News

IT for telecoms and internet organisations

August 31, 2023 31 Aug'23
Ducktail social media marketing malware rears its head again

Use of the Ducktail infostealer, which first popped up in 2022 targeting Meta Business accounts, seems to be increasing
August 29, 2023 29 Aug'23
Top-performing CISOs reserve time for professional development

Survey of chief information security officers conducted by Gartner sheds light on habits shared by the top-performing members of the profession
August 23, 2023 23 Aug'23
Cyber attacks in 2023 develop quicker as average dwell times plummet

The median attacker dwell time shrunk from 10 to eight days in the first seven months of 2023, and in the case of ransomware attacks it is down to just five days
August 18, 2023 18 Aug'23
More than 400 Liberty Global IT staff move to Infosys as part of €1.5bn contract

TV and broadband giant outsources the build and operation of its entertainment and connectivity platforms to Indian supplier in five year deal

August 11, 2023 11 Aug'23
Google Help workers claim layoffs are retaliation for unionising

More than 100 Google Help workers claim that Google and Accenture’s decision to layoff two-thirds of the team was done in retaliation for their attempts to form a union, while companies claim decision was made well in advance of unionisation attempt
August 04, 2023 04 Aug'23
Biden’s SBOM mandate a ‘shot heard around the world’, report says

Two years and three months after Joe Biden mandated new standards in supply chain security, over 40% of UK respondents to a survey say they have implemented new SBOM policies in direct response
July 21, 2023 21 Jul'23
Government boosts protection for encryption in Online Safety Bill but civil society groups concerned

House of Lords adopts amendment to require Ofcom to commission a report before requiring technology companies to scan encrypted messages, but drops proposals for judicial oversight
July 20, 2023 20 Jul'23
Online Safety Bill screening measures amount to ‘prior restraint’

The Open Rights Group is calling on Parliament to reform the Online Safety Bill, on the basis that its content-screening measures would amount to “prior restraint” on freedom of expression
July 17, 2023 17 Jul'23
Police Scotland use cloud for biometric data despite clear risks

Police Scotland confirms it has stored significant volumes of biometric data on a cloud-based digital evidence sharing system despite major ongoing data protection concerns, bringing into question the effectiveness of the current regulatory approach...
July 12, 2023 12 Jul'23
Ofcom’s online safety preparedness efforts hobbled by government

Despite Ofcom’s progress so far, UK government changes to the scope and timetable of the Online Safety Bill are hobbling the ability of the regulator to successfully prepare for the new regime

July 11, 2023 11 Jul'23
EU formally grants data adequacy to US

The European Commission has formally granted the US data adequacy, allowing companies and organisations to freely transfer personal data across the Atlantic via the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. But privacy activist Max Schrems has already committed...
July 11, 2023 11 Jul'23
Malicious URL volumes soar as cyber criminals pull on Threads

Malicious actors have been quick to exploit the buzz around Meta’s newly launched Threads platform, with thousands of new suspicious domains registered exploiting its branding
July 10, 2023 10 Jul'23
Met Office bids to make climate data more accessible with Esri

The Met Office is offering a new data portal, built on Esri’s geographic information systems technology, to enable users to understand local and national impacts of climate change
July 06, 2023 06 Jul'23
Meta’s Threads hits app stores, but no EU launch in sight

Meta’s Twitter competitor makes its debut and signs up millions of users in just 12 hours, but concerns over compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act have sunk a pan-European launch for now
July 05, 2023 05 Jul'23
Germany: European Court of Justice hears arguments on lawfulness of EncroChat cryptophone evidence

The European Court of Justice will decide whether the collection and sharing of data intercepted by law enforcement from EncroChat crypto phone network is compatible with European law
July 04, 2023 04 Jul'23
EU judgment sinks Meta’s argument for targeted ads

The EU Court of Justice has issued a significant judgment against Meta, ruling that national anti-trust bodies can investigate GDPR breaches, disrupting the platform’s entire basis for carrying out targeted advertising
June 28, 2023 28 Jun'23
GDPR tax reclaim scheme preys on fears of SMEs

IT suppliers are a target of companies offering a tax reclaim scheme that preys on small businesses’ fears around General Data Protection Regulation compliance
June 19, 2023 19 Jun'23
Early June Microsoft outages were result of large-scale DDoS hit

Investigations into recent outages on Microsoft Azure and Outlook services have turned up evidence of a massive distributed denial-of-service attack
June 19, 2023 19 Jun'23
Dutch government puts up €123m to address shortage of ICT workers

Financial injection aimed at improving cooperation between vocational education and business in the Netherlands, and making the tech professions more attractive
June 15, 2023 15 Jun'23
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030: Progress report

Halfway into its plan to give the country a makeover by 2030, Saudi Arabia’s emphasis on technology is starting to pay off
June 12, 2023 12 Jun'23
Ofcom data stolen in MOVEit cyber attack

Communications regulator Ofcom says data on employees and regulated communications companies was stolen by the Clop gang
June 09, 2023 09 Jun'23
Extreme Networks emerges as victim of Clop MOVEit attack

Network equipment and services supplier Extreme Networks has revealed its instance of Progress Software’s MOVEit tool was compromised in the ongoing Clop cyber attack
June 07, 2023 07 Jun'23
UKtech50 2023: The most influential people in UK technology

Computer Weekly has announced the 13th annual UKtech50 – our definitive list of the movers and shakers in the UK tech sector
June 07, 2023 07 Jun'23
UKtech50 2023 winner: Michelle Donelan/Chloe Smith, secretary of state, DSIT

Computer Weekly looks at the achievements and successes of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as its secretary of state is recognised as the most influential person in UK technology for 2023
May 25, 2023 25 May'23
Alert over Chinese cyber campaign targeting critical networks

A Chinese threat actor known as Volt Typhoon has been observed infiltrating CNI networks in a cyber espionage campaign, according to intelligence
May 22, 2023 22 May'23
Facebook owner Meta fined record €1.2 billion over EU-US data transfers

Decision could have implications for other companies using Standard Contractual Clauses to share data between Europe and the US
May 19, 2023 19 May'23
Spanish lawyers claim police hacking of EncroChat cryptophones breaches human rights law

Lawyers speaking at the Madrid Bar Association question the legality of a cryptophone hacking which has led to arrests of organised criminals in multiple countries
May 18, 2023 18 May'23
Eticas outlines approach to ‘adversarial’ algorithmic auditing

Algorithmic auditing firm Eticas speaks to Computer Weekly about its approach to ‘adversarial’ algorithmic auditing, including its strengths and limitations, and how the process works
May 11, 2023 11 May'23
Investigatory Powers Tribunal finds NCA EncroChat hacking warrants were lawful

Investigatory Powers Tribunal refers questions over whether messages obtained from the EncroChat encrypted phone network are legally admissible back to the criminal court
May 10, 2023 10 May'23
UKtech50 2023: Vote for the most influential person in UK technology

Our judges have selected the top 50 leaders from a shortlist of more than 300 people – now it’s your chance to tell us who you think is the most influential person in UK technology
May 09, 2023 09 May'23
UKtech50 2023: The longlist of the UK’s influential tech leaders

Each year, Computer Weekly launches a search for the most influential people in UK IT, asking the tech community who it thinks should be in the top 50 – here is the longlist of everyone nominated for 2023
May 08, 2023 08 May'23
Chat control: EU lawyers warn plans to scan encrypted messages for child abuse may be unlawful

Leaked legal advice warns that European ‘chat control’ proposals to require tech companies to scan private and encrypted messages for child abuse are likely to breach EU law
May 03, 2023 03 May'23
Cyber Action Plan for Wales launched

The devolved Welsh government has set out four priorities in an action plan designed to foster cyber resilience, talent and innovation across the country
May 03, 2023 03 May'23
TikTok fixes vulnerability that could have exposed user activity data

A potentially dangerous vulnerability in the TikTok video-sharing platform was discovered by Imperva researchers, and has now been fixed
April 28, 2023 28 Apr'23
Government is playing ‘psychic war’ in battle over end-to-end encryption

Peers hear that the UK government is being deliberately ambiguous about its plans to require technology companies to scan the content of encrypted messages
April 26, 2023 26 Apr'23
Police Scotland receive formal notice about cloud system

Scotland’s biometrics watchdog has issued Police Scotland with an information notice over its deployment of a cloud-based digital evidence system, following disclosure of major data protection concerns by Computer Weekly
April 26, 2023 26 Apr'23
UK government introduces Digital Markets Bill to Parliament

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will seek to level the playing field in digital markets by empowering regulators with new tools and powers to directly enforce competition and consumer protection laws
April 24, 2023 24 Apr'23
Amazon Web Services selects 14 startups for space accelerator

The cohort of startups will use AWS and its resources to accelerate the research and development of their technologies and boost their growth
April 21, 2023 21 Apr'23
UK biometrics watchdog questions police cloud deployments

The UK biometrics commissioner has warned that policing and justice bodies must be able to demonstrate ‘immediately and unequivocally’ that their cloud deployments are lawful
April 21, 2023 21 Apr'23
Prototype cyber tech has revolutionary potential

The so-called CHERI protection model developed at the University of Cambridge is showing great promise for future cyber security technologies
April 20, 2023 20 Apr'23
UK Emergency Alert Test sparks cyber fraud warning

Fraudsters and scammers are likely to use the upcoming test of the UK's new mobile Emergency Alert system as bait in their attacks, while misinformation and conspiracy theories spread
April 20, 2023 20 Apr'23
3CX incident may be world’s first double supply chain attack

It’s supply chain attacks all the way down as Mandiant publishes information suggesting that the 3CX software supply chain compromise was initiated via a prior software supply chain compromise
April 19, 2023 19 Apr'23
IT Priorities 2023: Budget optimism among EMEA IT leaders

IT leaders across the EMEA region are optimistic that their budgets will increase over the coming year
April 19, 2023 19 Apr'23
CyberUK 23: Alert over mercenary Russian threat to CNI

Russian hacktivists supportive of their government’s war on Ukraine are turning their attention to disruptive or destructive attacks on critical infrastructure in the UK, the NCSC has warned
April 18, 2023 18 Apr'23
Reduced spending on cloud services weighs European IT services market down

Reduced spending on cloud services in the EMEA region meant a year-on-year drop in total IT and BPO services spend
April 18, 2023 18 Apr'23
Tech companies and NGOs urge rewrite of Online Safety Bill to protect encrypted comms

The Online Safety Bill faces amendments in the House of Lords amid concerns that it could weaken the security of end-to-end encrypted communications for UK citizens
April 13, 2023 13 Apr'23
Thousands at risk from critical RCE bug in legacy MS service

Thousands of organisations worldwide are at risk from three vulnerabilities – one critical – in a legacy Microsoft service that they may not be aware they are running
April 13, 2023 13 Apr'23
UK joins key allies to launch secure-by-design guidelines

The UK has joined international partners in sharing new advice to help technology companies embed security into the product design and development process
April 12, 2023 12 Apr'23
April Patch Tuesday fixes zero-day used to deliver ransomware

A zero-day in the Microsoft Common Log File System that has been abused by the operator of the Nokoyawa ransomware is among 97 vulnerabilities fixed in April’s Patch Tuesday update
April 12, 2023 12 Apr'23
Gartner: Rebalance cyber investment towards human-centric elements

Security decision-makers need to reprioritise their investment outlooks towards people, rather than technology, according to the latest market forecast from Gartner