IT for financial services

AI-enabled security pushes down breach costs for UK organisations

Organisations that are incorporating AI and automation into their cyber security practice are seeing improved outcomes when incidents occur, according to an IBM study Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Global cyber spend will top $200bn this year, says Gartner

Worldwide spending on cyber security will hit another record high in 2025, and will go higher still next year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

European digital market figurehead pleads to Westminster

Big EU industry joins with Europhile MP to persuade obstinate government officials to join the dataspaces intended to become the bedrock of Europe’s digital single market Continue Reading

SharePoint users hit by Warlock ransomware, says Microsoft

Microsoft’s security analysts confirm a number of cyber attacks on on-premise SharePoint Server users involve ransomware Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK loses second spot in global fintech to UAE

The UK has been pushed into third spot on global fintech market size data for the first half of this year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch researchers use heartbeat detection to unmask deepfakes

Dutch method to counter deepfakes analyses blood flow patterns in faces that current deepfake generation tools cannot yet replicate Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Monzo’s £21m fine highlights banks’ cyber security failures

Monzo’s recent fine over failings in its customer verification processes highlights wider security and privacy shortcomings in the personal finance world Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Microsoft confirms China link to SharePoint hacks

Microsoft confirms two known China-nexus threat actors, and one other suspected state-backed hacking group, are exploiting vulnerabilities in SharePoint Server Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chinese cyber spies among those linked to SharePoint attacks

Exploitation of the ToolShell RCE zero-day in Microsoft SharePoint continues to gather pace, with evidence emerging of exploitation by nation state-backed threat actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The Bank of England’s quiet ‘Big Bang’

The Bank of England has completed its generational project to replace part of the UK’s critical infrastructure, which went unnoticed beyond the sector it underpins Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Patch ToolShell SharePoint zero-day immediately, says Microsoft

The active exploitation of a dangerous zero-day vulnerability chain in Microsoft SharePoint – which was disclosed over the weekend – is underway. Immediate action is advised Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The Security Interviews: Jason Nurse, University of Kent

Jason Nurse, reader in cyber security at the University of Kent, discusses the psychological side of cyber and online safety, why placing blame on users as ‘the weakest link’ is wrong – and why security pros should think about user needs more Continue Reading

By

• Danny Palmer

Meet the deepfake fraudster who applied to work at a deepfake specialist

A recruiter at voice fraud specialist Pindrop had a shock when they came face-to-face with the same deepfake job candidate not once, but twice. Hear their story and learn how to start to protect your hiring process Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Estimated 96% of EMEA financial services sector not ready for DORA

Research from data backup provider Veeam indicates that vast majority of European financial services firms do not feel ready to meet the resiliency requirements of the EU’s DORA act Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Fujitsu outage crashes Post Office Horizon system

Japanese IT giant’s time serving the Post Office is due to end next year, but problems persist Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Travelex replacing its software spine as part of cloud migration

The foreign currency supplier is replacing its legacy supply chain backbone to enable its migration to the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Scattered Spider playbook evolving fast, says Microsoft

Microsoft warns users over notable evolutions in Scattered Spider’s attack playbook, and beefs up some of the defensive capabilities it offers to customers in response Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UKtech50 2025: The most influential people in UK technology

Computer Weekly has announced the 15th annual UKtech50 – our definitive list of the movers and shakers in the UK tech sector Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Current approaches to patching unsustainable, report says

Organisations are struggling to prioritise vulnerability patching appropriately, leading to situations where everything is a crisis, which helps nobody, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Brits clinging to Windows 10 face heightened risk, says NCSC

Businesses and consumers alike may not feel the need to upgrade to Windows 11 as its predecessor approaches end-of-life, but they are putting their own security at risk, says the NCSC Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Technology fuels successful FCA fight against unauthorised financial services

The UK finance regulator is using data and technology to identify websites and apps that could cause financial harm Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Irish bank rolls out AI tools to 10,000 staff

Following exploration of artificial intelligence’s potential in conjunction with staff, AIB is rolling the tools out across the company Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Four arrested in M&S cyber attack investigation

Police have made four arrests in connection with a trio of cyber attacks on UK retailers Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

July Patch Tuesday brings over 130 new flaws to address

Microsoft patched well over 100 new common vulnerabilities and exposures on the second Tuesday of the month, but its latest update is mercifully light on zero-days Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zopa to embed into Manchester’s tech ecosystem

Challenger bank Zopa plans to eventually have 500 staff in its Manchester office, which will launch next month Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Google fixes type confusion flaw in Chrome browser

An actively exploited type confusion vulnerability in the Google Chrome web browser needs immediate attention from users Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

TSB faces another risky IT migration as Santander eyes UK bank

TSB’s customers were moved to the in-house-developed platform of its parent, Sabadell, in a disastrous migration in 2018 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch study uncovers cognitive biases undermining cyber security board decisions

Dutch research reveals how cognitive biases can lead to catastrophic security decisions Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Digital workers at US bank to get their own email accounts

The financial services sector is leading the way when it comes to using AI across operations – and it’s not afraid to talk about it Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

ING Bank transforming operations through agentic AI

Netherlands-headquartered international bank is using artificial intelligence throughout its operations Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Better governance is required for AI agents

The Security Think Tank considers how CISOs can best plan to facilitate the secure running of AI and Gen AI-based initiatives and ensure employees do not inadvertently leak data or make bad decisions Continue Reading

By

• Mandy Andress, Elastic

Interview: Developing a CIO strategy for artificial intelligence

We speak to Chris Loake, group CIO at Hiscox, about the roll-out of Microsoft Copilot and how to succeed with AI projects Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Next phase of fintech reflected in strong financials, says World Economic Forum

Digital-powered finance firms might not be growing their customer base as fast as the immediate post-pandemic period, but revenue and profits are strong Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK ransomware costs significantly outpace other countries

UK organisations hit by ransomware attacks paid much higher ransoms than in other countries over the past 12 months, according to study Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zopa Bank launches current account earlier than expected

Zopa launches its UK current account, five years after reinventing itself as a challenger bank Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cyber Essentials certifications rising slowly but steadily

The number of businesses attaining the NCSC Cyber Essentials certification continues to increase, but much more can be done to raise awareness of the scheme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dutch cloud pioneers face the hard limits of digital sovereignty

The Netherlands’ ambitious talk of digital independence meets the unforgiving economics of global cloud dominance Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

UBS employee data leaked after cyber attack on supplier

UBS and fellow Swiss bank Pictet have been affected by a cyber attack on a procurement service provider Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Scattered Spider widens web to target insurance sector

Following a series of high-profile attacks on prominent retailers and consumer brands, the Scattered Spider cyber crime collective appears to be expanding its targeting to the insurance sector Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UKtech50: Vote for the most influential person in UK technology

Our judges have selected the top 50 leaders from a shortlist of nearly 500 people – now it’s your chance to tell us who you think is the most influential person in UK technology Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UKtech50 2025: the longlist of the UK’s influential tech leaders

Each year, Computer Weekly launches a search for the most influential people in UK IT, asking the tech community who it thinks should be in the top 50 – here is the longlist of everyone nominated for 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Sweden gets help pulling its sovereign AI socks up

Urgent government calls for more high-powered sovereign computers to fulfil Swedish goal of building a more powerful AI industry answered by foreign financiers, US tech and Europe’s AI emergency fund Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Human vs digital therapy: AI falls short when IT pros need help

Stressed IT and cyber professionals are turning to AI chatbots for support, but is handing people's mental wellbeing over to algorithms really such a bright idea? Continue Reading

By

• Malcolm Hanson, PTSD Revolution

Investor behaviour in the wake of cyber's 'black swan' moment

So-called Black Swan events expose the blind spots in even the most sophisticated forecasting models, signaling a need to rethink how businesses, and those investing in them, quantify and prepare for cyber risk. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Bartlett, Hicomply

West Brom Building Society project to meet customers’ digital demands

Calls from customers for a choice of digital channels drove West Brom Building Society’s digital transformation project Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

June Patch Tuesday brings a lighter load for defenders

Barely 70 vulnerabilities make the cut for Microsoft’s monthly security update, but an RCE flaw in WEBDAV and an EoP issue in Windows SMB Client still warrant close attention Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK finance regulator tie-up with Nvidia allows firms to experiment with AI

FCA wants to support organisations in testing their ideas for the use of artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Third-party security weaknesses threaten Europe’s big banks

Security breaches via third parties increased by 25% at Europe’s largest finance firms Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Compensation to Post Office scandal victims reaches £1bn milestone

The government has now paid out more than £1bn to victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Barclays rolls out Microsoft Copilot to 100,000 employees as AI adoption gathers pace

Barclays is doubling down on its adoption of artificial intelligence tools by moving to embrace Microsoft Copilot with a large-scale roll-out of the technology to 100,000 staff Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Citigroup cuts thousands of staff at China-based tech centres

Financial services giant Citigroup is drastically reducing headcount in its Chinese tech delivery centres as it restructures its technology operation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Australia’s CommBank completes migration of data to AWS in AI drive

Putting all of its data in AWS cloud will support bank’s use of artificial intelligence to offer customers more personalised services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NCSC sets out how to build cyber safe cultures

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance for security teams and leaders on how to foster accessible and appropriate cyber security cultures in their organisations Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fortifying the future: The pivotal role of CISOs in AI operations

The Security Think Tank considers how CISOs can best plan to facilitate the secure running of AI and Gen AI-based initiatives and ensure employees do not inadvertently leak data or make bad decisions. Continue Reading

By

• Aditya K Sood, Aryaka

Preparing for AI: The CISO’s role in security, ethics and compliance

The Security Think Tank considers how CISOs can best plan to facilitate the secure running of AI and Gen AI-based initiatives and ensure employees do not inadvertently leak data or make bad decisions. Continue Reading

By

• Elliott Wilkes, ACDS

Fintech growth three times that of finance sector as a whole

Global fintech revenues reached £280bn in 2024, according to Boston Consulting Group report Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The hidden security risks of open source AI

The Security Think Tank considers how CISOs can best plan to facilitate the secure running of AI and Gen AI-based initiatives and ensure employees do not inadvertently leak data or make bad decisions. Continue Reading

By

• Brian Fox, Sonatype

AI security: Balancing innovation with protection

The Security Think Tank considers how CISOs can best plan to facilitate the secure running of AI and Gen AI-based initiatives and ensure employees do not inadvertently leak data or make bad decisions. Continue Reading

By

• Javvad Malik, KnowBe4

Tech adaptability helps Zopa unwrap current account and test generative AI

Zopa Bank’s current account, already used by thousands of existing customers, will be made available to the wider public before end of 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How cyber security professionals are leveraging AWS tools

It’s now essential for IT security teams to have oversight of cloud computing, and AWS offers a plethora of tools to make managing it easier. Find out how cyber pros are using them in the wild Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Signalgate is a signal to revisit security onboarding and training

A leak of information on American military operations caused a major political incident in March 2025. The Security Think Tank considers what can CISOs can learn from this potentially fatal error. Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie and Ellie Hurst, Advent IM

Remote purchase fraud surges 14%, says banking industry

Brits lost over £1bn to payment fraud in its many forms last year, according to the latest banking industry numbers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring

Increased hiring reflects that fintechs are maturing and now require more cyber security and compliance experts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Armed forces charity steps in to address cyber mental health crisis

CIISec and military charity PTSD Resolution hope to address a gathering mental health crisis among frontline cyber professionals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Preparation and appreciation – the human factor in incident response

A typical incident response effort is highly technical, so where do soft skills come in and how do you know how effective your team is? We look at a measurement option and the human consideration in these scenarios Continue Reading

By

• Dan Raywood

What are the best practices for securing AWS tech stacks?

An AWS tech stack can aid business growth and facilitate efficient operations, but misconfigurations have become all too common and stall this progress Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Microsoft raises posse to target dangerous Lumma malware

Microsoft, along with a consortium of partners, has seized and disrupted a significant part of the Lumma malware-as-a-service network used to steal data and funds Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Lloyds and Nationwide to use UK finance sector LLM

Industry-specific large language models could improve customer services, strengthen security and support regulatory compliance Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK Fraud Bill targets benefit claimants for mass surveillance

The UK government’s proposed Fraud Bill will disproportionately place millions of benefit claimants under constant surveillance, creating a two-tier system where people are automatically suspected of wrongdoing for seeking welfare Continue Reading

By

• Anna Dent

Strong fintech security posture at risk via third-party weak links

Despite having a strong security posture, the financial technology sector could be open to attack via third parties Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ransomware attacks dropped by a third last month

Reported ransomware attacks eased off during April following a dramatic spike in the first quarter of 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tackling the UK’s cyber threats

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we report from the National Cyber Security Centre’s annual update on the state of UK security and examine the emerging threats. The chief data officer of Standard Chartered bank discusses preparing for artificial intelligence. We also look at the networking implications of GPU-based AI datacentres. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Mid-career professionals must learn to understand and use AI as GenAI tips balance

Whether in the finance, IT or legal sectors, artificial intelligence will change the way businesses operate and how their people work Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How close is quantum computing to commercial reality?

At a recent event, experts explored the progress towards logical qubits and how these will be applied to empower business IT Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

BBVA creates ChatGPT Store and expands use of the GenAI tool

Data reveals that bank employees are saving an average of almost three hours every week by using ChatGPT Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Roundtable: Why did customers sail away from VMware?

At Nutanix’s recent .Next event in the US, customers talked about why they migrated away from VMware and the pain points that accelerated their decision to switch hypervisor Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

May Patch Tuesday brings five exploited zero-days to fix

Microsoft fixes five exploited, and two publicly disclosed, zero-days in the fifth Patch Tuesday update of 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Italian bank signs 10-year deal with Google Cloud

UniCredit will transform operations through cloud, AI and data analytics technologies from Google Cloud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Interview: Amanda Stent, head of AI strategy and research, Bloomberg

Hallucinating AI, which lies through its teeth, keeps Amanda Stent busy at data analytics and intelligence giant Bloomberg Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nordic countries plan offline payment system for disaster backup

Board member of the Bank of Finland reveals plan as likelihood of losing internet connectivity increases amid geopolitical tensions Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Oxford Uni adds cyber resilience module to MBA programme

Oxford University’s Saïd Business School is working with cyber response specialist Sygnia to help future business leaders get on top of security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK hands Indian IT suppliers competitive boost in trade deal

Trade deal will exempt IT workers from India from paying National Insurance contributions for three years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintech summit reveals what’s next for sector

The UK’s fintech sector attracted $3.6bn investment last year, which was only bettered by the US, but how will UK fintech continue to grow? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Beyond the hook: How phishing is evolving in the world of AI

Phishing attacks are evolving. Gone are the days of clumsy, error-ridden emails that were easy to spot – today’s campaigns harness advanced techniques to bypass even the latest defences. A new approach is needed Continue Reading

By

• Isla Sibanda

Security Think Tank: What CISOs can learn from Signalgate

A leak of information on American military operations caused a major political incident in March 2025. The Security Think Tank considers what can CISOs can learn from this potentially fatal error. Continue Reading

By

• Javvad Malik, KnowBe4

Signalgate: Learnings for CISOs securing enterprise data

A leak of information on American military operations caused a major political incident in March 2025. The Security Think Tank considers what CISOs can learn from this potentially fatal error Continue Reading

By

• Todd Thiemann, Principal Analyst

Current SaaS delivery model a risk management nightmare, says CISO

JPMorgan Chase security chief Patrick Opet laments the state of SaaS security in an open letter to the industry and calls on software providers to do more to enhance resilience Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

FCA wants ‘safe place’ for finance firms to test artificial intelligence

Financial services regulator proposes artificial intelligence testing environment as part of its AI Lab Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Artificial intelligence roles the ‘only safe jobs in banking’

World’s biggest banks have increased the number of employees working with artificial intelligence by 13% in the past six months Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Challenges persist as UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill moves forward

Elements of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill are welcome but questions remain about how best to act in the face of persistent challenges like geopolitical chaos, threats to critical infrastructure, and technological advances Continue Reading

By

• James Morris, CSBR

Interview: Daniele Tonella, CTO, ING

The bank’s global CTO has been in the role for less than a year and in that time has been working his way through four layers of tech Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

March ransomware slowdown probably a red herring

An apparent slowdown in ransomware attack volumes is raising eyebrows, but the statistics never tell the full story Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Rethink authentication to remove the burden on users

The rise of AI powered threats and non-human identities will push an already strained identity security model over the edge Continue Reading

By

• Patrick Wardrop, IBM

Beyond baselines - getting real about security and resilience

In an increasingly contested world, the UK government needs a security certification that goes beyond baseline measures. Continue Reading

By

• Neil Ashdown and Tash Buckley

CW Innovation Awards: DBS AI assistant slashes call times and boosts productivity

The bank’s in-house generative AI tool is streamlining customer service, reducing manual work and speeding up response times, improving both employee and customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Tariff turmoil is making supply chain security riskier

Many businesses around the world are taking the decision to alter their supplier mix in the face of tariff uncertainty, but in doing so are creating more cyber risks for themselves, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Saudi Arabia struggling to reach global leadership in deeptech

Petrostate monarchy trying to build surrogate industry made of foreign startups because own ecosystem is too immature Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Hertz warns UK customers of Cleo-linked data breach

Car hire giant Hertz reveals UK customer data was affected in a cyber incident orchestrated via a series of vulnerabilities in Cleo managed file transfer products Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK challenger bank targets US’s mid-tier banking sector with tech platform

Starling Bank expands its banking as a service platform sales operation into the North American market Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lloyds Bank moves AI work onto Google Cloud platform

Banking group is cutting its emissions and accelerating the development of AI platforms by moving work onto Google Cloud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA