News

IT for government and public sector

• July 22, 2013 22 Jul'13

  Hack exposes details of nearly two million Ubuntu Forum users

  The Ubuntu Forum website has been taken down after attackers defaced the homepage and accessed the details of 1,820,000 users

• July 22, 2013 22 Jul'13

  UK to block online porn by default

  The UK is to block online pornography by default to all new internet users, David Cameron is to announce

• July 19, 2013 19 Jul'13

  Technology firms appeal to Obama over Prism scandal

  A technology industry alliance has appealed to President Obama for greater transparency to reduce the harm of links to Prism

• July 19, 2013 19 Jul'13

  Google fails to meet estimates under mobile pressure

  Google reported $14.11bn revenues for the quarter ended 30 June 2013, a 19% increase on 2012 but below $14.4bn estimates

• July 19, 2013 19 Jul'13

  Remote access a priority for latest Oracle patch update

  The vulnerabilities that allow for remote unauthenticated access should be a priority for administrators applying the latest Oracle Critical Patch Update

• July 19, 2013 19 Jul'13

  Microsoft takes $900m hit on Surface RT

  Microsoft has reported net income of $4.97bn on revenues of $19.9bn for the quarter ending 30 June 2013

• July 18, 2013 18 Jul'13

  Government agrees to review Huawei’s Cyber Security Evaluation Centre

  The UK government is to conduct a review of Huawei’s Cyber Security Evaluation Centre to ensure the right measures to protect UK telecommunications

• July 18, 2013 18 Jul'13

  Google competition proposals not good enough, says EC

  Competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia wants Google to readdress fears that it is abusing its market domination for its own gain

• July 17, 2013 17 Jul'13

  BT accused of ‘bullying tactics’ over BDUK

  BT accused of bullying local authorities while negotiating broadband roll-out schemes, threatening to put them ‘to the bottom of the list’

• July 17, 2013 17 Jul'13

  GDS tracks 'digital by default' progress of top 25 government services

  Government Digital Service (GDS) launches website to track progress of the 25 services targeted as the first to go online under the digital strategy

• July 17, 2013 17 Jul'13

  GCHQ’s use of Prism not illegal, MPs find

  Allegations that GCHQ circumvented UK law by using the US Prism programme are unfounded, says intelligence and security committee

• July 17, 2013 17 Jul'13

  Tech firms target piracy profiting websites

  Tech firms including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft join an initiative targeting websites that profit from piracy by cutting off advert revenue

• July 17, 2013 17 Jul'13

  Tumblr issues security update for iPhone and iPad app

  Tumblr has released a security update to the iOS version of its app to fix a flaw that allowed passwords to be compromised

• July 17, 2013 17 Jul'13

  Yahoo wins legal fight on Prism documents

  Yahoo has won the fight to have papers from a key 2008 court case declassified and published in a bid for greater transparency about the US Prism internet surveillance programme

• July 16, 2013 16 Jul'13

  G-Cloud key to government SME spending target

  G-Cloud is key to channeling 25% of central government spending through SMEs by 2015, says Mark Smitham, principal cyber security advisor

• July 16, 2013 16 Jul'13

  Public cloud secure, G-Cloud conference told

  Public cloud is more secure than any private cloud is likely to be says Richard Sykes, chair of the Cloud Industry Forum

• July 16, 2013 16 Jul'13

  More than one-fifth of UK firms hit by DDoS attacks in 2012

  More than a fifth of UK firms experienced a disruptive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in 2012

• July 15, 2013 15 Jul'13

  UK defence industry to fast-track supply chain security

  The UK’s Defence Cyber Protection Partnership seeks to implement controls to quickly increase supply chain security

• July 15, 2013 15 Jul'13

  Black market for software security flaws reaches new highs

  The black market in previously undiscovered vulnerabilities in commercial software is so established that the average flaw sells for up to $160,000

• July 15, 2013 15 Jul'13

  National broadband projects key to UN goals

  The Broadband Commission claims national projects are the best way to ensure the benefits of the internet are enjoyed by all

• July 15, 2013 15 Jul'13

  UK police use powers to seize personal data at borders

  UK police are using counter-terrorism laws to seize the mobile phones of people entering the UK and download personal data

• July 15, 2013 15 Jul'13

  US attempts to blocks plans for tax crackdown internet firms

  US officials are reportedly attempting to block plans for international tax rules aimed at tax avoidance by firms such as Google and Amazon

• July 15, 2013 15 Jul'13

  Germany to push for better internet data protection

  Germany wants internet firms to be more transparent about how they are using personal data, says chancellor Angela Merkel

• July 12, 2013 12 Jul'13

  Mark Hall may quit Whitehall after being snubbed for HMRC CIO role

  Mark Hall, the acting CIO at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), has not been given the job full-time and may quit government

• July 12, 2013 12 Jul'13

  What McAfee's acquisition of Stonesoft means for the companies and their customers

  Computer Weekly looks at what McAfee's acquisition of Stonesoft means for the companies and their customers

• July 12, 2013 12 Jul'13

  ICO issues £200,000 penalty for failed IT disposal

  The Information Commissioner’s Office penalises NHS Surrey with a £200,000 fine for leaving patient data on discarded PCs

• July 12, 2013 12 Jul'13

  BlackBerry ready to enable India to track messages

  BlackBerry is ready to provide Indian law enforcement authorities with a way to track emails, email attachments and chats sent over its services

• July 12, 2013 12 Jul'13

  Microsoft denies helping NSA to spy

  Microsoft has denied that the company helped US intelligence services spy on users’ web chats, emails and data in cloud storage facilities

• July 11, 2013 11 Jul'13

  OpenCorporates makes company data public

  Company data is being made available as part of an initiative to place more government data in the public domain

• July 11, 2013 11 Jul'13

  Security metrics fail to aid exec understanding, say IT pros

  IT professionals struggle to communicate effectively about security to senior executives, a study on risk-based security management reveals

• July 11, 2013 11 Jul'13

  Manchester opens up transport data with Microsoft CityNext

  Manchester is one of the first cities on Microsoft’s CityNext initiative to digitise public services using the cloud

• July 11, 2013 11 Jul'13

  Yahoo wants Fisa objections revealed

  Yahoo is the latest company implicated in the Prism internet surveillance programme to call for more transparency around its involvement

• July 10, 2013 10 Jul'13

  Head of Universal Credit denies IT problems

  Howard Shiplee tells the work and pensions select committee all is well, denying reports of the failing IT system behind Universal Credit

• July 10, 2013 10 Jul'13

  Cyber threats at highest level ever, say MPs

  Despite the increased profile of cyber security threats, counter-terrorism remains the primary focus of the UK’s intelligence agencies

• July 10, 2013 10 Jul'13

  Ofcom liberalises 2G and 3G spectrum for 4G

  The telecoms regulator Ofcom allows UK mobile operators to use their existing 2G and 3G spectrum for to provide 4G services

• July 10, 2013 10 Jul'13

  Patched IE8 flaw used for targeted attacks, says Microsoft

  Microsoft says hackers have attacked computers by exploiting a flaw in Internet Explorer 8 disclosed in May 2013 by a Google researcher

• July 10, 2013 10 Jul'13

  US emergency broadcasts can be hacked, say researchers

  Researchers warn that the US broadcast system that enables the president to talk to the country within 10 minutes of a disaster can be hacked

• July 10, 2013 10 Jul'13

  Microsoft notches up over 3,000 copyright cases

  In its battle against piracy, Microsoft says it has settled 3,265 copyright cases in the past year and warns of links to malware distribution

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  Government tenders for agile digital developers

  The Government Procurement Service (GPS) is putting a cross government framework for agile software development services

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  Andrew Miller MP: £500m figure ‘plucked out of the air’

  Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, Andrew Miller, says he is unconvinced of the IT savings touted by the Efficiency and Reform group

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  Will cloud services follow the evolution of the banking industry?

  Cloud service providers say security will become the very reason companies choose cloud services in future

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  Scotland signs deal on broadband roll-out

  Funding of £264m has been announced by the Scottish government to roll out broadband to 85% of the country’s homes and businesses by 2015

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  Espionage the goal of cyber attacks on South Korea, say researchers

  The cyber attack that took South Korean broadcasters and banks offline in March was part of a covert espionage campaign, says McAfee

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  STC doubts government ‘digital by default’ strategy

  The Science and Technology Committee (STC) questions Francis Maude over how much the 'digital by default' strategy can save the tax payer

• July 09, 2013 09 Jul'13

  Privacy International challenges US and UK internet spying

  Lobby group Privacy International has filed a legal challenge to internet surveillance programmes by US and UK intelligence agencies

• July 08, 2013 08 Jul'13

  Post Office Horizon system investigation reveals concerns

  Investigation into the allegedly faulty accounting system used by sub-postmasters has revealed serious concerns

• July 08, 2013 08 Jul'13

  Government saves £500m by going digital

  Latest report from the Efficiency and Reform Group claims central government saved £500m by moving services onto digital platforms

• July 08, 2013 08 Jul'13

  McAfee completes Stonesoft acquisition

  Intel-owned McAfee has completed its acquisition of Finnish firewall firm Stonesoft in a $389m deal announced in May

• July 08, 2013 08 Jul'13

  UK takes cyber threats to infrastructure seriously

  The UK is taking seriously potential cyber threats to critical national infrastructure, according to GCHQ head Iain Lobban

• July 05, 2013 05 Jul'13

  Apple phishing attacks up, warns Kaspersky Lab

  Spam emails with links to fraudulent websites are increasing as the theft of Apple IDs and credit card information escalates

• July 05, 2013 05 Jul'13

  Tougher EU penalties for cyber crime not enough, say security experts

  The European Parliament has adopted a draft directive to toughen up EU penalties for cyber crime, but security experts say this is not enough on its own

• July 05, 2013 05 Jul'13

  Security Think Tank: Prism unlikely to change much

  Does the data collected by Prism put the US Government at risk from other state or non-state sponsored activists?

• July 05, 2013 05 Jul'13

  UK joins EU demands for Google to rewrite privacy policy

  The UK’s privacy watchdog has joined data protection authorities in France, Spain, Germany and Italy in demanding changes to Google’s privacy policy

• July 05, 2013 05 Jul'13

  NSA Prism scandal could hit US cloud providers, says EC vice-president

  EC vice-president Neelie Kroes says US cloud services providers could lose business because of fears over US Prism surveillance programme

• July 05, 2013 05 Jul'13

  MoD teams up with defence firms for cyber security

  The Ministry of Defence (MoD) joins nine large defence and telecoms companies to strengthen the UK’s cyber security

• July 04, 2013 04 Jul'13

  NAO slams DCMS for ‘slippage’ of broadband scheme

  NAO’s report on the BDUK programme criticises the DCMS for letting the scheme fall 22 months behind and limiting competition for contracts

• July 04, 2013 04 Jul'13

  DCMS to force BT’s hand on rural broadband gaps

  Maria Miller sets up a meeting to answer calls from local broadband providers and try to make BT identify where they will be needed to connect the final 10% of the UK to superfast fibre

• July 04, 2013 04 Jul'13

  FBI warns of increased spear phishing attacks

  The FBI has issued a warning about an increase in spear-phishing attacks targeting multiple industry sectors

• July 03, 2013 03 Jul'13

  Are alternative mobile operators the answer to roaming charges?

  EU law to allow travellers to choose alternative operators abroad takes effect in 2014. But will operators be ready and is there a better way?

• July 03, 2013 03 Jul'13

  Indonesian student wins global Kaspersky Lab security competition

  An entry from Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology has won the Kaspersky Lab Cyber Security for the Next Generation 2013 competition

• July 03, 2013 03 Jul'13

  UK to look to army reserves for cyber security specialists

  Army reservists will become specialists in cyber security as part of an overhaul announced by defence secretary Philip Hammond

• July 03, 2013 03 Jul'13

  Microsoft unveils prototype 3D touchcreen

  Microsoft is working on a 3D touchscreen that enables users to 'feel' through tactile feedback and manipulate images

• July 03, 2013 03 Jul'13

  Assassin’s Creed developer hacked, exposing user details

  Ubisoft is the latest computer games company to be hacked, with usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords compromised

• July 03, 2013 03 Jul'13

  OFT investigates public sector IT outsourcing

  The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) calls on public sector IT services suppliers and buyers to relate their experiences

• July 02, 2013 02 Jul'13

  NHS IT to embrace open source

  A new report from NHS England promises open source will be at the heart of the plans to digitise the health service

• July 02, 2013 02 Jul'13

  Security Think Tank: Prism – Sitting duck or elaborate honeypot?

  Does the data collected by Prism put the US Government at risk from other state or non-state sponsored activists?

• July 02, 2013 02 Jul'13

  Collaboration key to malware success, says Microsoft

  Collaborative malware is one of the latest techniques cyber attackers are using to ensure their malicious programs cannot be removed

• July 02, 2013 02 Jul'13

  Senior MPs flout EU cookie law

  Two years after the EU cookie regulation and UK law came into force, not all UK websites are compliant, including the sites of 13 senior MPs

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  Mobile operators cut roaming costs across Europe

  The cost of using your mobile phone across continental Europe will come down today as new EU regulations come into force

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  Stuxnet leak investigation leads to project originator

  The US government investigation into Stuxnet leak of classified information leads to retired general in the Marines, James Cartwright

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  CERN openlab and Rackspace to create reference architecture for hybrid cloud

  CERN openlab will create a reference architecture and operational model for hybrid cloud with Rackspace

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  UK hit by 70 cyber espionage campaigns a month, says GCHQ

  GCHQ director confirms the government is targeted by some 70 sophisticated cyber espionage campaigns every month

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  East Surrey College refreshes ageing XP desktop estate with VDI

  East Surrey College has refreshed its ageing desktop estate with a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  The Washington Post reveals more details of NSA Prism programme

  The Washington Post has published new slides detailing processes in the US Prism online surveillance system

• July 01, 2013 01 Jul'13

  Seven Saudi social media activists jailed

  Seven men have been jailed in Saudi Arabia for using Facebook and other social media to encourage anti-government protests

• June 28, 2013 28 Jun'13

  Nottingham targets troubled families with data analysis

  Nottingham County Council cuts the time to identify troubled families, from two weeks to two hours, with a data matching tool

• June 28, 2013 28 Jun'13

  HMRC gets £200m in digital services investment

  HMRC's digital services to receive £200m of government investment, in a move expected to save £51m year on administrative costs

• June 28, 2013 28 Jun'13

  Secure Wi-Fi and digital documents set to transform UK courts

  Courtrooms will be fitted with secure Wi-Fi as part of a £160m programme to improve the efficiency of the Criminal Justice System

• June 28, 2013 28 Jun'13

  Hounslow signs Salesforce G-Cloud deal

  Hounslow Council has signed a G-Cloud deal with Salesforce.com in a move which will form the basis of a new technology platform strategy

• June 28, 2013 28 Jun'13

  UK leads calls for internet era tax laws

  The UK is calling for international tax rules to be brought up to date for the internet world to stop tax evasion by firms like Google and Amazon

• June 28, 2013 28 Jun'13

  NSA allowed to collect US email records, secret documents reveal

  The National Security Agency (NSA) collected internet and email records of US citizens for more than 10 years, documents reveal

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  PSN and G-cloud prove major advantages for UK public sector, says HMRC

  HMRC has benefited by centralising data storage systems on public cloud and adopting public services network (PSN) strategy

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  Uefa considers BYOD policy for Euro 2016

  Uefa is considering a bring your own device (BYOD) strategy for its 7,000 volunteers during Euro 2016 to save costs on IT devices

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  SMEs should eye government legacy for future business, says Bracken

  SMEs should look to the government’s IT legacy infrastructure for future business, according to Mike Bracken, head of the Government Digital Service

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  Government commits extra £250m in superfast broadband spend

  The government has committed an additional £250m of superfast broadband spend to increase coverage for 95% of the UK by 2017

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  Is the time for antivirus software past?

  Since the appearance of malware in the 1970s, adoption of antivirus (AV) software has steadily grown, but is it time to move on?

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  US consumer watchdog wants sponsored search returns clearly marked

  US trading authorities have ordered the world’s most popular search engines to clearly identify search returns sponsored by advertisers

• June 27, 2013 27 Jun'13

  Government abandons super-connected cities broadband plans

  Government plans to spend £150m on broadband infrastructure have been watered down after legal challenges by Virgin Media and BT

• June 26, 2013 26 Jun'13

  Storage firm Guardtime relies on maths for transparent data security

  Estonian storage company Guardtime claims its security technology makes data more transparent, but will it be embraced by Europe?

• June 26, 2013 26 Jun'13

  Government commits to future broadband spend in 2015-16

  Government will continue to invest in broadband in 2015-16, says chancellor George Osborne

• June 26, 2013 26 Jun'13

  Encrypting enterprises miss out on cloud benefits

  Enterprises sending encrypted data to the cloud are missing out on some of the greatest benefits of cloud computing, says Thales e-Security

• June 26, 2013 26 Jun'13

  Cloud, mobile and Macs the next targets for hackers, says Kaspersky Lab

  Cloud computing, mobile devices and non-Windows operating systems will become the next targets for cyber attackers, says Kaspersky Lab

• June 24, 2013 24 Jun'13

  Cloud adoption immature, shows security survey

  Adoption of cloud-based services is still immature in terms of security and privacy, a global survey of more than 4,000 organisations in seven countries has revealed

• June 24, 2013 24 Jun'13

  Identity management key to browser-based IT strategy

  A cloud-based identity management system is key to enabling a browser-based IT strategy at online recruitment firm Reed.co.uk

• June 24, 2013 24 Jun'13

  Mobile security model flawed, says Mobile Helix

  Many companies are embracing mobile devices wrongly because the current security model is flawed, says security startup Mobile Helix

• June 24, 2013 24 Jun'13

  Trend Micro joins Interpol fight against cyber crime

  Security firm Trend Micro has signed up to help support Interpol’s global law enforcement programmes against cyber crime

• June 24, 2013 24 Jun'13

  Consumers demand action to protect their privacy online

  Consumers across the world want more to be done to protect their privacy online according to new research

• June 24, 2013 24 Jun'13

  Facebook bug exposes six million users' details unintentionally

  Facebook has admitted that a bug caused the phone numbers and email addresses of six million users to be shared unintentionally

• June 21, 2013 21 Jun'13

  Most firms underestimate volume of malware, study shows

  Most companies greatly underestimate the number of malicious programs appearing daily, a global survey of more than 2,000 IT professionals has revealed

• June 21, 2013 21 Jun'13

  ICO takes further action on Google’s collection of Wi-Fi data

  The ICO has taken further action against Google over the collection of Wi-Fi data by its Street View cars, but has stopped short of a monetary penalty