News

IT for government and public sector

June 29, 2012 29 Jun'12
Companies fail to secure virtual environments

A third of companies admit they have not invested in security for their virtual computing environments, a survey has revealed
June 29, 2012 29 Jun'12
Government awards £4bn framework for IT hardware

The framework includes desktops, laptops, tablets, servers, printers and most commonly used peripherals.
June 29, 2012 29 Jun'12
Key HMRC IT plans delayed due to spending freeze, says NAO

Key HMRC IT plans have been delayed because of the Cabinet Office’s moratorium on spending, the National Audit Office (NAO) says
June 29, 2012 29 Jun'12
Security firm LogRhythm lands $15m investment

Cyber security and compliance firm LogRhythm has secured $15m investment funding for product innovation and international expansion

June 28, 2012 28 Jun'12
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude vows permanent rein on IT spending

The government will keep a permanently tight rein on spending controls, says Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude
June 28, 2012 28 Jun'12
MoD signs £17m IT services deal with HP

The Ministry of Defence is the first department in government to sign up for a new flexible service level agreement from HP for desktop IT
June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12
Microsoft hikes software costs by four times for some charities

Specialist charities such as housing associations face paying nearly four times as much for Microsoft software due to licensing changes.
June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12
White House cyber security coordinator Howard Schmidt joins Qualys

Former White House cyber security coordinator Howard Schmidt is to join the board of security and compliance company Qualys
June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12
Network security: Is new technology bypassing traditional controls?

Network security practices are among the most mature, but can businesses be sure network traffic is not sneaking past traditional controls?
June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12
FTC sues Wyndham Worldwide hotel group over data breaches

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing hotel group Wyndham Worldwide over claims it failed to secure customer data

June 27, 2012 27 Jun'12
Six arrested in the UK in worldwide FBI-led credit card data sting

Six people in the UK and 12 in the US arrested in an FBI-led sting operation that netted a total of 24 credit card cyber fraudsters in 13 countries
June 26, 2012 26 Jun'12
Ofcom publishes draft DEA code

The code is required by 2010’s Digital Economy Act and will see infringers have their details passed onto copyright holders
June 26, 2012 26 Jun'12
Security researchers uncover global cyber fraud gang

Security researchers have uncovered a highly sophisticated global financial fraud ring that has attempted fraudulent transfers of up to £1.6bn
June 26, 2012 26 Jun'12
MI5 fighting 'astonishing' level of cyber-attacks

MI5 chief Jonathan Evans says the intelligence agency is working against "astonishing" levels of cyber-attacks on UK industry.
June 26, 2012 26 Jun'12
Microsoft to acquire Yammer in $1.2bn deal

Microsoft has announced that it is to acquire enterprise social networking firm Yammer for $1.2bn in cash.
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
Government slashes SAP and Microsoft spend by £150m

The government expects to slash licence and maintenance spend with Microsoft and SAP up to £150m by 2015, via a framework renegotiation.
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
Businesses fail to prepare for travel chaos during London 2012 Olympic Games

With just one month before the London 2012 Olympic Games, most employees are unaware of plans to allow them to work from home
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
Two UK teenagers plead guilty to hacking charges

Two UK teenage members of hacktivist group LulzSec have pleaded guilty to charges linked with attacks on several high-profile websites
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
Web surfers keen to compromise own privacy, study finds

Web users voluntarily compromise their own privacy by typing more personal information into online forms than is needed, a study has found
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
Welsh government signs £70m Atos deal

The Welsh government has signed a £70m five-year extension to its IT services contract with Atos
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
Senior managers unaware of data locations, survey reveals

Two thirds of senior managers do not know where all their company data resides, according to a survey conducted by governance firm Varonis
June 25, 2012 25 Jun'12
Wikipedia founder campaigns against extradition of UK student

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, has launched a campaign to stop the extradition to the US of Richard O’Dwyer, a 24-year-old UK student
June 22, 2012 22 Jun'12
Government Procurement Service tenders for £1bn IT services

The Government Procurement Service has published a £1bn tender for IT services
June 22, 2012 22 Jun'12
Government puts final £6m grant into engineering apprenticeship fund

The government puts the last £6m grant into the Higher Apprenticeship Fund to create more opportunities in low-carbon and space engineering
June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12
ROP mitigations top contenders for Microsoft's BlueHat Prize

Microsoft has announced the three finalists of its inaugural BlueHat innovative security protections competition
June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12
NHS Trusts tender for £300m clinical systems

Some 29 NHS Trusts across London and south England have issued a framework tender, worth £300m, for clinical information systems
June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12
International Trade Committee votes against Acta

The European parliamentary International Trade Committee rejects the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) by 19 votes to 12
June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12
Lancashire MP Graham Jones questions priority of rural broadband

As £32m is invested in broadband across Lancashire, MP Graham Jones questions why more pressing social issues aren’t being addressed first
June 21, 2012 21 Jun'12
Microsoft uses disruption strategy to tackle botnets

Disruption is the best way of tackling botnet-based cybercrime, says Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit
June 20, 2012 20 Jun'12
European aeronautical supplier hit by Microsoft zero-day exploit

A European aeronautical supplier's website has been infected with zero-day exploit, say security researchers
June 20, 2012 20 Jun'12
Staffordshire County Council saves £1.5m with PSN deployment

Staffordshire County Council’s CIO claims £1.5m has been saved by sharing networking infrastructure with other public sector organisations
June 20, 2012 20 Jun'12
Interview: GDS head Mike Bracken on Estonia's digital services

UK government IT could learn much from Estonia’s open source model, says head of Government Digital Services (GDS), Mike Bracken
June 20, 2012 20 Jun'12
Secure software development crucial for business

Businesses need to understand the critical importance of secure software development, says Microsoft
June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12
Microsoft updates free mitigation tool for enterprises

Software mitigation techniques are an important element of layered security for enterprises, says Microsoft
June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12
Metadata could better control personal data, says Microsoft

In an increasingly data-centric world, we need to focus on the use of data, says Microsoft's Scott Charney
June 19, 2012 19 Jun'12
Digital delivery and mutualisation key to civil service reform plan

Digital delivery and a move to mutualised services will be essential parts of Whitehall's Civil Service Reform Plan.
June 18, 2012 18 Jun'12
US Sequoia machine takes title of fastest supercomputer

The US has overtaken Japan in the race for the world’s fastest supercomputer, with the Sequoia computer achieving 16.32 petaflop/s
June 18, 2012 18 Jun'12
Google reports rise in government requests to remove political content

Google has reported an increase in the number of requests by governments to remove political content from the internet
June 18, 2012 18 Jun'12
Ethiopian government blocks Tor Network online anonymity

The Ethiopian government is blocking access to the Tor Network that enables online anonymity, according to Reporters Without Borders
June 18, 2012 18 Jun'12
Cyber crime study concludes emphasis on defence costs too much

The cost of protection against cyber crime far exceeds the cost of the threat itself, a Cambridge University-led study has concluded
June 18, 2012 18 Jun'12
Asian scientists call for government action on supercomputers

Scientists in India, China, Japan, Korea and India have called on their governments to collaborate on supercomputer technology
June 15, 2012 15 Jun'12
Cabinet Office confirms full list of PSN suppliers

CSC, Everything Everywhere and Fujitsu are among the 29 companies that will provide their services across the public services network
June 15, 2012 15 Jun'12
Could government move to open source storage software?

As storage consumes increasing public sector IT budget, the case for using open source storage software in government IT gathers momentum
June 15, 2012 15 Jun'12
Vodafone in the clear for UK tax bill

The National Audit Office states Vodafone’s £1.25bn settlement with HMRC was "reasonable" and "good" for the public purse
June 15, 2012 15 Jun'12
Cumbria votes against broadband proposals from BT and Fujitsu

Cumbria County Council turns down bids from BT and Fujitsu, claiming they don’t fulfil the full requirements for superfast broadband in the area
June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12
New domain names a haven for hackers, security experts warn

The planned introduction new internet domain names could have security implications, warn researchers
June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12
Campaigners slam snooping Communications Data Bill

Campaigners slam proposals for the Communications Data Bill which allow government to spy on e-mails, phone calls and internet activity
June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12
Rural broadband – should residents pay?

With government funding and commercial plans only reaching 90% of the population, is it the right move for residents to take their broadband connections into their own hands?
June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12
US indicts suspected UK LulzSec member

The US has indicted suspected UK LulzSec member Ryan Cleary, who may face extradition
June 14, 2012 14 Jun'12
UK to publish draft internet monitoring law

The government is to publish details of its controversial plans to make it easier for security and police services to spy on e-mails, phone calls and internet activity
June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12
Many top UK executives still do not understand cyber threats, says ISSA

Many senior executives are still failing to understand the level of international cyber threat to their organisations, says ISSA.
June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12
SMEs struggling in the face of BYOD and new cyber threats

SMEs are struggling to keep IT infrastructure up to date with cyber threats and new ways of working, a survey shows.
June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12
South Lanarkshire moves to IBM XIV disk storage platform

South Lanarkshire council has invested in an IBM XIV disk storage platform as part of its move to virtualisation.
June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12
Teachers share concerns and ideas for ICT in 2014 curriculum

IT professionals and education bodies used Westminster Education forum to air concerns over the government’s decision to remove ICT from the curriculum two years before it is replaced by a computer science alternative
June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12
Communities need to contribute to rural broadband fund

Residents of rural areas lacking broadband will have to add to government and telecoms cash pots to get connected
June 13, 2012 13 Jun'12
ICO re-opens Google Street View Wi-Fi data investigation

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is to re-open its investigation into Wi-Fi data harvesting by Google's Street View vehicles
June 12, 2012 12 Jun'12
Privileged accounts are hacker sweet spot

Businesses are largely failing to block hackers from exploiting privileged IT accounts to access sensitive commercial data, a survey has revealed
June 12, 2012 12 Jun'12
Government must integrate IT strategy, warns NAO head

The government must integrate the various strands of its IT strategy to realise cost savings, warns Amyas Morse, comptroller and auditor general at the National Audit Office
June 12, 2012 12 Jun'12
Link between Flame and Stuxnet points to US connection

The creators of the Flame and Stuxnet malware cooperated at least once during the early stages of development, security researchers have found
June 12, 2012 12 Jun'12
Mutuals the future model for public sector services, says Maude

Mutualisation will be the future model of public sector services, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has said
June 12, 2012 12 Jun'12
CloudStore model could be replicated across government, says procurement chief

The government’s CloudStore model could be emulated across other government services, the government’s procurement chief has said
June 12, 2012 12 Jun'12
2012: Will this be the year TPM finally comes of age?

Will 2012 be the year that TPM finally delivers on its potential to provide a hardware-based "root of trust" for enterprise information security?
June 11, 2012 11 Jun'12
Local authorities vie for £24m grant for cities of tomorrow

Government is asking UK cities and urban areas to demonstrate how they could become the city of tomorrow with a £24m grant at stake
June 11, 2012 11 Jun'12
Flame malware gets kill command

The controllers of Flame, the most powerful cyber weapon discovered to date, have recently sent a kill command that removes the malware from some infected computers
June 11, 2012 11 Jun'12
Commission condemns government removal of school ICT curriculum

The Corporate IT Forum Education and Skills Commission has urged government to leave the ICT curriculum in place until 2014
June 11, 2012 11 Jun'12
UK cyber fraud gang jailed for selling identity theft kits online

Six members of a UK cyber fraud ring have been jailed for selling identity theft kits online after pleading guilty at Southwark crown court
June 11, 2012 11 Jun'12
EC sets Google July deadline to answer competition concerns

The EC has given Google until July to address concerns the search engine giant abuses its dominant market position
June 11, 2012 11 Jun'12
UK technology sector gets financial support

A US hi-tech investment bank with $20bn in assets has opened its first UK branch offering banking and loan services to the technology industry
June 08, 2012 08 Jun'12
SMEs up in arms over cookie law

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK are up in arms about the last-minute changes made to policy on the newly-enforced cookie law.
June 08, 2012 08 Jun'12
O2 is latest ISP to block The Pirate Bay

O2 is the latest UK internet service provider to block access to file-sharing site The Pirate Bay in line with a High Court order issued at the beginning of May
June 08, 2012 08 Jun'12
eHarmony, Last.fm join LinkedIn with password leaks

Online dating site eHarmony and Last.fm have joined LinkedIn with password leaks, as hackers focus on social networks
June 08, 2012 08 Jun'12
Apple faces £1.43m fine in Australian 4G iPad case

Apple has agreed to pay a £1.43m fine for misleading Australians about the 4G capacity of its latest iPad in a case brought by the national consumer watchdog
June 07, 2012 07 Jun'12
University black box cuts student visa processing time

Lancaster University is automating record keeping and information cross checking for oversees students that register at the organisation.
June 07, 2012 07 Jun'12
Businesses told to take LinkedIn hack seriously

Security experts are warning that the publication of encrypted LinkedIn passwords could pose a serious risk to business
June 07, 2012 07 Jun'12
LinkedIn confirms "some" passwords stolen

LinkedIn has confirmed that "some" of the stolen passwords posted by a hacker online correspond to accounts on the professional networking site
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
CSC refuses to play ball over NHS Lorenzo deal

Troubled IT supplier CSC is continuing to drag its feet over a proposed deal by the Department of Health to free trusts from contractual obligations to use its Lorenzo software .
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
Microsoft publishes its response to government open standards consultation

Microsoft has become the first major IT supplier to publish its submission to the government's consultation on the use of open standards.
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
TfL opens up live bus data

Transport for London (TfL) has finally released live bus data, several months after it delivered the Countdown Live Bus Arrivals website
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
Top 10 tips for IPv6 security

Many organisations are being misled about the complexities surrounding IPv6 security, according to security firm Stonesoft
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
Flame modules hijack Windows update

Microsoft has released a security update for its Windows operating system to block three fraudulent certificates used by Flame
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
Department of Health forges on with PACS

The continuing take-up of the Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) proves a success story for NHS IT
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
Google to warn users of state-sponsored attacks

Google has announced that it will alert users if they are being targeted by suspected state-sponsored attacks.
June 06, 2012 06 Jun'12
Majority of UK websites fail to comply with cookie law

Most UK websites are not yet compliant with the newly enforced cookie law, a study has revealed
June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12
Royal Signals ‘unsung heroes’ receive recognition for commitment to IT service

Three soldiers from the Royal Signals have been presented awards for their dedication to designing IT infrastructure for the field and keeping critical systems up and running without fail
June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12
BBC cloud plans need urgent implementation, says IT head

The roll-out of the cloud and virtualisation across the BBC is an urgent priority to cut costs and maintain daily technology operations, a BBC technology head has warned
June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12
Former MI5 boss loses laptop

The former boss of the UK's MI5 security service has caused a security scare by losing her laptop at Heathrow.
June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12
ICO hits NHS Trust with biggest penalty to date

The ICO has fined Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust £325,000 for breaching the Data Protection Act
June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12
Cambridgeshire launches PSN to cut £1m per year

Cambridgeshire County Council will save £1m per year with the launch of its public services network (PSN)
June 01, 2012 01 Jun'12
Key EU parliamentary committees vote against Acta

Three key European parliamentary committees have voted against the adoption of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta)
May 31, 2012 31 May'12
Met Office says open source is ‘backbone of our operations’

Open source has become critical to the operations of the Met Office with Linux used in the organisation for a decade.
May 31, 2012 31 May'12
East Lothian Council shaves £175,000 off network costs

East Lothian Council has saved £175,000 a year by switching from its previous £500,000 contract with BT
May 31, 2012 31 May'12
Key EU parliamentary committees vote on Acta

Three European Parliamentary committees are to vote this week on the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta)
May 31, 2012 31 May'12
Spyware targets Iranian and Syrian dissidents

Security researchers say spyware is targeting web users in Iran and Syria trying to get around censorship controls using proxy tool Simurgh
May 31, 2012 31 May'12
Sky Broadband third ISP to block access to The Pirate Bay

Sky Broadband is the third UK internet service provider (ISP) to block access to The Pirate Bay file-sharing site
May 30, 2012 30 May'12
Home Office saves £10m by opting for open source

The Home Office saved £10m by running a key messaging infrastructure on open source software.
May 30, 2012 30 May'12
Flame: What are the immediate implications for business?

Security researchers discovered the most powerful cyber weapon to date, but what does the latest threat, dubbed Flame, mean for IT security?
May 30, 2012 30 May'12
Police Central e-Crime Unit prioritises London 2012 Olympic Games

The London 2012 Olympic Games is high on the agenda of the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU)
May 30, 2012 30 May'12
EC vice-president Neelie Kroes proposes net neutrality legislation

A Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) report prompts Neelie Kroes to propose EC net neutrality legislation
May 30, 2012 30 May'12
European Council signs off mobile roaming charge law

Mobile roaming charge rules will take effect from 1 July 2012 as the European Council follows the European Parliament in passing the law
May 29, 2012 29 May'12
Home Affairs Committee slams police IT plans

The Home Affairs Committee has expressed serious concerns over the privatisation of police IT procurement