News

IT legislation and regulation

• September 13, 2024 13 Sep'24

  Vodafone/Three merger likely to increase mobile prices, warns competition watchdog

  A Competition and Markets Authority investigation finds the proposed merger of the two mobile operators would be bad for competition – but offers companies the chance to suggest remedies

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Teenager arrested in TfL cyber attack investigation

  New security measures following the cyber attack, which took down some of TfL’s services, have led to delays in contactless roll-out

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Lord introduces bill to regulate public sector AI and automation

  A private members’ bill seeking to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated technologies throughout the public sector has been brought to Parliament

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  Data sharing for immigration raids ferments hostility to migrants

  Data sharing between public and private bodies for the purposes of carrying out immigration raids helps to prop up the UK’s hostile environment by instilling an atmosphere of fear and deterring migrants from accessing public services

• September 12, 2024 12 Sep'24

  UK and others sign first ‘binding’ treaty on AI and human rights

  The UK, US and EU have all signed a treaty from the Council of Europe that aims to mitigate the threat AI poses to human rights, democracy and the rule of law, but commentators say it lacks enforcement mechanisms and creates loopholes

• September 11, 2024 11 Sep'24

  HMRC could lose millions in unpaid tax as non-compliant umbrella enters pre-pack administration

  HMRC looks set to miss out on millions of pounds in unpaid tax it is owed by a non-compliant umbrella company that slipped into administration, prompting renewed calls for the sector to be regulated

• September 10, 2024 10 Sep'24

  Ada Lovelace Institute warns NHS against deploying genomics AI

  A report has found that widespread use of artificial intelligence-powered genomic health prediction in the NHS could lead to privacy and ethical issues, discrimination and dependency on the private sector

• September 04, 2024 04 Sep'24

  Retailers question using live facial recognition for shoplifting

  Retailers praise benefits of retrospective over live facial recognition in dealing with shoplifting, but stress there are ongoing concerns around the ethical, legal and safety implications of using the technology in stores

• September 04, 2024 04 Sep'24

  Fraud and scam complaints hit highest ever level in UK

  The Financial Ombudsman Service says it recorded almost 9,000 complaints about fraud and scams from April to June, the most ever recorded

• September 03, 2024 03 Sep'24

  Swedish law firms debate AI’s future impact on profession

  Swedish law firms examine the use of artificial intelligence in their businesses as the sector sees a surge in take-up

• September 02, 2024 02 Sep'24

  Navigating the shifting sands of open source

  As open source matures, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation is grappling with issues ranging from licence rug-pulling and the rise of artificial intelligence to the changing dynamics of open source contributions

• August 30, 2024 30 Aug'24

  Norwegian Refugee Council leverages Okta for Good cyber scheme

  Pietro Galli, CIO of the Norwegian Refugee Council, reveals how the globally distributed NGO has been taking advantage of the Okta for Good CSR programme to improve its own cyber security and data protection practice, and elevate good practice in ...

• August 29, 2024 29 Aug'24

  US offers $2.5m bounty for on-the-run malware dev

  US State Department puts a $2.5m bounty on the head of Angler exploit kit developer and ransomware crew member Volodymyr Kadariya as part of a major developing case

• August 21, 2024 21 Aug'24

  Pakistani national arrested over Southport ‘cyber terrorism’

  Authorities in Pakistan have arrested a man on suspicion of cyber terrorism over his role in the spread of online misinformation in the wake of the Southport knife attack

• August 20, 2024 20 Aug'24

  ICO launches privacy notice tool for SMEs

  ICO tool designed to make it easier for small businesses and sole traders operating online to create bespoke data privacy notices for compliance purposes

• August 16, 2024 16 Aug'24

  Campaigners criticise Starmer post-riot public surveillance plans

  A UK government programme to expand police facial recognition and information sharing after racist riots is attracting criticism from campaigners for exploiting the far-right unrest to generally crack down on protest and increase surveillance

• August 14, 2024 14 Aug'24

  Automated police tech contributes to UK structural racism problem

  Civil society groups say automated policing technologies are helping to fuel the disparities that people of colour face across the criminal justice sector, as part of wider warning about the UK’s lack of progress in dealing with systemic racism

• August 14, 2024 14 Aug'24

  IR35 public sector reforms: HS2 finalises £6.2m settlement with HMRC over compliance failings

  After setting aside over £10m to cover its IR35 compliance liabilities, HS2 accounts confirm the organisation reached a final settlement with HMRC totalling £6.2m

• August 13, 2024 13 Aug'24

  Cyber criminal kingpin ‘J.P. Morgan’ appears in US court

  ‘J.P. Morgan’, a Belarusian cyber criminal who ran a major ransomware campaign supported by malvertising scams, faces decades in prison in the United States after being extradited from the EU

• August 08, 2024 08 Aug'24

  UK competition regulator looks into Amazon’s Anthropic funding

  The Competition and Markets Authority is continuing to look at big tech’s interconnected web of artificial intelligence partnerships

• August 08, 2024 08 Aug'24

  US lawmakers seek to brand ransomware gangs as terrorists

  Proposals from legislators in Washington DC could shake up the global ransomware ecosystem and give law enforcement sweeping new powers

• August 08, 2024 08 Aug'24

  Ofcom issues online safety warning to firms in wake of UK riots

  Ofcom has issued a warning reminding social media firms of their upcoming online safety obligations, after misinformation about the Southport stabbings sparked racist riots throughout the UK

• August 07, 2024 07 Aug'24

  Microsoft and CrowdStrike hit back at Delta’s legal threats

  Microsoft and CrowdStrike have rejected claims by Delta Air Lines that it was left high and dry amid thousands of flight cancellations during July’s software outage, accusing the airline of ignoring their offers of help and running out-of-date IT ...

• August 06, 2024 06 Aug'24

  Court document reveals Google’s strategy to dodge Department of Justice

  Google got away with various practices to avoid scrutiny from regulators, but has been found guilty of acting in an anti-competitive way in the US

• August 05, 2024 05 Aug'24

  Post Office scandal: Phases 5 and 6 had islands of conscientiousness in great depths of neglect

  Computer Weekly rounds up the latest phase of the Post Office Horizon scandal public inquiry after a marathon 16 weeks of questions

• August 02, 2024 02 Aug'24

  UK broadband altnets unite to push for fairer access regulation, pricing

  Five of the UK’s largest alternative fibre network operators have come together to create an alliance and call on UK comms regulator to ensure fair and equal access for all users of nation’s physical infrastructure

• August 01, 2024 01 Aug'24

  CrowdStrike shareholders sue, alleging false security claims

  A US pension fund is lining up a lawsuit against CrowdStrike, claiming the cyber company lied about the integrity of its systems, leading to failings that caused a worldwide IT outage

• August 01, 2024 01 Aug'24

  Banks, telcos call for more data sharing to fight fraud

  A Which?-led coalition of banks and telecoms operators is calling on the UK's new government to take the lead on enabling data sharing to help fight digital fraud

• July 31, 2024 31 Jul'24

  Campaigners call for evidence to reform UK cyber laws

  The CyberUp Campaign for reform of the 1990 Computer Misuse Act launches an industry survey inviting cyber experts to share their views on how the outdated law hinders legitimate work

• July 31, 2024 31 Jul'24

  Poor connectivity holding back rural Britain

  Research from leading UK operator warns the nation is sleepwalking into a countryside crisis, with 4.6 million rural residents considering moving to a town or city in the next 12 months

• July 30, 2024 30 Jul'24

  UK competition watchdog scrutinises Alphabet and Anthropic tie-up

  The Competition and Markets Authority is looking at whether Alphabet’s $2bn investment in AI startup Anthropic is anti-competitive

• July 29, 2024 29 Jul'24

  WTO digital trade agreement aims to modernise global commerce

  A digital trade deal negotiated over five years at the World Trade Organization has been signed by 91 countries, laying the groundwork for a new global digital trade regime

• July 26, 2024 26 Jul'24

  Ban predictive policing and facial recognition, says civil society

  A coalition of civil society groups is calling for an outright ban on predictive policing and biometric surveillance in the UK

• July 24, 2024 24 Jul'24

  ICO reprimands Essex school for illegal facial recognition use

  The Information Commissioner’s Office has reprimanded Chelmer Valley High School in Chelmsford for introducing facial recognition and failing to conduct a legally required data protection impact assessment and obtain the explicit consent of students

• July 23, 2024 23 Jul'24

  NCA seizes thousands of social media accounts used by people smugglers

  A three-year campaign has seen thousands of social media posts and accounts used to advertise the services of illegal people smugglers taken down

• July 23, 2024 23 Jul'24

  Chrome cookies reprieved amid Google Privacy Sandbox changes

  Google abruptly changes tack on third-party cookies in its Chrome web browser, cancelling plans to deprecate them in favour of an unspecified ‘new experience’ for users

• July 22, 2024 22 Jul'24

  NCA cracks digitalstress DDoS-for-hire operation

  The UK authorities have taken down a major component of the multinational DDoS cyber attack-for-hire ecosystem, hacking into the digitalstress.su service and exfiltrating data on its users, who now face arrest

• July 22, 2024 22 Jul'24

  BT fined £17.5m for ‘catastrophic’ emergency network outage

  UK comms regulator issues fine to country’s leading telco for being underprepared to handle disruption in June 2023, affecting 14,000 emergency calls and lasting 10.5 hours

• July 17, 2024 17 Jul'24

  UK Cyber Bill teases mandatory ransomware reporting

  In the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill introduced in the King's Speech, the UK's new government pledges to give regulators more teeth to ensure compliance with security best practice and to mandate incident reporting

• July 17, 2024 17 Jul'24

  Hackney Council reprimanded over 2020 ransomware attack

  The London Borough of Hackney has been reprimanded by the ICO over a series of failures that led to a devastating cyber attack, but at the same time, the regulator praised the local authority for its response and commitment to making improvements

• July 17, 2024 17 Jul'24

  Labour government plans new laws around cyber security, data sharing and skills

  The King's Speech outlined the legislative agenda for the new Parliament, including several bills that will impact the tech community

• July 16, 2024 16 Jul'24

  Strategic Defence Review must emphasise cyber security, says industry

  Cyber security leaders say the new government's Strategic Defence Review needs to put digital security front and centre

• July 16, 2024 16 Jul'24

  CMA looks deeper into Microsoft’s AI hirings

  Microsoft recently hired two former co-founders of AI specialist Inflection AI, and signed a deal to host the company’s AI model on Azure

• July 10, 2024 10 Jul'24

  The security interview: Managing the ‘no’ mindset

  Matt Riley, data protection and information security officer at Sharp Europe, discusses balancing cyber risks with business leaders’ goals

• July 09, 2024 09 Jul'24

  Revamped DSIT to transform digital public services, says government

  The incoming government sets out preliminary plans to conduct a major revamp and relaunch of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

• July 03, 2024 03 Jul'24

  NCA’s Operation Morpheus targets illicit Cobalt Strike use

  International law enforcement operation targets cyber criminals using the Cobalt Strike penetration testing framework for dodgy purposes

• July 03, 2024 03 Jul'24

  Former Post Office chair 'regrets' keeping critical Horizon report secret

  Tim Parker, chairman of the Post Office from 2015 to 2022, admits he should not have accepted legal advice to prevent release of a review that could have supported victims of the Horizon scandal

• June 28, 2024 28 Jun'24

  How FWD is driving its digital strategy

  FWD’s group chief technology and operations officer talks up how the pan-Asian insurer is driving change faster and putting technology at the heart of its services

• June 26, 2024 26 Jun'24

  Ignorance of ‘legal niceties’ from Post Office expert IT witness saw innocent people jailed

  IT expert used by Post Office to give evidence supporting prosecutions of subpostmasters did not understand legal duties he was bound to

• June 26, 2024 26 Jun'24

  Police Scotland did not consult ICO about high-risk cloud system

  Police Scotland chose not to formally consult with the data regulator about the risks identified with a cloud-based digital evidence sharing system, while the regulator itself did not follow up for nearly three months