News

IT for government and public sector

• January 14, 2025 14 Jan'25

  Many are called, but few are chosen: Secrets of MI5 watchers revealed

  Despite advances in electronic surveillance, security service MI5 still relies on human ‘watchers’. Government documents reveal what it takes to follow suspects without being detected

• January 13, 2025 13 Jan'25

  UK government plans to extend ransomware payment ban

  A ban on ransomware payments by UK government departments will be extended to cover organisations such as local councils, schools and the NHS should new government proposals move forward

• January 13, 2025 13 Jan'25

  Metro mayors face similar digitisation challenges to banks, but lack their resources

  UK regional leaders want to be independent of central government when it comes to digital transformation decision-making, but don’t fully understand what’s ahead

• January 13, 2025 13 Jan'25

  CNI operators should ask these 12 questions of their OT suppliers

  The NCSC, CISA and others have set out 12 cyber security considerations CNI organisations and other users of operational technology should incorporate into their buying processes to force their suppliers to do better

• January 10, 2025 10 Jan'25

  Mandiant: Latest Ivanti vulns exploited by Chinese cyber spooks

  Threat actors are once again lining up to exploit vulnerabilities in the widely used Ivanti product suite, with an apparent link to Chinese espionage activity

• January 10, 2025 10 Jan'25

  UK Defence Committee urges MoD to embrace AI

  Defence Committee outlines changes it thinks the Ministry of Defence should make to realise the battlefield advantages of artificial intelligence

• January 08, 2025 08 Jan'25

  German court finds hacked EncroChat phone evidence inadmissible

  The Berlin Regional Court has found that evidence obtained by a joint French and Dutch operation to hack the EncroChat encrypted mobile phone network is legally inadmissible, raising questions about its use in other European countries

• January 08, 2025 08 Jan'25

  Post Office scandal-stained Fujitsu orders staff to cut costs amid widening UK losses

  Japanese supplier reports a loss of £170m in the UK in its latest financial statement and orders UK staff to cut costs

• January 08, 2025 08 Jan'25

  Nato membership boosts Finnish civil and military tech startups

  Tech companies in Finland and Sweden that offer civil and military products are benefitting from Nato military alliance

• January 07, 2025 07 Jan'25

  Former subpostmasters invited to take part in Post Office Capture compensation scheme development

  Government will look at a selection of cases where subpostmasters experienced unexplained losses while using the Post Office’s pre-Horizon accounting system

• January 06, 2025 06 Jan'25

  Government develops quantum tech for military

  A high-tech atomic clock has been developed by a ‘secret lab’ and aims to decrease the reliance on GPS technology

• January 03, 2025 03 Jan'25

  US Treasury incident a clear warning on supply chain security in 2025

  A cyber incident at the US Department of the Treasury – blamed on a Chinese state actor – raises fresh warnings about supply chain risk after it was found to have originated via vulnerabilities in a remote tech support product

• January 03, 2025 03 Jan'25

  Post Office staff list 14 scandal-stained individuals who should have honours stripped

  Staff of the Post Office and Royal Mail from the past and present have written to the Forfeiture Committee requesting honours to be stripped from 14 people with links to the Horizon scandal

• January 02, 2025 02 Jan'25

  Sir Alan Bates has ‘serious concerns’ over Post Office scandal compensation budget

  Campaigning former subpostmaster welcomed ‘positive’ select committee report but voiced concern over inclusion of legal costs in compensation pot

• December 30, 2024 30 Dec'24

  Post Office scandal campaigners awarded OBEs in New Year Honours List

  Former subpostmasters and campaigners Jo Hamilton, Lee Castleton, Seema Misra and Christopher Head honoured for their part in 20-year fight against the Post Office – along with former Computer Weekly reporter Rebecca Thomson

• December 30, 2024 30 Dec'24

  Top 10 government IT stories of 2024

  The past year has provided one of the biggest changes in government for 14 years, with Labour coming to power. With it, the new government has brought plenty of tech promises

• December 24, 2024 24 Dec'24

  Top 10 police technology stories of 2024

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 police technology stories of 2024

• December 23, 2024 23 Dec'24

  Top 10 NHS IT stories of 2024

  The past year has provided a marked change in the approach to technology in the National Health Service, which has struggled to cope under significant pressure. We look back at the stories that made the headlines in 2024

• December 20, 2024 20 Dec'24

  Post Office creates CTO role to support ‘extensive and complex’ plans

  Post Office bolsters its IT leadership team as it grapples with massive tech transformation with the nation looking on

• December 20, 2024 20 Dec'24

  Government introduces technology adoption review

  Whitehall has launched a call for evidence on barriers to adopting new technologies in the UK, wanting to know what needs to change for the country to stay at the forefront of technology adoption

• December 20, 2024 20 Dec'24

  Top 10 data and ethics stories of 2024

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 data and ethics stories of 2024

• December 19, 2024 19 Dec'24

  LockBit ransomware gang teases February 2025 return

  An individual associated with the LockBit ransomware gang has broken cover to tease details of a new phase of the cyber criminal operation's activity, which they claim is set to begin in February 2025

• December 19, 2024 19 Dec'24

  Latest attempt to override UK’s outdated hacking law stalls

  Amendments to the Data Bill that would have given the UK cyber industry a boost by updating restrictive elements of the Computer Misuse Act have failed to progress beyond a Lords committee

• December 19, 2024 19 Dec'24

  AWS offers Hackney Council ‘minimum 22%’ discount on cloud services through OGVA 2.0

  Amazon Web Services has renewed its cloud deal with Hackney Council, with the local authority receiving a minimum discount of 22% in exchange for agreeing to grow its AWS cloud footprint by 8% each year

• December 18, 2024 18 Dec'24

  The Security Interviews: Martin Lee, Cisco Talos

  Threat intel expert and author Martin Lee, EMEA technical lead for security research at Cisco Talos, joins Computer Weekly to mark the 35th anniversary of the first ever ransomware attack

• December 18, 2024 18 Dec'24

  Top 10 cyber security stories of 2024

  Data breaches, data privacy and protection, and the thorny issue of open source security were all hot topics this year. Meanwhile, security companies frequently found themselves hitting the headlines, and not always for good reasons. Here are ...

• December 18, 2024 18 Dec'24

  Post Office IT department fired and rehired ‘friends’ at ‘exorbitant’ rates, says former HR chief

  The Post Office got rid of permanent roles, including IT, and rehired the holders on over double the pay

• December 18, 2024 18 Dec'24

  Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2024

  From ransomware targeting the NHS to nation-state-backed intrusions, 2024 was another big year for cyber criminals and cyber spooks alike, but they didn't have it all their own way as the good guys fought back

• December 18, 2024 18 Dec'24

  Axon still in possession of Police Scotland encryption keys

  Supplier’s possession of encryption keys for Police Scotland data sharing system opens potential for access and transfer of sensitive data without the knowledge or consent of the force

• December 17, 2024 17 Dec'24

  Conservative MP adds to calls for public inquiry over PSNI police spying

  Conservative MP David Davis calls for a public inquiry following a court ruling that the PSNI and Metropolitan Police unlawfully placed journalists under electronic surveillance

• December 17, 2024 17 Dec'24

  Ofcom publishes Illegal Harms Codes of Practice

  The codes of practice and guidance from Ofcom outline the steps online services providers can take to protect their users from illegal harms

• December 17, 2024 17 Dec'24

  Latest list of AI in government decision-making published

  The government wants to show it’s being transparent over the use of algorithms that directly impact citizens

• December 17, 2024 17 Dec'24

  Digital Ethics Summit 2024: recognising AI’s socio-technical nature

  At trade association TechUK’s eighth annual Digital Ethics Summit, public officials and industry figures and civil society groups met to discuss the ethical challenges associated with the proliferation of artificial intelligence tools globally and ...

• December 17, 2024 17 Dec'24

  Tribunal criticises PSNI and Met Police for spying operation to identify journalists’ sources

  The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has criticised the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Metropolitan Police for unlawfully spying on journalists

• December 17, 2024 17 Dec'24

  Government promises redress and justice to Post Office Capture system users

  The government has officially recognised that users of the Post Office’s Capture software experienced shortfalls caused by the system’s errors

• December 16, 2024 16 Dec'24

  Post Office ‘weaponised’ IT system in most ‘extensive and prolonged’ miscarriage

  In closing, public inquiry counsel made clear that it’s not a computer system being investigated, but rather human beings

• December 16, 2024 16 Dec'24

  Top 10 IT leadership interviews of 2024

  The top technology leaders talk to Computer Weekly to discuss the challenges they face and the strategies, solutions and successes they are delivering

• December 13, 2024 13 Dec'24

  Computer Misuse Act reform gains traction in Parliament

  An amendment to the proposed Data (Access and Use) Bill that will right a 35-year-old wrong and protect security professionals from criminalisation is to be debated at Westminster

• December 13, 2024 13 Dec'24

  Post Office scandal 2024 – part 3: Fujitsu’s 12-month fall from grace

  After years of refusing to comment, Fujitsu was unable to continue hiding from its role in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal as politicians and a public inquiry demanded answers

• December 12, 2024 12 Dec'24

  Emerging Ymir ransomware heralds more coordinated threats in 2025

  A newly observed ransomware strain has the community talking about more collaboration, and blurred lines, between threat groups next year, according to NCC’s monthly cyber barometer

• December 12, 2024 12 Dec'24

  Post Office scandal in 2024 – part 2: Capture, the prequel

  Users of the Post Office’s Capture system had similar experiences to those who struggled with the Horizon system, which came later, but their stories are only just coming out now

• December 11, 2024 11 Dec'24

  Police not ruling any person or crime out of Post Office scandal investigation

  Metropolitan Police provides update on Operation Olympos, its national investigation into potential criminality in the Post Office Horizon scandal

• December 11, 2024 11 Dec'24

  Post Office scandal in 2024 – part 1: A year in the mainstream

  Read this year’s 10 most read Computer Weekly articles about the Post Office Horizon IT scandal

• December 10, 2024 10 Dec'24

  Dangerous CLFS and LDAP flaws stand out on Patch Tuesday

  Microsoft has fixed over 70 CVEs in its final Patch Tuesday update of the year, and defenders should prioritise a zero-day in the Common Log File System Driver, and another impactful flaw in the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

• December 10, 2024 10 Dec'24

  iOS vuln leaves user data dangerously exposed

  Jamf threat researchers detail an exploit chain for a recently patched iOS vulnerability that enables a threat actor to steal sensitive data, warning that many organisations are still neglecting mobile updates

• December 10, 2024 10 Dec'24

  UK police continue to hold millions of custody images unlawfully

  Annual report from the biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner of England and Wales highlights the ongoing and unlawful retention millions of custody images of innocent people never charged with a crime by police

• December 10, 2024 10 Dec'24

  Government launches £100m innovation fund for public service reform

  Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster calls on Whitehall to adopt a ‘test-and-learn’ culture and pledges to make government ‘more like a startup’

• December 10, 2024 10 Dec'24

  DWP ‘fairness analysis’ reveals bias in AI fraud detection system

  Information about people’s age, disability, marital status and nationality influences decisions to investigate benefit claims for fraud, but the Department for Work and Pensions says there are ‘no immediate concerns of unfair treatment’

• December 10, 2024 10 Dec'24

  Controversial Horizon system to remain in Post Office branches as part of tech ‘fusion’, says source

  A source says the Post Office is set to buy the Horizon system from Fujitsu and combine it with both in-house developed and commercially available software

• December 09, 2024 09 Dec'24

  Bahrain faces legal action after planting Pegasus spyware on UK blogger

  A court has given the go-ahead to UK-based blogger Yusuf Al-Jamri to seek damages from the Kingdom of Bahrain after it deployed spyware from Israel’s NSO Group to hack his phone