News

IT for government and public sector

• March 28, 2024 28 Mar'24

  Remote access is the Post Office’s known unknown

  Calls for criminal investigation after covert recordings are latest evidence to reveal extent of Post Office knowledge of remote access to subpostmaster accounts

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  HMRC’s online IR35 status checker tool CEST not updated in five years, FOI confirms

  Despite a previous pledge that HMRC’s IR35 online status checker tool will be continually updated as employment cases and tribunals occur, a freedom of information request confirms CEST has not been updated since October 2019

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  Cyber spies, not cyber criminals, behind most zero-day exploitation

  Analysis from Google has found that zero-day vulnerabilities are much more heavily exploited for espionage purposes than for financially motivated cyber crime

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  Lord Holmes: UK cannot 'wait and see' to regulate AI

  Legislation is needed to seize the benefits of artificial intelligence while minimising its risks, says Lord Holmes - but the government’s ‘wait and see’ approach to regulation will fail on both fronts

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  Leaked comms reveal Fujitsu eyeing huge UK government bounty, despite Post Office scandal promise

  While subpostmasters fight tooth and nail for justice and financial redress, Fujitsu continues to target millions of UK taxpayer pounds

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  UK regional science and tech startups grew in 2023

  Globally there is still a post-pandemic funding slump, but UK startups in regions such as Wales and Yorkshire grew private sector investment in 2023

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange given temporary reprieve over extradition

  Court seeks assurances from the US that Assange will be given First Amendment Rights, will not prejudiced at trial because of his nationality, and will not be subject to the death penalty

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  Shareholders win when businesses do better at cyber

  The more advanced a company’s cyber security performance, and the more engaged its board is with security issues, the greater the return for shareholders, a report has found

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  NHS SBS launches digital advisory framework

  The Digital Health Advisory Services framework agreement aims to provide a way for health and care organisations to get help with digital transformation and skills

• March 26, 2024 26 Mar'24

  Sums of money Post Office ‘stole’ from subpostmasters may never be known

  MP asks government minister for figure on how much money the Post Office took from subpostmasters who were wrongly blamed for accounting shortfalls

• March 25, 2024 25 Mar'24

  Chinese hackers responsible for two ‘malicious’ cyber campaigns against UK

  Government sanctions two Chinese nationals and a Chinese company identified as responsible for cyber campaigns against government officials and members of parliament

• March 25, 2024 25 Mar'24

  Britain’s democracy under threat from Chinese cyber attackers, government warns

  The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, is due to tell Parliament that Beijing is behind a hacking attack that obtained details of 40 million UK voters and has targeted parliamentarians who have criticised the regime

• March 22, 2024 22 Mar'24

  Court finds EncroChat hacked messages admissible as former footballer is jailed

  A judge in ‘lead’ EncroChat case found that messages obtained by police from the encrypted phone network can be lawfully used in evidence

• March 22, 2024 22 Mar'24

  Open Data Institute launches digital policy manifesto

  The Open Data Institute has launched a policy manifesto ahead of the UK general election that outlines policies and issues it believes must be part of the political discussion around digital and data

• March 22, 2024 22 Mar'24

  Post Office Capture users’ campaign for justice gathers pace

  The government is taking Post Office Capture allegations seriously as former subpostmasters seek answers

• March 21, 2024 21 Mar'24

  NCSC guidance to help CEOs work through cyber incidents

  The NCSC has published in-depth guidance on how business leaders should respond to a cyber attack or data breach. Learn about some of the key steps you will need to follow

• March 21, 2024 21 Mar'24

  Post Office scandal fallout for Fujitsu could open UK public sector to Indian giants

  Post Office scandal has damaged public trust in Japanese IT supplier Fujitsu, which could open door to primed rivals

• March 21, 2024 21 Mar'24

  HMRC legacy UK customs system to be switched off for good

  The 30-year-old Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (Chief) system will cease to exist on 4 June 2024, six years after HMRC originally planned to shut it down

• March 21, 2024 21 Mar'24

  IR35 reforms: IT contractors urged to reclaim tax they may have overpaid in off-payroll settlements

  With the government set to fix the settlements offset issue from 6 April, contractor insurance firm Qdos is urging individuals who worked for non-compliant IR35 organisations to see if they can reclaim any money they have overpaid

• March 20, 2024 20 Mar'24

  UK’s cyber resilience stagnates as more fall victim to attacks

  The government is calling on businesses to ramp up their cyber protections as study shows improvements to resilience are stagnating amid an ever-growing volume of attacks

• March 20, 2024 20 Mar'24

  Inclusive approaches to AI governance needed to engage public

  Technology practitioners and experts gathered at an annual Alan Turing Institute-run conference discussed the need for more inclusive approaches to AI governance that actually engage citizens and workers

• March 20, 2024 20 Mar'24

  SAP S/4HANA data migration beset by poor and fragmented strategy

  Survey finds customers transitioning to S/4HANA lack strategic thinking and skills, can’t access data, face challenges in data duplication, can’t use AI, and worry about compliance

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  Spring Budget risks funding legally questionable police tech

  Open legal questions around how UK police are using facial recognition and cloud technology could undermine the £230m investment committed in the Spring Budget to “time and money-saving technology” for police

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  The Security Interviews: Alex Yampolskiy, SecurityScorecard

  Alex Yampolskiy conceived the idea for risk management specialist SecurityScorecard after getting stung by a SaaS supplier that was being cavalier with its customer data. He tells his story to Computer Weekly

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  CCS slammed over errors in G-Cloud 14 data protection documents

  The government’s procurement arm is under fire again, after prospective suppliers to the G-Cloud 14 framework raised complaints about CCS’s quality control procedures

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  Deep fake AI services on Telegram pose risk for elections

  Deep fake services advertised on Telegram and other platforms pose a risk to upcoming elections in Europe, Asia and the US

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  G7 nations sign deal to harness AI potential

  G7 nations will produce a joint report on how to increase artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, boost growth of the quantum sector and create an AI toolkit to inform policy-making

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  Government needs ‘realistic plan’ for adopting AI, says NAO

  Benefits of artificial intelligence in public sector will only be realised if government ensures overall programme for adoption is supported by realistic plan to tackle range of longstanding barriers

• March 17, 2024 17 Mar'24

  UK’s AI ambitions pointless while cyber security is still neglected

  The UK’s AI ambitions may be at considerable risk without stronger cyber defences across the private and public sectors

• March 15, 2024 15 Mar'24

  UK government calls on comms firms to limit installation of telegraph poles

  After public demonstrations, minister urges communications industry to ‘do whatever it takes’ to share existing infrastructure to avoid ‘inappropriately or unnecessarily throwing up’ new telegraph poles

• March 15, 2024 15 Mar'24

  London Mayor’s Office reprimanded over data breach

  The London Mayor’s Office has been reprimanded by the ICO after an internal error exposed the data of people who had made complaints against the Metropolitan Police

• March 15, 2024 15 Mar'24

  NHS to extend use of AI to cut waiting times and missed appointments

  Following a pilot of AI software predicting likely missed appointments at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, 10 further trusts will deploy the system

• March 15, 2024 15 Mar'24

  Government pumps £1.1bn into tech skills training

  Government funding will be used to allow more than 4,000 students to pursue PhDs in technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 6G

• March 15, 2024 15 Mar'24

  Controversial Post Office Capture software was completely rewritten in 1994

  MP demands that the Post Office put effort into fully explaining the development and use of error-prone software used before Horizon in the 1990s

• March 14, 2024 14 Mar'24

  Home Office plans to give UK police forces auto-redaction technology

  The department has funded a market review of redaction tools and aims to deliver AI-powered automated redaction tools to the police as quickly as possible

• March 14, 2024 14 Mar'24

  MPs will attempt to amend law on overturning Post Office scandal convictions

  Business and trade select committee chair says the job is not done with legislation to overturn wrongful subpostmaster convictions and provide financial redress

• March 14, 2024 14 Mar'24

  Children of Post Office victims to hold Fujitsu boss to his word

  The children of victims of the Post Office scandal have formed a group that will hold Fujitsu’s European boss to his promise of support

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  US authorities move a step closer to banning TikTok

  Lawmakers in Washington DC have moved a step closer to enacting a broad national ban on controversial video app TikTok in the US, with global ramifications

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  Microsoft AI-powered cyber service to go live in April

  After a year being previewed by beta customers, Microsoft’s much vaunted Copilot for Security service is about to go on general release, promising time savings and improved accuracy for hard-pressed security pros

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  British Library opens up over ransomware attack to help others

  The British Library has opted for full transparency after experiencing a devastating ransomware attack, publishing details of the intrusion, its response and the lessons it has learned

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  UK gets funding boost through EU Horizon chip initiative

  Signing up to the Chips Joint Undertaking means the UK will receive up to £35m to support chip development

• March 13, 2024 13 Mar'24

  Unprecedented bill to exonerate hundreds of wrongly convicted Post Office workers arrives

  Unprecedented legislation that will see hundreds of former subpostmaster convictions for fraud and theft overturned begins its journey through Parliament

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  March Patch Tuesday throws up two critical Hyper-V flaws

  Two critical vulnerabilities in Windows Hyper-V stand out on an otherwise unremarkable Patch Tuesday

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  Labour will use AI to grow the economy by 0.5%, says shadow tech secretary Peter Kyle

  The Labour Party plans to promote the use of artificial intelligence in small businesses and across government to grow the economy, but transparency and building trust with the public will be key

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  Industry partnerships and data key to better public services

  Using public-private partnerships and improving the use of data are key to improving public services and the government’s ‘science and technology superpower’ ambitions, says digital secretary Michelle Donelan

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  UK and German governments sign up to greater R&D collaboration

  Declaration aims to build on joint R&D efforts, as well as support artificial intelligence, quantum computing and clean tech

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  Current subpostmaster account shortfalls reveal extent of Post Office’s pre-2019 neglect

  Hundreds of current subpostmasters might have been hounded for money or prosecuted had the Post Office not been forced to change its ways in 2019

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  Digitally transforming government: MoJ and GDS on using mobile devices and GenAI to help people

  During a fireside chat at the Tech Show London, GDS CEO Tom Read and the Ministry of Justice CDIO Gina Gill swapped stories on how their teams are using technology to improve the quality of life for citizens

• March 11, 2024 11 Mar'24

  Government not facing up to CNI cyber risks, committee warns

  The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy has accused the government of burying its head in the sand over the cyber threat to UK critical infrastructure

• March 11, 2024 11 Mar'24

  TechUK calls for next government to introduce ‘industrial strategy’ for AI

  Trade group TechUK publishes blueprint calling for winner of next election to boost tech startups, digitise government services and accelerate technology R&D