News

IT for government and public sector

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  Advisory board goal for Post Office scandal victims to be returned to rightful financial position

  The board set up to monitor the compensation scheme for Post Office scandal victims agrees goal of returning them to the financial position they would be in had the scandal never happened

• January 17, 2023 17 Jan'23

  Claim IR35 reform repeal and U-turn cost the government ‘nothing’ called into question

  After responding to a question about the cost of the government’s repeal of the IR35 reforms and its subsequent U-turn on the decision, the financial secretary has come under fire for claiming no additional costs were incurred by its flip-flopping

• January 17, 2023 17 Jan'23

  Crest throws support behind CyberUp CMA reform campaign

  Cyber accreditation association Crest International has lent its support to the CyberUp campaign for reform to the Computer Misuse Act of 1990

• January 14, 2023 14 Jan'23

  Experts concerned over silence around government obligation to review UK surveillance laws

  The government is required to review the UK’s surveillance law, the Investigatory Powers Act, but experts say they are in the dark about its plans. The National Crime Agency’s operation Venetic has highlighted the need for urgent reforms

• January 13, 2023 13 Jan'23

  Government given until autumn 2023 to create technology roadmap to support net-zero strategy

  Review into the government’s progress in hitting its 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal highlights need for more action on the technology front

• January 13, 2023 13 Jan'23

  Cabinet Office looks to expand public data sharing for digital ID

  Cabinet Office seeks feedback on proposed legislation to enhance data sharing across the public sector, in support of the UK government’s ambition to have a single sign-on identity-check system for all public services

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  UK government completes trials of age estimation technology

  Government-led trials of age estimation and verification technologies for the sale of alcohol in nightlife venues and supermarkets have been completed, with both government and retail lobbyists pushing for legislation that would allow retailers to ...

• January 12, 2023 12 Jan'23

  Government accused of leaving umbrella company regulation in limbo by shelving enforcement body

  The UK government is coming under pressure to reveal the state of its plans to regulate umbrella companies after it emerged that the enforcement body it promised to create is unlikely to materialise

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  Internet shutdowns cost global economy $24bn in 2022

  Deliberate disruption of people’s access to the internet by governments is having a substantial economic impact and contributing to a range of human rights abuses, primarily against protestors

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  Microsoft fixes EoP zero-day on January Patch Tuesday

  On the first Patch Tuesday of 2023, Microsoft fixed an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call, which has been actively exploited in the wild and may be co-opted into ransomware campaigns

• January 11, 2023 11 Jan'23

  Davos 2023: Pervasive cyber crime and cyber security gaps pose severe risk to organisations

  Governments and organisations face tough trade-offs as they balance immediate problems caused by economic recession, energy shortages and rising interest rates with longer-term risks, including the impact of global warming

• January 10, 2023 10 Jan'23

  Insurer Beazley introduces catastrophe bond to ease cyber risk

  Insurance company Beazley says that its $45m cyber catastrophe bond will help to protect its balance sheet and enable it to offer more cyber insurance cover

• January 10, 2023 10 Jan'23

  Former subpostmaster Alan Bates, who ‘pulled up trees and moved mountains’, turns down OBE offer

  Alan Bates, who fought for decades to expose the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, says it would be inappropriate to accept an OBE when former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells still holds her CBE

• January 06, 2023 06 Jan'23

  Vice Society cyber gang targeted multiple UK schools

  The Vice Society ransomware gang has made a habit of attacking educational institutions, and now appears to have struck multiple schools, colleges and universities in the UK

• January 04, 2023 04 Jan'23

  Diversity and inclusion figures high in New Year Honours List 2023

  The New Year Honours List 2023 hailed those in the technology community who promote diversity and inclusion

• December 30, 2022 30 Dec'22

  Top 10 information management stories of 2022

  Data for good is a theme of the information management stories of 2022 selected here. From tracking space junk, through medical kits for Ukraine, to professionalising data science to benefit society

• December 29, 2022 29 Dec'22

  Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022

• December 29, 2022 29 Dec'22

  Top 10 Nordic IT stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly's top 10 Nordic IT articles of 2022

• December 28, 2022 28 Dec'22

  Complaints that NCA failed in duty of candour over EncroChat warrants ‘incredible’, court hears

  NCA lawyers argue that a decision by an NCA intelligence officer to disclose notes of a key meeting after two-and-a-half years boosts her credibility as a witness

• December 28, 2022 28 Dec'22

  Top 10 government IT stories of 2022

  The UK government has been in turmoil for much of 2022, but there’s been plenty going on around the digital transformation of the public sector and the UK economy

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 cyber security stories of 2022

  The war in Ukraine loomed large over the cyber security news agenda, but 2022 also saw growing awareness of open source security, discussion around cyber insurance, and more besides

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2022

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 crime, national security and law stories of 2022

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2022

  Cyber crime continued to hit the headlines in 2022, with impactful cyber attacks abounding, digitally enabled fraud ever more widespread and plenty of ransomware incidents

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Digital Economy Council: UK tech sector number one in Europe

  Despite the tumultuous economic landscape, the UK has maintained its spot as having the number one tech sector in Europe, with its impressive investment figures

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Four-day working week set to stay at Atom bank

  Challenger bank Atom has formalised a four-day working week policy after a successful trial

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Government shuts ‘Help to Grow’ doorway for SMEs

  The government’s Help to Grow: Digital scheme, which aimed to help small businesses access productivity-enhancing software, has been closed, to the disappointment of TechUK

• December 20, 2022 20 Dec'22

  Top 10 IR35 stories of 2022

  The implementation of the UK government’s IR35 reforms has continued to generate headlines for Computer Weekly in 2022

• December 16, 2022 16 Dec'22

  UK unis implement new IP traffic policies to combat ransomware

  Jisc will introduce new measures to protect UK universities and research institutions from ransomware attacks that exploit the Remote Desktop Protocol remote-access feature

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  Digital Ethics Summit: Who benefits from new technology?

  Experts at the 2022 Digital Ethics Summit say expedited development cycles and obviously over-hyped PR material, in tandem with the public’s near-total exclusion from conversations around technology, is creating distrust towards the tech sector

• December 15, 2022 15 Dec'22

  NCA officer questioned in Investigatory Powers Tribunal over failure to disclose EncroChat notes

  EncroChat hacking warrant was unlawful and in breach of human rights law, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal hears

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Criminal Cases Review Commission calls on more convicted subpostmasters to come forward

  The Criminal Cases Review Commission wants more former subpostmasters to come forward if they think they were prosecuted by the Post Office based on data from the error-prone Horizon computer system

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Advanced Azov data wiper likely to become active threat

  Check Point deep dives into an emergent data wiper strain known as Azov, which is making waves with hundreds of new samples being submitted to VirusTotal daily

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Ethical hackers flex their muscles in 2022

  Ethical hackers working through HackerOne programmes found 21% more vulnerabilities in 2022 than in 2021

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  Microsoft fixes two zero-days in final Patch Tuesday of 2022

  December’s Patch Tuesday is typically a light month for Microsoft, and this year proved no exception, but there are still several critical issues worth addressing, and two zero-days for defenders to pore over

• December 14, 2022 14 Dec'22

  New cyber approaches ease Registers of Scotland’s AWS migration

  As the holder of the oldest national public land register in the world, Registers of Scotland has a storied history dating back centuries. Find out how Palo Alto Networks is keeping its processes and data secure as it goes all-in on Amazon Web ...

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  Crime Stoppers Tasmania debuts new reporting portal

  Reporting tool will enable the public to share crime-related information with law enforcement agencies to support policing in Tasmania

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  EU issues draft data adequacy decision in favour of US

  The European Commission has concluded that the United States does ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the European Union and will now launch the process towards the adoption of an adequacy decision

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  The nature of the CISO role will be in flux in 2023

  As cyber risk outpaces organisational defences, and cyber attacks and breaches cause more and more damage, the nature of the CISO role is entering a state of flux, according to a report

• December 12, 2022 12 Dec'22

  Cloud-based fingerprint system for UK police nears completion

  Police Digital Service announces that a new cloud-based fingerprint system developed under its Transforming Forensics programme is nearly complete, but data protection concerns around the use of US-based cloud providers remain

• December 12, 2022 12 Dec'22

  IR35: HMRC claims ‘potential’ legislative change in pipeline to address settlement offset issue

  HMRC claims work on a ‘potential legislative solution’ is underway to ensure it does not collect more tax than is due when end-user organisations are found to have made errors in determining the IR35 status of their contractors

• December 09, 2022 09 Dec'22

  Labour unveils plans to make UK global startup hub

  The Labour Party has published a review into the UK startup landscape, which calls for a number of changes to help make the country a more attractive place for startups

• December 09, 2022 09 Dec'22

  Iranian APT seen exploiting GitHub repository as C2 mechanism

  A subgroup of the Iran-linked Cobalt Mirage APT group has been caught taking advantage of the GitHub open source project as a means to operate its latest custom malware

• December 09, 2022 09 Dec'22

  Online Safety Bill returns to Parliament

  MPs and online safety experts have expressed concern about encryption-breaking measures contained in the Online Safety Bill as it returns to Parliament for the first time since its passage was paused in July

• December 09, 2022 09 Dec'22

  IT system limitations a factor in passport delays

  Limitations in the UK’s passport office IT system led to delays in applicants receiving their documents during a recent period of high demand

• December 08, 2022 08 Dec'22

  Apple to tap third party for physical security keys

  Apple is launching a number of new security protections, including the addition of third-party-provided hardware security keys

• December 07, 2022 07 Dec'22

  Google, MS, Oracle vulnerabilities make November ’22 a big month for patching

  Vulnerabilities affecting the likes of Google, Microsoft and Oracle proved particularly troublesome in November

• December 07, 2022 07 Dec'22

  Post Office scandal – “cock-up or cook-up”?

  The second phase of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal raised more questions over who did what, when and where, with shocking revelations at every turn

• December 06, 2022 06 Dec'22

  Legacy IT magnifies cyber risk for Defra, says NAO

  Some 30% of Defra’s applications are currently unsupported, magnifying cyber risk as the government department struggles to make progress on a digital transformation programme

• December 06, 2022 06 Dec'22

  EU fails to protect human rights in surveillance tech transfers

  Transfers of surveillance technology from the European Union to African governments are carried out without due regard for the human rights impacts, the European Ombudsman has found after a year-long investigation into the European Commission’s ...

• December 06, 2022 06 Dec'22

  Don’t become an unwitting tool in Russia’s cyber war

  Researchers have turned up evidence that enterprise networks are being co-opted by Russian threat actors to launch attacks against targets in Ukraine. How can you avoid becoming an unwitting tool in a state-backed attack?