications of using the technology in stores

• September 04, 2024 04 Sep'24

  Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means huge final taxpayers’ bill

  The human tragedy caused by the Post Office scandal cannot be measured, but the total financial cost will be well beyond the £1bn set aside by the government

• September 03, 2024 03 Sep'24

  Tech secretary pledges to ‘rewire Whitehall’ and plug the digital gap

  Secretary of state for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, promises to drive innovation through the NHS, champion AI safety and ensure government harnesses the power of digital

• September 03, 2024 03 Sep'24

  Transport for London hit by cyber attack

  London’s transport network provider TfL experiences cyber security incident, but reassures customers there is no impact on services

• September 02, 2024 02 Sep'24

  UK and Ukraine digital trade deal comes into force

  The UK eases access to the deep tech startup community in Ukraine through digital-only agreement

• September 02, 2024 02 Sep'24

  Government funds research to tackle extreme weather

  Researchers will use data gathered from monitoring rivers, weather conditions and ground water saturation to improve flood and drought defences