News

IT for government and public sector

• November 13, 2023 13 Nov'23

  Rogue state-aligned actors are most critical cyber threat to UK

  The prospect of rogue nation-state-aligned attackers bringing down the UK’s critical infrastructure is keeping the NCSC up at night

• November 13, 2023 13 Nov'23

  ICO alerted after technical ‘issue’ exposed college files to student barristers

  A training college for barristers has reported a data breach that left sensitive data on hundreds of current and former students accessible to other trainees

• November 10, 2023 10 Nov'23

  UN disarmament body calls for global action on autonomous weapons

  UN draft resolution highlighting the dangers of autonomous weapons passes with overwhelming majority

• November 09, 2023 09 Nov'23

  Suspected ransomware attack hits Scottish council

  Systems at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar were downed on 7 November in a suspected ransomware attack

• November 09, 2023 09 Nov'23

  UK government does not see need for specific AI legislation

  The UK government does not currently see the need for new artificial intelligence legislation, as many regulators are already dealing effectively with AI-related harms

• November 09, 2023 09 Nov'23

  Conflict of interest concerns raised over CMA's use of AWS UK public sector discount scheme

  Less than a month after the CMA confirmed it would be investigating the competitive impact of AWS preferential pricing deals on the UK cloud market, data reveals the CMA is benefiting from cut-price Amazon cloud services

• November 08, 2023 08 Nov'23

  Former Post Office manager has no memory of preparing witness statement in legal dispute

  Evidence of computer problems was omitted from the witness statement of a former Post Office manager in a legal battle with a subpostmaster blamed for unexplained accounting shortfalls

• November 08, 2023 08 Nov'23

  AI Summit not the place for human rights, says French finance minister

  Despite commitments at the UK’s AI Safety Summit to respect and protect human rights, the French finance minister said it was not the right forum to discuss signatories' human rights records

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  Post Office disclosure failures delay Horizon scandal inquiry again

  Many of the 300,000 emails unearthed could be relevant to evidence from future and past witnesses in the Post Office scandal inquiry

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  Cornwall Council-run care service to deploy digital care hub

  Digital hub will offer council-run Corserv Care an end-to-end care solution, including a physical device, online dashboard and interoperable software

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  Interview: Paul Scully, minister for technology and the digital economy, DSIT

  The technology minister speaks to Computer Weekly about the government’s semiconductor strategy, how to solve the digital skills challenge in the UK and moving towards the country’s net-zero target

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  AI Safety Summit review

  Computer Weekly takes stock of the UK government’s AI Safety Summit and the differing perspectives around its success

• November 06, 2023 06 Nov'23

  Netherlands starts building its own AI language model

  Dutch government allocates €13.5m to develop an open artificial intelligence language model according to national values and guidelines.

• November 06, 2023 06 Nov'23

  UK science minister announces quantum tech funding and collaboration plans

  Science minister George Freeman announces £14m in funding for quantum technology projects as government signs collaboration agreements with Australia and the Netherlands

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  Bristol and Cambridge to host 2024 AI supercomputers

  Dell and HPE are working on supercomputers with the two universities as part of the government’s artificial intelligence funding drive

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  CDDO publishes digital roadmap update

  The CDDO envisions that by 2025, digital services will exceed public expectations, civil servants will be equipped for a digital future, and government efficiency and security will be enhanced

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  How the UK crime agency repurposed Amazon cloud platform to analyse EncroChat cryptophone data

  UK crime agency repurposed AWS-based analytics platform to triage EncroChat data and identify threats to life in messages sent on encrypted phone network

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  AI Summit: 28 governments and EU agree to safe AI development

  In a joint communique at the UK government’s AI Safety Summit, all participating governments agreed to deepen their cooperation around the risks associated with artificial intelligence

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  Government announces millions to fund AI skills

  Funding has been allocated to ensure the UK grows its understanding of artificial intelligence and develops an AI talent base to help properly utilise the technology in the future

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson on her AI Safety Summit goals

  As the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park takes place, Computer Weekly caught up with Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson to find out what one of the UK’s most prominent AI advocates wants from proceedings

• October 31, 2023 31 Oct'23

  British Library falls victim to cyber attack

  The British Library is experiencing a major IT outage following a cyber incident of an undisclosed nature

• October 31, 2023 31 Oct'23

  Biden’s AI plans focus on US workers’ protection

  The US president has issued an Executive Order that sets out his administration’s strategy for AI safety and security

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  UK government to invest £100m in using AI to research treatments for incurable diseases

  Prime minister Rishi Sunak confirms £100m in government funding for AI-led research into incurable diseases

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  UK government AI Summit already branded ‘missed opportunity’

  The dominance of big tech firms, a focus on speculative risks over real-world harms, and the exclusion of affected workers, mean the AI Safety Summit is a wasted opportunity, say civil society groups

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  Frontier AI Taskforce starts recruitment drive

  The second progress report from the Frontier AI Taskforce reveals new hires plus vacancy posts for software and research engineers

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Tech firms cite risk to end-to-end encryption as Online Safety Bill gets royal assent

  Tech firms continue to be concerned that the Online Safety Bill could undermine end-to-end encryption despite government reassurances

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Domestic abuse charities surface fresh worries over NHS data sharing

  With new NHS data access options coming into effect at the end of October, a group of campaigners including womens' charities and the BMA have warned that the revived GP-patient data sharing scheme risks putting vulnerable people at risk

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  ‘Egregious’ to link passport data with facial recognition systems

  The Scottish biometrics watchdog has spoken out against the UK policing minister’s plans to integrate passport data with police facial recognition systems

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  UK regulators confident they are ready for AI safety governance

  MPs at a recent artificial intelligence governance meeting were keen to hear how Ofcom, the FCA and the ICO are preparing for UK AI legislation

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Germany: European Court opinion kicks questions over EncroChat back to national courts

  Germany lawfully obtained data on German EncroChat users from France, but whether the evidence is legally admissible is a matter for national courts

• October 26, 2023 26 Oct'23

  Sunak sets scene for upcoming AI Safety Summit

  Prime minister Rishi Sunak has outlined how the UK will approach making AI safe, but experts say there is still too big a focus on catastrophic but speculative risks over real harms the technology is already causing

• October 25, 2023 25 Oct'23

  Government-led Smart Data Discovery Challenge launched to stoke innovation

  A government-led coalition has launched an open-call competition for ideas using smart data to help support individuals and small businesses, emulating open banking

• October 25, 2023 25 Oct'23

  UK IT professionals express concerns about government’s generative AI goals

  Research reveals 93% of UK IT professionals are concerned by the government’s current plan to become a global leader in artificial intelligence because of lack of training and risk assessment

• October 24, 2023 24 Oct'23

  Michelle Donelan reaffirms UK's commitment to AI safety

  In a keynote speech, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology discussed the UK's pro-innovation approach to AI safety

• October 24, 2023 24 Oct'23

  Government puts £75m into innovation hubs

  Eight innovation ‘launchpads’ will each get a share of the funding for projects covering sectors such as agri-tech, digital healthcare, renewable energy and technologies for the creative industry

• October 23, 2023 23 Oct'23

  Taxpayers to fund a further £150m for Post Office IT scandal

  Total bill for the scandal goes well over £1bn, as subpostmaster campaign leader considers private prosecutions of Post Office executives

• October 20, 2023 20 Oct'23

  Five Eyes chiefs warn of Chinese spying campaign to steal high-tech secrets

  Intelligence chiefs warn high-tech companies and universities they may be the target of attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to steal technology secrets

• October 20, 2023 20 Oct'23

  Public Accounts Committee highlights smart meter failures

  In spite of failing to meet roll-out targets, millions of smart meters are not working, and some will break once 3G and 2G networks are switched off

• October 19, 2023 19 Oct'23

  Sellafield local authority unsure if data was stolen six years on from North Korea ransomware attack

  Senior managers at an ‘Achilles heel’ local authority for Europe’s biggest nuclear site ‘still don’t know what was lost’ in a 2017 cyber attack, according to a council source

• October 19, 2023 19 Oct'23

  Government concedes it will miss 2024 e-prescribing target

  The government won’t meet its target to get rid of paper prescribing in hospitals by 2024, and has pushed the goal post back two years to 2026

• October 19, 2023 19 Oct'23

  Post Office auditors presumed subpostmasters were ‘on the fiddle’ or ‘in a muddle’

  Public inquiry into Post Office scandal hears how head office staff routinely made negative assumptions about subpostmasters in small branches

• October 18, 2023 18 Oct'23

  Former Post Office executive admits he wouldn’t sign unfair contract he pushed on subpostmasters

  Former contract manager said contract that subpostmasters had to sign with Post Office “put them on the hook” for everything

• October 17, 2023 17 Oct'23

  Hacktivist attacks against Israeli websites mirror attacks following Russian invasion of Ukraine

  Hacktivists supporting Gaza and Palestine have launched hundreds of website defacement attacks against Israeli websites, mirroring the pattern of attacks that occurred after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

• October 17, 2023 17 Oct'23

  Government to pump £30m into NHS medtech

  The government hopes the funding, which is available to integrated care systems across the country, will ease winter pressures through the help of technology

• October 13, 2023 13 Oct'23

  UK startups pilot semiconductor funding

  ChipStart is a new initiative from the UK government to help build out the National Semiconductor Strategy by supporting startups

• October 13, 2023 13 Oct'23

  ‘Angry’ lawyer warned against Post Office computer investigation in 2010 email

  Angered by his exclusion from an important discussion, former Royal Mail lawyer told colleagues of the risks to the Post Office if, as planned, they publicly investigate allegations against its computer system

• October 12, 2023 12 Oct'23

  Scottish biometrics watchdog outlines police cloud concerns

  Police Scotland’s response to the biometrics commissioner’s formal information notice ‘did not ameliorate’ his concerns about the sovereignty and security of the sensitive biometric information being uploaded to cloud infrastructure that is subject ...

• October 11, 2023 11 Oct'23

  Public sector buyers of AI tech must interrogate its suitability

  The Ada Lovelace Institute has published a review on public sector use of artificial intelligence foundation models, looking at the risks and opportunities associated with the technology, and how these can be dealt with from the early stages of ...

• October 11, 2023 11 Oct'23

  Why only 1% of the Snowden Archive will ever be published

  Speaking to Computer Weekly after we published new revelations from the Snowden archive, the Guardian’s Pulitzer Prize winner, Ewen MacAskill, explains why more of the Snowden trove is unlikely to see the light of day

• October 05, 2023 05 Oct'23

  Microsoft: Nation-state cyber espionage on rise in 2023

  Microsoft’s latest Digital Defence Report outlines how nation-state cyber activity has largely moved from destructive attacks to espionage and intelligence gathering