IT for financial services

LockBit 5.0 expands targeting amid ransomware escalation

The LockBit RaaS operation is back in action, with technical features and expanded targeting, and is contributing to a steadily growing number of ransomware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK ramps up ransomware fightback with supply chain security guide

Multinational guidance, developed by the UK and Singapore, is designed to help organisations reinforce their supply chain against ransomware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Banks’ AI cost-cutting benefits won’t last, will ‘erode’ profits

Banks are making significant cost savings through initial artificial intelligence implementations, but the technology will eventually hit their profits Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The US government shutdown is a wake-up call for cyber self-reliance

As the US government shutdown heads towards a second month, could the disruption to cyber security programmes be the impetus end-users need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? Continue Reading

By

• John Paul Cunningham, Silverfort Inc

The Netherlands faces €12bn R&D investment gap as productivity stagnates

Dutch government unveils nine-point plan to meet European 3% GDP target after its competitiveness ranking plummeted Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

AI talent war sees UBS recruit leadership from JPMorgan

Research from Evident reveals US banks lead the way in AI adoption in the finance sector, with a talent war simmering Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HMRC rolls out Microsoft Copilot AI

HM Revenue and Customs has begun to roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot to its staff, with the aim of making productivity savings Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Pet insurers fuel AI take up in veterinary sector

Through tech startups, insurers are offering artificial intelligence-based veterinary services as part of pet insurance contracts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK banks must be more like Big Tech to catch the US on AI, which comes with a high price

Evident research into artificial intelligence adoption in banking reveals US banks dominate when it comes to making AI work for the business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

AI World: Oracle brings agents to bear on world of finance

Oracle AI World has seen a host of new introductions, among them agentic capabilities for customer finance teams Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

India’s biggest IT firm to create 5,000 UK jobs

Indian IT giant will increase its UK-based workforce by thousands over the next three years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

AI will create a better world, says Oracle’s Ellison

Oracle ramped up its plans to lead in all things AI on the opening day of its renamed customer event, AI World, with founder Larry Ellison emphasising AI’s transformative potential Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Finnish tech partnership reaches ambitious heights

Partnership will explore how combining quantum computing and artificial intelligence can create dynamic benefits in areas such as materials science and complex simulations Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Swedish banks and state join forces to boost cyber security

Sweden’s leading finance institutions have joined forces with state security agencies to develop an integrated cyber defence strategy Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Beyond the refresh: Your cyber strategy must include AI PCs

Viewing a PC refresh as part of security strategy helps build a more resilient and productive enterprise and is an opportunity to move beyond tactical upgrades to adopt a security-first hardware strategy for the AI era. Continue Reading

By

• Louise Quennell, Dell Technologies

Warlock ransomware may be linked to Chinese state

The operators of Warlock ransomware who exploited a set of SharePoint Server vulnerabilities earlier this year likely have some kind of link to the Chinese government, researchers claim Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why it takes 11 hours to resolve one ID-related cyber incident

A recent ESG study revealed it takes an average of 11 hours for enterprises to resolve a single identity-related security incident. How did we get here, and what do we need to do differently? Continue Reading

By

• Ev Kontsevoy, Teleport

Alert over Medusa ransomware attacks targeting Fortra MFT

Microsoft warns it is seeing potential mass exploitation of a Fortra GoAnywhere vulnerability by a threat actor linked to the Medusa ransomware-as-a-service operation. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The Security Interviews: David Bradbury, CSO, Okta

Okta’s chief security officer talks security by default and explains why he thinks time is running out for the shared responsibility model Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Building resilience in the cloud: Bridging SLA gaps and mitigating risk

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders can help assure access to the new and innovative cloud tech while minimising risk and ensuring they do not fall foul of regulators. Continue Reading

By

• Vaibhav Dutta, Tata Communications

US government shutdown stalls cyber intel sharing

A key US law covering cyber security intelligence sharing has expired without an extension or replacement amid a total shutdown of the federal government, putting global security collaboration at risk. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Interview: Wayne Barlow, head of terminal products, Bloomberg

Techie turned business leader Wayne Barlow heads up the development of Bloomberg’s customer-touching terminal software Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Over half of UK adults use mobile wallets

Cash accounted for less than 10% of payments in the UK in 2024, according to UK Finance figures Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Apple’s first iOS 26 security update fixes memory corruption flaw

Apple issues an update for its brand new iOS 26 mobile operating system, fixing a potentially dangerous vulnerability affecting iPhones, iPads and other Mac devices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bank of America builds GenAI assistant for instant answers for customers

Queries that would take an employee an hour to answer are completed almost instantaneously with the Bank of America’s generative AI assistant Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK and US urge Cisco users to ditch end-of-life security appliances

An ongoing campaign of cyber attacks is targeting users of end-of-life Cisco security appliance kit Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why SLA gaps should not hinder cloud innovation

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders can help assure access to the new and innovative cloud tech while minimising risk and ensuring they do not fall foul of regulators. Continue Reading

By

• Ashley Barker and Irfan Ahmed, PA Consulting

Global payments network Swift builds blockchain capability

Not-for-profit global payments network to initially use blockchain-based shared ledger for cross-border payments, with further use cases to follow Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Over half of India-based companies suffer security breaches

Business supply chains, which include Indian companies, are at risk of attack as more than half of suppliers were breached last year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government to introduce mandatory digital ID

Prime minister Keir Starmer says the scheme, which will be compulsory by the end of this parliament, will help crack down on illegal workers, as well as provide benefits to citizens Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Okta CEO: AI security and identity security are one and the same

At Oktane 2025 in Las Vegas, Okta CEO Todd McKinnon describes AI security and identity security as inseparable as he tees up a series of agentic security innovations Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Netherlands establishes cyber resilience network to strengthen public-private digital defence

Network will connect organisations in a cyber crime defence initiative that goes way beyond information sharing Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Oktane 2025: Okta takes aim at agentic AI governance gap

Identity specialist Okta is laying the groundwork for a number of incoming announcements designed to help its customers get to grips with the challenge of securing non-human, agentic identities. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Rethinking identity in the age of AI impersonation

Trust in business has long hinged on human instincts but with the advent of deepfakes, it is becoming dangerous to assume too much. Continue Reading

By

• Akif Khan, Gartner

EU to shut door on Big Tech in financial data sharing

US tech giants to be excluded from EU’s Financial Data Access initiative, which enables the sharing of certain customer financial data Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK cyber action plan lays out path to resilience

A report produced for the government by academics at Imperial College London and the University of Bristol sets out nine recommendations to strengthen the UK’s cyber sector Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Are AI agents a blessing or a curse for cyber security?

Agentic AI is touted as a helpful tool for managing tasks, and cyber criminals are already taking advantage. Should information security teams look to AI agents to keep up? Continue Reading

By

• Danny Palmer

UK banks still run software code written more than 60 years ago

More than half of UK banks still rely on computer code written in or before the 1970s, and which is understood by only a few of their staff Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Microsoft scores win against Office 365 credential thieves

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit disrupts a major phishing-as-a-service operation that targeted and stole Office 365 usernames and credentials Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCC: How RaaS team-ups help Scattered Spider enhance its attacks

Scattered Spider’s alliances with ransomware-as-a-service gangs act as a force multiplier for the scope, and number, of its cyber attacks, according to NCC Group analysts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google Cloud unveils open protocol for agentic payments

Google’s Agent Payments Protocol is an open standard developed with more than 60 global partners to create a secure standard for AI-driven transactions Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Cyber leaders must make better use of risk experts

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders can help assure access to the new and innovative cloud tech while minimising risk and ensuring they do not fall foul of regulators. Continue Reading

By

• Ellie Hurst, Advent IM
• Mike Gillespie

Interview: Using AI agents as judges in GenAI workflows

We speak to Ranil Boteju, chief data and analytics officer at Lloyds Banking Group, about how the bank sees agentic AI in customer-facing chatbots Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Turkish state tightens grip on comms

Turkish subscriptions to fixed broadband were the lowest in Europe in 2024 and half as common as those in more developed countries Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

CIO interview: Sebastiaan Kalshoven, ASN Bank

Sebastiaan Kalshoven combines boldness of vision with back-up plans in transformation of Dutch retail bank  Continue Reading

By

• Martin Veitch

Splunk.conf: Cisco and Splunk expand agentic SOC vision

The arrival of agentic AI in the security operations centre heralds an era of simplification for security professionals, Splunk claims Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Quantum startups fear EU too slow to lead

Europe’s bid to win the race to build viable quantum computers wants details, money and confidence of the industry it is intended to serve Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

UK contactless card payment limits could be unlimited

The UK Financial Conduct Authority says contactless payment technology and fraud protections have advanced enough for firms to adjust the limit Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Splunk.conf: Splunk urges users to eat their ‘cyber veggies’

The dawn of AI-enabled cyber attacks makes it even more important for defenders to bring their A-game, particularly when it comes to getting the basics right Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US politicians ponder Wimwig cyber intel sharing law

US cyber data sharing legislation is set to replace an Obama-era law, but time is running out to get it over the line, with global ramifications for the security industry, and intelligence and law enforcement communities Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SLA promises, security realities: Navigating the shared responsibility gap

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders can help assure access to the new and innovative cloud tech while minimising risk and ensuring they do not fall foul of regulators. Continue Reading

By

• Aditya K Sood, Aryaka

Lloyds Bank to use Workday software to help select staff for redundancy

Lloyds Banking Group will analyse data on HR software to help it select staff for redundancy Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Number of UK banks reporting AI-driven productivity improvements doubles

Survey shows that half of UK banks will increase spending on artificial intelligence as more see AI-related productivity gains Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Bridging the SLA gap: A guide to managing cloud provider risk

The Computer Weekly Security Think Tank considers how security leaders can help assure access to the new and innovative cloud tech while minimising risk and ensuring they do not fall foul of regulators. Continue Reading

By

• John Bruce, Quorum Cyber

Open banking take-up grows by a third

Rising payments are driving the adoption of open banking, with more than 15 million users in July Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Do Fujitsu contracts cross the line?

In this week’s edition of Computer Weekly, we examine the conflict of interest concerns that are growing around the police investigation into Fujitsu’s role in the Post Office scandal, given the firm is a supplier of tech to police forces across the UK. We also catch up with Redwood Bank’s new IT boss, Simon Goodyear, and hear about his plans to eradicate the use of unnecessary Excel spreadsheets within the organisation, as part of a wider revamp of the firm’s digital processes. We also take a closer look at the possibility of the artificial intelligence investment bubble bursting, and the implications that could have on the continued take-up of the technology. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Zopa Bank seeks partners to form AI skills coalition

Survey by Juniper Research and Zopa Bank reveals full return on investment in artificial intelligence over next five years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK cyber security centre helps expose China-based cyber campaign

GCHQ cyber security centre and its international partners release details of malicious cyber activity linked to Chinese businesses Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Incident response planning cuts the risk of claiming on cyber security insurance

Proper attention to incident response planning is emerging as a core cyber control when it comes to reducing the risk of having to claim on cyber security insurance, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ransomware activity levelled off in July, says NCC

Ransomware levels held steady in the month of July, although the risk remained as persistent as ever Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Three new Citrix NetScaler zero-days under active exploitation

Citrix patches three new vulnerabilities in its NetScaler lines warning of active zero-day exploitation by an undisclosed threat actor Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Okta makes AI identity play with Axiom acquisition

Okta says Axiom Security’s technology will reinforce its own offerings in privileged access management, especially when it comes to the growing number of non-human identities Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ransomware attack volumes up nearly three times on 2024

During the first six months of 2025, the number of observed and tracked ransomware attacks far outpaced the volume seen in 2024 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Moscow exploiting seven-year-old Cisco flaw, says FBI

US authorities warn of an uptick in state-sponsored exploitation of a seven-year-old vulnerability in Cisco's operating system software Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Apple iOS update fixes new iPhone zero-day flaw

Latest Apple zero-day found in the ImageIO framework opens the door for targeted zero-click attacks on iPhone users Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Reserve Bank of India proposes framework for AI adoption in India’s finance sector

India’s central bank has proposed a framework to guide artificial intelligence adoption in the financial sector, along with recommendations to build shared infrastructure, implement safeguards and promote financial inclusion Continue Reading

By

• Mastufa Ahmed

Interview: Simon Goodyear, chief information and technology officer, Redwood Bank

Redwood Bank’s new IT boss is a problem solver who wants to eradicate every unnecessary Excel spreadsheet Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Microsoft starts including PQC algorithms in cyber foundations

Microsoft updates on its post-quantum cyber strategy as it continues integrating quantum-safe algorithms into some of the core foundations underpinning its products and services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Commvault users told to patch two RCE exploit chains

Storage firm Commvault fixes four vulnerabilities that, when combined, create a pair of RCE exploit chains that could be used to target on-premise customers with ransomware and other nasties Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google spins up agentic SOC to speed up incident management

Google Cloud elaborates on its vision for securing artificial intelligence unveiling new protections and capabilities across its product suite Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Workday hit in wave of social engineering attacks

A campaign of voice-based social engineering attacks targeting users of Salesforce’s services appears to have struck HR platform Workday Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Would you hire a hacker?

At a time when cyber security breaches are on the up and skills remain in short supply, security experts believe we may be missing a trick by overlooking unconventional sources of talent Continue Reading

By

• Cath Everett

UK cyber leaders feel impact of Trump cutbacks

The ripple effects of US cyber security cutbacks have reached this side of the Atlantic, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Teen hackers aren't the problem. They're the wake-up call

If we take the time to build the right pathways into cyber, young people could be our best line of defence. Continue Reading

By

• Fergus Hay, The Hacking Games

Santander will make AI training mandatory for all staff in 2026

Spanish banking giant announces mandatory AI training for staff, and collaborates with OpenAI on a ‘data and AI-first transformation’ Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Eight critical RCE flaws make Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday list

Microsoft rolls out fixes for over 100 CVEs in its August Patch Tuesday update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Researchers firm up ShinyHunters, Scattered Spider link

ReliaQuest researchers present new evidence that firms up a potential link, or outright partnership, between the ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider cyber gangs Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK work visa sponsors are target of phishing campaign

Mimecast identifies a phishing campaign targeting UK organisations that sponsor migrant workers and students, opening the door to account compromise and visa fraud Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK state-owned bank goes cloud-native

State-owned National Savings and Investments bank used contract renewal as an opportunity to keep pace with changes in the market Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What boards should look for in a CISO

The role of the chief information security officer has evolved dramatically over the years – and will continue to do so. What should boards really looking for when hiring a security leader in 2025? Continue Reading

By

• Rinki Sethi, Upwind Security

ShinyHunters Salesforce cyber attacks explained: What you need to know

Computer Weekly gets under the skin of an ongoing wave of ShinyHunters cyber attacks orchestrated via social engineering against Salesforce users Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How CISOs can adapt cyber strategies for the age of AI

Traditional security measures may not be able to cope with the AI reality. In order to safeguard enterprise operations, reputation and data integrity in an AI-first world, security leaders need to rethink. Continue Reading

By

• Martin Riley, Bridewell Consulting

Interview: Kirsty Roth, chief operations and technology officer, Thomson Reuters

As a technologist who also runs corporate operations, Thomson Reuters’ CTO believes her tech background gives her a unique edge as the business information group looks to transform its products with AI Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Black Hat USA: Startup breaks secrets management tools

Researchers at Cyata, an agentic identity specialist that has just emerged from stealth, found 14 CVEs in the widely used CyberArk Conjur and HashiCorp Vault enterprise secrets management platforms Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber criminals would prefer businesses don’t use Okta

Okta details a phishing campaign in which the threat actor demonstrated some unusually strong opinions on what authentication methods they would like their targets to use Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Maybank inks RM1bn deal with Microsoft

The five-year deal will see Malaysia’s largest bank accelerate its digital transformation efforts, building on its current strategy to embed AI across the organisation and enhance its technological capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Attacker could defeat Dell firmware flaws with a vegetable

Cisco Talos discloses five vulnerabilities in cyber security firmware used on Dell Latitude and Precision devices, including one that could enable an attacker to log on with a spring onion Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Investing in diverse business could boost UK equity market

It’s difficult for female-led businesses to find investment, but if more funds were made available, it could boost UK equity, according to research Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

How StanChart balances AI-powered innovation with security

Alvaro Garrido, Standard Chartered’s technology and security chief, explains how multi-layered defences and its approach to data protection allows the bank to embrace artificial intelligence without compromising on security Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Black Hat USA: Halcyon and Sophos tag-team ransomware fightback

Ransomware experts Halcyon and Sophos are to pool their expertise in ransomware, working together to enhance data- and intelligence-sharing and bringing more comprehensive protection to customers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Proliferation of on-premise GenAI platforms is widening security risks

Research finds increased adoption of unsanctioned generative artificial intelligence platforms is magnifying risk and causing a headache for security teams Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How the UK's cloud strategy was hijacked by a hyperscaler duopoly

The UK competition regulator says the cloud market is not working - it's time to take radical steps to reduce the dominance of the two US cloud giants Continue Reading

By

• Bill McCluggage

Scattered Spider tactics continue to evolve, warn cyber cops

CISA, the FBI, NCSC and others have clubbed together to update previous guidance on Scattered Spider's playbook, warning of new social engineering tactics and exploitation of legitimate tools, among other things Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MS Authenticator users face passkey crunch time

The deadline for moving to passkeys in Microsoft Authenticator is rapidly approaching, and users are advised to take action now Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

By

• Mark Ballard

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