News

IT for government and public sector

• September 02, 2013 02 Sep'13

  Case study: Lancaster University revamps unified communications

  Lancaster University works with Logicalis to install new Cisco systems and bring unified comms to staff and postgraduates

• September 02, 2013 02 Sep'13

  Eight new finalists in Cyber Security Challenge UK

  Eight Cyber Security Challenge UK finalists announced at the UK’s first civilian cyber security training camps

• September 02, 2013 02 Sep'13

  Public sector ignoring secure by default approach

  The public sector is risking security breaches by ignoring the principle of secure by default, a study has shown

• September 02, 2013 02 Sep'13

  Report wants government ‘remake’ for digital age

  The Policy Exchange think tank calls for more openness and innovation in government digital strategy in a new report

• September 02, 2013 02 Sep'13

  UK business data theft at record high

  Data theft from UK companies by employees is at a record high, according to law firm EMW

• September 02, 2013 02 Sep'13

  Snowden docs show broad and aggressive US cyber intrusions

  US intelligence services conducted 231 offensive cyber operations in 2011, the latest leaked documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal

• September 02, 2013 02 Sep'13

  Microsoft and Google sue US government for data-sharing revelations

  Microsoft and Google are planning to sue the US government for the right to reveal more information about its official data requests

• August 30, 2013 30 Aug'13

  NYT hactivist attack shows need for registry locking

  Syrian hacktivist attack on New York Times website highlights the need for registry locking, says communications and analysis firm Neustar

• August 30, 2013 30 Aug'13

  Aberdeen City Council gets £100,000 penalty for IT security failings

  The ICO has served Aberdeen City Council with a monetary penalty of £100,000 for publishing vulnerable children’s details online

• August 30, 2013 30 Aug'13

  Newcastle and Milton Keynes sign BDUK contracts

  Two more councils award BT with the contract to roll-out superfast broadband as part of the government’s nationwide project

• August 30, 2013 30 Aug'13

  New Snowden docs reveal secret NSA hacker unit

  The US National Security Agency has a secret hacking group, the latest leaked documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal

• August 30, 2013 30 Aug'13

  Nasdaq operator admits partial blame for outage

  Last week’s shutdown of the Nasdaq raised fears over cyber attacks, but now the stock exchange operator has admitted partial responsibility

• August 29, 2013 29 Aug'13

  Met Police IT systems cause higher crime in London, says scathing report

  Crime rates in London are higher than they should be as a direct result of poor IT systems at the Metropolitan Police

• August 29, 2013 29 Aug'13

  Vishing costs UK £7m a year

  Fraud committed using personal details obtained by voice email, voice over IP, landline and mobile calls is costing UK citizens at least £7m a year

• August 29, 2013 29 Aug'13

  Dropbox can be hacked, say security researchers

  Security researchers say they bypassed the security of cloud-based storage service Dropbox and gained access to private user files

• August 29, 2013 29 Aug'13

  Facebook, Skype and Google open to UK police, says Big Brother Watch

  Transparency reports prove the UK police are accessing user information on a daily basis, says privacy group Big Brother Watch

• August 28, 2013 28 Aug'13

  Facebook, Twitter and Google monitor web links, Swiss security firm warns

  Facebook, Twitter and Google are monitoring web links sent in private communications, a Swiss IT security services firm has found

• August 28, 2013 28 Aug'13

  Cyber protection must shield targeted apps, says Trusteer

  Cyber threat protection must shield targeted end-user applications, says security firm Trusteer

• August 28, 2013 28 Aug'13

  Syrian hacktivists down New York Times website

  The New York Times believed to have been targeted by a hacktivist group that supports Syrian president Bashar al-Assad

• August 28, 2013 28 Aug'13

  Leicestershire signs BDUK contract

  Leicestershire County Council signs a contract with BT to roll-out fibre broadband to 95% of homes and businesses by March 2016

• August 27, 2013 27 Aug'13

  Many firms vulnerable to Java 6 flaw, warns Qualys

  Many firms are at risk of cyber attacks exploiting an unpatched security flaw in Java 6, warns security firm Qualys

• August 27, 2013 27 Aug'13

  Government leaders lack tech knowledge, says US cyber expert

  Many government leaders are not informed and familiar with technology, says director and chief economist at the US Cyber Consequences Unit

• August 27, 2013 27 Aug'13

  Security must be part of digital reform, says Thales

  The arrest of a man believed to have collected more than £100,000 in fraudulent UK tax rebates shows that security must be part of digital reform, says security firm Thales

• August 27, 2013 27 Aug'13

  Amazon datacentre glitch hits top web services

  A hardware failure at Amazon datacentre downs several web services, renewing concerns about the reliability of cloud-based infrastructure

• August 27, 2013 27 Aug'13

  Five cyber attackers arrested over UK tax fraud

  Five men have been arrested in connection with an HMRC investigation into cyber attackers suspected of identity theft and tax fraud

• August 23, 2013 23 Aug'13

  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire

  Microsoft announces CEO Steve Ballmer is to retire within 12 months and that its board has begun looking for a successor

• August 23, 2013 23 Aug'13

  London council gets £70,000 penalty for data breach

  The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) serves Islington Council with penalty of £70,000 for releasing over 2,000 residents’ details online

• August 23, 2013 23 Aug'13

  Nasdaq shutdown raises security fears

  A software glitch that caused the Nasdaq stock exchange to shut down raises fears over stock market stability and cyber attacks

• August 22, 2013 22 Aug'13

  US publishes revealing review on NSA surveillance

  The US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court finds the NSA's email and data programme illegal, a declassified 2011 opinion ruling reveals

• August 22, 2013 22 Aug'13

  Security Think Tank: 3 keys to effective cyber security

  The rapid rise in cyber espionage highlights the need to rethink data security strategies to improve protection of intellectual property. But what is the best way of doing that?

• August 22, 2013 22 Aug'13

  Charlie McMurdie joins PwC’s cyber practice

  Charlie McMurdie, former head of the Metro Police central e-crime unit, is joining business consultancy firm PwC as its senior crime adviser

• August 22, 2013 22 Aug'13

  HP revenue growth unlikely in 2014, says CEO Meg Whitman

  HP reports revenues of $27.2bn for the quarter ending 31 July 2013, down 8% compared with the same period the year before

• August 22, 2013 22 Aug'13

  Vint Cerf: The internet and 40 years of openness

  Father of the internet and Google evangelist, Vint Cerf, speaks to Computer Weekly about tapping, privacy and IP addresses

• August 21, 2013 21 Aug'13

  Worcestershire County Council overlaps connected areas with BDUK broadband roll-out plans

  Worcestershire County Council lists 14 parishes as ‘intervention areas’ despite funding superfast broadband, breaking EU rules

• August 21, 2013 21 Aug'13

  Android mobile malware rebounds in Q2, reports McAfee

  Android-based malware has grown 35% in the second quarter, according to the latest threat report from security firm McAfee

• August 21, 2013 21 Aug'13

  Internet of things to power classroom education

  Businesses and academics have joined forces in an £800,000 project to extend the internet of things into the classroom

• August 21, 2013 21 Aug'13

  Legal news website Groklaw closes because of US surveillance

  Legal news website Groklaw has closed because founder Pamela Jones says it cannot operate under current US surveillance policies

• August 21, 2013 21 Aug'13

  Facebook leads mission to connect the world

  Facebook is to join forces with several top tech companies to connect as many parts of the world to the internet as possible

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  Enterprise data security still possible, say industry partners

  Novell, Kyocera and NetIQ have joined forces to demonstrate that reliable enterprise data security is achievable in the mobile era

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  (ISC)² expands UK exam centres to 33 locations

  Information security certification body (ISC)² expands network of test centres for computerised exams through partnership with Pearson VUE

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  Cyber Security Challenge UK embraces Raspberry Pi

  An innovative simulated cyber battle at the weekend saw six candidates move to the next round in the Cyber Security Challenge UK

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  How DWP and Universal Credit failed to work with SME suppliers

  Less than 1% of DWP IT spending on the Universal Credit programme has gone to SMEs – how are big suppliers continuing their dominance?

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  Ofcom champions faster satellite connections

  The telecoms regulator launches a consultation into using higher frequency bands for satellite broadband connections, enabling faster speed for trains, aeroplanes and ships

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  Ask.fm announces plan to implement safety measures

  Latvian Q&A website Ask.fm announces safety measures after a UK teenager purportedly killed herself over bullying on the site

• August 20, 2013 20 Aug'13

  LinkedIn opens up to younger users

  Professional networking service LinkedIn has announced it is to lower the 18 age limit for users to enable young people to plan their careers

• August 19, 2013 19 Aug'13

  EU data breach disclosures to be enforced soon

  The new European Union regulation requiring mandatory personal data breach disclosures by telcos and ISPs comes into force on 25 August 2013

• August 19, 2013 19 Aug'13

  Cyber attack could be next shock to UK banks, warns KPMG

  Cyber attack or disruption could cause the next systemic shock to the UK banking industry, warns KPMG

• August 19, 2013 19 Aug'13

  Case study: Derby school upgrades IT to make teaching more engaging

  Noel-Baker Community School virtualises datacentre to help students learn in a more engaging way and to provide an automated IT infrastructure

• August 19, 2013 19 Aug'13

  Georgia Tech researchers sneak malicious app past Apple checks

  Researchers claim to have found a way of hiding malicious code in apps from Apple’s app review and code-signing mechanisms

• August 19, 2013 19 Aug'13

  Google claims it is not subject to UK privacy laws

  Google claims it is not subject to UK law in an attempt to quash legal action by UK iPhone users, angry over privacy breaches

• August 16, 2013 16 Aug'13

  UCAS adopts public cloud to process university admissions

  Ten days before the A-level results, UCAS adopted a public cloud infrastructure to scale up its IT and to make admission process efficient

• August 16, 2013 16 Aug'13

  Multimillion-pound broadband project axed in Yorkshire

  Despite millions of taxpayer’s pounds sunk into the Digital Region project in South Yorkshire, the councils involved decide to drop it to save £12.5m

• August 16, 2013 16 Aug'13

  Less than 1% of Universal Credit IT spend goes to SMEs

  Despite a 25% target, less than 1% of IT spending for government’s flagship Universal Credit programme has gone to small businesses

• August 15, 2013 15 Aug'13

  Security and accreditation obstacles act as G-Cloud barriers, claim SMEs

  Despite winning over 60% of G-Cloud contracts, a group of SMEs claim that security accreditation is a roadblock to winning government business

• August 13, 2013 13 Aug'13

  HM Treasury kick-starts the end of the government outsourcing mega-deal

  HM Treasury has become one of the first departments to formally signal its intent to break up its single-supplier outsourcing mega-deal

• August 13, 2013 13 Aug'13

  SMEs struggling to win G-Cloud contracts due to accreditation complexities

  Despite government’s aspiration to put half of all new IT spending through small IT suppliers, SMEs have received only 10% of the G-Cloud contracts

• August 13, 2013 13 Aug'13

  Gartner expects a boost to government IT

  After years of austerity measures, government CIOs are set to start spending again, according to research from analyst Gartner

• August 12, 2013 12 Aug'13

  NHS Central Midlands CSU updates datacentre with standardised data warehousing

  It improved the quality and safety levels of healthcare for over 5 million citizens across the West Midlands by standardising data warehousing

• August 12, 2013 12 Aug'13

  ICO to investigate London bins that track smartphones

  Information Commissioner's Office is making enquiries into bins in London that track passing smartphones to target advertising to owners

• August 09, 2013 09 Aug'13

  Government to put 50% of all new IT spend through SMEs

  The government wants to put half of all new IT spending through small IT suppliers – doubling the previous target

• August 09, 2013 09 Aug'13

  Privacy International challenges GCHQ collaborators including BT and Vodafone

  Privacy International has sent a solicitor’s letter to underseas cable operators accusing them of unlawful conduct

• August 08, 2013 08 Aug'13

  Government opens fourth iteration of cloud framework G-Cloud 4 for business

  Cabinet Office has opened the fourth iteration of UK government cloud – G-Cloud 4 to accept tenders from new cloud suppliers and existing ones

• August 07, 2013 07 Aug'13

  Government spends £1.3m on staff for manual processing due to Universal Credit IT delays

  Department for Work and Pensions employing more than 100 staff at a cost of £1.3m to manually check data because of delays in Universal Credit IT

• August 07, 2013 07 Aug'13

  Luton and Dunstable Hospital finds IT efficiency with converged infrastructure

  Luton and Dunstable University Hospital has integrated IT into clinical workflows with converged infrastructure

• August 07, 2013 07 Aug'13

  UK average broadband speed rises

  The average download speed for broadband in the UK has reached 14.7Mbps, but take-up of superfast connections still low

• August 07, 2013 07 Aug'13

  MPs and Lords get online training tool

  Parliament has signed a deal with Learning Pool to provide members with online training for the workplace

• August 06, 2013 06 Aug'13

  Datacentres are a key focus for government’s Green ICT Delivery Unit

  With the growing use of online services for government transactions, datacentres are a key focus of the government’s green IT strategy

• August 06, 2013 06 Aug'13

  Case study: Birmingham rolls out free public Wi-Fi

  Birmingham City Council is working with Virgin Media Business to bring free Wi-Fi to public spaces and encourage mobile operators to invest in better 3G and 4G signals

• August 06, 2013 06 Aug'13

  Capita and Barnet deal to be completed after campaigner’s court appeal fails

  Outsourcing contracts worth over £470m will be signed off by Barnet Council after a Court of Appeal ruled that the deal was lawful

• August 05, 2013 05 Aug'13

  BT signs two new BDUK contracts

  Oxfordshire and Worcestershire sign contracts with telecoms giant BT to roll-out superfast broadband across the two counties

• August 02, 2013 02 Aug'13

  Attackers are in the network, now what?

  If attackers are inside the network, can disguise themselves and get close to sensitive corporate data, how can data be defended?

• August 02, 2013 02 Aug'13

  Cloud service providers often not set up for incident response

  Cloud data storage and disparate privacy laws could be hampering companies fighting cyber attacks, warns security investigator

• August 02, 2013 02 Aug'13

  Wales has worst access to superfast broadband

  Access to superfast broadband in Wales is significantly lower than the rest of the UK, according to a new report from Ofcom

• August 02, 2013 02 Aug'13

  Pressure mounts on Soca to name hacker companies

  Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) comes under pressure to reveal UK firms that employed hackers to gather information

• August 02, 2013 02 Aug'13

  UK and US collaborating on cyber weapons, says Snowden

  The US and UK intelligence agencies are collaborating on cyber weapons, according to documents released by Edward Snowden

• August 01, 2013 01 Aug'13

  Security services vital to support cloud, say 59% of IT managers

  Over half of UK IT managers say security as a service is necessary to support the roll out and management of cloud technologies, survey shows

• August 01, 2013 01 Aug'13

  SEC investigates IBM’s cloud computing revenues

  US Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an investigation into how IBM reports cloud revenue

• August 01, 2013 01 Aug'13

  HMRC hires Vodafone CIO Mark Dearnley to drive digital strategy

  HMRC has appointed Mark Dearnley, the CIO of Vodafone, as the organisation’s chief digital and information officer

• August 01, 2013 01 Aug'13

  Cloud contracts poor on security, says Gartner

  Buyers of commercial cloud services are finding security provisions inadequate, says analyst organisation Gartner

• August 01, 2013 01 Aug'13

  iOS 7 to protect against charger-based hacks of Apple devices

  Apple's latest iOS 7 beta release includes a security update to protect its mobile devices from hacks using a modified phone charger or battery

• July 31, 2013 31 Jul'13

  New threat portal pegs DDoS attacks at 2,570 a day

  More than 2,500 distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks take place every day worldwide, according to Arbor Networks’ Atlas Threat Portal

• July 31, 2013 31 Jul'13

  Case study: Nexor dumps ageing proprietary operating system for open source OS

  IT services company Nexor is migrating to the open source Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system for efficiency

• July 31, 2013 31 Jul'13

  Pinewood Studios slashes backup and recovery times

  Pinewood Studios Group has slashed its backup and recovery times and achieved robust data protection through server virtualisation

• July 31, 2013 31 Jul'13

  Digital TV spectrum clear for 4G

  Ofcom confirms the 4G spectrum it auctioned off earlier this year is now cleared and ready to be used by mobile operators

• July 31, 2013 31 Jul'13

  MPs call for hacker users to be exposed

  MPs are calling for the publication of a list of companies that used private investigators suspected of using hacking methods to gather information

• July 30, 2013 30 Jul'13

  Syrian hacktivists target Thompson Reuters

  Thompson Reuters has confirmed it is the latest media organisation to have its Twitter account hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA)

• July 30, 2013 30 Jul'13

  DCMS reveals locations for mobile signal project

  Department for Culture, Media and Sport publishes a map showing UK areas that will benefit from £150m mobile infrastructure project

• July 30, 2013 30 Jul'13

  DDoS attacks up in size, speed and complexity, study finds

  DDoS attacks continue to be a global threat with a clear increase in attack size, speed and complexity, a study shows

• July 30, 2013 30 Jul'13

  Where is BDUK rolling out broadband?

  The places in the UK that will – and, more importantly, those that won’t – be getting BDUK’s superfast fibre

• July 30, 2013 30 Jul'13

  ICO to investigate sale of online dating profiles

  The UK’s data protection watchdog is to investigate the sale of 10,000 online dating profiles to the BBC’s Panorama programme

• July 30, 2013 30 Jul'13

  UK invests £850m in tackling cyber threats

  The UK government is to invest more than £850m to develop and maintain cutting-edge capabilities to tackle cyber threats

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  Continual vigilance key to security, says Damballa

  UK businesses must update their approach to cyber security to look for signs of compromise continually

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  Dutch banking regulator approves use of AWS public cloud in the financial sector

  Dutch banking watchdog approves use of AWS cloud in websites, mobile apps, retail banking platforms, HPC and credit risk analysis

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  Miller calls out local authorities for broadband plans

  Maria Miller writes to local councils telling them to publish their roll-out plans after BT confirms it is happy for the details to be made public

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  Smart meters: Good for consumers but infrastructure unresolved

  Energy and Climate Change Select Committee report highlights infrastructure risks and spiralling costs in UK smart meter roll-out

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  Google Play still riddled with malicious apps, says Symantec

  The Google Play app store for Android remains riddled with malicious apps despite efforts to clean it up, says Symantec

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  Microsoft launches UK child porn warning

  Microsoft introduces pop-up warnings for people in the UK who use its Bing search engine to look for images of child sex abuse

• July 29, 2013 29 Jul'13

  High Court gags UK scientist who cracked car security codes

  The High Court has banned UK scientist Flavio Garcia from publishing a paper on how he cracked car security codes

• July 26, 2013 26 Jul'13

  FireEye partners with Phishme for multi-layered security

  Security technology developer FireEye has partnered with phishing awareness training firm PhishMe to offer a multi-layered approach to securing information networks

• July 26, 2013 26 Jul'13

  Symantec Web Gateway flaw enables hacker surveillance

  Security flaws in Symantec’s Web Gateway appliance expose users to surveillance of all internet activities, says SEC Consult