IT for financial services

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, 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

Spirit of openness helps banks get serious about stopping scams

Recent announcements show that banks, financial services firms and IT companies are increasing efforts to curb online scams Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Spoofing vuln threatens security of WhatsApp Windows users

Meta has disclosed and patched a potentially dangerous spoofing flaw in WhatsApp for Windows that could have caused big problems for unwitting users Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

It’s time to stop the victim-blaming and insist on safer software

Businesses spend too much time and money protecting themselves against flaws and vulnerabilities in modern software products, when they ought to raise their expectations and insist on better solutions from providers Continue Reading

By

• Mandy Andress, Elastic

Over £18m stolen from Santander UK customers in first three months of year

Bank’s latest quarterly report on scams said over £18m was stolen from its UK customers by scammers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

‘Bankenstein’ and a cold calculation means banking crashes will continue

Following a three-day crash at Barclays, UK banks were forced to explain to MPs when, how and why digital services became unavailable over past two years Continue Reading

Fintech body calls on government for national anti-fraud centre

Industry body says a national anti-fraud centre could be the vehicle required to effectively fight fraud through data sharing Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Norway and Nordic financial sector ramps up cyber security

Finans Norge sets up cyber security unit CTSU to support the finance sector in Norway amid increasing threats Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Banks to share fraud data with tech firms in cross-sector collaboration

UK banks join tech firms in fraud data-sharing initiative to enable collaboration on action to stop online scams Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Taking a ‘good enough’ approach with cloud security isn't enough

In the wake of the January 2025 'Codefinger' attacks against AWS S3 users, Thales Rob Elliss argues that many organisations are dropping the ball when it comes to their understanding of cloud security best practice Continue Reading

By

• Rob Ellis, Thales

Danish supercomputer to drive innovation

Supercomputer project will add a competitive edge to drive innovation and growth among Denmark’s enterprises and research organisations Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

UKtech50 2025 – help us find the most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK IT is on – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year's list Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Bridging Borders: The rise of Ukrainian-British tech collaboration

The IT sectors of the UK and Ukraine have built strong relationships since Russia’s invasion of the latter, and there is more to come, writes the IT Ukraine Association’s ambassador in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Alexandra Govorukha

Gmail ‘bubble’ encryption may be an S/MIME killer, says Google

Marking the 21st anniversary of Gmail, Google is preparing to roll out an end-to-end encryption standard for its email service in hopes of democratising encryption and leaving old standards in the dust Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Top 1,000 IT service providers in scope of UK cyber bill

The government’s proposed Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is set to include regulatory provisions covering both datacentre operators and larger IT service providers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Countering nation-state cyber espionage: A CISO field guide

The rise of DeepSeek has prompted the usual well-documented concerns around AI, but also raised worries about its potential links to the Chinese state. The Security Think Tank considers the steps security leaders can take to counter threats posed by nation state industrial espionage? Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Hodges, Quorum Cyber

More than 200 Lloyds Bank bosses to receive artificial intelligence training

Lloyds Banking Group is running a six-month training programme with the aim of building AI skills among its senior leadership Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

‘Bankenstein’ and a cold calculation means banking crashes will continue

Following a three-day crash at Barclays, UK banks were forced to explain to MPs when, how and why digital services became unavailable over past two years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NCSC, DSIT enlist IBM to spearhead cyber diversity agenda

IBM signs on to a partnership deal in support of the popular NCSC CyberFirst Girls scheme designed to foster gender diversity in the cyber security profession Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dutch workforce faces radical transformation as AI adoption accelerates

While the Netherlands leads Europe in AI adoption, a deeper analysis of the labour market reveals a more nuanced narrative than the apocalyptic predictions of job losses Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

NCSC proposes three-step plan to move to quantum-safe encryption

The NCSC urges service providers, large organisations and critical sectors to start thinking today about how they will migrate to post-quantum cryptography over the next decade Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Clop resurgence drives ransomware attacks in February

The exploitation of two new vulnerabilities in a popular file transfer service saw the Clop ransomware gang soar in February, according to NCC Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How Oracle is using AI to combat financial crime

The tech giant is leveraging artificial intelligence to surface fraudulent financial transactions and improve the efficiency of financial crime investigations, offering relief to banks battling high costs and alert fatigue Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

How CISOs can counter the threat of nation state espionage

The rise of DeepSeek has prompted the usual well-documented concerns around AI, but also raised worries about its potential links to the Chinese state. The Security Think Tank considers the steps security leaders can take to counter threats posed by nation state industrial espionage? Continue Reading

By

• Elisabeth Mackay, PA Consulting

SuperBlack ransomware may have ties to LockBit

Forescout researchers report on a new ransomware gang that appears to be keeping the legacy of the notorious LockBit crew alive Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government announces inevitable end to Payments Services Regulator

The government has abolished the Payments Services Regulator and will move responsibilities to Financial Conduct Authority Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

March Patch Tuesday brings 57 fixes, multiple zero-days

The third Patch Tuesday of 2025 brings fixes for 57 flaws and a hefty number of zero-days Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Perimeter security appliances source of most ransomware hits

Perimeter security appliances and devices, particularly VPNs, prove to be the most popular entry points into victim networks for financially motivated ransomware gangs, according to reports Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

2024: the year misconfigurations exposed digital vulnerabilities

Small configuration errors cascaded into major outages during 2024. Mike Hicks, from Cisco ThousandEyes, propounds techniques to defend digital resilience against tales of the unexpected Continue Reading

By

• Mike Hicks

Norway says ‘no way’ to global financial crime

Oslo’s startup ecosystem is fighting back against cyber criminals with tech to wipe out attacks rather than just detect them Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Big bank systems crashed for over 800 hours in last two years due to IT outages

Bank bosses forced to reveal extent of banking IT failures to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CFIT publishes blueprint for digital company business IDs

Plan to increase the use of digital identities by businesses could add billions of pounds to UK economy through compliance savings and reduced fraud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IR35: Government outlines two-pronged approach to umbrella company regulation

The government looks set to deliver on its long-promised vow to roll out regulation for umbrella companies Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Major UK banks hit by payday digital banking problems again

A month after Barclays suffered online banking problems, customers at multiple banks report further issues Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Secure software: Third-party suppliers your first-party risk

Outgoing CISA chief Jen Easterly called on buyers to demand better security standards from their software suppliers. The Security Think Tank considers what better means, and what best practice for secure software procurement looks like in 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Ejona Preci, Lindal Group

CVE volumes head towards 50,000 in 2025, analysts claim

Many trends, notably a big shift to open source tools, are behind an expected boom in the number of disclosed vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CISOs spending more on insider risk

Insider risk management budgets have more than doubled in the past 12 months and look set to grow further still in 2025, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government seeks payments tech partner through £49m contract

UK government wants tech partner to help it embed open banking functionality into its Gov.uk Pay platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

A landscape forever altered? The LockBit takedown one year on

The NCA-led takedown of the LockBit ransomware gang in February 2024 heralded a transformative year in the fight against cyber crime. One year on, we look back at Operation Cronos and its impact Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CaixaBank outlines artificial intelligence intentions in €5bn plan

Spanish bank announces Cosmos, an investment in its processes and technology that sits within its €5bn strategic plan Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Balancing act: Managing business needs alongside digital transformation and innovation

How can IT leaders deliver on the challenging balancing act between innovation, cost control, and managing corporate expectations? One startup CTO in a highly established industry shares his experiences Continue Reading

By

• Chris Gray, Inshur

EY: Industrial companies worldwide stunted in emerging technology use

Businesses globally are spending more on emerging technologies year-on-year, but struggle to expand experimental use cases, finds EY’s sixth annual Reimagining Industry Futures study Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Cyber Monitoring Centre develops hurricane scale to count cost of cyber attacks

A non-profit company aims to measure the impact of cyber events on the economy using a 1 to 5 scale borrowed from hurricane classification Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Meta’s planned subsea cable will exceed circumference of Earth and support AI innovation

Meta’s planned 50,000 km subsea cable will be the world’s longest and connect the five major continents Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

‘Times are hard’ for fintech but latest report reveals glimmer of recovery

Fintech investment in the UK hit a four-year low last year, as the wider EMEA region saw the lowest numbers in eight years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Gartner: CISOs struggling to balance security, business objectives

Only 14% of security leaders can ‘effectively secure organisational data assets while also enabling the use of data to achieve business objectives’, according to Gartner Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government launches consultation on plan to streamline business through e-invoicing

Government announces 12-week consultation on electronic invoicing as part of its plan for change Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cisco Live EMEA: Network supplier tightens AI embrace

At its annual EMEA show, Cisco tech leadership unveiled a raft of new products, services and features designed to help customers do more with artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MPs demand bank bosses come clean over IT outages following Barclays crash

Treasury committee wants banks to provide details of how IT failures have affected their businesses over the past two years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Courting global talent: How can Web3 startups attract the best developers in the world?

James Strudwick, executive director at Web3 tech startup Starknet Foundation, on how to attract the best talent in the Web3 space Continue Reading

By

• James Strudwick

HMRC spends £785m a year on running digital tax systems

Beyond £785m spend, HMRC also spent £482m on upgrading legacy systems and introducing new digital systems, as it continues to fall behind its plans to become one of the most digitally advanced tax authorities in the world Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

US lawmakers move to ban DeepSeek AI tool

US politicians have introduced a bill seeking to ban the use of the DeepSeek AI tool on government-owned devices, citing national security concerns due to its alleged links to the Chinese state Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ransomware payment value fell over 30% in 2024

Several factors, including the impact of law enforcement operations disrupting cyber criminal gangs and better preparedness among users, may be behind a significant drop in the total value of ransomware payments Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Self-healing networks: The next evolution in network management

The age of AI is highlighting the security risks and pitfalls of traditional network management techniques. Self-healing networks may offer a solution that not only bolsters security, but makes IT and network teams more efficient Continue Reading

By

• Isla Sibanda

UK’s Cyber Monitoring Centre begins incident classification work

The Cyber Monitoring Centre will work to categorise major incidents against a newly developed scale to help organisations better understand the nature of systemic cyber attacks and learn from their impact Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MPs to scrutinise use of artificial intelligence in the finance sector

MPs launch inquiry into the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the financial services sector Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

“Unsafe At Any Speed”. Comparing automobiles to code risk

Outgoing CISA chief Jen Easterly called on buyers to demand better security standards from their software suppliers. The Security Think Tank considers what better means, and what best practice for secure software procurement looks like in 2025. Continue Reading

By

• Tyler Shields

Can AI identify financially vulnerable people better than humans?

Research from customer experience firm Nice finds that AI can identify financially vulnerable people better than humans and offer more comfortable channels for financial problem solving Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Nationwide Building Society to train people to think like cyber criminals

Nationwide wants to help bring more diversity into UK cyber security skills base through partnership with training specialist Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Vigilant buyers are the best recipe for accountable suppliers

In January 2025, outgoing CISA chief Jen Easterly called on IT buyers to demand better security standards from their software suppliers. The Security Think Tank considers what better means, and what does best practice for secure software procurement looks like in 2025. Continue Reading

By

• Aditya K Sood, Aryaka

Barclays hit by major IT outage on HMRC deadline day

Customers of Barclays Bank are left unable to access web app and online banking following a significant IT outage that seems to have come at the worst possible time Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Vallance rejects latest charge to reform UK hacking laws

Science minister Patrick Vallance rejects proposed amendments to the Computer Misuse Act, arguing that they could create a loophole for cyber criminals to exploit Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Your first steps to improve international compliance

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders should best navigate the multitude of new national and multinational regulations affecting their work, and ensure their organisations remain compliant and protected Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Three sentenced over OTP.Agency MFA fraud service

Three men have been sentenced over their role in a cyber criminal subscription service that offered access to online accounts using illicitly obtained one-time passcodes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber incident that closed British Museum was inside job

An IT incident that disrupted visitor access to the British Museum last week was the work of a disgruntled contractor who had been let go Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ICO launches major review of cookies on UK websites

ICO sets out 2025 goals, including a review of cookie compliance across the UK’s top 1,000 websites, as it seeks to achieve its ultimate goal of giving the public meaningful control over how their data is used Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Privacy professionals expect budget cuts, lack confidence

Over 50% of privacy professionals in Europe expect to see less money earmarked for data security initiatives in 2025, and many don’t have faith their organisations are taking the issue seriously, according to an ISACA report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Funksec gang turned up ransomware heat in December

The criminal ransomware fraternity was hard at work over the festive period, with attack volumes rising and a new threat actor emerging on the scene Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The death of the piggy bank marks coming of age of a fintech

Fintech is a broad church that can be applied to high finance and child savings alike, as the team at startup Those Beyond have demonstrated Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cyber innovation to address rising regulatory, threat burden

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders should best navigate the multitude of new national and multinational regulations affecting their work, and ensure their organisations remain compliant and protected Continue Reading

By

• Nick New, Optalysys

A guide to DORA compliance

We look at the new EU regulation for cyber resiliency, the role of IT asset management in auditing and third-party risks Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Almost half of UK banks set to miss DORA deadline

A significant minority of financial services organisations in the UK will not be fully compliant with the EU’s DORA cyber and risk management regulation when it comes into force on 17 January Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bank of England and New York counterpart exchange puts technology cooperation into 3D

A staff exchange between regulators will see US and UK financial technology experts cross the Atlantic Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government, Nesta and ODI issue £600k smart data challenge to technologists

Department for Business and Trade, Challenge Works and the Open Data Institute have issued a Smart Data Challenge to app developers and entrepreneurs with a total prize fund of £600,000 Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Biggest Patch Tuesday in years sees Microsoft address 159 vulnerabilities

The largest Patch Tuesday of the 2020s so far brings fixes for more than 150 CVEs ranging widely in their scope and severity – including eight zero-day flaws Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK’s female fintech leaders hit harder by investment collapse

UK fintechs led by women suffered disproportionately as a result of the fall in investment in the sector Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Interview: Wendy Redshaw, chief digital information officer, NatWest Retail Bank

The retail bank is moving at pace to introduce generative AI into key customer-facing services as part of a wider digital transformation across the organisation Continue Reading

Generating customer experience at NatWest Bank

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how NatWest Bank is using generative AI to enhance its customer experience. Our latest buyer’s guide examines the emerging regulatory compliance environment affecting IT leaders. And we learn how Toyota is turning to automation to improve its helpdesk support service for employees. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Why we need better cyber regulation to protect the UK from disruption

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders should best navigate the multitude of new national and multinational regulations affecting their work, and ensure their organisations remain compliant and protected. Continue Reading

By

• Adam Stringer, PA Consulting

Experts say ‘something has to break’ before banks slow IT-driven cost-cutting measures

Banks will cut costs until something breaks and they are forced to scale back, according to industry experts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

US bank FNBO uses Pindrop to tackle voice fraud, deepfakes

Learn how First National Bank of Omaha in the US is enhancing customer authentication and verification in its contact centres, eliminating friction points and making life easier for its customer service teams, with Pindrop voice security technology Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mandiant: Latest Ivanti vulns exploited by Chinese cyber spooks

Threat actors are once again lining up to exploit vulnerabilities in the widely used Ivanti product suite, with an apparent link to Chinese espionage activity Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK fintech investment drops by almost double global average

Global fintech investments fell 20% compared to 37% in the UK, according to latest Innovate Finance figures Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Why CISOs should build stronger bonds with the legal function in 2025

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders should best navigate the multitude of new national and multinational regulations affecting their work, and ensure their organisations remain compliant and protected. Continue Reading

By

• Mandy Andress, Elastic

US Treasury incident a clear warning on supply chain security in 2025

A cyber incident at the US Department of the Treasury – blamed on a Chinese state actor – raises fresh warnings about supply chain risk after it was found to have originated via vulnerabilities in a remote tech support product Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Top 10 financial services stories of 2024

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 financial services stories of 2024 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Interview: Wendy Redshaw, chief digital information officer, NatWest Retail Bank

The retail bank is moving at pace to introduce generative AI into key customer-facing services as part of a wider digital transformation across the organisation Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Government introduces technology adoption review

Whitehall has launched a call for evidence on barriers to adopting new technologies in the UK, wanting to know what needs to change for the country to stay at the forefront of technology adoption Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

LockBit ransomware gang teases February 2025 return

An individual associated with the LockBit ransomware gang has broken cover to tease details of a new phase of the cyber criminal operation's activity, which they claim is set to begin in February 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor