News

IT legislation and regulation

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Travelex hackers threaten to sell credit card data on dark web

  Sodinokibi cyber gangsters have threatened to sell Travelex customers’ private data on a Russian underground cyber crime forum if it fails to pay a $6m ransom

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Retail group Dixons Carphone fined £500,000 over data breach

  Dixons Carphone receives maximum possible pre-GDPR fine from the ICO following a 2018 data breach

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  Don’t become the next Travelex: Get ready for ransomware

  With Travelex’s IT still in disarray and banks and travellers left without access to funds more than a week after it was hit by a ransomware attack, we ask what others can learn from the foreign exchange services company’s response to the incident

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  UK government begins legal process to bring about full-fibre roll-out

  First steps on the legislative journey for UK government to make good on election commitments to bring full fibre across the UK

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  ITS to fast-track full-fibre roll-out gains with £45m investment

  Gigabit network operator ITS plans to use latest funding to move into several new areas across the UK to build full-fibre networks which will pass at least 200,000 premises

• January 09, 2020 09 Jan'20

  New GDPR service aims to ease compliance challenges

  Security consultants claim their software platform will address a pressing need for an effective and efficient means of complying with data protection rules

• January 08, 2020 08 Jan'20

  Half of UK citizens want tighter data regulations

  Over 50% of UK citizens believe the gathering and use of personal data should be subject to more stringent government oversight, according to Fujitsu

• January 08, 2020 08 Jan'20

  Ofcom announces plans to ‘supercharge’ investment in fibre broadband

  Regulator says proposals to upgrade UK broadband infrastructure will transform the business case for national full-fibre investment in towns, cities and villages

• January 07, 2020 07 Jan'20

  Government confirms IR35 private sector reforms under review ahead of April 2020 start date

  Government honours pledge to embark on a review of its plans to extend the IR35 off-payroll rules to the private sector that will focus on ensuring the changes are introduced in a “smooth” way in April 2020

• January 06, 2020 06 Jan'20

  UK cyber security boss Ciaran Martin to step down

  NCSC chief Ciaran Martin will leave his post in the summer of 2020

• January 02, 2020 02 Jan'20

  California’s CCPA an opportunity for security industry to do better

  California’s consumer protection and data privacy laws came into effect on 1 January 2020, and present a golden opportunity for the cyber security practitioners

• December 31, 2019 31 Dec'19

  Top 10 investigative stories of 2019

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 investigative stories of 2019

• December 20, 2019 20 Dec'19

  Loan charge review results: Government agrees to policy amendments to cut tax bills of 30,000 people

  The government has announced a package of amendments to the loan charge policy that will remove 11,000 people from its scope, and cut the tax bills of 30,000 others

• December 19, 2019 19 Dec'19

  EU court opinion finds EU-US data transfers lawful but raises questions over Privacy Shield

  The Advocate General of the European Court says standard contractual clauses are lawful, but raises questions over the impact of US surveillance on the legality of Privacy Shield

• December 19, 2019 19 Dec'19

  New UK government pledges to accelerate gigabit broadband delivery

  New Conservative government’s Queen’s Speech reaffirms commitment to providing gigabit broadband access across the UK, but provides no specific timetable to meet commitments and targets

• December 18, 2019 18 Dec'19

  HM Treasury mulls loan charge review findings, but will not confirm public release date

  Contractor community frustrated by lack of concrete release date for review as loan charge settlement date of 31 January 2020 looms

• December 18, 2019 18 Dec'19

  Major US tech companies named in lawsuit over mining deaths of Congolese children

  Multinational technology companies have been accused of knowingly benefiting from human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo

• December 16, 2019 16 Dec'19

  Release of loan charge review must be prioritised by new government, urge IT contractors

  With prime minister Boris Johnson expected to announce a reshuffle of his new-look government today, IT contracting stakeholders are calling for the publication of the loan charge review to be prioritised and for the 31 January 2020 settlement date ...

• December 13, 2019 13 Dec'19

  Alarm bells ring, the IoT is listening

  With Christmas bearing down on us, a series of vulnerability disclosures has drawn attention to the parlous state of IoT security, and serves as a timely warning to people planning to buy smart devices as gifts

• December 13, 2019 13 Dec'19

  New government faces calls to urgently deliver on pre-election pledge to review IR35 reforms

  Contracting groups and trade associations say prime minister Boris Johnson must deliver on his party’s pledge to review the IR35 reforms and allay fears that it was an empty promise made to secure votes

• December 11, 2019 11 Dec'19

  Post Office settles legal dispute with subpostmasters, ending 20-year battle for lead claimant

  The Post Office has settled its long-running legal dispute with subpostmasters, and will pay £57.75m in damages

• December 10, 2019 10 Dec'19

  Scottish Justice Committee wants extra powers for biometrics commissioner

  Members of Scottish Parliament in the Justice Committee have welcomed the creation of a biometrics commissioner for Scotland, but want ensure that they have the ‘necessary teeth’ for the job

• December 09, 2019 09 Dec'19

  US Department of Justice orders Ericsson to pay $1bn fine to settle bribery case

  Swedish comms tech giant admitted what US attorney described as “years-long campaign of corruption in five countries to solidify its grip on telecommunications business”

• December 09, 2019 09 Dec'19

  Jailed hacker ordered to pay back £270k

  An Essex man jailed in April over malware offences dating back years has been ordered to pay back the profits of his crime spree, and sell valuable assets

• December 09, 2019 09 Dec'19

  China bans foreign computing kit from government contracts

  All government offices and public institutions must eliminate foreign hardware and software within three years, according to a leaked directive dubbed 3-5-2

• December 06, 2019 06 Dec'19

  Dutch government must sort IT mess as priority

  Dutch government lacks the knowledge and skills for its own IT strategy, according to scathing report

• December 05, 2019 05 Dec'19

  Two Russians indicted over Dridex and Zeus malware

  The US Department of Justice has indicted two Russian citizens over their alleged role in the distribution of the virulent Bugat, or Dridex, and Zeus banking trojans

• December 05, 2019 05 Dec'19

  UK financial services regulators tell banks to own their IT disasters

  Financial services regulators propose tighter rules for firms to reduce the adverse effects of operational problems, such as IT outages

• December 05, 2019 05 Dec'19

  Black Hat Europe: Mental health websites are leaking user data

  At Black Hat Europe in London, researchers reveal the extent to which confidential data is being leaked to third parties by online mental health websites

• December 05, 2019 05 Dec'19

  Huawei mounts legal challenge to US subsidy programme ban

  Chinese tech giant fights back against FCC ban on carriers in the rural US from using the Universal Service Fund to buy its equipment and designation as threat to US national security

• December 03, 2019 03 Dec'19

  Chinese web users take more risks than Brits or Americans

  A research paper published by the University of Birmingham seems to show that differences in cultural values have an impact both on risky behaviour online and legal regulation

• December 02, 2019 02 Dec'19

  Goldman Sachs reins in cloud-based retail challenger in UK

  Bank does not want rapidly expanding Marcus to breach deposits threshold at which UK banks have to ring-fence their retail operations

• November 28, 2019 28 Nov'19

  Conservatives urged to join Labour, Lib Dems and SNP in committing to post-election IR35 review

  With several major political parties making pre-election pledges to conduct a review of the IR35 tax avoidance reforms, pressure is growing on the Tories to follow suit

• November 28, 2019 28 Nov'19

  General Election 2019: the Scottish National Party’s technology policies and digital plans

  With the UK gearing up for its third General Election in four years, Computer Weekly outlines the Scottish National Party’s main technology policies and digital plans, as laid out in its manifesto

• November 28, 2019 28 Nov'19

  The Security Interviews: Do cyber weapons need a Geneva Convention?

  On a cold afternoon in Finland, F-Secure’s Mikko Hypponen discusses cyber weapons and nation state threats, and explains why arms limitations treaties might one day expand to include malware and other threats

• November 26, 2019 26 Nov'19

  Facebook undermined rivals in bid to dominate global messaging

  Facebook used buyouts and bullying tactics towards competitors to grow its business empire, documents leaked to Computer Weekly reveal

• November 25, 2019 25 Nov'19

  General Election 2019: The Conservatives’ technology policies and digital plans

  With the UK gearing up for its third general election in four years, Computer Weekly outlines the Conservative and Unionist Party’s main technology policies and digital plans, as laid out in its manifesto

• November 25, 2019 25 Nov'19

  Uber app exploit posed safety risk to passengers

  A flaw in Uber’s system meant thousands of trips in London were taken with unauthorised drivers at the wheel

• November 25, 2019 25 Nov'19

  General Election 2019: The Lib Dems’ technology policies and digital plans

  With the UK gearing up for its third General Election in four years, Computer Weekly outlines the Liberal Democrat Party’s main technology policies and digital plans, as laid out in its manifesto

• November 25, 2019 25 Nov'19

  Conservatives propose national cyber crime force

  Manifesto also says Tories would “empower the police to safely use new technologies like biometrics and artificial intelligence, along with the use of DNA, within a strict legal framework”

• November 22, 2019 22 Nov'19

  Some 29,000 UK web domains suspended for criminal activity

  Domain suspensions for criminal activity over the past year has dropped for the first time since 2014

• November 21, 2019 21 Nov'19

  Lib Dem election manifesto: Party vows to scrap loan charge and review IR35 private sector reforms

  The Liberal Democrats’ General Election manifesto sees the party pledge to scrap the controversial loan charge policy, and undertake a review of the IR35 private sector reforms

• November 20, 2019 20 Nov'19

  Finland’s ministry of transport floats tech-enabled four-day week

  Government department says four-day working week is made possible by technologies such as artificial intelligence

• November 20, 2019 20 Nov'19

  FCC opts for public C-band auction

  US telecoms regulator disappoints satellite consortium with decision to go to public, not private, auction of spectrum in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band to develop 5G

• November 20, 2019 20 Nov'19

  Conservatives slammed over social media trickery

  The Conservative Party has been caught spreading online disinformation during the General Election campaign for a second time

• November 20, 2019 20 Nov'19

  Holy grail of digital banking is, at first glance, a new channel, not a new concept

  Details of Google’s plans in the financial services sector have emerged with nothing groundbreaking so far, but the sector is guessing what comes next

• November 19, 2019 19 Nov'19

  Public sector risks downplayed by senior IT leaders

  Sophos reveals a significant cyber security perception gap between senior IT and security leaders in the public sector and their front-line teams

• November 19, 2019 19 Nov'19

  Macy’s Magecart breach presages Christmas fraud spike

  US retailer Macy’s admits some customer data was accessed by unknown actors during a week-long Magecart attack

• November 19, 2019 19 Nov'19

  IR35 reforms put IT contractors at risk of 'second wave' of loan charge-like tax bills, experts warn

  Concerns raised over re-emergence of umbrella firms targeting IT contractors with loan-based remuneration schemes ahead of the private sector IR35 reforms coming into play

• November 19, 2019 19 Nov'19

  Trade associations dial down anger on Labour’s broadband plans

  Anger at the Labour Party’s proposals on full-fibre broadband have persisted, but more nuanced views have emerged from fibre associations