News

IT legislation and regulation

• December 19, 2023 19 Dec'23

  Top 10 cyber security stories of 2023

  The past 12 months have seen the security agenda dominated by the usual round of vulnerabilities, concerns over supply chain security and more besides, but it was the chaotic state of global geopolitics that really made an impact

• December 18, 2023 18 Dec'23

  Global mobile trade body hails agreement on future mobile spectrum ranges

  ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference concludes with consensus on roadmap for mobile services using designated low-band and mid-band frequencies

• December 15, 2023 15 Dec'23

  Police defend facial recognition target selection to Lords

  Senior police officers confirm to Lords committee that facial recognition watchlist image selection is based on crime categories attached to people’s photos, rather than a context-specific assessment of the threat presented by a given individual

• December 15, 2023 15 Dec'23

  Government advised to overturn all Post Office scandal convictions

  An independent board set up to advise the government on compensation for innocent subpostmasters has recommended that all the Post Office scandal convictions are ‘unsafe’ and should be overturned

• December 14, 2023 14 Dec'23

  Government plans to regulate to tackle datacentre threats

  DSIT outlines a range of proposals designed to protect data storage facilities from cyber attacks, as well as physical threats and the effects of climate breakdown

• December 14, 2023 14 Dec'23

  NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron to step down in 2024

  NCSC chief exec Lindy Cameron, who helped lead and elevate the national dialogue on cyber security through major events such as Covid-19, SolarWinds Sunburst and Colonial Pipeline, is to step down in the New Year

• December 13, 2023 13 Dec'23

  No UK AI legislation until timing is right, says Donelan

  The UK government will not legislate on artificial intelligence until it has a better understanding of the technology, so is instead focusing on building up regulatory capacity and conducting safety-focused research, says digital secretary

• December 13, 2023 13 Dec'23

  Critical UK infrastructure a ‘hostage of fortune’ to ransomware

  A lack of ransomware planning and preparedness at the highest levels of government is leaving UK operators or critical national infrastructure dangerously exposed, according to a Joint Committee report

• December 12, 2023 12 Dec'23

  MoD fined after breach of Afghan staffers’ data put lives at risk

  The MoD has been fined £350,000 by the ICO after an email blunder exposed data on Afghan nationals who had worked with British forces and were at risk of Taliban reprisals

• December 11, 2023 11 Dec'23

  BT Group makes net neutrality call as it looks to improve network efficiency

  Telco claims breakthrough technology that improves quality and reliability of live content for viewers while driving down costs for broadcasters and network operators, but calls for rethink in net neutrality debate

• December 11, 2023 11 Dec'23

  Nordic governments join forces to protect data transfers

  Nordic countries deepen their cooperation over cyber security amid heightened threat from neighbouring Russia

• December 11, 2023 11 Dec'23

  EU AI Act: The wording of the act is finalised

  The EU AI Act has climbed another rung up the legislative ladder, with its wording having been finalised

• December 11, 2023 11 Dec'23

  Competition and Markets Authority looks into Microsoft/OpenAI after Altman fiasco

  The firing and rehiring of OpenAI’s CEO, and the fallout, which could have seen Microsoft hire all its staff, has the regulator spooked

• December 07, 2023 07 Dec'23

  NCSC exposes Russian cyber attacks on UK political processes

  The NCSC has firmly attributed a long-running campaign of cyber attacks targeting UK political processes to a group run out of Russia’s FSB intelligence agency, known as Star Blizzard

• December 05, 2023 05 Dec'23

  Operator of Sellafield nuclear facility denies hacking claims

  The operator of the Sellafield nuclear site has denied allegations that senior managers covered up a series of cyber security lapses that enabled Chinese and Russian threat actors to compromise its networks

• December 04, 2023 04 Dec'23

  Rhysida ransomware gang hits hospital holding royal family’s data

  Ransomware gang boasts of having stolen data on the royal family in an attack on a private London hospital

• December 01, 2023 01 Dec'23

  Human augmentation tech requires dual use oversight

  Researchers investigating human augmentation technologies must acknowledge the potential military applications of their work, and military bodies cannot be allowed to dismiss ethical concerns in their pursuit of national security interests, says NGO...

• December 01, 2023 01 Dec'23

  Lords committee urges caution on UK use of autonomous weapons

  UK government must ensure proper democratic oversight of its development and use of AI-powered weapon systems, says Lords committee

• November 30, 2023 30 Nov'23

  Government’s Online Fraud Charter welcomed

  The government has corralled 11 of the largest tech platforms in the world to commit to its Online Fraud Charter, designed to tackle online scams, fake adverts, and more

• November 29, 2023 29 Nov'23

  Law enforcement dismembers major ransomware operation in Ukraine

  A joint law enforcement operation between the Ukrainian authorities, Europol and Eurojust has seem five ransomware operators taken into custody

• November 27, 2023 27 Nov'23

  Lack of government incentives stifling UK business broadband expansion

  Research from UK connectivity provider reveals that while 42% of UK businesses plan vital connectivity upgrades as part of growth strategy, one in every five are receiving insufficient internet speeds

• November 24, 2023 24 Nov'23

  UK police plan national roll-out of facial-recognition phone app

  UK police chiefs plan to expand use of facial-recognition technology through a nationwide roll-out of mobile-based tools and increases in retrospective facial-recognition, but oversight problems persist

• November 23, 2023 23 Nov'23

  DWP to surveil bank accounts of benefit claimants for fraud

  The UK government has outlined how it plans to tackle benefit fraud by giving the Department for Work and Pensions new powers compelling banks to collect and share data on claimants’ bank accounts

• November 22, 2023 22 Nov'23

  Improved rural connectivity set to unlock £8.8bn for British manufacturers

  Economic modelling from Virgin Medio O2 reveals great rural revival with improved rural connectivity having the potential to unlock huge gains for British manufacturers

• November 22, 2023 22 Nov'23

  Executive interview: TechUK CEO Julian David on 10 years of change in UK IT

  It’s 10 years since the UK technology trade association relaunched as TechUK – its chief executive looks back on a dramatic decade, and discusses what’s next for the UK tech sector

• November 17, 2023 17 Nov'23

  Microsoft and Meta quizzed on AI copyright

  Large language models are trained using vast amounts of public data – but do the hyperscalers comply with copyright laws?

• November 16, 2023 16 Nov'23

  Outgoing police tech watchdog warns of declining oversight

  The outgoing biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner for England and Wales discusses police deployment of powerful new surveillance technologies, and the declining state of oversight in this area

• November 16, 2023 16 Nov'23

  Ransomware gang grasses up uncooperative victim to US regulator

  The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware gang has added a new tactic to its playbook, going to ever more extreme lengths in search of a pay-off

• November 13, 2023 13 Nov'23

  Rogue state-aligned actors are most critical cyber threat to UK

  The prospect of rogue nation-state-aligned attackers bringing down the UK’s critical infrastructure is keeping the NCSC up at night

• November 13, 2023 13 Nov'23

  Lloyds Bank warns over rising threat of crypto scams

  Report by Lloyds Banking Group finds there has been a 23% increase in cryptocurrency scams in 2023 compared with last year, targeting mostly younger investors

• November 13, 2023 13 Nov'23

  Victims’ legal action over 2015 Carphone Warehouse breach moves forward

  A class action against Currys Retail over the 2015 data breach of Carphone Warehouse customers has been granted permission to move forward in the courts

• November 10, 2023 10 Nov'23

  UN disarmament body calls for global action on autonomous weapons

  UN draft resolution highlighting the dangers of autonomous weapons passes with overwhelming majority

• November 09, 2023 09 Nov'23

  Ex-Coca-Cola VPs debut ChatGPT-like AI tool to help enterprises solve their sustainability woes

  The Ubuntoo AI tool is already in use within several Fortune 500 companies to help these firms hone their sustainability strategies

• November 09, 2023 09 Nov'23

  UK government does not see need for specific AI legislation

  The UK government does not currently see the need for new artificial intelligence legislation, as many regulators are already dealing effectively with AI-related harms

• November 08, 2023 08 Nov'23

  Data-sharing management gap highlights cyber risk, says report

  Organisations are struggling to secure their use of communications tools to share data with third-party partners and suppliers, and in the process are exposing themselves to heightened levels of risk, according to a report

• November 08, 2023 08 Nov'23

  AI Summit not the place for human rights, says French finance minister

  Despite commitments at the UK’s AI Safety Summit to respect and protect human rights, the French finance minister said it was not the right forum to discuss signatories' human rights records

• November 08, 2023 08 Nov'23

  King’s Speech misses the mark on cyber law reform, says campaign

  A group of activists who want to reform the UK’s computer misuse laws to protect bona fide cyber pros from prosecution have been left disappointed by a lack of legislative progress

• November 08, 2023 08 Nov'23

  The Security Interviews: ISC2’s Clar Rosso on cyber diversity and policy

  Computer Weekly catches up with ISC2 CEO Clar Rosso to talk about diversifying the cyber workforce and supporting cyber pros as they keep up with growing compliance and security policy demands

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  Post Office disclosure failures delay Horizon scandal inquiry again

  Many of the 300,000 emails unearthed could be relevant to evidence from future and past witnesses in the Post Office scandal inquiry

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  Unesco unveils seven-point anti-disinformation plan

  United Nations body outlines seven proposals for civil society, governments, regulators and tech platforms to adopt to combat the source of disinformation

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  AI Safety Summit review

  Computer Weekly takes stock of the UK government’s AI Safety Summit and the differing perspectives around its success

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  Pension changes set to boost UK tech

  UK technology and science startups could benefit from changes to UK pension funds

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  EU digital ID reforms should be ‘actively resisted’, say experts

  Over 300 cyber security experts have called for the EU to rethink its proposals for eIDAS digital identity reforms, saying some of the provisions risk damaging user privacy and security

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  AI Summit: 28 governments and EU agree to safe AI development

  In a joint communique at the UK government’s AI Safety Summit, all participating governments agreed to deepen their cooperation around the risks associated with artificial intelligence

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson on her AI Safety Summit goals

  As the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park takes place, Computer Weekly caught up with Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson to find out what one of the UK’s most prominent AI advocates wants from proceedings

• October 31, 2023 31 Oct'23

  SEC sues SolarWinds, alleging serious security failures

  SolarWinds and its CISO have been charged with fraud and internal control failures by the US authorities amid allegations of a series of cyber security failings leading up to the 2020 Sunburst attacks

• October 31, 2023 31 Oct'23

  Over a quarter of UK adults use buy now, pay later fintechs

  Latest research from UK financial services regulator shows BNPL more likely to be used by people experiencing financial difficulty

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  UK government AI Summit already branded ‘missed opportunity’

  The dominance of big tech firms, a focus on speculative risks over real-world harms, and the exclusion of affected workers, mean the AI Safety Summit is a wasted opportunity, say civil society groups

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Tech firms cite risk to end-to-end encryption as Online Safety Bill gets royal assent

  Tech firms continue to be concerned that the Online Safety Bill could undermine end-to-end encryption despite government reassurances

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Domestic abuse charities surface fresh worries over NHS data sharing

  With new NHS data access options coming into effect at the end of October, a group of campaigners including womens' charities and the BMA have warned that the revived GP-patient data sharing scheme risks putting vulnerable people at risk