News

IT strategy

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  Capita acquires more UK BPO resources

  Capita has acquired the UK private sector operation of customer management specialist Vertex for £40m.

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  Visa Europe opens its doors to IT trainees on Higher Apprenticeship programme

  Visa Europe has recruited 14 IT apprentices through its Higher Apprenticeship programme, launched in April 2011. Most will study for a foundation degree and "level 4" diploma while working in the company's technology division.

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  Severn Trent uses Macro 4 to migrate archived mainframe data

  Severn Trent Water is using software and services company Macro 4 to help decommission a legacy billing system, while retaining access to 10 years' worth of customer data.

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  Google CFO Patrick Pichette: Growth planning, capital structure and leadership

  When it comes to playing the classic role of the no-nonsense chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette has his own personal interpretation. Google's CFO may oversee $36 billion in cash reserves at one of the world's most recognized companies, but he...

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  Deutsche Bank contracts Tata Consultancy to outsource ITIL service model alignment

  Deutsche Bank has contracted Indian IT services giant Tata Consultancy services to transform IT support at its investment banking arm across seven countries.

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  Gartner: CISOs must use risk to show the value of security to business goals

  Risk is key to enabling IT information security professionals to engage with the business and demonstrate business value to the board, according to Gartner.

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  New Look increases sales by 45% after mobile site launch

  Fashion retailer New Look has increased sales by 45% three months after the launch of its mobile commerce site.

• September 19, 2011 19 Sep'11

  Warwickshire County Council signs Google to pilot G-Cloud e-mail service

  Warwickshire County Council is piloting a G-Cloud e-mail service with Google, in a scheme expected to save £250,000.

• September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11

  Unions give go-ahead to one strike against Fujitsu, and call off another

  Unite members working for Fujitsu in Crewe and Manchester are to strike, while members of the Public and Commercial Services union called off strike action against the Japanese outsourcing giant.

• September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11

  IDF: Intel and McAfee announce DeepSafe hardware-based security

  Intel-owned McAfee has unveiled a new hardware-based security technology called DeepSafe at the 2011 Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco.

• September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11

  Government sends GCSE IT back to school

  The GCSE IT curriculum is to be given a dramatic overhaul to make the subject more focused on the needs of business, science minister David Willets has announced.

• September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11

  £12m Royal Courts eWorking system has ‘virtually collapsed’

  Only 11 documents were electronically submitted to the Royal Courts of Justice eWorking system in the second quarter of 2011 - fewer than 0.5% of all files entered on the system.

• September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11

  Insiders increasingly linked to data breaches in the financial sector

  Employees are increasingly responsible for data breaches at financial institutions, according to the US Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT).

• September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11

  EBay’s PayPal gives retailers preview of virtual wallet and barcode payment options

  EBay's PayPal service has given retailers a preview of several new features about how they sell goods and accept payments including mobile payments, barcode scanning using handheld devices, store inventory lookup, virtual wallet and location-based ...

• September 16, 2011 16 Sep'11

  Kaspersky Lab vows to remain independent

  Kaspersky Lab said it will remain independent in the face of continued acquisitions by IT services companies and other consolidation within the security industry.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Cyber attacks are becoming lethal, warns US cyber commander

  Cyber attacks are escalating from large-scale theft and disruption of computer operations to more lethal attacks that destroy systems and physical equipment, according to the head of the US Cyber Command.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  US companies hire more UK IT consultants

  US firms are hiring UK IT consultants in the digital sector with online business marketplace PeoplePerHour.com reporting a 275% increase in the number of US firms hiring UK IT consultants over the last year.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Report reveals concerns over consumerisation of IT

  A lack of mobile device management among SMEs is holding back the introduction of schemes where employees can use their own devices to replace company supplied computers.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Rogue trader who cost UBS £1.3bn points to failure to monitor unauthorised dealing

  Another case of the unauthorised activity of a trader at an investment bank has highlighted the need for real-time monitoring and control in the investment banking sector.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Soca's online child protection centre beefs up data encryption following ICO investigation

  The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre of the Serious Organised Crime Agency has improved security around data sent from its website after the Information Commissioner's Office received a tip-off that data submitted using an online form...

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Groupon to float as Facebook puts off IPO until late 2012

  Online discount site Groupon is reported to be planning a flotation, while Facebook is rumoured to be delaying its IPO until the end of 2012.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  UK business and government dangerously out of tune with cyber threats, says Chatham House

  Business and public sector organisations lack understanding of the nature and gravity of cyber threats and the UK government lacks vision and leadership in dealing with cyber attacks, according to a report by Chatham House.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Comet web operations hit by restructuring

  The owner of electrical goods retailer Comet said sales at the chain's internet arm were hit because of a decision to fully align web and store prices.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  European Commission buys Microsoft for 20 years without competition

  The European Commission has been buying Microsoft software since 1993 without an open and public competition to assess alternative products, Computer Weekly has learned.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Cashless future: VocaLink demos mobile payment gateway

  Payment processing company Vocalink will be showing the future of cash next week at the Sibos financial conference in Toronto.

• September 15, 2011 15 Sep'11

  Mid-size company resource Knowledge Peers uses Mvine for resilience and security

  Chris Dines founded a company, Knowledge Peers, to develop a forum where executives would feel comfortable sharing ideas with their peers.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  IT spend continues to fall in UK as companies prepare for possibility of double-dip recession

  IT spend in UK private and public sector organisations has fallen since last year, with average expenditure dropping 0.6% per user to £3,275, 2.48% of total spend, research has shown.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  PricewaterhouseCoopers takes 40 graduate IT interns on security and testing teams

  Consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers has selected 40 graduate interns for its IT department. The trainees will work with PwC's information security and testing teams.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  HP gets serious about IT security, but is it too little too late?

  Hewlett-Packard has announced several new and improved security products and the establishment of an enterprise security products business unit that unifies a string of security-related acquisitions in the past two years, but is the move too little ...

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  Firms need to collaborate for mobile wallets to become the norm

  Consumers, retailers, advertisers and banks must work more closely together if mobile phones are to replace wallets in an era of mobile commerce.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  Internet giants must be more conscious of datacentre greenhouse gas, says report

  A major benchmarking report into the carbon reduction and energy strategies of internet and social networking giants has revealed a major lack of transparency which will have to be addressed as carbon reporting becomes mandatory.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  Security update: Light Microsoft Patch Tuesday with low application impact plus critical Adobe fixes

  Microsoft's September Patch Tuesday security update is relatively light with only five security updates.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  IT development underpinning Universal Credits comes under fire from MPs and experts

  The delivery of Universal Credits is coming under fire as observers are casting an increasingly critical eye on the IT systems underpinning the politically sensitive project.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  Business leaders must prepare for digital industrial revolution

  Business leaders have been urged to prepare for a digital industrial revolution as new technologies overturn traditional business models and markets.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  IT security should be about good management, not tech performance, says IDC

  IT security in an increasingly complex threat environment needs to be more about management than technology performance, according to Eric Domage, program manager for IDC in Europe.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  Mobile security demands comprehensive approach, IDC conference told

  Securing mobile devices is one of the biggest challenges facing IT security professionals as cyber criminals turn their attention to this platform, according to James Lyne, director of technology strategy at security firm Sophos.

• September 14, 2011 14 Sep'11

  Banks' IT leaders await details of reform but change is certain

  Financial services IT departments are on high alert after the Independent Banking Commission recommended that banks separate their retail and investment operations.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  Identity assurance - how it will affect public services and your personal data

  Computer Weekly examines some of the key issues around the government's identity assurance project for accessing public sector services.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  UK public trusts financial services sector to keep personal data safe, survey reveals

  The UK financial services sector is the most trusted, ahead of the public sector and online retailers, according to Symantec’s inaugural UK Trust Index.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  Privacy report urges government prevent data breaches in move to transparency

  The government must improve its understanding of technology to prevent the identity and personal information of individuals being revealed in datasets, a privacy expert has warned.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  Retailer Aurora gives iPads to shopfloor sales staff to check stock and shorten queue times

  Fashion retailer Aurora is providing iPads to sales staff at London branches of Coast, Oasis, Warehouse and Karen Millen.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  SpyEye Trojan variant attacking Google Android smartphones

  SpyEye Trojan variant SpitMo is attacking mobile devices running the Google Android operating system, warns security firm Trusteer.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  Sabre develops apps marketplace for travel industry

  Sabre, the global distribution system for reserving hotels, airlines, cruise ships, rail tickets and car hire, has taken the concept of the app store and applied in to its own travel market.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  FBI probes hack into NBC News Twitter account after Ground Zero attack hoax

  The FBI is probing a hacking into the NBC News Twitter account after hackers calling themselves "The Script Kiddies" posted bogus Tweets about a hijacked civilian airliner crashing into Ground Zero in New York.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  Jeremy Hunt calls on Google to downgrade piracy website search return listings

  Jeremy Hunt will call on online companies to take reasonable steps against websites that openly infringe copyright in a speech to the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  IT Works: Interview with founder of web design start-up, Blosh

  Cliff Saran speaks to Josh Antwi, a 31-year-old IT entrepreneur who was given support and mentoring by The Prince's Trust.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  GlobalSign web certificate authority back online after breach by hacker

  Belgian web certificate authority (CA) GlobalSign is back online after investigating claims by the hacker who breached the Dutch DigiNotar CA that its systems had also been breached.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  IT Works: Interview with Fiona Timothy, chair of the Prince's Trust Technology Leadership Group

  Fiona Timothy, chair of The Prince's Trust Technology Leadership Group and chief executive of Calyx Group Companies, speaks to Cliff Saran about why IT offers a great opportunity.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  EU cybersecurity agency Enisa publishes report on app store security

  European Union cybersecurity agency Enisa has published a report on app store security that advocates a baseline set of five lines of defence against malware.

• September 13, 2011 13 Sep'11

  'Creative destruction' should drive your 2012 IT budget, says Gartner

  With the planning season for many companies' 2012 budgets under way, Gartner's Dave Aron urges CIOs to tear up the rule book, or risk being sidelined.

• September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11

  SAP focuses on education to spur business growth

  German enterprise software maker SAP plans to invest heavily in education to support strategic technology innovation and spur business growth.

• September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11

  Low-cost business intelligence for the masses

  Computer Weekly has reviewed two different tools - Jaspersoft's open source Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition and QlikTech's commercial business intelligence platform QlikView - to see how they compare.

• September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11

  Mobile malware up 273% in first half of 2011

  Malware for smartphones and tablets rose 273% in the first half of 2011 as researchers recorded an average of one new malware strain every twelve seconds.

• September 12, 2011 12 Sep'11

  AOL CEO Tim Armstrong dusts off plans for Yahoo merger after board sacks Bartz

  Yahoo and AOL are discussing a merger following the sacking of Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz. AOL chief executive officer Tim Armstrong is returning to proposals for a merger rebuffed by Bartz last year.

• September 09, 2011 09 Sep'11

  Twitter plans to expand advertising business as investment raises value to $8bn

  Twitter has outlined plans to increase advertising revenue and avoid an initial public offering (IPO) after reaching more than 100 million active users.

• September 09, 2011 09 Sep'11

  Morrisons checks out a milestone in £310m IT transformation

  Supermarket chain Morrisons has completed a major electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) roll-out as part of its ongoing £310m IT transformation programme.

• September 09, 2011 09 Sep'11

  Cambridge exam board outsources applications support to Cognizant

  Cambridge University's examination group has outsourced applications management and support to Cognizant that will see the company replace 20-year-old bespoke applications with off-the-shelf alternatives.

• September 09, 2011 09 Sep'11

  Adobe removes DigiNotar from Approved Trust List

  Adobe is in the process of removing web authentication certificates issued by breached Dutch root digital certificate authority DigiNotar from the Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL).

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Web security certificate breach widens

  GlobalSign, the fifth largest digital certificate issuer, has suspended the issuing of authentication certificates for websites after the DigiNotar hacker claimed to have breached its systems

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  University challenge: using IT to improve services and reduce costs

  Universities face a balancing act as they become increasingly expected to improve the experiences of more demanding students while making budgets go further, and IT is a critical tool in finding this balance.

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Shared services: Lewisham and Bromley team up for cheaper IT services

  The London boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley have combined forces to use the same provider for datacentre and desktop services operated through a contract...

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Nike+ problems demonstrate the risk of social media success

  The rewards for creating a customer-focused online community are huge. But success comes at a price, as recent issues encountered by Nike's Nike+ running site illustrate. Matt Scott investigates.

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Google joins the fight as HTC launches yet another legal assault on Apple

  Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has filed a third complaint with the US International Trade Commission against Apple in its ongoing war over patent infringement.

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Westminster magistrates court grants bail to Anonymous and LulzSec suspects

  Four alleged UK hackers suspected of being linked to attacks by hacking groups Anonymous and Lulz Security (LulzSec) have been released on bail after a hearing at Westminster magistrates court.

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Government struggling to accelerate IT strategy, says research firm

  The government is struggling to implement the next stage of its IT strategy, according to the latest report from TechMarketView.

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Unite and PCS unions call Fujitsu public sector IT worker strike over pay

  Over 1,000 IT workers in government departments will go on strike for 24 hours on 19 September. Unions Unite and the PCS have joined forces in protest at a pay offer from IT service provider Fujitsu.

• September 08, 2011 08 Sep'11

  Social media blackout during riots not an option for government

  The government did not consider shutting down social media sites during the riots last month, Home Secretary Teresa May admits.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  Compuware disguises test data to trial application security without data breaches

  Compuware has unveiled a tool to allow software developers to test applications' use of private data, while retaining the privacy of the organisation's information.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  Riots and police cuts point to shared services as Policy Exchange publishes report

  A report from the Policy Exchange on cutting costs in UK police authorities has pointed to outsourcing and sharing back-office services as a way of meeting government savings targets while retaining frontline police officers.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  International Personal Finance signs Fujitsu to move IT infrastructure to cloud

  Home credit provider International Personal Finance is reducing costs and improving business agility by moving its IT infrastructure into a private cloud.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  Open Data Center Alliance launches cloud computing best practice competition

  The Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) has launched a competition to find the best cloud computing practices and will award a cash prize of $10,000 for the winning entry.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  Yahoo’s board removes Carol Bartz as chief executive

  Yahoo's board has replaced Carol Bartz as chief executive of the online media company with immediate effect.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  What can the UK IT hubs learn from Melbourne?

  As a new initiative launches to invest in innovation and bridge the gap between academia and commerce, Computer Weekly looks at what the UK can learn from Australian city Melbourne, which points to success being driven by a simpler and more generous...

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  DigiNotar certificate authority breach: Why it matters

  There has been much speculation around the identity and motive of the hacker who was able to breach DigiNotar and issue fraudulent digital certificates for hundreds of websites, but putting such speculation aside, what is the broader significance of...

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  Facebook is not trusted to provide government ID system

  The government will not be using Facebook as part of its Digital Identity Assurance project - a key platform in the drive to deliver more public services online - because of concerns over how the social network uses personal data.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  Durham University aims to cut costs with automated web-based buying service

  Durham University is planning to save millions of pounds over the next five years through a web-based purchasing system.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  CIO interview: Mike Bracken, UK government director of digital

  Whitehall is not exactly known for being at the bleeding edge of technological innovation. But as the newly appointed government director of digital, Mike Bracken is set to change that perception. In an exclusive interview, he discusses the ...

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  CRE petitions Federal Trade Commission to regulate Facebook, Twitter and Google

  The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness is petitioning the US Federal Trade Commission to establish a trade regulation framework for online companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google.

• September 07, 2011 07 Sep'11

  UK datacentre investment is 2nd highest in the world - but expansion rate is 2nd slowest

  The UK is expected to invest $3.35bn in datacentres - the second highest spending of any country. But a slow expansion rate ranks UK datacentre growth at 21st out of 22 countries, according to the DatacenterDynamics Global Industry Census 2011.

• September 06, 2011 06 Sep'11

  UK firms clamp down on social media in response to high-profile data breaches

  UK businesses are clamping down on social media in response to recent high-profile data breaches, according to the latest annual WorkLifeWeb report from content management firm Clearswift.

• September 06, 2011 06 Sep'11

  Sony appoints Philip Reitinger as CISO after data breach hits 100m customers

  Sony has named Philip Reitinger as senior vice-president and chief information security officer, who will report to general counsel Nicole Seligman.

• September 06, 2011 06 Sep'11

  DigiNotar fake web certificates possibly created to spy on Iranians, say security researchers

  Security researchers have uncovered evidence that fraudulent digital web certificates issued by Dutch root certificate authority DigiNotar were created with the aim of spying on people in Iran.

• September 06, 2011 06 Sep'11

  BT integrates three businesses into £400m IT services arm

  BT is combining three of its formerly standalone businesses - BT Engage IT, BT Business Direct and Dabs.com - into a new £400m IT services division.

• September 06, 2011 06 Sep'11

  IT service providers develop cloud despite expectations of slow return on investment

  IT service providers are investing in business models such as cloud computing despite their own conservative estimates about its take-up, according to figures from Gartner.

• September 06, 2011 06 Sep'11

  Government to cut apprenticeship red tape

  The government has outlined measures to cut red tape around recruiting and training apprentices in a move that could help encourage more firms to recruit young people into IT.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  City University London offers business-focused information security training

  City University London is looking for experienced information security and risk professionals to enrol in a new course aimed at giving them the skills required for managerial and consultancy roles.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  Turkish hackers redirect traffic from websites and compromise passwords in DNS attack

  Turkish hackers have carried out domain name system attacks on around 200 websites, including The Register, The Daily Telegraph, BetFair, Vodafone and Acer, redirecting traffic to third-party websites.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  Six shocking facts about CIOs' understanding of the applications portfolio

  UK IT leaders might struggle to take advantage of the latest applications to drive efficiency and competitiveness because CIOs are failing to understand what is in their applications portfolio and how much they are costing, according to research ...

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  Office of National Statistics internet survey shows UK surge in social network use

  More than half of the UK population aged 16 and over is now using social media, according to the Office of National Statistics.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  Government tenders public services network framework agreement worth £2bn

  The government has announced a framework agreement worth up to £2bn for its public services network (PSN), enabling the delivery of public services from any place by any provider.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  DigiNotar SSL certificate compromise widens to include security agencies

  A breach of Dutch root certificate authority DigiNotar, which resulted in the fraudulent issuing of certificates, has widened to include several security agencies.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  Fake Microsoft scammers lure users into granting remote access to PCs

  Hackers claiming to represent Microsoft are using phishing attacks to dupe UK residential and business PC users into paying for fake anti-malware software and services.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  Apple injunction stops Samsung showing Galaxy Tab 7.7 at IFA show in Germany

  Samsung will have to remove its recently unveiled Galaxy Tab 7.7 from display at the IFA trade show in Germany following Apple's latest injunction.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  European Parliament outsources application management to Accenture for £10.5m

  The European Parliament has signed a managed application development, maintenance and support deal worth about £10.5m with Accenture.

• September 05, 2011 05 Sep'11

  Global IT services market value plummets 40% as public sector spending drops off

  The value of global IT services sales plummeted 40% in the second quarter of 2011 to just over $19bn. A lack of big deals in the public sector exacerbated a drop in private sector contracts, said Ovum analyst Ed Thomas.

• September 02, 2011 02 Sep'11

  CSC targets UK growth

  US IT services giant CSC has targeted growth in the UK across all business sectors in managed services, consulting, business process outsourcing, and emerging areas including cloud computing services.

• September 02, 2011 02 Sep'11

  Why ex-servicemen and women should consider a career in IT

  With more than 1,800 redundancies in the RAF and army expected this month, the outlook does not look promising for ex-servicemen and women. Cliff Saran speaks to a former soldier, who has retrained as a highly skilled datacentre technician.

• September 02, 2011 02 Sep'11

  Two men arrested in UK as police investigate Anonymous and LulzSec hacking activities

  Two more people have been arrested inthe ongoing crackdown on hacktivist groups Anonymous and Lulz Security (LulzSec). The Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit arrested two men in South Yorkshire and Wiltshire for conspiring to commit offences...

• September 02, 2011 02 Sep'11

  DigiNotar digital certificate fraud could affect millions of users, says SecurEnvoy

  The scale of digital certificate fraud involving Dutch root certificate authority DigiNotar may be wider than originally thought, with as many as 200 fraudulent digital certificates in circulation.

• September 02, 2011 02 Sep'11

  Anonymous claims hack of Texas police website despite clampdown by authorities

  Hacking group Anonymous has hit the website of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, despite a continuing clampdown on its members.