News
IT legislation and regulation
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March 05, 2024
05
Mar'24
Dutch organisations start building a federated European cloud
The ‘European cloud services in an open federated ecosystem’ (ECOFED) project is co-funded by the Dutch government and will run from 2024 to 2027
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March 05, 2024
05
Mar'24
Keepit brings backup and restore to unprotected SaaS applications
SaaS backup specialist keeps data in its own cloud datacentres, protects cloud data across numerous platforms and aims to give customers the ability to rapidly add data sources
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March 05, 2024
05
Mar'24
American Express customers exposed through third-party breach
US card giant warns customers that their personal details may have been exposed after a third party experienced a systems breach
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March 05, 2024
05
Mar'24
Banning ransomware payments back on the agenda
The idea of banning ransomware payments to cyber criminals is back on the agenda, with former NCSC chief Ciaran Martin arguing that tougher measures need to be taken
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February 29, 2024
29
Feb'24
Home Office GPS tagging of asylum seekers breaches data protection law
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued an enforcement notice against the Home Office after finding its programme to tag asylum seekers with GPS monitors breaches data protection law
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February 28, 2024
28
Feb'24
IR35 reforms: PAC concerned HMRC’s ‘tough’ enforcement is harming contractors
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has raised red flags over how HMRC is policing the IR35 rules out of concern its actions might be putting public and private sector organisations off hiring contractors
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February 28, 2024
28
Feb'24
Government urged to take a pro-innovation approach to quantum regulation
Responsible innovation, learning from AI and the use of foresight techniques should inform policymaking
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February 28, 2024
28
Feb'24
CCS accused of pricing G-Cloud SMEs out of framework with £20m insurance cover hike
The Crown Commercial Service’s commitment to helping SMEs win more government cloud deals is being called into question again, following news that it is planning to up the insurance cover required by G-Cloud 14 suppliers by £20m
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February 26, 2024
26
Feb'24
LockBit bids to save face after NCA takedown
The LockBit gang’s ringleader resurfaces with new infrastructure and new victims, claiming to have shrugged off a multinational police sting
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February 26, 2024
26
Feb'24
Secret court hears claims of police surveillance against journalists
Journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey argue that the use of covert powers by the police to identify their confidential sources represents an attack on press freedom
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February 23, 2024
23
Feb'24
NCA trolls under fire LockBit gang leaders
The NCA has teased details of the identity of LockBit's main admin via the gang’s compromised dark web site, and hinted that he has been engaging with law enforcement
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February 23, 2024
23
Feb'24
IR35 legislative tweak to remedy settlement offset issue by April 2024
Long-standing issue with how IR35 rules work to be resolved in April, thanks to Finance Act change
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February 22, 2024
22
Feb'24
Law to clear hundreds of wrongfully convicted subpostmasters expected in July
Law to overturn Post Office convictions based on computer evidence set to be introduced in July following unprecedented legislation
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February 21, 2024
21
Feb'24
Assange created a ‘grave and immediate risk’, says US government, as it seeks extradition
Lawyers for the US government hit back at claims that extraditing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is politically motivated
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February 20, 2024
20
Feb'24
LockBit locked out: Cyber community reacts
Reaction to the takedown of the LockBit ransomware gang is enthusiastic, but tempered with the knowledge that cyber criminals are often remarkably resilient
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February 20, 2024
20
Feb'24
US extradition of Julian Assange is ‘state retaliation’ for exposing war crimes, court hears
Lawyers argue that the US extradition case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is politically motivated and in is breach of the UK-US extradition treaty
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February 20, 2024
20
Feb'24
LockBit gang members arrested in Poland and Ukraine
The UK’s National Crime Agency and its global partners have shared more details on their audacious takedown of the LockBit ransomware operation, including news of two arrests
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February 20, 2024
20
Feb'24
Government agrees law to protect confidential journalistic material from state hacking
The government will update Investigatory Powers Act to require secret intelligence agencies to seek independent approval before accessing confidential journalistic material obtained by bulk hacking, but journalists remain vulnerable to other bulk ...
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February 19, 2024
19
Feb'24
Cops take down LockBit ransomware gang
The notorious LockBit ransomware crew has been disrupted in an international law enforcement sting led by the UK's National Crime Agency
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February 15, 2024
15
Feb'24
Security-by-design push prompts new ISC2 accreditations
Security-by-design has become a hot-button regulatory issue. ISC2 has decided now is the time to upskill cyber pros around these vital software and hardware development principles
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February 14, 2024
14
Feb'24
Dutch Supreme Court approves use of EncroChat evidence
Defence lawyers plan appeal to European Court of Human Rights after Supreme Court upholds a conviction based on intercepted messages from the EncroChat encrypted phone network
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February 14, 2024
14
Feb'24
Met Police to scrap and replace ‘racist’ Gangs Violence Matrix
A database used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and track people linked with gang violence is being decommissioned and replaced. The decision follows a long-running controversy over its discriminatory impacts on young black people, but ...
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February 14, 2024
14
Feb'24
Security experts: Investigatory powers plans will delay security updates
Cyber security experts warn that government proposals to amend the Investigatory Powers Act will limit tech companies’ ability to respond to security threats and could hamper the use of end-to-end encryption
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February 14, 2024
14
Feb'24
Post Office CEO refused to meet government minister without her lawyer after 2015 Horizon report
Post Office statements on the Horizon system, whether to journalists or the government, were routinely carefully crafted by lawyers
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February 13, 2024
13
Feb'24
What will result from Cohesity’s Veritas acquisition?
The $7bn backup giant will leverage huge assets in enterprise customer base, compliance and governance intelligence, AI, R&D, and Kubernetes backup and storage
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February 09, 2024
09
Feb'24
Amazon defends facial-recognition tech sale to FBI despite moratorium
The FBI has confirmed it is using Amazon’s Rekognition image and video analysis software, but Amazon says it is ‘false’ to suggest this violates the company’s self-imposed moratorium on selling facial-recognition technology to US police
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February 07, 2024
07
Feb'24
NCSC warns CNI operators over ‘living-off-the-land’ attacks
Malicious, state-backed actors may well be lurking in the UK’s most critical networks right now, and their operators may not even know until it is too late, warn the NCSC and its partners
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February 07, 2024
07
Feb'24
Dozens of surveillance companies are supplying spyware to governments, says Google
Google’s Threat Analysis Group has identified 40 companies involved in selling and supplying security exploits and spyware services to governments
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February 07, 2024
07
Feb'24
Government reaffirms commitment to hold off on AI laws
The UK government reaffirming its commitment hold off on artificial intelligence legislation has been received positively by industry for balancing innovation and safety
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February 07, 2024
07
Feb'24
How Iranian cyber ops pivoted to target Israel after 7 October attacks
Microsoft has shared new intelligence on how Iranian government-aligned threat actors have turned their fire on Israel over the past four months
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February 07, 2024
07
Feb'24
South Staffs Water faces group action over Clop ransomware attack
South Staffordshire Plc, the parent company of South Staffordshire and Cambridge Water, is facing legal action from customers whose data was compromised in a 2022 Clop ransomware attack
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February 06, 2024
06
Feb'24
UK’s McPartland Cyber Review to probe trust in technology
The UK government has launched a cyber security review that will investigate how best to give businesses the confidence they need to use new technologies
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February 06, 2024
06
Feb'24
UK government responds to AI whitepaper consultation
The UK government is considering introducing binding legal requirements for companies developing the most powerful AI systems, and has outlined a range of funding to realise the ambitions of its ‘pro-innovation’ framework for artificial intelligence
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February 06, 2024
06
Feb'24
Inquiry to explore cyber risk to Sunak-Starmer showdown
The UK’s Joint Committee on National Security Strategy is opening an inquiry into securing the democratic process ahead of the next general election
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February 05, 2024
05
Feb'24
Blackbaud blasted for failing to prevent customer breaches
A supply chain attack at software supplier Blackbaud in 2020 saw data on multiple UK organisations compromised. The US authorities are now taking steps to ensure it can’t happen again
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February 05, 2024
05
Feb'24
US sanctions Iranians behind CNI cyber attacks
US government issues new sanctions against six Iranians suspected of being behind a series of cyber attacks targeting critical national infrastructure, notably water supply systems
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February 01, 2024
01
Feb'24
AI: House of Lords focuses on copyright and transparency
Large language models promise to boost UK productivity, but the tech needs greater scrutiny and questions remain over intellectual property
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January 30, 2024
30
Jan'24
We need backup! Pennsylvania police data loss shows why
Police evidence systems data was lost during ‘routine maintenance’, with human error blamed – the case clearly illustrates why data protection can’t be left to chance
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January 29, 2024
29
Jan'24
Lords question legality of police facial recognition
Lords committee ‘deeply concerned’ about the rapid expansion of live facial recognition by UK police, which it says is progressing without any real oversight or accountability
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January 26, 2024
26
Jan'24
GenAI tools ‘could not exist’ if firms are made to pay copyright
AI firm Anthropic hits out at copyright lawsuit filed by music publishers, claiming the content ingested into its models falls under ‘fair use’ and that any licensing regime would be too complex and costly
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January 26, 2024
26
Jan'24
UK government consults on age verification tech in alcohol sales
The government has said it wants to allow the use of digital identities and various age-verification technologies in alcohol sales
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January 26, 2024
26
Jan'24
Expert IT witness outsmarted an ‘aggressive’ Post Office to get to truth after inspection ‘madness’
The Post Office’s attempts to protect the Horizon system are well known, in light of the public inquiry and a recent TV drama, but Computer Weekly can reveal how an IT expert was treated during his investigation of Horizon
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January 23, 2024
23
Jan'24
Treat cyber risk like financial or legal issue, says UK government
UK government and NCSC launch proposed code of practice on cyber security governance to help directors and business leaders toughen their defences
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January 23, 2024
23
Jan'24
Leak of 26 billion records may prove to be ‘mother of all breaches’
The discovery of a dataset comprising 26 billion stolen records may prove to be record-breaking in both its size and the danger it poses to ordinary people
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January 23, 2024
23
Jan'24
SEC bitcoin hack was result of SIM-swapping
A cyber attack on the US financial regulator earlier in January 2024 occurred after hackers took over one of its mobile phone accounts in a so-called SIM-swapping attack
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January 22, 2024
22
Jan'24
Openreach accelerates digital network roll-out
Added vigour to UK’s largest broadband provider’s digital network transformation play, with latest tranche of exchanges across furthest reaches of UK now able to offer digital comms based on full-fibre networks
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January 22, 2024
22
Jan'24
Urgent question asks which ministers knew of Post Office’s shocking plan to remove judge
Labour peer uses urgent question to uncover who, if anyone, in government was aware of the Post Office’s attempts to remove judge as it became clear it was losing
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January 19, 2024
19
Jan'24
ICO prompts confusion over police cloud legality
The UK data regulator has suggested that, despite major data protection concerns, it is likely to greenlight police cloud deployments because of an information-sharing agreement with the US government
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January 19, 2024
19
Jan'24
MPs flag similarities between HMRC's treatment of Loan Charge contractors and Post Office scandal
The fallout from HMRC's controversial disguised remuneration clampdown, the Loan Charge policy, has been likened to the Post Office Horizon scandal during a House of Commons debate
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January 19, 2024
19
Jan'24
Fujitsu boss admits to missed opportunities to prevent miscarriages of justice
Concerns of an expert witness in subpostmaster trials were ignored by Fujitsu