News

IT for government and public sector

• July 22, 2022 22 Jul'22

  Russia could become the world’s largest market for illegal IT

  Russia could become the biggest market for illegal IT equipment as companies try to get round sanctions imposed on the country

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  GCHQ experts back scanning of encrypted phone messages to fight child abuse

  Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC, and Crispin Robinson, technical director of GCHQ, back client-side scanning software on mobile phones to detect child abuse

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  Buy ‘plug-n-play’ malware for the price of a pint of beer

  Three-quarters of malwares and almost 90% of exploits retail on the dark web for about £8.40 or less, according to a report

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  UK government introduces data reforms legislation to Parliament

  Proposed changes to UK’s data protection regime include new grounds for data processing, significant powers for the secretary of state to direct the regime’s application, and fewer restrictions on law enforcement’s use of data

• July 21, 2022 21 Jul'22

  Victorian multilingual chatbot to provide Covid-19 support

  The AskVic WhatsApp chatbot will provide culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia’s state of Victoria, with Covid-19 information and support

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  (ISC)² expands entry-level cyber programme after UK success

  Flush with success from a UK certification programme, reaching 100k in the UK, (ISC)² now wants to provide free security certification to a million people worldwide

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Cato aims to bust cyber myths as it extends network protections

  Cato Networks is beefing up its platform’s security features with ransomware and data loss protections, and the firm’s security strategy lead Etay Maor is using the occasion – and his unique access to billions of data points from the firm’s network ...

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Estonia calls on tech experts to develop its Siri-like civil servant

  Estonian government opens up applications to tech experts across the world, offering them the chance to work on a world first for digital government services

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Barnet Council to bring work outsourced to Capita back in-house by 2026

  London borough is bringing swathes of outsourced services back in-house next year, with more to follow by 2026

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Advanced Research and Invention Agency gets CEO and chairman

  The government has named a CEO for the agency it set up to get more out of science and technology, after its original appointment couldn’t take the role

• July 20, 2022 20 Jul'22

  Russia’s Cozy Bear abusing Dropbox, Google Drive to target victims

  Russian APT known as Cozy Bear has become adept at quickly incorporating popular cloud storage services into its attack chain to avoid detection

• July 19, 2022 19 Jul'22

  European IT services see bumper quarter, but signs of slowing emerge

  Spending on IT and BPO services in Europe saw significant growth in the past quarter, but there are signs of a slowdown

• July 18, 2022 18 Jul'22

  US cyber agency CISA to open London office

  The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has chosen London to host its first office outside America

• July 15, 2022 15 Jul'22

  Drivers’ union calls for immediate dismissal of Uber executive

  Uber’s continued employment of an executive directly involved in efforts to resist regulatory oversight puts the ride-hailing firm in breach of its 2018 licence conditions, says drivers’ union

• July 15, 2022 15 Jul'22

  Log4Shell on its way to becoming ‘endemic’

  US government report concludes that, like Covid, Log4Shell will be with us for a long time to come

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  Global IT services market shows signs of slowing

  Spending on IT and business process services could be set to reduce over the coming months as the latest ISG figures show early signs of decline

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  Government pauses Online Safety Bill’s progress

  The government has paused the Online Safety Bill’s journey towards becoming law, amid timetable pressure

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  ICO wants to ‘empower people through information’

  Information Commissioner’s Office sets out commitment to safeguard the information rights of the most vulnerable people in UK society

• July 14, 2022 14 Jul'22

  EC urged to rejig green power strategy to include greater use of energy storage tech

  Ten stakeholders from the world of energy storage systems have penned an open letter to the European Commission’s policymakers, urging them to factor in their technology to the EC’s green transition plans

• July 13, 2022 13 Jul'22

  Slippery phish wriggles around MFA protections, says Microsoft

  Microsoft’s threat researchers share details of a phishing campaign that hit 10,000 organisations, against which standard multifactor authentication provides little defence

• July 13, 2022 13 Jul'22

  July Patch Tuesday brings more than 80 fixes, one zero-day

  While some admins can put their feet up and let Windows Autopatch do the hard work of updating their Microsoft estates, for the rest of us, the Patch Tuesday bandwagon keeps on keeping on

• July 13, 2022 13 Jul'22

  ICO calls for review into government use of private email and WhatsApp messages

  Information Commissioner’s Office reprimands Department of Health and Social Care after ministers and officials conducted government business on their own email accounts and messaging apps

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  First cohort of data science professionals certified by AfDSP

  The Alliance for Data Science Professionals has certified its first cohort, with the imprimatur of the UK’s national statistician, Ian Diamond

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  MaliBot Android malware spreading fast, says Check Point

  The MaliBot malware is becoming a persistent and widespread problem, and Android users should be on their guard, says Check Point

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  Microsoft Windows Autopatch now generally available

  Microsoft customers with Windows Enterprise E3 and E5 licences can now take full advantage of its new automated patching service

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  Whitehall IT veteran Mike Potter returns as new government CDO

  Potter will become the most senior digital government leader, in charge of the Central, Digital and Data Office, when he replaces Joanna Davinson in the autumn

• July 11, 2022 11 Jul'22

  Microsoft VBA macro block will return

  Microsoft provides more details about its sudden decision to rollback a landmark security policy, and reassures users it is a temporary measure

• July 08, 2022 08 Jul'22

  Ofcom publishes Online Safety Roadmap

  The roadmap sets out how the online harms regulator will approach implementing the UK’s online safety regime, and tells tech firms to start preparing for the new rules

• July 08, 2022 08 Jul'22

  Stop telling clients to pay ransomware gangs, solicitors told

  The NCSC and the ICO are calling on solicitors to help tackle the rising number of ransomware payments being made, and to stop giving erroneous advice to victims

• July 08, 2022 08 Jul'22

  Microsoft appears to reverse VBA macro-blocking

  Microsoft quietly reverses VBA macro-blocking across its Office portfolio in a move that has left security experts puzzled

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  UK government does not yet understand threat of technology to foreign policy

  Select committee chair warns government that the threat posed to global security by malign actors influencing tech standards is no ‘dystopian fantasy’

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  MI5, FBI chiefs warn of Chinese cyber espionage threat

  In a joint appearance in London, MI5 director general Ken McCallum and FBI director Chris Wray warn of the growing threat posed by the Chinese government to UK and US interests

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  UK signs ‘in principle’ data adequacy agreement with South Korea

  Bilateral adequacy agreement will allow businesses to conduct cross-border data transfers with minimal restrictions

• July 07, 2022 07 Jul'22

  Tech companies face pressure over end-to-end encryption in Online Safety Bill

  An amendment to the Online Safety Bill, currently going through Parliament, will put pressure on tech companies over end-to-end encrypted messaging services

• July 06, 2022 06 Jul'22

  ESET: Lazarus APT hit aero, defence sector with fake job ads

  ESET researchers present new findings into a series of cyber attacks on the aerospace and defence sectors by North Korea’s Lazarus crime syndicate

• July 05, 2022 05 Jul'22

  Legacy UK customs system stops accepting registration requests

  HMRC closes new applications to legacy customs system as its shutdown nears

• July 05, 2022 05 Jul'22

  Prepare for long-term cyber threat from Ukraine war, says NCSC

  The NCSC has published refreshed guidance on cyber preparedness as the war on Ukraine continues, urging organisations to pay attention to the state of their security teams

• July 05, 2022 05 Jul'22

  NCSC CEO: Why we should run towards crises to elevate cyber security

  National Cyber Security Centre CEO Lindy Cameron, the 2022 Computer Weekly UKtech50 Most Influential Person in UK IT, reflects on a career immersed in crisis management, and how she is using this to elevate cyber security standards across the country

• July 04, 2022 04 Jul'22

  MPs call for ban on Chinese surveillance camera technology

  Nearly 70 MPs have called on the government to ban Chinese camera technology that is widely used by UK government agencies despite links to human rights abuses in China

• July 04, 2022 04 Jul'22

  Government rejects Lords police tech inquiry recommendations

  The government has largely rejected the findings and recommendations of a House of Lords inquiry into police tech, which called for an overhaul of how police deploy artificial intelligence and algorithmic technologies

• July 04, 2022 04 Jul'22

  Assange appeals against Priti Patel’s extradition order

  WikiLeaks founder is expected to raise concerns over the political nature of his prosecution, the likelihood of him receiving a fair trial, and the risk of a coercive plea bargain

• June 30, 2022 30 Jun'22

  ICO to cut back on fines for public sector data breaches

  Information commissioner John Edwards sets out a revised approach to how the ICO handles data breaches in the public sector, saying fining victims risks punishing the public twice over

• June 30, 2022 30 Jun'22

  Subpostmaster campaigning forces government to set up compensation scheme and make interim payments

  Subpostmaster campaign group is a step closer to achieving what it was originally set up to do as government launches compensation scheme for its members who did not receive fair payouts

• June 30, 2022 30 Jun'22

  Independent scrutiny brought into compensation negotiations for wrongly prosecuted subpostmasters

  Former Supreme Court judge will offer his view on the valuation of compensation for wrongly convicted subpostmasters

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  Government sets NHS digital transformation plan

  The government expects to save billions of pounds and improve patient outcomes through digital transformation

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  Urgent need for new laws to govern biometrics, legal review finds

  Independent review says new framework is needed to clear up legal and ethical concerns over the use of biometric data and technologies, which can impact privacy, freedom of expression and other human rights

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  New cyber extortion op appears to have hit AMD

  Semiconductor specialist AMD has confirmed it is investigating reports that a ‘bad actor’ has stolen hundreds of gigabytes of its data

• June 28, 2022 28 Jun'22

  Digital Poverty Alliance unveils evidence review

  Evidence review into the state of digital poverty in the UK sets out policy principles and recommendations, which will be used as the basis for a national action plan to eliminate the issue

• June 28, 2022 28 Jun'22

  Russia-aligned hacktivists behind Lithuania DDoS attack

  Killnet hacktivist collective targeted Lithuania with distributed denial of service attacks after its government angered the Kremlin

• June 27, 2022 27 Jun'22

  Brexit a net negative for UK cyber, say CISOs

  Six years on from the UK’s Brexit vote, the majority of security professionals say leaving the EU has raised concerns over their ability to keep their organisations safe