News

IT for government and public sector

June 05, 2025 05 Jun'25
HMRC phishing breach wholly avoidable, but hard to stop

A breach at HMRC saw innocent taxpayers tricked into letting scammers impersonate them through simple phishing attacks leading to account takeover. Such attacks are avoidable, but hard to stop
June 05, 2025 05 Jun'25
UK’s error-prone eVisa system is ‘anxiety-inducing’

People experiencing technical errors with the Home Office’s electronic visa system explain the psychological toll of not being able to reliably prove their immigration status in the face of a hostile and unresponsive bureaucracy
June 04, 2025 04 Jun'25
Put ROCs before SOCs, Qualys tells public sector

Putting risk operations before security operations may help government agencies and other public sector bodies better manage the myriad threats they face, and make better decisions for the security of all
June 04, 2025 04 Jun'25
NCSC sets out how to build cyber safe cultures

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance for security teams and leaders on how to foster accessible and appropriate cyber security cultures in their organisations

June 04, 2025 04 Jun'25
Investigatory powers: Guidelines for police and spies could also help businesses with AI

Computer Weekly talks to Muffy Calder, technology advisor to the UK’s investigatory powers commissioner, about privacy, intrusion and artificial intelligence
June 04, 2025 04 Jun'25
Microsoft outlines three-pronged European cyber strategy

Microsoft chair Brad Smith outlines an expansive cyber programme targeting governments across Europe with enhanced threat intelligence and support
June 04, 2025 04 Jun'25
European Commission should rescind UK data adequacy

Civil society organisations have urged the European Commissioner to not renew the UK’s data adequacy, given the country’s growing divergence from European data protection standards
June 04, 2025 04 Jun'25
Interview: Manish Jethwa, chief technology officer, Ordnance Survey

The UK mapping service has moved on a long way from paper maps as it now looks to use artificial intelligence to understand, interpret and derive insights from geographical data
June 03, 2025 03 Jun'25
HMRC aims to improve customer service with £1.5bn IT investment

The department is on the hunt for customer relationship management system and contact centre as a service suppliers, following criticism of its customer service
June 02, 2025 02 Jun'25
US cyber agency CISA faces stiff budget cuts

CISA is one of several US agencies facing drastic budget cuts under the Trump administration

June 02, 2025 02 Jun'25
Microsoft Copilot AI saves civil service hours of admin work

Over a third of Microsoft 365 users who took part in trials across government departments claimed they saved more than half an hour in productivity a day
June 02, 2025 02 Jun'25
Cyber and digital get over £1bn to enhance UK’s national security

The government has set out plans to spend over a billion pounds on digital and cyber warfare capabilities to enhance the UK’s ability to defend itself and fight offensive wars
June 02, 2025 02 Jun'25
NPCC calls for better tech investment

The National Police Chiefs’ Council sets out a series of digital ambitions and asks for £220m per year in the upcoming spending review to scale up science and technology capabilities
May 29, 2025 29 May'25
Post Office slammed after deleting social media comments on IT scandal

Post Office accused of suppressing the views of victims of the Horizon scandal by deleting comments on social media platforms
May 29, 2025 29 May'25
Gov.uk Wallet open to public sector bodies

Government departments can soon begin to add documents to Gov.uk Wallet, as the Government Digital Service publishes guidance for public sector bodies on how to use the smartphone app
May 28, 2025 28 May'25
UK biometric surveillance exists in ‘legal grey area’

The rapid proliferation of ‘biometric mass surveillance technologies’ throughout the UK’s public and private sectors is taking place without legal certainty or adequate safeguards for the public
May 27, 2025 27 May'25
Government launches search to link UK to European supercomputers

As part of Horizon 2020, the UK recently signed up to an EU initiative to support the expansion of high-performance computing for AI
May 27, 2025 27 May'25
Armed forces charity steps in to address cyber mental health crisis

CIISec and military charity PTSD Resolution hope to address a gathering mental health crisis among frontline cyber professionals
May 27, 2025 27 May'25
Norway’s autonomous bus moves into the fast lane

In a small but ambitious project in Stavanger, Norway, autonomous buses are proving they might one day solve a critical problem: the chronic shortage of bus drivers
May 23, 2025 23 May'25
Essex Police discloses ‘incoherent’ facial recognition assessment

An equality impact assessment of Essex Police live facial recognition deployments is plagued by inconsistencies and poor methodology, undermining the force’s claim that its use of the technology will not be discriminatory
May 23, 2025 23 May'25
Labour puts Humphrey AI to work for council admin

A tool built on the government’s Humphrey AI toolset is being piloted by 25 councils to take notes during meetings
May 23, 2025 23 May'25
Police Digital Service board director quits several months after CISO departs

The Police Digital Service has confirmed it’s in the process of recruiting a new CISO, as Companies House documents confirm one of its board members left the organisation earlier this month
May 22, 2025 22 May'25
Microsoft raises posse to target dangerous Lumma malware

Microsoft, along with a consortium of partners, has seized and disrupted a significant part of the Lumma malware-as-a-service network used to steal data and funds
May 22, 2025 22 May'25
DSIT makes £5.5m of funding available to new projects

The government is focusing on easing the regulatory burden that can often hamper the introduction of innovative technologies in the public sector
May 22, 2025 22 May'25
HMRC begins escape from Fujitsu’s grip through £500m contract

HMRC looking for a supplier to support its planned exit from three Fujitsu datacentre contracts
May 21, 2025 21 May'25
NCSC: Russia’s Fancy Bear targeting logistics, tech organisations

The NCSC and its partner agencies have blown the whistle on an extensive campaign of malicious cyber attacks orchestrated by the Russian state Fancy Bear operation
May 21, 2025 21 May'25
Fujitsu raked in £80m from HMRC in March alone, despite Post Office scandal

HM Revenue & Customs described as a UK ‘cash cow’ for the Japanese IT giant at the centre of the Post Office Horizon scandal
May 21, 2025 21 May'25
Ransomware attacks dropped by a third last month

Reported ransomware attacks eased off during April following a dramatic spike in the first quarter of 2025
May 20, 2025 20 May'25
Botched Post Office IT projects continue to drain public purse

Millions more pounds of public money spent by the Post Office as a result of an IT error that exposed the personal details of Horizon victims
May 20, 2025 20 May'25
Interview: Driving tech innovation at the BBC

Computer Weekly speaks to Jatin Aythora, director of BBC Research and Development, about self-belief and learning from different industries
May 19, 2025 19 May'25
Chinese cyber spooks lure laid-off US government workers

A Washington DC-based think tank has published evidence that Chinese intelligence services have been running a network of digital ‘front’ companies targeting laid-off government workers as recruits
May 19, 2025 19 May'25
Legal Aid Agency breach may encompass millions of people

Legal Aid Agency says the data of anybody who applied for legal aid over the past 15 years has been compromised in a cyber attack
May 19, 2025 19 May'25
Dutch universities call for reduced dependence on Big Tech

Dutch universities are calling for greater digital autonomy as more research and educational data is stored in American clouds, posing risks to academic freedom, privacy and accessibility
May 19, 2025 19 May'25
Government sets up guidance for 10-year R&D commitment

Research and development is one of the main areas of focus for Labour’s Plan for Change as it readies its Industrial Strategy
May 19, 2025 19 May'25
Post Office performs costly 30-year U-turn on Horizon

Post Office Horizon replacement magnifies missed opportunity as move from the controversial Horizon system to an off-the-shelf alternative is going back to a plan it rejected in the 1990s
May 16, 2025 16 May'25
Mid-career professionals must learn to understand and use AI as GenAI tips balance

Whether in the finance, IT or legal sectors, artificial intelligence will change the way businesses operate and how their people work
May 16, 2025 16 May'25
Security tests reveal serious vulnerability in government’s One Login digital ID system

A ‘red teaming’ exercise to simulate cyber attacks on the government’s flagship digital identity system has found that One Login can be compromised without detection
May 15, 2025 15 May'25
Government starts private sector engagement on digital ID and Gov.uk Wallet

Following concerns from the digital identity industry that Gov.uk Wallet would dominate the market, the government has offered private sector providers a ‘critical role’ in its future, as it revealed further details on the wallet
May 15, 2025 15 May'25
Post Office scandal inquiry to publish first findings this summer

Inquiry announces that findings on compensation and human impact will be presented in the next few months
May 14, 2025 14 May'25
UK government outlines plan to surveil migrants with eVisa data

Electronic visa data and biometric technologies will be used by the UK’s immigration enforcement authorities to surveil migrants living in the country and to ‘tighten control of the border’, attracting strong criticism from migrant support groups
May 14, 2025 14 May'25
Humphrey AI tool powers Scottish Parliament consultation

AI-powered Consult tool has helped the Scottish Parliament to organise feedback from a public consultation into themes
May 13, 2025 13 May'25
UKRI must do more to drive innovation agenda and avoid fraud

UKRI’s funding of research and innovation to support the government’s growth strategy has room for improvement
May 13, 2025 13 May'25
May Patch Tuesday brings five exploited zero-days to fix

Microsoft fixes five exploited, and two publicly disclosed, zero-days in the fifth Patch Tuesday update of 2025
May 13, 2025 13 May'25
Controversial Post Office Horizon system could stay until 2033

Post Office seeks off-the-shelf Horizon replacement as part of £492m tender that includes ongoing support for Horizon up to 2033
May 13, 2025 13 May'25
Gov.uk One Login loses certification for digital identity trust framework

The government’s flagship digital identity system has lost its certification against the government’s own digital identity system trust framework
May 13, 2025 13 May'25
NHS trust cloud plans hampered by Trump tariff uncertainty

Essex NHS wants to move some capacity to the Nutanix cloud, but can’t be certain prices will hold between product selection and when procurement plans gain approval
May 13, 2025 13 May'25
Evidence reveals Post Office scandal victims short-changed in compensation payouts

Subpostmasters who appealed compensation payments have significantly increased ‘worryingly undervalued’ settlements
May 12, 2025 12 May'25
University will ‘pull the plug’ to test Nutanix disaster recovery

University of Reading set to save circa £500,000 and deploy Nutanix NC2 hybrid cloud that will allow failover from main datacentre
May 09, 2025 09 May'25
Government calls on tech companies to join crime-cutting campaign

The justice secretary met with 30 tech companies to discuss how technology can help to tackle prison violence and reduce reoffending rates
May 09, 2025 09 May'25
Government launches £8.2m plan to encourage girls into AI

The government is investing in teacher training and student support to get more girls into maths classes, ultimately leading to AI careers