News

IT legislation and regulation

• October 08, 2024 08 Oct'24

  UK’s cyber incident reporting law to move forward in 2025

  The UK government says that enforced cyber incident and ransomware reporting for critical sectors of the economy will help to build a better picture of the threat landscape and enable more proactive and preventative responses

• October 08, 2024 08 Oct'24

  Government accepts most quantum regulation recommendations

  Three of the 14 recommendations on quantum regulations put forward by the Regulatory Horizon Council have been accepted in principle

• October 04, 2024 04 Oct'24

  NCSC celebrates eight years as Horne blows in

  Outgoing NCSC interim leader Felicity Oswald shares her thoughts on the body’s work over the past eight years as she hands over the reins to incoming CEO Richard Horne

• October 04, 2024 04 Oct'24

  Data and technology key to the future of the subsurface, report says

  The report highlights the important role of the subsurface, but lack of accessible data and the likely need for new policy and regulation on the use of new technologies are barriers to future sustainable and efficient use

• October 03, 2024 03 Oct'24

  Microsoft files lawsuit to seize domains used by Russian spooks

  Microsoft has been given permission to seize multiple domains used by the Russian state threat actor Star Blizzard as part of a coordinated disruption effort undertaken ahead of the US elections

• October 03, 2024 03 Oct'24

  Local councils need ‘better support’ to buy AI responsibly

  The Ada Lovelace Institute says there is lack of adequate support on how councils can safely and responsibly procure artificial intelligence systems in the public interest

• October 02, 2024 02 Oct'24

  UK and Singapore to collaborate on supporting ransomware victims

  At the fourth Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit in the US, both the UK and Singapore have committed to working on new guidance designed to better support victims and undermine cyber criminal business models

• October 01, 2024 01 Oct'24

  Unmasked: The Evil Corp cyber gangster who worked for LockBit

  The NCA has named and shamed a prominent member of the Evil Corp cyber crime collective who also worked as an affiliate of the LockBit ransomware gang as the UK unveils new sanctions against 16 Russian cyber criminals

• September 27, 2024 27 Sep'24

  UK on high alert over Iranian spear phishing attacks, says NCSC

  The NCSC and counterpart agencies in the US have issued a warning over enhanced Iranian spear phishing activity targeting politicians, journalists, activists and others with an interest in Middle Eastern affairs

• September 26, 2024 26 Sep'24

  Racist Network Rail Wi-Fi hack was work of malicious insider

  Police have revealed that this week’s racist cyber attack on public Wi-Fi networks at stations across the UK appears to have been the work of a malicious insider, after arresting an employee of one of the service providers

• September 25, 2024 25 Sep'24

  CrowdStrike apologises to US government for global mega-outage

  CrowdStrike executive Adam Meyers appears before a US government committee to explain the series of errors that led directly to one of the biggest IT outages in history

• September 20, 2024 20 Sep'24

  UN body urges ‘globally inclusive and distributed’ AI governance

  A United Nations body set up to investigate the international governance of AI says the nature of how the technology currently operates requires a global approach to regulation that prioritises equity and inclusion

• September 19, 2024 19 Sep'24

  HSBC tests post-quantum VPN tunnel for digital ledgers

  Encryption required for post-quantum cryptography will have a material impact on the performance of distributed ledgers

• September 19, 2024 19 Sep'24

  Post Office scandal victim becomes first to receive £600,000 under new redress scheme

  The compensation payment raises hopes that other wrongly convicted subpostmasters will receive payments far more quickly under new scheme

• September 16, 2024 16 Sep'24

  HMRC’s list of known tax avoidance schemes and non-compliant umbrellas nears 100 names

  The number of non-compliant umbrella companies and tax avoidance schemes on HMRC’s name and shame list has doubled in the past 12 months

• 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