News

IT for government and public sector

January 29, 2026 29 Jan'26
Metropolitan Police needs effective constraints on live facial recognition use, court hears

The Metropolitan Police has defended its use of live facial recognition against a legal challenge that claims there are no effective constraints on where it can deploy the technology
January 29, 2026 29 Jan'26
Security now one of the UK’s fastest-growing career paths

The number of people working in the cyber security field has almost trebled in the 2020s, with one cyber professional for every 68 businesses in the UK
January 29, 2026 29 Jan'26
UK government signs more partners to boost AI skills across the country

The government is seeking to educate 10 million adults in the UK on how to use artificial intelligence tools to streamline their work
January 29, 2026 29 Jan'26
Troubleshooter steps in as Capita and civil service bosses apologise for pension scheme problems

High volumes of customer calls, backlogs and complex requests blamed for shaky start to life on civil service pension scheme for Capita

January 29, 2026 29 Jan'26
Sonia Patel to become interim UK government chief technology officer

NHS England’s chief technology officer has taken on the same role for government on an interim 12-month fixed-term contract
January 29, 2026 29 Jan'26
Fujitsu boss ‘falls on his sword’ before settling with Post Office scandal victims

Fujitsu's European chief Paul Patterson is stepping down from his role amid the troubles brought on by the supplier’s central role in the Post Office scandal
January 28, 2026 28 Jan'26
Scotland gets AI growth zone boost in Lanarkshire

CoreWeave is building a 500MW AI cloud, providing the region with 800 high-paid jobs in artificial intelligence
January 28, 2026 28 Jan'26
UK government to develop AI tutoring tools

Schools will soon have access to free AI tools to help provide 1:1 tutoring to students, potentially levelling the playing field for those from disadvantaged backgrounds
January 27, 2026 27 Jan'26
Wave of ShinyHunters vishing attacks spreading fast

The ShinyHunters hacking collective that caused chaos in 2025 is ramping up a new voice phishing campaign, with several potential victims already identified
January 27, 2026 27 Jan'26
UK government’s National Data Library works up steam

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology finishes ‘discovery phase’ of £100m National Data Library programme, including pilot projects

January 27, 2026 27 Jan'26
Alan Turing Institute fellowship programme boosted by $1m from Meta

The funding from Meta will be used to support experts in the development artificial intelligence to improve UK public services
January 27, 2026 27 Jan'26
Peer demands independent investigation into DWP’s prosecution of subpostmasters

The DWP’s promised review of subpostmaster prosecutions doesn’t satisfy the demands of politicians and campaigners
January 27, 2026 27 Jan'26
Saudi Arabia ordered to pay £3m to UK dissident targeted with Pegasus spyware

A court has found that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia subjected a London-based human rights activist to abuse and physical violence after infecting his phone with Pegasus spyware
January 27, 2026 27 Jan'26
Broken decryptor leaves Sicarii ransomware victims adrift

A coding error in an emergent strain of ransomware leaves victims unable to recover their data, even if they cooperate with the hackers’ demands
January 27, 2026 27 Jan'26
Landmark legal challenge against police facial recognition begins

The High Court will examine whether the Metropolitan Police is acting lawfully with its deployments of live facial recognition, in the UK’s first judicial review of how the technology is being used
January 26, 2026 26 Jan'26
Spanish court acquits suspects denied access to ‘raw’ Sky ECC intercepts in landmark decision

Prosecutors have been told they cannot rely on intercept evidence from the Sky ECC encrypted phone network in the absence of other evidence, unless they disclose the raw intercept data to defendants in decision that could have a significant impact ...
January 23, 2026 23 Jan'26
Ransomware, reputation, risk: Black Hat Europe in review, 2026 in view

Black Hat Europe made clear that cyber security can no longer be separated from politics, economics and behaviour, as ransomware, AI and long-standing security failures combine
January 22, 2026 22 Jan'26
JPMorgan CEO urges slowdown of AI roll-out to ‘save society’

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence will prompt ‘civil unrest’ if governments and companies fail to protect workers from its displacing effects, says JPMorgan boss
January 22, 2026 22 Jan'26
DWP review of Post Office worker prosecutions yet to start, months after announcement

The DWP said in August that it would carry out an independent review of prosecutions of subpostmasters, but it has yet to appoint a reviewer
January 22, 2026 22 Jan'26
Davos 2026: Smart thinking needed for sovereign AI investment

Policy-makers need to figure out how they can carve a niche in a world dominated by China and the US
January 22, 2026 22 Jan'26
UK government begins trials of digital driving licence

The digital version of the physical driving licence will be made available through an app-based digital wallet, with testing underway before wider roll-out later this year
January 21, 2026 21 Jan'26
UK and China reach out across cyber no-man's land

London and Beijing have supposedly conducted high-level talks seeking to establish a joint security forum to help de-escalate potential cyber flashpoints, according to reports
January 21, 2026 21 Jan'26
UK government appoints banking tech bosses as AI champions

Appointment of artificial intelligence champions from banking sector comes as MPs make stern warning about AI risks in financial services
January 21, 2026 21 Jan'26
AI slop pushes data governance towards zero-trust models

Organisations are implementing zero-trust models for data governance thanks to the proliferation of poor quality AI-generated data, often known as AI slop
January 20, 2026 20 Jan'26
UK public sector, CNI in Russian hacktivist crosshairs

Hacktivists aligned to the Russian state are ramping up their targeting of UK organisations with denial of service attacks
January 20, 2026 20 Jan'26
Met claims success for permanent facial recognition in Croydon

Met Police boasts that its permanent deployment of live facial recognition cameras in Croydon has led to more than 100 arrests and prompted a double-digit reduction in local crime, ahead of an upcoming judicial review assessing the technology’s ...
January 20, 2026 20 Jan'26
G42 introduces Digital Embassies framework for sovereign AI

The framework enables governments to deploy artificial intelligence securely and at scale, while maintaining full legal authority over data and systems, regardless of the location of the infrastructure
January 19, 2026 19 Jan'26
UK financial regulators exposing public to ‘potential serious harm’ due to AI positions

MPs warn that action is needed to ensure artificial intelligence is adopted safely in the finance sector as companies capitalise on its opportunities
January 19, 2026 19 Jan'26
UK copyright law unfit for protecting creative workers from AI

As the UK government considers its approach to artificial intelligence and copyright, Computer Weekly explores the dynamics at play in copyright markets, and what measures can be taken to ensure that creatives are protected
January 19, 2026 19 Jan'26
UAE signs Pax Silica declaration to advance AI-era security

The United Arab Emirates becomes the ninth signatory to Pax Silica, an economic security coalition for the AI age, reinforcing its leadership in trusted technology, energy and digital infrastructure
January 19, 2026 19 Jan'26
UK government kicks off plan to revamp citizen digital interaction

Labour has set out a roadmap for modernising digital government in a bid to streamline services and cut costs
January 16, 2026 16 Jan'26
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan calls for urgent action to boost the capital’s AI workforce

Khan has launched a taskforce to tackle the risk of mass unemployment that could occur as artificial intelligence threatens London jobs
January 15, 2026 15 Jan'26
PSNI resorted to pen and paper after issues with ControlWorks command and control software

Northern Ireland’s Policing Board has asked the Police Service of Northern Ireland for clarification after it emerged the PSNI has not reported IT issues that affected its ability to record reports from the public to the oversight body
January 15, 2026 15 Jan'26
Cyber body ISC2 signs on as UK software security ambassador

Professional cyber association ISC2 pledges support to UK government’s Software Security Ambassador scheme, part of the recently unveiled Cyber Action Plan
January 15, 2026 15 Jan'26
Zoho opens its first UAE datacentres to boost cloud adoption

New Dubai and Abu Dhabi facilities support data sovereignty, providing CIOs with local access to more than 100 Zoho and ManageEngine cloud services
January 14, 2026 14 Jan'26
Microsoft DCU uses UK courts to hunt down cyber criminals

Microsoft has taken down the RedDVS cyber crime-as-a-service network after obtaining a UK court order, marking its first civil legal action outside of the US
January 14, 2026 14 Jan'26
UK government backtracks on plans for mandatory digital ID

The proposed national digital identity app will no longer be compulsory for conducting right-to-work checks, removing the most contentious and widely criticised element of the scheme
January 13, 2026 13 Jan'26
Microsoft patches 112 CVEs on first Patch Tuesday of 2026

January brings a larger-than-of-late Patch Tuesday update out of Redmond, but an uptick in disclosures is often expected at this time of year
January 13, 2026 13 Jan'26
‘Dual-channel’ attacks are the new face of BEC in 2026

Business email compromise remains a significant threat as cyber fraudsters deploy a more diverse range of tactics against their potential victims, according to a report
January 13, 2026 13 Jan'26
Police Digital Service ex-staffers launch employment tribunal action over mistreatment claims

The Police Digital Service has said it cannot comment on employment tribunal claims, nor reports of more staff departures, as questions over the future of the organisation remain unanswered
January 13, 2026 13 Jan'26
Berlin anarchists cite AI in attack on key energy infrastructure

Berlin anarchists have sabotaged key energy infrastructure in the city, claiming it as an act of ‘self-defence’ against the planet’s destruction by ‘energy-guzzling’ technologies and the wider fossil fuel economy that underpins their development
January 13, 2026 13 Jan'26
Post Office scandal’s oldest victim calls for total ban on Fujitsu

Betty Brown wants the IT supplier at the centre of the Post Office scandal banned from all government contracts
January 13, 2026 13 Jan'26
UK open banking is eight years old and ready to grow into the wider economy

The next phase of open banking will have a greater impact as it morphs into cross-sector open finance
January 12, 2026 12 Jan'26
Business leaders see AI risks and fraud outpacing ransomware, says WEF

C-suite executives are more concerned with risks arising from AI vulnerabilities and cyber fraud than ransomware, according to the World Economic Forum
January 12, 2026 12 Jan'26
Welsh government launches £2.1m fund to help SMEs adopt AI

The funding is being used to deliver artificial intelligence awareness and adoption support to businesses, as well as to upskill staff, enabling them to take advantage of AI
January 12, 2026 12 Jan'26
Singapore and Japan team up on quantum computing

The two countries will work together to bridge the gap between quantum research and real-world commercialisation, marking Singapore’s first government-to-government pact dedicated to the technology
January 09, 2026 09 Jan'26
MPs and contractors urge UK government to U-turn on ‘manifestly unfair’ Loan Charge settlement terms

Contractors and MPs are up in arms over the government’s promise to wipe tens of thousands of pounds off the Loan Charge liabilities of those yet to reach a settlement with HMRC, describing it as ‘manifestly unfair’ to those who have paid
January 08, 2026 08 Jan'26
Personal data of thousands stolen in attack on London councils

The West London council at the centre of a major cyber incident has now started the process of informing residents that their personal data was compromised in the attack
January 08, 2026 08 Jan'26
Campaigners urge UK to develop digital sovereignty strategy

UK digital rights campaigners have urged UK parliamentarians to implement a digital sovereignty strategy as part of the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to reduce reliance on technology subject to foreign interference
January 08, 2026 08 Jan'26
What will happen with Starmer’s digital ID scheme in 2026?

Last year, the UK government announced ambitious plans for a national digital identity scheme, but will 2026 lead to more disenchantment or new excitement?