News
IT legislation and regulation
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 ...
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 ...
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 ...
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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