News

IT legislation and regulation

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  IR35: Government consultation on umbrella companies fuels regulation hopes

  The goverment has embarked on a consultation to understand better how the umbrella market works, which is a move that has been cautiously welcomed by contracting market stakeholders

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  Bank of Ireland fined €24.5m for business continuity failures

  Bank of Ireland hit with multi-million euro fine by central bank following an investigation

• December 03, 2021 03 Dec'21

  Serious violence duty in PCSC Bill would gut UK data rights

  Proposed data gathering powers for UK police could override existing data protection rules, damage citizens’ trust in essential public services and further entrench discriminatory policing practices

• December 02, 2021 02 Dec'21

  IR35 reforms: Contractors report widespread blanket bans and project disruption in impacts survey

  A poll of more than 3,000 contractors about how the roll-out of the IR35 reforms affected them brings to light widespread use of blanket bans

• December 01, 2021 01 Dec'21

  Unesco member states adopt AI ethics recommendation

  The non-binding recommendation seeks to define a common set of values and principles to guide the development of ethical AI globally

• December 01, 2021 01 Dec'21

  Cloud-based Redwood becomes latest challenger bank to make a profit

  Cloud-based business bank becomes the latest of the new wave of challengers to achieve profit

• November 30, 2021 30 Nov'21

  HMRC denies outside-IR35 hiring ban as accounts reveal agency’s reliance on umbrella workers

  HM Revenue & Customs accounts reveal marked rise in total number of temporary workers it engages, with most of them providing services through umbrella firms

• November 30, 2021 30 Nov'21

  Financial Ombudsman Service takes step towards digital transformation with Workday

  Ombudsman uses human resource and financial management software in the cloud

• November 30, 2021 30 Nov'21

  Over 100 civil society groups call for changes to EU AI Act

  Civil, human and digital rights organisations sign open letter calling on European policymakers to put fundamental rights at the heart of the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act

• November 26, 2021 26 Nov'21

  UK’s surveillance culture may be normalising use of tech for abuse

  Intense surveillance of public spaces by UK authorities may be playing a part in the normalisation of cyber stalking in intimate relationships

• November 25, 2021 25 Nov'21

  Government must prove its plans to police encryption work, says ex-cyber security chief

  Ciaran Martin, the former UK cyber security chief, says the government must explain how it can access encrypted communications without damaging cyber security and weakening privacy

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Regulation of AI needed to avoid the mistakes of social media

  Government is urged to work with industry on a flexible regulatory framework to ensure the explainability, reliability and robustness of artificial intelligence

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Consumer cyber bill to protect mobiles, smart devices

  Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill will reinforce protections for consumer devices and mandate improvements to default security settings

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Apple sues under-fire malware firm NSO

  Lawsuit alleges spyware firm NSO Group targeted Apple’s users, adding to the pressure on the under-fire company

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Police tech introduced with little scrutiny or training

  A Lords inquiry into the adoption of advanced algorithmic technologies by police in England and Wales has been told that new tools are being introduced without proper training and with little scrutiny of their impacts

• November 23, 2021 23 Nov'21

  FTTH Council Europe calls on policymakers for measures to reap full-fibre rewards

  Industry organisation with a mission to advance ubiquitous full-fibre connectivity across Europe welcomes publication of the European Commission’s latest ‘Digital economy and society index’ and calls for demand-side measures to boost take-up of ...

• November 19, 2021 19 Nov'21

  UK government announces safety tech challenge fund winners

  The Safety Tech Challenge Fund winners will now develop technologies to limit the spread of child abuse material in encrypted environments, which the government has claimed will not be repurposed for other uses

• November 19, 2021 19 Nov'21

  GCHQ, NSA chiefs recommit to counter cyber threats

  UK and US intelligence services reaffirm a joint commitment to disrupt and deter new and emerging cyber threats

• November 18, 2021 18 Nov'21

  UK government enshrines law to strip out ‘high-risk’ suppliers’ tech from networks

  UK Telecommunications (Security) Act receives Royal Assent, mandating stronger legal duties on telecoms firms to protect the UK’s networks and giving the government new powers to control use of high-risk suppliers

• November 18, 2021 18 Nov'21

  Sky ECC provided free cryptophones to a Canadian police force

  Internal emails disclosed in a US court show how Sky Global supplied sample encrypted phones to a Canadian police force before its phone users became subject to an international police investigation

• November 18, 2021 18 Nov'21

  Cryptophone supplier Sky Global takes legal action over US government website seizures

  Canadian tech company Sky Global has filed a legal motion claiming that the US government unlawfully seized the company’s internet sites following police investigations into the use of its cryptophones by organised crime

• November 16, 2021 16 Nov'21

  One-fifth of NCSC-supported cyber incidents linked to Covid-19

  National Cyber Security Centre has helped to thwart multiple cyber incidents that could have seriously disrupted the UK’s response to the pandemic

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  UK government proposes new rules for digital supply chain security

  Proposals could see IT service providers legally required to adhere to the NCSC’s Cyber Assessment Framework, among other things

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  Openreach in consultation over next stage in transition to fibre

  BT-owned UK broadband provision firm accelerates plan to stop selling copper-based broadband and traditional voice services, aiming to use five pilot areas to develop and test approaches for mass-migrating end-users to new digital offers

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  Government bodies refuse FOI requests on basis of misleading database search times, says academic

  The Information Commissioner’s Office tells tribunal it would need to bring in external experts to search data using an Excel spreadsheet

• November 15, 2021 15 Nov'21

  CaixaBank system normal after migration of millions of customer accounts

  Spain’s CaixaBank has successfully completed the migration of millions of Bankia customers to its systems

• November 12, 2021 12 Nov'21

  New law needed to rein in AI-powered workplace surveillance

  MPs and peers call for new legislation to regulate the growing use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, which is being used to surveil workers’ performance and behaviour

• November 12, 2021 12 Nov'21

  Ofcom introduces rules to ease rural broadband development

  UK comms regulator aims to address key issue preventing proliferation of gigabit broadband to hard-to-reach places

• November 12, 2021 12 Nov'21

  Oversight of biometrics and surveillance should not go to ICO

  Biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner Fraser Sampson has panned the UK government’s proposed plan to absorb the functions of those roles under the remit of the information commissioner

• November 11, 2021 11 Nov'21

  Finance ombudsman overturns more than three-quarters of bank decisions on APP fraud

  The financial services ombudsman is siding with customers in over 75% of complaints against banks that refuse to repay losses to authorised push payment fraud

• November 10, 2021 10 Nov'21

  EU artificial intelligence regulation risks undermining social safety net

  Europe’s proposed artificial intelligence regulation will not adequately protect people from European governments' increasing use of the technology in social security decisions and resource allocation, says Human Rights Watch

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  Yoti develops age estimation algorithm for under-13s

  Age estimation technology developed by Yoti is being pitched as a way of helping social media platforms and other online businesses protect younger internet users from harm

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  More than 90% of Virgin Media O2’s network now gigabit-ready

  After switching on gigabit-capable services for 1.6 million more homes, UK cable provider claims to be within touching distance of enabling its entire network to access broadband download speeds of up to 1.13Gbps

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  Blockchain technology will help banks will cut cross-border payment costs by $10bn in 2030

  The use of blockchain technology in cross-border payments will save global banks $10bn in 2030, according to research

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  US seeks to extradite REvil affiliate who attacked Kaseya

  US Department of Justice unseals charges against a Ukrainian national accused of being behind the summer 2021 REvil ransomware attack on Kaseya

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  Government and Post Office should stop discussing Horizon victim compensation and pay it

  The first hearing in the Post Office Horizon scandal public inquiry hears why victims should be paid compensation immediately

• November 08, 2021 08 Nov'21

  Gig economy workforce nearly trebles over five years

  Over four million people in England and Wales now work for gig economy platforms at least once a week, marking a nearly threefold increase since 2016

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  Digital secretary calls for permanent online safety committee

  Digital secretary commits to establishing ongoing oversight of the Online Safety Bill and its implementation, and suggests the grace period on criminal liability for tech company execs should be shortened from two years to a maximum of six months ...

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  US offers $10m reward for intel on DarkSide ransomware gang

  US government puts up a $10m reward for information on the DarkSide ransomware gang, the group that attacked Colonial Pipeline six months ago

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  Police interview former Fujitsu staff for second time in potential perjury investigation

  Former Fujitsu staff who gave evidence in subpostmaster trials have been questioned by police for a second time

• November 04, 2021 04 Nov'21

  The Netherlands works on resilience with large-scale national cyber exercise

  For the Netherlands, the biggest challenge in a large-scale cyber crisis is to maintain speed while exercising due care

• November 03, 2021 03 Nov'21

  Spyware firm NSO and others added to US banned Entity List

  US government bans target Israeli spyware makers and cyber firms in Russia and Singapore

• November 03, 2021 03 Nov'21

  Facebook self-imposes facial recognition moratorium

  Facebook and Meta have committed to halting their use of facial recognition technology and deleting the biometric data of more than a billion people by the end of 2021, but will retain the underlying algorithms and software for potential use in ...

• November 03, 2021 03 Nov'21

  UK’s Labour Party hit by third-party data breach

  Data on Labour Party members was recently compromised in an apparent cyber attack on a third-party data processor

• November 02, 2021 02 Nov'21

  Electronic waste excluded from COP26 agenda

  Data sanitation industry group calls on UK government to add electronic waste to the climate summit’s agenda

• November 02, 2021 02 Nov'21

  Convicted Silk Road admin stripped of £500k in crypto earnings

  Jailed Silk Road administrator Thomas White, aka Cthulhu, has been ordered to hand over more than £490,000 of illicit earnings

• November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21

  MPs and Lords grill Facebook over online safety efforts

  Facebook answers British lawmakers’ questions about the social media giant’s efforts to ensure the safety of its users, as part of legislative security of the government's proposed online safety bill

• November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21

  Payments through open banking could end card dominance

  Payments made through open banking will eat into those made using cards as the next five years sees an acceleration in adoption

• October 29, 2021 29 Oct'21

  UK government to drive gigabit broadband to half a million more rural UK homes

  Project Gigabit quarterly update Autumn 2021 reveals the estimated sequencing, scope and dates for the English Phase 3 rural projects which will see 570,000 more rural premises in line for full-fibre broadband.

• October 29, 2021 29 Oct'21

  Fibre to the fore for fixed broadband in Q2

  Though varied across different markets, overall quarterly global fixed broadband growth returns to normal at the end of the second quarter of 2021

• October 28, 2021 28 Oct'21

  CIA sought revenge against Julian Assange over hacking tool leaks, court hears

  The CIA discussed kidnapping Julian Assange after WikiLeaks published thousands of documents revealing its arsenal of hacking tools, defence lawyers tell a London court

• October 28, 2021 28 Oct'21

  Illegal state surveillance in Africa ‘carried out with impunity’

  Analysis of surveillance laws and practices in six African countries finds that existing privacy laws are failing to protect citizens from illegal digital surveillance, which is being facilitated and enabled by global tech companies

• October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21

  ‘No-one extradited from UK to US has committed suicide,’ US tells court in Assange appeal

  US government claims that a district judge has given WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a ‘trump card’ to avoid extradition  

• October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21

  Government commits millions to security investment

  Spending Review adds more than £750m of funding to improve cyber security resilience across government

• October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21

  Russian IT market growing steadily after pandemic

  Russia’s enterprise IT sector is recovering steadily after a slowdown caused by Covid-19

• October 26, 2021 26 Oct'21

  DarkMarket takedown results in 150 arrests

  A coordinated operation by law enforcement has seen 150 taken into custody amid allegations of buying or selling illicit goods on the dark web

• October 26, 2021 26 Oct'21

  Thought Machine: Google-inspired banking fintech to unicorn and beyond

  UK fintech unicorn Thought Machine is transforming the IT of large traditional banks, while working with fledgling digital-only challengers

• October 22, 2021 22 Oct'21

  MEPs vote to expand Europol data mandate

  The European Parliament has voted in favour of expanding Europol’s mandate to process data and develop AI tools, but critics claim it contradicts a previous vote which opposed using new technologies to predict crime

• October 21, 2021 21 Oct'21

  German regulator imposes limit on number of new customers digital bank can sign each month

  BaFin limits the number of new customers that digital bank N26 can enrol until it is reassured on issues it has raised about the company

• October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21

  Lloyds Bank closes more branches as customers migrate to digital channels

  Banking group has announced more closures as part of the ongoing reduction of its branch network

• October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21

  American Express announces global hybrid working model

  US credit card giant is latest corporate to formalise hybrid working following the success of informal policies introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic

• October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21

  Police IT buyers should compel suppliers to prove AI claims

  House of Lords told that UK law enforcement bodies should use their position as buyers to compel private sector suppliers to divulge more information about how their AI-powered technologies work

• October 18, 2021 18 Oct'21

  How Samlesbury, Lancashire became the home of the National Cyber Force

  The National Cyber Force, a new branch of the military, is gearing up to fight battles in cyber space from the fields of Lancashire. Its presence is expected to bring a high-tech renaissance to the region

• October 14, 2021 14 Oct'21

  UK government to provide full-fibre broadband to 1,000 schools

  New programme aims to give access to gigabit broadband speeds to UK schools while connectivity to nearly 7,000 hospitals, libraries, police stations and other public buildings will be upgraded by the end of March 2022

• October 14, 2021 14 Oct'21

  FCSA clarifies anti-tax avoidance stance of offshore Charter change for umbrella firms

  The Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) has published a revised version of its membership Charter to reinforce its commitment to ensuring its members do not operate offshore tax avoidance schemes

• October 12, 2021 12 Oct'21

  BCS calls on government to retain protections against AI

  BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, wants the government to retain protections that allow people to have decisions about them made by an AI reviewed by humans if needed

• October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21

  Covid-19 will loom over cyber strategy for years to come

  In remarks delivered to a Chatham House conference, NCSC head Lindy Cameron reflects on the security challenges facing the UK, and sets out some plans for the future

• October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21

  IR35: FCSA defends Charter change that lets umbrella firms operate offshore setups

  Umbrella company accreditation body has moved to clarify the rationale behind a recent tweak to its membership charter amid accusations it could harm the sector’s reputation and encourage offshore tax avoidance

• October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21

  Sensitive documents to stay with whistleblower after deadline for agreement for their return passes

  A deadllne to agree the safe return of the sensitive banking details of former and current NatWest Group customers has passed without agreement

• October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21

  Singapore refreshes cyber security strategy

  The city-state updates its national cyber security strategy to shore up the security of critical infrastructure and enterprises while growing its cyber security industry, among other goals

• October 08, 2021 08 Oct'21

  Craft beer specialist Brewdog fixes serious app vulnerability

  Vulnerability in brewer’s mobile app could have resulted in serious consequences for its shareholders and customers

• October 08, 2021 08 Oct'21

  NatWest admits to weaknesses in anti-money laundering systems

  Bank pleads guilty to failures concerning the laundering of hundreds of millions of pounds, but says it has since improved its anti-money laundering systems

• October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21

  ICO expresses concerns over its future independence

  In its response to the government’s data protection consultation, the Information Commissioner’s Office has raised worries over its future ability to function independently of government interference

• October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21

  Twitch data breach investigations continue

  Investigations are ongoing into a 125GB data breach that hit livestreaming platform Twitch, apparently the work of hacktivists

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  MEPs approve report opposing certain uses of AI by police

  European policymakers have approved a report on the use of AI in criminal matters, rejecting several amendments in the process that would have made it easier for police to potentially conduct predictive analytics and biometric surveillance

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  US lawmakers propose ransomware reporting rules

  Former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren lends her support to a bill that would require corporate ransomware victims to disclose more information about their attacks to the authorities

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  Gaming service Twitch hacked, data leaked

  Users of livestreaming platform Twitch may be at risk after a 125GB torrent of data was leaked

• October 05, 2021 05 Oct'21

  CIO interview: Lisa Heneghan, chief digital officer, KPMG

  KPMG UK’s digital leader says that in her 25-year career she has never known a more exciting time to work in IT

• October 04, 2021 04 Oct'21

  Two arrests made in European ransomware investigation

  Unnamed ransomware operation was disrupted last week in Kiev, Ukraine, following a coordinated investigation

• October 01, 2021 01 Oct'21

  Met Police purchase new retrospective facial-recognition system

  Retrospective facial-recognition software purchased for £3m by the Met Police will be deployed in coming months amid continuing controversy around the use of biometric technologies by law enforcement bodies

• October 01, 2021 01 Oct'21

  BEIS urged to prioritise funding to protect umbrella workers in government Spending Review

  In an open letter to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, umbrella regulation draft policymakers Rebecca Seeley Harris and James Poyser urge the government to prioritise funding for a single enforcement body

• October 01, 2021 01 Oct'21

  IR35: Giant Group cyber attack prompts renewed calls for statutory regulation of umbrella companies

  As details about the fallout from the cyber attack on the Giant Group umbrella company emerge, stakeholders say the incident should prompt the government to expedite regulating contractor payroll processing firms

• September 30, 2021 30 Sep'21

  Digital bank fined by regulator due to weak anti-money laundering controls

  German digital bank is fined by financial services regulator for failing in relation to its anti-money laundering practices

• September 30, 2021 30 Sep'21

  UK consumers would collectively pay over £1bn a year for control of their data

  UK consumers are willing to pay a small fee per month to have control of the data they share with Google and Facebook

• September 29, 2021 29 Sep'21

  Russia arrests prominent cyber security executive

  Founder and CEO of cyber security firm Group-IB detained in Moscow on treason charges

• September 28, 2021 28 Sep'21

  Digital regulators need discrete but cooperative remits

  The UK’s information commissioner has told MPs that digital economy regulators need discrete remits backed up by strong information sharing powers to both provide clear focus as well as allow for greater cooperation between their disparate but ...

• September 27, 2021 27 Sep'21

  Dubai International Finance Centre’s data protection law to be boosted by new federal regulation

  New UAE data protection regulation on the horizon a year after a Dubai-specific law came into force

• September 24, 2021 24 Sep'21

  IR35 reforms: HMRC confirms compliance checks under way in financial services, oil and gas sectors

  Less than six months after the roll-out of the IR35 reforms to the private sector, HMRC has confirmed it has started writing letters to companies requesting details of their compliance procedures

• September 24, 2021 24 Sep'21

  London publishes guidelines for ethical use of smart city tech

  Latest draft of the ‘Emerging Technology Charter for London’ encourages local authorities, public services and technology companies to improve how they implement technology in the capital

• September 23, 2021 23 Sep'21

  MoD in second leak of Afghan citizens’ data

  A second breach of data relating to Afghan citizens at risk of Taliban reprisals has been reported by the Ministry of Defence

• September 22, 2021 22 Sep'21

  AI cannot be regulated by technical measures alone

  The regulation of artificial intelligence must address the power of tech companies, as technical measures alone will not be enough to prevent the harms caused by AI-driven technologies, says report

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  US sanctions Suex crypto exchange over ransomware links

  US Treasury cracks down on cryptocurrency exchange that supposedly facilitated proceeds from multiple ransomware gangs

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  UK government claims ‘gigaboom’ as next-gen broadband reaches one in two premises

  Hot on the heels of major expansion in fibre networks across the nation by a number of leading operators, government data shows 50.2% of UK premises are now able to access gigabit-capable broadband, up from 6% in 2019

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  Dutch scientist receives top award for work on digital media’s effect on society

  Utrecht University media scientist José van Dijck wins the Spinoza Award and funds for her research into the effects of social media on society

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  Spanish police bust Mafia-linked phishing gang

  A joint operation between European authorities has dismantled a cyber criminal gang with links to the Italian Mafia

• September 21, 2021 21 Sep'21

  BlackMatter gang ramps up attacks on multiple victims

  A wave of new BlackMatter ransomware attacks is hitting organisations around the world, even as the US authorities mull new sanctions on ransom payment infrastructure

• September 20, 2021 20 Sep'21

  NGO Fair Trials calls on EU to ban predictive policing systems

  The use of artificial intelligence to predict criminal behaviour should be banned because of its discriminatory outcomes and high risk of further entrenching existing inequalities, claims Fair Trials

• September 16, 2021 16 Sep'21

  European president outlines tech vision to drive Europe

  President of the European Commission has set out plans for a stronger European economy, with less reliance on US and Chinese tech giants

• September 16, 2021 16 Sep'21

  Network Rail U-turns on blanket inside IR35 contractor determinations

  The Department for Transport’s 2020-2021 accounts suggest Network Rail has switched up its IR35 compliance strategy, with more than 70% of its contractors now classified as working outside IR35

• September 15, 2021 15 Sep'21

  UN human rights chief calls for moratorium on AI technologies

  High commissioner’s call for a moratorium on the use of AI systems that pose a serious risk to human rights is accompanied by a UN report on the negative human rights impacts associated with the technology