News

IT for utilities and energy

• April 15, 2020 15 Apr'20

  Centrica deploys Citrix Cloud services on Azure to manage demand

  Utility firm Centrica turns to Citrix on the Azure cloud to deal with its seasonal peak in call centre usage, which affects its virtual desktop environment

• March 23, 2020 23 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Sellafield workers ordered to stay home as ‘controlled shutdown’ of site accelerates

  Staff email warns that “decisions” made now in response to coronavirus pandemic could have far-reaching consequences for ongoing efforts to decommission former nuclear power plant

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  Fintech workers called to share their experiences of microaggression

  Fintech workers were asked to share upsetting workplace incidents as part of an anonymous study

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  International Women’s Day provides platform for Nordic women in tech

  International annual event reminds tech industry that work needs to be done to reduce inequality, but organisations must work towards this on a daily basis

• March 03, 2020 03 Mar'20

  Industry group launched to develop standards for fibre deployment in sewer network

  Water utilities companies are working with SSE Enterprise Telecoms to deploy fibre in the sewers, as well as transform the sewage system into a “smart wastewater network”

• March 02, 2020 02 Mar'20

  HMRC CEO denies it is ‘deliberately misleading’ public over loan scheme promoter arrests

  HMRC CEO Jim Harra has “strongly rejected” claims made on social media by the Loan Charge All Party Parliamentary Group of cross-party MPs that it is “deliberately misleading” the public about its recent loan scheme-related enforcement activities

• February 28, 2020 28 Feb'20

  Greenpeace urges AWS, Google and Microsoft to cut cloud ties with oil and gas customers

  Environmental group wants three of the public cloud market’s biggest players to stop selling their technology to oil and gas companies – but will they?

• February 27, 2020 27 Feb'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: Treasury review concludes no delay needed to April 2020 start date

  Contracting groups describe HM Treasury’s highly anticipated review into the implementation of the IR35 reforms as “recklessly inadequate” as it concludes roll-out should proceed as planned

• February 26, 2020 26 Feb'20

  Thousands of UK entrepreneurs register businesses in Estonia since Brexit referendum

  UK entrepreneurs are registering businesses in Estonia to make sure they can continue to trade freely in the EU

• February 24, 2020 24 Feb'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: First year of enforcement won't be ‘heavy-handed’, claims chancellor

  New chancellor Rishi Sunak has moved to assure business leaders that HMRC will not be heavy-handed in enforcing the new IR35 rules

• February 18, 2020 18 Feb'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: National Grid contractors up in arms over tax status assessments

  Assessments are claimed to have resulted in “99%” of utility firm’s off-payroll workers having their roles reclassified as inside IR35

• February 10, 2020 10 Feb'20

  Two-thirds of workers at risk of robot-driven redundancy are unaware of the threat to jobs

  People who do jobs that are most likely to be automated through technology are unaware and unprepared of the impending threat to their livelihoods, with Nesta calling on the government to do more to up-skill those at risk

• January 31, 2020 31 Jan'20

  Estonian CIO gives UK IT professionals hope as Brexit removes rights

  Tech chief says Estonia’s door is open to UK IT professionals if they want to continue enjoying an EU lifestyle

• January 17, 2020 17 Jan'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: Blanket bans ‘devalue’ IT contractor contributions to digital projects

  James Poyser, CEO of contractor-focused online accountancy firm InniAccounts, claims large firms that are failing to assess contractors fairly will lose out in productivity, reputation and talent retention

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  CES 2020: IBM grows Q network collaborators

  ExxonMobil hopes quantum computing will enable it to model processes at the atomic scale – something that cannot be achieved today

• January 07, 2020 07 Jan'20

  Scale’s HE150 the first of a big push to small edge HCI hardware

  Scale Computing aims to scale to micro-sized hyper-converged with a lightweight operating system it claims its competitors can’t match for edge and remote location deployments

• January 06, 2020 06 Jan'20

  Iran likely to hit back with cyber attacks, security experts warn

  The possibility of cyber attack by threat groups acting on behalf of the Iranian government has dramatically increased following US actions in Iraq

• December 24, 2019 24 Dec'19

  Top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories of 2019

• December 18, 2019 18 Dec'19

  How Saudi Arabia plans to become the Silicon Valley of the Middle East

  With its young and educated population, Saudi Arabia has the potential to become a hub for tech innovation

• December 11, 2019 11 Dec'19

  How can CIOs in Europe turn innovation into a competitive advantage?

  CIOs across Europe are under pressure to innovate to help businesses grow and must think differently as a result

• December 09, 2019 09 Dec'19

  Cloud computing surges in the UAE in 2019

  Cloud computing take-up saw a significant acceleration in the Middle East throughout this year

• December 09, 2019 09 Dec'19

  Dubai’s Kentech kicks off digital transformation drive

  Energy and industrial support company will go live in Oracle’s cloud next month

• December 05, 2019 05 Dec'19

  Cyber Girls First volunteers encourage girls to think high-tech

  More than 80 schoolgirls spent a day learning about computer hackers and rocket science – Cyber Girls First hopes they will become the next generation of technologists

• December 03, 2019 03 Dec'19

  Survey finds most firms don’t respond to GDPR requests in time

  Most organisations do not respond to requests for GDPR data in the one month allowed, while many return incorrect data. The education sector does best, but the public sector lags behind

• December 03, 2019 03 Dec'19

  Tenable buys Indegy to integrate IT and OT security

  Acquisition of industrial security specialist Indegy will create a unified, risk-based platform spanning both IT and OT security for Tenable

• November 28, 2019 28 Nov'19

  Finnish tech firm aims to create scalable general-purpose quantum computer

  University spin-off is attempting to take quantum computing capabilities to multiple business sectors

• November 25, 2019 25 Nov'19

  State backs Norway’s fibre cable capacity building

  Norway is increasing investment on communications infrastructure in an effort to reduce reliance on Swedish and Danish networks

• November 21, 2019 21 Nov'19

  How Nicigas is disrupting Japan’s gas market with IoT

  Japanese energy retailer Nicigas is deploying 850,000 IoT devices to convert traditional gas meters into smart meters to unlock consumption data amid efforts to shake up the utilities industry

• November 15, 2019 15 Nov'19

  Loan charge under review: The 20-year retroactive tax policy pushing IT contractors to the brink

  Thousands of IT contractors are at risk of financial ruin as HMRC pursues them for tax it claims they owe on work they did up to two decades ago and were reimbursed for via loan remuneration schemes. Computer Weekly investigates

• November 07, 2019 07 Nov'19

  Abu Dhabi AI university is key to UAE’s future as the oil dries up

  Abu Dhabi’s fledgling artificial intelligence university is part of a highly ambitious 30-year plan to transform the UAE’s economy and culture

• October 29, 2019 29 Oct'19

  Reykjavik: An IT ecosystem beyond the ice

  Iceland is a small island between Europe and the US, and that is one of several reasons why it is attracting tech startups to its capital

• October 24, 2019 24 Oct'19

  British Gas powers customer experience with third-party Salesforce app

  Its parent company, Centrica, uses Salesforce to support Hive – now British Gas is using a third-party Salesforce app to improve customer experience

• October 24, 2019 24 Oct'19

  Total saves £95,000 a year with Nutanix hyper-converged

  Gas and electricity supplier struggled with ageing traditional infrastructure, but moved to hyper-converged for projects that include containers and DevOps deployments

• October 23, 2019 23 Oct'19

  Interview: Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi, head of digital, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

  Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi is leading digital developments at Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil giant

• October 22, 2019 22 Oct'19

  Abu Dhabi National Oil Company uses blockchain for inter-group network

  The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is using blockchain internally, with plans to expand it beyond the group boundaries

• October 07, 2019 07 Oct'19

  UKtech50 2019 – help us find the most influential people in UK technology

  Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK technology reaches its 10th anniversary – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year’s list

• October 03, 2019 03 Oct'19

  Southern Water embarks on £15m datacentre modernisation programme

  Southern Water has enlisted the help of service provider MTI Technology to revamp its datacentres, with a greater emphasis on the use of software-defined processes and hyper-converged technologies

• September 18, 2019 18 Sep'19

  Emotet phishing botnet returns from summer vacation

  The Emotet phishing trojan-turned-botnet is back in action after a three-and-a-half month break, say threat researchers

• September 17, 2019 17 Sep'19

  Smart meter roll-out delayed to 2024

  The government has been forced to put the planned completion date for its Smart Meter Programme back from the end of next year to 2024

• September 17, 2019 17 Sep'19

  Ecuador citizens’ data breach holds lessons for enterprises

  What caused the mass breach of Ecuadorian citizens’ data, and what can businesses learn from it?

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  Ditch hoodies and hackers to encourage diverse security recruitment

  The cyber security industry needs to address a systemic image problem if it is to succeed in recruiting more diverse teams

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  When AIs go to war: Autonomous cyber weapons ‘inevitable’

  CISOs must start thinking about how to engage with intelligent, adaptive, non-human attackers, says Trend Micro’s Rik Ferguson

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  Industry opposition to no-deal Brexit hardens, says TechUK

  A survey of TechUK members has found that 71% believe a no-deal Brexit at the end of October will negatively affect them in spite of their preparations

• September 12, 2019 12 Sep'19

  Mirai descendants dominate IoT threat environment

  Attacks leveraging compromised IoT devices are growing in size, scale and frequency, report security experts at F-Secure and Trend Micro, with Mirai-related botnets a major source of trouble

• September 11, 2019 11 Sep'19

  GDPR non-compliance worse than feared

  Over half of UK businesses do not yet appear to be fully GDPR-compliant, and many have de-prioritised their compliance efforts

• September 10, 2019 10 Sep'19

  BT gears up to take on rogue drones

  BT’s Enterprise unit is offering customers an anti-drone security solution to protect their physical sites from intrusion

• September 09, 2019 09 Sep'19

  Social engineering a factor in virtually all cyber attacks, report claims

  Almost every single cyber attack will, at some stage, require a human to be tricked into doing something, according to research by Proofpoint

• September 09, 2019 09 Sep'19

  Loyal Dutch IT professionals not being rewarded enough, survey shows

  Companies warned they could lose loyal IT staff because salary rises do not match those on offer from rival employers

• August 23, 2019 23 Aug'19

  IR35 reforms: HMRC defends off-payroll rules guidance against "woeful" IPSE jibes

  HMRC promises there are more preparatory materials in the pipeline to help the private sector prepare for the April 2020 IR35 rules, after IPSE brands its current guidance "woeful"

• August 22, 2019 22 Aug'19

  A helping hand from the Nordics in the eye of the GDPR storm

  Nordic IT companies are well suited to supporting enterprises in their data protection projects, even though openness is more natural to them

• August 22, 2019 22 Aug'19

  5G testbed brings Li-Fi broadband to Orkney

  A number of homes on the remote island of Graemsay in the Orkneys are testing so-called Li-Fi technology as a broadband delivery mechanism

• August 20, 2019 20 Aug'19

  Human error a big risk to ICS cyber security, study shows

  Despite the rise in automation, industrial processes are at risk due to human error, a report on industrial cyber security reveals

• August 20, 2019 20 Aug'19

  Buyers think SD-WAN is too expensive and complicated

  Building and maintaining an SD-WAN is perceived as a complicated endeavour, and the industry’s messages are not getting through, says a new report

• August 07, 2019 07 Aug'19

  Shared files in the cloud are a top ransomware target

  Vectra 2019 Spotlight report shows recent ransomware attacks cast a wider net to ensnare cloud, datacentre and enterprise infrastructures

• August 01, 2019 01 Aug'19

  Industrial control system cyber security risk high, report warns

  The industrial control system cyber risk to global oil and gas companies is high and rising, as new attack groups continue to enter the arena

• July 31, 2019 31 Jul'19

  Middle East businesses welcome Amazon Web Services region launch

  Bahrain AWS region, with three datacentres, links Middle East to AWS's global network and will help to accelerate digital transformation

• July 19, 2019 19 Jul'19

  Second CyberThreat Summit announced by NCSC and SANS Institute

  CyberThreat 2019 aims to bring together a more diverse set of technical professionals in cyber security from the private and public sectors in the UK and abroad to encourage collaboration

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  Organisations turn to AI in race against cyber attackers

  Businesses are racing to automate their defences as hackers and nation states launch increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks

• July 12, 2019 12 Jul'19

  SD-WAN in play: How software-defined solves core business challenges

  For foodservice business HMSHost International and chemical products firm Element Solutions, both customers of networking supplier Aryaka, software-defined wide area networking technology is proving its mettle when it comes to solving core business ...

• July 09, 2019 09 Jul'19

  ICO issues warning about using facial recognition technology

  The UK privacy watchdog has ruled that any police force or private organisation using live facial recognition technology is processing personal data and needs to pay attention to data protection laws

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  Security and privacy key to smart buildings and cities

  Security and privacy capabilities are essential for stakeholders if they are to realise the benefits of smart buildings and cities, says expert whitepaper

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  Implementing IoT – overcoming barriers to commercial adoption

  Tim Wright from the Institute of Telecoms Professionals reports from a recent seminar exploring questions around the barriers to commercial, at-scale adoption of the internet of things, and how to overcome them

• July 02, 2019 02 Jul'19

  CPS faces legal ruling over refusal to disclose emails with US on WikiLeaks and Assange extradition

  A court will decide whether the Crown Prosecution Service can refuse to neither confirm nor deny the existence of correspondence with US on investigations into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks

• June 25, 2019 25 Jun'19

  APT attack on telcos highlights need for comprehensive defence

  A global cyber attack against multiple telecommunications firms underlines need for comprehensive approach to cyber defence, say researchers and industry commentators

• June 25, 2019 25 Jun'19

  Airbus opens cyber innovation hub in Wales

  Newport hub will focus on industrial control systems, artificial intelligence and data analytics

• June 24, 2019 24 Jun'19

  Hospitality industry at highest risk of phishing

  Benchmarking report shows average phish-prone percentage across all industries and sizes of organisations at 29.6% – up 2.6% since 2018

• June 19, 2019 19 Jun'19

  Looming private sector IR35 reforms prompts calls for gig economy-focused tax system overhaul

  The growth of the gig-based economy has exposed weaknesses in the UK tax system – exacerbated by the IR35 reforms – that mean an overhaul is needed, panel claims

• June 19, 2019 19 Jun'19

  Converged security takes centre stage at IFSEC

  The importance and benefits of combining physical and cyber security was underlined in the opening session of the 2019 IFSEC security conference

• June 19, 2019 19 Jun'19

  Luxembourg tech startups get premium connections

  Luxembourg is at the centre of a continent with ambitious plans to develop a thriving tech industry, but what makes it different?

• June 18, 2019 18 Jun'19

  Openreach trials will speed up broadband upgrade

  Tests to focus on process of migrating households and businesses to fibre to the premise and voice over IP

• June 12, 2019 12 Jun'19

  Operational technology security improving, but attack surface continues to grow

  Critical national infrastructure providers and others are improving cyber security capabilities around industrial control systems, but the cyber threat remains high and continues to evolve, a study shows

• June 07, 2019 07 Jun'19

  NotPetya offers industry-wide lessons, says Maersk’s tech chief

  There are several key industry-wide lessons to be learned from the NotPetya attack in 2017, according to the information chief at one of the companies most heavily impacted

• June 06, 2019 06 Jun'19

  Half of CFOs frustrated by complex accounting systems

  Chief financial officers need to upgrade to easier-to-use accounting systems, but are strapped for time and lack the resources to make the right choices, according to survey

• June 03, 2019 03 Jun'19

  Most of today’s enterprise blockchain platforms will need replacing in two years

  Most blockchain platforms currently being used in enterprises will have to be replaced in the next couple of years, says Gartner

• May 31, 2019 31 May'19

  Slowing smart meter roll-out puts 2020 deadline at risk

  The smart meter installation rate is slowing, and with 18 months until the December 2020 deadline, achieving the Smart Meter Programme’s aims now looks very unlikely

• May 31, 2019 31 May'19

  How AI helps protect Japan’s road system from subsidence

  Tokyo-based Kawasaki Geological Engineering is using Fujitsu’s Zinrai artificial intelligence system to develop a solution to erosion causing subsidence and sinkholes on Japan’s road network

• May 30, 2019 30 May'19

  A lack of skills and ownership are top challenges to OT security

  A lack of skills, visibility and clarity on which business function is responsible for securing operational technology are the biggest challenges to managing the risk, a study shows

• May 21, 2019 21 May'19

  UC Expo 2019: Experts talk up future tech in unified communications

  Automation and AI are increasingly prevalent in unified comms, but do enterprises really need it?

• May 17, 2019 17 May'19

  École Hôtelière de Lausanne puts Amelia the robot at its core

  When Switzerland-based hospitality school EHL began to automate processes, it was met with staff inertia, but that all changed after its benefits became clear

• May 16, 2019 16 May'19

  Norwegian industry and state must combine to counter cyber threats

  Norway has been targeted by two large ransomware attacks in recent months – and public and private organisations must react in a coordinated way

• May 16, 2019 16 May'19

  Fujitsu sets out to restore trust in technology

  Trust in technology, how to recapture it, and how to ensure AI doesn’t overstep its bounds were the big messages on the opening day of Fujitsu Forum in Tokyo

• May 15, 2019 15 May'19

  Implement multifactor authentication, urges expert panel

  Multifactor authentication should be a top priority for organisations to defend users from cyber attacks, coupled with zero-trust architecture and artificial intelligence-based technologies, says expert panel

• May 10, 2019 10 May'19

  Key lessons from an ethical hacker

  Understanding hacker techniques and processes is the best way to defend against cyber attacks, and focusing on business risks is the best way to get security budget, according to an ethical hacker

• May 10, 2019 10 May'19

  Dutch businesses not yet implementing NIS Directive

  Little urgency to comply with the Network and Information Systems Security Act, which seeks to protect the Netherlands’ vital infrastructure and digital services from cyber attack

• May 08, 2019 08 May'19

  Cyber criminals targeting C-suite, DBIR shows

  Executives and cloud-based services are gaining popularity as targets for cyber criminals, according to the latest data breach investigations report

• April 29, 2019 29 Apr'19

  Fix the basics first, then worry about AI, advise experts

  The freedom of the internet is at risk, with the cyber arms race and the industrialisation of hacking are set to continue as attackers move up the value chain to target trust mechanisms, threat experts predict

• April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19

  UK up for cyber challenge but work to be done, says minister

  Lidington says National Cyber Security Strategy has “revolutionised the UK’s fight against cyber threats”

• April 18, 2019 18 Apr'19

  State-sponsored hackers are hijacking DNS, researchers warn

  A DNS-hijacking campaign targeting the Middle East and Africa may lead to actors more broadly attacking the global DNS system

• April 17, 2019 17 Apr'19

  Middle East CIOs optimistic as budgets increase and digital transformations expand

  Cyber security and risk management will see the biggest increase in spending, but digital transformation of businesses is a major driver of investment, survey shows

• April 16, 2019 16 Apr'19

  Energy industry needs to up cyber defences, warns report 

  Cyber threat actors are advanced and persistent, but firms in the energy industry are using outdated systems and technology to save money, putting them at risk of cyber attacks, warns F-Secure report

• April 11, 2019 11 Apr'19

  Triton industrial malware group still active, researchers warn

  Security researchers have found traces of a Russian-linked cyber attack group in another critical infrastructure facility, prompting calls for increased diligence around industrial cyber security

• April 08, 2019 08 Apr'19

  Ransomware getting more targeted, warns Flashpoint

  Ransomware attacks are becoming more targeted and designed to infect different sized organisations in specific industries and regions, say security researchers

• April 08, 2019 08 Apr'19

  EDF awards Hinkley Point C comms services contract to Telent

  Network services company will run communications and IT infrastructure at new nuclear power plant

• April 05, 2019 05 Apr'19

  Critical infrastructure under relentless cyber attack

  A lack of visibility into the attack surface, inadequate security staffing and reliance on manual processes undermine operational technology security capabilities, a study reveals

• April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19

  Social inclusion unit aims to expand diversity in IT conversation

  New unit at startup hub wants to explore how technology can be applied to address the barriers many people face in participating in society

• April 03, 2019 03 Apr'19

  Most business decision-makers and knowledge workers happy to work alongside robots

  Fears that automation will remove jobs for knowledge workers are reducing as opportunities emerge to upskill and eradicate mundane work

• April 02, 2019 02 Apr'19

  Thales completes acquisition of Gemalto

  Multi-billion-euro acquisition gives Thales a global leadership position in digital identity and security

• March 28, 2019 28 Mar'19

  Businesses losing out on early payment discounts due to outdated software

  Chief financial officers need to upgrade their accounting software to benefit from discounts available for paying suppliers early

• March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19

  Cyber attacks targeting industrial control systems on the rise

  Malicious cyber activity increased to almost half of the industrial infrastructure protected by Kaspersky Lab in 2018, but the UK is among the most secure countries, the security firm reports

• March 26, 2019 26 Mar'19

  Nominet urges SMEs to register .uk domains to thwart squatters

  The automatic right of .co.uk domain name holders to register the shorter .uk domains ends in June