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IT strategy

July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21
Cyber insurance costs up by a third

The frequency and severity of ransomware attacks is a leading factor behind a substantial increase in the cost of obtaining cyber security insurance
July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21
BA reaches settlement in data breach group action

A group action against BA following its 2018 data breach has been successfully settled
July 05, 2021 05 Jul'21
REvil crew wants $70m in Kaseya ransomware heist

Two days after one of the largest ransomware attacks in history by the REvil/Sodinokibi gang, the security community is assessing its next moves, while over 1,000 victims remain in limbo
July 05, 2021 05 Jul'21
UnaBiz makes foray into Japan

The Singapore-based IoT technology provider has opened an office in Tokyo to tap the groundswell of IoT deployments in utilities and other sectors

July 05, 2021 05 Jul'21
CIO interview: Simon McKinnon, chief digital and information officer, DWP

The Department for Work and Pensions’ CDIO sheds light on its digital ambitions and how it is bringing more digital capability in-house through the integration of Benefits and Pension Digital Technology Services staff
July 05, 2021 05 Jul'21
Ascendas India Trust to build datacentre near Mumbai

New datacentre campus near Mumbai will deliver 90MW of power to host technology and cloud suppliers as well as large Indian companies in a fast-growing market
July 02, 2021 02 Jul'21
UK needs legislation with specific focus on biometric technologies

The UK’s former biometrics commissioner has told MPs that Parliament should explicitly legislate on the use of biometric technologies so it is clear to both police and private companies which uses are acceptable
July 02, 2021 02 Jul'21
Should I be worried about PrintNightmare?

The accidental publication of proof of concept code for a Windows vulnerability, and the reclassification of said bug from low to critical severity, has the cyber community concerned. Is it right to be?
July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21
NCSC joins US authorities to expose Russian brute force campaign

A joint attribution by the British and American authorities accuses Russia’s GRU intelligence services of conducting a campaign of brute force attacks on enterprise and cloud environments
July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21
UK government issues “safety by design” guidance for tech firms

The guidance is designed to help technology companies embed safer design for users into their services in anticipation of the Online Safety Bill becoming law

July 01, 2021 01 Jul'21
US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launches ransomware assessment tool

Newly launched service will help US organisations understand how prepared they are to deal with a ransomware attack
June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21
REvil affiliates offer hefty ransom discounts, data reveals

REvil or Sodinokibi ransomware activity is higher than ever, but its success appears to be relative, with some affiliates prepared to dramatically cut their prices
June 30, 2021 30 Jun'21
Putting cloud repatriation into perspective

Moving public cloud workloads back on-premise is among the decisions that organisations have to make as they straddle between public and private cloud environments
June 29, 2021 29 Jun'21
UK Cyber Security Council launches inaugural initiatives

Security association seeks to determine terms of reference for committees to oversee standards and ethics, and qualifications and careers in the cyber sector
June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21
Insurers unprepared for challenges of underwriting ransomware

RUSI think tank calls for an industry-wide reset amid intense challenges for providers of cyber security insurance
June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21
UK’s FCA bans crypto exchange Binance as crackdown spreads

Ban on Binance Markets comes amid a wider global crackdown on the largely unregulated global market for cryptocurrencies and related assets.
June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21
Windows 11: It’s more than a repositioned Start button

Microsoft has tried to grab the headlines with the latest incarnation of its desktop operating system, sporting a repositioned Start button and updated icons
June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21
NCSC CEO: UK-Ireland collaboration crucial to stop cyber threats

Speaking at a conference in Dublin, NCSC Lindy Cameron is highlighting the importance of continued collaboration between the UK and Ireland to protect shared interests and counter security threats
June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21
Anglesey schools offline after cyber attack

Isle of Anglesey County Council is investigating a cyber attack that has forced it to shut down systems at all five secondary schools on the island
June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21
AWS launches bug-busting programme for developers

Amazon Web Services is inviting customers to probe their code for software bugs and vulnerabilities using its CodeGuru console
June 25, 2021 25 Jun'21
France TV repatriates backup and archive from public cloud

France Télévisions Publicité couldn’t always get to critical data, so decided to repatriate backup and archiving from the cloud to on-site locations, with help from a managed service
June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21
Google hands third-party cookies a stay of execution

Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox initiative – which will see third-party cookies phased out in the Chrome web browser – has been pushed back to 2023
June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21
NCSC recognises cyber degree apprenticeships for the first time

Addition of new cyber courses to National Cyber Security Centre’s accredited list will supposedly help students make better choices and help universities get more funding
June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21
Revealed: Crypto platform’s role in Cl0p ransomware raid

Crypto infrastructure provider Binance provided assistance to law enforcement after finding its exchange was being used by cyber criminals to launder their ransomware profits
June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21
(ISC)² makes ransomware education course free through 31 July

Cyber security association is making its Professional Development Institute course on ransomware free to the general public until the end of July
June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21
Vodafone confirms European datacentres will be powered by 100% green energy by July 2021

Telco giant claims it is on course to hit an important milestone in its latest sustainability push, with its entire European operations set to be 100% renewably powered by 1 July
June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21
Make ransomware payments illegal, say 79% of cyber pros

Report produced for MSSP Talion claims overwhelming support for the criminalisation of ransomware payments
June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21
City of York picks Barracuda Networks for data protection

York Council needed to refresh its backup service to bring new security protections after it went ‘all-in’ on Microsoft Office 365
June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21
European Union to set up new cyber response unit

Proposed Joint Cyber Unit will tackle a rising number of serious incidents impacting public services, businesses and citizens of the EU
June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21
Time to patch increases significantly during pandemic

New data from US-based endpoint management specialist Automox reveals some of the challenges security teams face in keeping up with endpoint security
June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21
UK councils reported over 700 data breaches to ICO in 2020

Data disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act reveals an estimated 700 data breaches were reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office by local councils last year
June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21
SonicWall sees 226.3 million ransomware attack attempts this year

SonicWall detected 226.3 million attempted ransomware attacks between January and May 2021, more than double the number seen in the same period last year
June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21
Cloudflare announces new integrations with Microsoft, others

New security integrations with Microsoft Azure Sentinel, Splunk, Datadog and Sumo Logic will supposedly make it easier for users to analyse network security data
June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21
UK SMEs lack capacity to fend off cyber attacks

Three-quarters of UK SME leaders would not have sufficient capacity or expertise to deal with a cyber attack, according to a report
June 21, 2021 21 Jun'21
Opera house shuns cloud for Nutanix and Rubrik hyper-converged infrastructure

The Royal Opera House considered moving all its infrastructure to the cloud, but a hybrid setup with Nutanix and Rubrik hyper-converged infrastructure came in 35% cheaper
June 21, 2021 21 Jun'21
Parliamentary devices left in taxis, buses, trains and pubs

Nearly 100 devices belonging to parliamentary staffers, including MPs and peers, were lost or stolen over the course of 2019 and 2020
June 17, 2021 17 Jun'21
Technology takes centre stage in UK government reform

The government’s tech recovery programme includes a pledge to shift towards data interoperability and phasing out legacy systems
June 17, 2021 17 Jun'21
GDS to improve Gov.uk with user monitoring

Gov.uk’s measurement approach is expected to enhance the experience of 335 million users of the government’s online platform
June 17, 2021 17 Jun'21
Biden tackles Putin on ransomware at Geneva summit

Discussions between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin on cyber crime appear to have been somewhat positive, but the path ahead remains unclear
June 16, 2021 16 Jun'21
Organisations cannot rely on cyber insurance to cover losses

Ransomware attacks have become a big driver of cyber insurance claims, but insurance must not be relied upon as a failsafe, says a report
June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21
NHS Test and Trace picks Risk Ledger to secure supply chain

Risk Ledger’s technology promises ‘unparalleled’ visibility into NHS Test and Trace’s supply chain
June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21
Privacy pro salaries rise throughout pandemic, but at a cost

Data from the IAPP’s latest salary survey reveals some insight into how the pandemic impacted the privacy profession
June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21
Ransomware most insidious cyber threat facing UK

NCSC CEO urges organisations to do more to prepare for ransomware attacks
June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21
The Security Interviews: How to build a government model to ‘hack for good’

Kyle Hanslovan started Huntress to give back after a career in the intelligence sector. After US authorities took action to help people hit by the Microsoft Exchange attacks, we discussed how governments can ‘hack for good’
June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21
Evidence emerges of new digital divide in UK connectivity

Study shows extent to which online connectivity impacts quality of life but reveals that renters are nearly twice as likely to describe their connection as only average or unreliable, compared with home owners
June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21
CMA secures commitments from Google on future of cookies

The Competition and Markets Authority is opening a consultation on commitments offered to it by Google to ensure its Privacy Sandbox proposals do not harm digital advertising markets
June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21
UK promises tougher line on cyber crime

Speaking ahead of the G7 Summit, foreign secretary Dominic Raab says the UK is ready to take on cyber criminals and other malicious actors wherever they may be
June 10, 2021 10 Jun'21
Central government spent £4.4bn on IT in 2020

Tussell report finds that central government increased tech spend during the Covid-19 pandemic, and HM Revenue and Customs is the biggest spender
June 10, 2021 10 Jun'21
Risk data shows UK energy sector most vulnerable to cyber attack

New report compiled by insurance firm Hiscox reveals the state of cyber preparedness in the UK and beyond
June 10, 2021 10 Jun'21
BEIS confirms rogue umbrellas will be covered by single enforcement body’s clampdown powers

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy moves to clarify that rogue umbrella firms will be in-scope of its soon-to-be-created single enforcement body, which will focus on protecting workers’ rights
June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21
Unit 42 warns of emergent Prometheus ransomware

Palo Alto’s Unit 42 shares intel on the emergent Prometheus ransomware gang, with apparent links to the Thanos crew
June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21
Google plots a course to address AI in manufacturing

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to change every industry – Google has set its sights on manufacturing
June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21
RSA spins out fraud and risk unit as Outseer

RSA Security is transitioning its fraud and risk intelligence work into a new business to be called Outseer
June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21
BBVA to cut 3,000 jobs in Spain as digital technology transforms industry

Spanish bank is the latest to announce swingeing branch and job cuts amid increased digital competition
June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21
Microsoft fixes seven zero-days on its Patch Tuesday rounds

Fixes for six actively-exploited – and one yet-to-be-exploited – zero-day bugs are released in the June 2021 Patch Tuesday update
June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21
Colonial Pipeline ransom seizure is a win, but don’t relax yet

The security community is enthusiastic about the US authorities’ recovery of a significant part of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware payment, but this positivity should perhaps be somewhat tempered
June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21
Cohesity brings DataProtect backup-as-a-service to Europe via AWS

Scale-out backup appliance pioneer adds backup-as-a-service from a virtual machine on customer premises
June 08, 2021 08 Jun'21
We Open Tech community supports non-binary and trans security pros

New tech community established to advocate for the interests of non-binary people, trans and cis women, trans men, and other marginalised genders in security
June 08, 2021 08 Jun'21
CIO interview: Tom Read, chief executive, Government Digital Service

The new chief at GDS has outlined a three-year strategy for the organisation, and tells Computer Weekly he wants to get back to the core focus of building products for use across government
June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21
MoD launches digital strategy

The Ministry of Defence aims to invest an additional £1.6bn in digital over the next 10 years, and plans to establish a federated ecosystem of digital innovators and developers to ensure continuous progress
June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21
Campaigners plan legal action over NHS data sharing

Privacy coalition aims to force NHS Digital to push back its plans to scrape medical information on millions of patients into a central database
June 04, 2021 04 Jun'21
BCS: Lack of communication over NHS GPDPR ‘astonishing’

The Chartered Institute for IT has warned that millions of people are not being properly informed of NHS Digital plans to harvest their data
June 04, 2021 04 Jun'21
Government action on ransomware epidemic gathers pace

The US government steps up action against ransomware operators, while the UK’s NCSC publishes guidance on preparing to deal with a ransomware attack
June 03, 2021 03 Jun'21
Pandemic a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance to reshape security

The volume of remote working has made it hard to paint an accurate picture of the true state of enterprise cyber security, but it presents an opportunity to change things up
June 02, 2021 02 Jun'21
Scottish businesses missing out on Cyber Essentials benefits

More than a third of Scottish businesses do not believe they are adequately prepared to deal with a cyber security incident
June 01, 2021 01 Jun'21
Sustained demand for PCs continues, at least for another 12 months

Digitisation and the return to work, albeit in a hybrid fashion, are driving demand for PCs – but supply is plagued by component shortages
June 01, 2021 01 Jun'21
Why a cloud operating model matters

Successful cloud adoption requires organisations to go beyond tools and techniques to map out a cloud operating model, says consulting firm Contino
May 31, 2021 31 May'21
Great Eastern doubles down on data analytics

Singapore insurer Great Eastern has started a centre of excellence to drive adoption of data analytics and hone its capabilities in data governance and data engineering
May 28, 2021 28 May'21
IR35 reforms: Blanket-banning firms risk losing contractors and suffering reputational damage

Research by contrator-focused accountancy firm inniAccounts shines a light on how contractors are responding to their clients’ handling of the IR35 reforms
May 27, 2021 27 May'21
Loss of 150,000 police records made worse by management failures

The loss of 150,000 records from a number of national policing systems was caused by a human coding error, but made worse by process and management failures
May 27, 2021 27 May'21
MP-backed push to stop tech giants claiming super-deduction tax relief thwarted

Move to prevent the likes of Amazon using the government's new super-deduction policy to minimise their UK tax liabilities even further fails to win support in the House of Commons
May 27, 2021 27 May'21
Security ops teams struggle to switch off at home

Spiralling stress levels among SOC and IT security teams can be attributed mainly to alert overload, says Trend Micro
May 27, 2021 27 May'21
CIO interview: Tarah Lourens, chief product and technology officer, Rightmove

Rightmove’s chief product and technology officer is working to create fresh data-led services and products, growing the team and building capacity and capability
May 26, 2021 26 May'21
Department for Education’s e-learning unpreparedness widens inequality among students

Department is ‘surprisingly resistant’ to a lessons-learned exercise based on findings during Covid, says Public Accounts Committee report
May 26, 2021 26 May'21
More data stolen in January 2021 than in all of 2017, says report

The volume of data being stolen through breaches is growing steadily and shows no sign of slowing, according to a report from Imperva
May 26, 2021 26 May'21
Google offers free tech skills training to UK jobseekers

Online training in areas such as IT support and UX design will be available through the Department for Work and Pensions
May 25, 2021 25 May'21
Trust is key to keeping the digital customer happy

Consumers were forced into using digital channels during the coronavirus lockdowns, but some digital users now plan to return to the physical world
May 25, 2021 25 May'21
Threat of group GDPR legal action haunts CISOs

The vast majority of security leaders questioned for a new report say they are concerned about the possibility of group legal settlements against them following a serious data breach
May 25, 2021 25 May'21
Think 2021: AI and automation dominate IBM’s growth strategy

Think 2021 was an opportunity for IBM to showcase its progress in a vision for hybrid cloud operations and artificial intelligence
May 25, 2021 25 May'21
Industry reflects on three years of GDPR

Looking back on 12 tumultuous months, we assess how GDPR has weathered the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, and consider what the coming year may hold for data protection
May 25, 2021 25 May'21
UK startups lack gender diversity in senior technical roles

Women account for about 2-3% of engineering and technology directors in startups and scaleups, says report
May 24, 2021 24 May'21
UK to have digital border by end of 2025

Home secretary’s plans for immigration reform include border crossing technology, online immigration status service and electronic travel authorisation system
May 24, 2021 24 May'21
How education reform promises could plug tech skills gap

Skills and Post-16 Education Bill will support lifelong learning, offering people an opportunity to retrain
May 23, 2021 23 May'21
Innovation and skills at the heart of CBI report

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) wants an inclusive and innovative economy, with increased research and development (R&D) investment and better digital intensity and adoption, particularly among SMEs
May 21, 2021 21 May'21
Government Digital Service sets out three-year strategy

The new GDS strategy up to 2024 includes a focus on making Gov.uk a single, trusted source of information, joining up services, and creating a pan-government digital identity solution
May 21, 2021 21 May'21
Alibaba taps machine learning to digitise Chinese classics

Alibaba’s research arm Damo Academy has developed a machine learning model to convert scanned pages of ancient Chinese classics into text
May 20, 2021 20 May'21
UK regulators commit to closer cooperation on digital economy

Two UK regulators have issued a joint statement and signed a memorandum of understanding on the need for closer collaboration on digital markets
May 20, 2021 20 May'21
Pandemic tech use heightens consumer privacy fears

Report on consumer attitudes to privacy finds evidence of a “heightened sense of fear” as digital footprints expand inexorably
May 20, 2021 20 May'21
Malicious scans for at-risk systems start minutes after disclosure

Statistics collated by Palo Alto Networks reveal malicious actors begin scanning the internet for systems at risk of new CVEs within minutes
May 19, 2021 19 May'21
Reports of stolen Irish health service data being leaked online

Leaking of deeply confidential and personal information on patient healthcare marks a new low for the criminal Conti gang
May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Cisco acquires Kenna Security amid security expansion

Cisco announces a new acquisition alongside service enhancements around XDR and SASE in support of its security customers
May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Australian budget lends support to digital economy

Australia’s A$1.2bn Digital Economy Strategy ticks most of the right boxes, but some industry experts say areas such as broadband infrastructure and artificial intelligence are still underfunded
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
Half of UK workforce lacks essential digital skills for work

A ‘hidden middle’ of more than 17 million people do not have the abilities needed to participate and contribute to the digital world in life and at work, study says
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
IR35 reforms: Government gifted roadmap to umbrella regulation by ex-senior policy adviser

Rebecca Seeley Harris, a former senior policy adviser to the Office of Tax Simplification, has joined forces with Offpayroll.org founder James Poyser to pen a draft policy to help the government fast-track its umbrella market regulation plans
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
NCSC study to probe disability and neurodiversity in cyber

National Cyber Security Centre and KPMG have launched a new diversity study aiming to capture benchmarks on disability and neurodiversity in cyber
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
Government seeks input on supply chain security

Amid concerns that too few companies are addressing vulnerabilities in their supply chain, DCMS is opening a consultation on new measures to enhance security
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Colonial Pipeline paid $5m ransom, reports say

Colonial Pipeline may have paid a significant ransom within hours of being attacked, it has emerged, but it’s unlikely the story ends here
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Irish health service hit by major ransomware attack

IT systems in hospitals across Ireland have been switched off following a significant ransomware attack
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Portworx gets container-native array management for Pure hardware

Container storage player Portworx builds in container-native functionality to allow discovery, provisioning and management from inside Kubernetes cluster, but only on Pure arrays so far
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Publishing exploit code does more harm than good, says report

Disclosing exploit code before patches are available gives malicious actors a ‘massive’ head-start, says Kenna Security