IT for government and public sector

Dell expects tough next quarter

Dell expects third-quarter revenue to be down between 2% and 5% on second-quarter levels due to the “uncertain economic environment” Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

At least 9 out of 10 top mobile apps hacked, study shows

An average of 96% of the top 100 paid mobile apps have been hacked, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hunt: Ofcom 'beset by threats of litigations'

Culture secretary calls on mobile operators to call off the lawyers and focus on the future of 4G to help government achieve broadband targets by 2015 Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

More than 1,000 school application details leaked on the internet

Personal information about more than 1,000 children has been published on the UK Independent Schools Guide website after an alleged cyber attack Continue Reading

John Linwood, BBC CTO, on the Olympics output and digitisation

The BBC’s chief technology officer John Linwood talks about managing record-breaking Olympics online viewing and the digital future of the BBC Continue Reading

The Olympics in technology stats

Computer Weekly takes a look at how we experienced “the most connected Games ever” with our round-up of key technology stats Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

NHS sees £100m reduction in exposure to CSC contracts

The Department for Health’s financial exposure to its contracts with troubled supplier CSC have decreased by £100m in just three months. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Good data protection can be cheap and easy, says ICO

The ICO says charities and third sector organisations stand to benefit most from a data protection check-up. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

LinkedIn data breach costs more than $1m

LinkedIn says the forensic investigation and other recovery costs of the data breach in June could have topped $1m. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How Europe did 20 years of backroom deals with Microsoft - 1999: Reseller cartel makes it cosy

While prosecutors in Europe and the US struggled to restrain Microsoft's monopoly in the late 90s, their own compadres in the European Commission's Information Directorate demonstrated in ... Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Atos and Capita win £540m in controversial DWP disabilities testing contract

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been slammed by disabled charities for awarding £540m in contracts to Atos and Capita to test the eligibility of disabled people receiving benefits. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Interview: Denise McDonagh, government G-cloud director

Denise McDonagh talks about the challenges of the G-cloud programme and how the government is reducing dependence on large outsourcers.  Continue Reading

Cyber threats affect banks worldwide

Nearly a quarter of the world's banks were hit by security breaches in the past year, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK public sector sales drive Steria growth

French outsourcer Steria has posted steady growth in the UK for its second quarter, driven by an improvement in public sector sales. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Twitter users targeted by Blackhole malware

Twitter users are being targeted by tweets containing malicious links that claim recipients are pictured in an online photo Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How Europe did 20 years of backroom deals with Microsoft - 1996: Only Microsoft can do Microsoft

The European Commission gave up pretending there were alternatives to Microsoft in 1996. It side-stepped new laws designed to keep public money honest, claiming exceptional circumstances. It gave ... Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

SQL injection attacks rise sharply in second quarter of 2012

SQL injection (SQLi) attacks were up 69% in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the previous quarter, warns cloud hosting firm FireHost Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Australian telco AAPT confirms Anonymous data breach

Australian telecoms firm AAPT confirms business customer data was breached by hacktivist group Anonymous at an external service provider Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Customers urged to boycott CSC over CIA 'torture flights'

CSC customers are being urged to boycott the supplier over allegations that it took part in illegal CIA rendition flights in the US "war on terror" Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Siemens issues software fix to protect against Stuxnet

German engineering firm Siemens has issued a fix for the software vulnerabilities in its programmable logic controllers that were exploited by the computer virus Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How Europe did 20 years of backroom deals with Microsoft-1993: EC rubber-stamps Microsoft monopoly

Europe's ill-fated 1993 migration to Microsoft Office was rubber-stamped by a committee that failed to see how it would get locked into buying Microsoft without a competition for the next 20 years, ... Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

How Europe did 20 years of backroom deals with Microsoft - 1992: Open standards doomed from outset

The European Commission has been trying - and failing - to avoid being locked into proprietary Microsoft technical standards since 1992, it has been revealed in official documents released to ... Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

CIO interview: Sally Howes, National Audit Office

Sally Howes, CIO at the National Audit Office, talks about how the NAO hopes to perform more IT health checks and fewer project post mortems Continue Reading

Can IT investment in schools keep pace with change?

As more schools join the academy programnme, is the next generation getting access to the right technology crucial to the digital world? Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Many global firms unaware of online risk, finds KPMG

Many global organisations could do a lot more to protect their private data and reduce exposure to attacks by hackers, according to KPMG Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security researchers join forces to bring down Grum botnet

Security researchers have collaborated to take down Grum, the world’s third-largest botnet of hijacked computers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Microsoft faces substantial EC fine over browser rules breach

Microsoft faces a large fine for failing to offer Windows users a choice of web browser despite apologising to the European Commission (EC) Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Skype works to fix privacy bug as instant messages leak

Internet telephony service Skype has confirmed that a bug in its software has been sending copies of instant messages to unintended recipients Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Sophos combines endpoint security and UTM

Security firm Sophos combines endpoint protection and unified threat management (UTM) products into a single physical or virtual appliance Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The most influential women in UK IT

Computer Weekly is pleased to announce the first ever list of the most influential women in UK IT Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Women in Technology 2012

Women technology experts find their careers just as rewarding as men, but image problems are deterring new female recruits, this exclusive research from Computer Weekly and Mortimer Spinks reveals. Continue Reading

Metropolitan Police gears up to analyse smartphone evidence

The Metropolitan Police plans to build a computer system to analyse photo and video evidence gathered from the public using mobile phones Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

EC invests €1.5bn in IT research

The European Commission (EC) has announced funding for research into IT totaling almost €1.5bn Continue Reading

Google Android OS Trojan virus hits 100K devices in China

Trojan malware has hit 100,000 devices using the Google Android operating system (OS) in China, say security researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Microsoft Office 365 for Education free for teachers

Microsoft launches Office 365 for Education, as Scottish Government commits to using the free cloud productivity suite. Continue Reading

By

• Kayleigh Bateman, Computer Weekly

Virus could cut 20,000 UK computers from web on Monday, FBI warns

The DNS Changer virus could cause 20,000 computers in the UK – of 350,000 worldwide - to lose web access on 9 July, the FBI has warned Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

BT extends cyber security agreement with MoD

BT is to extend its cyber security agreement with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a deal to expand its cyber defence service Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Whitehall could save £33bn with big data analytics, says Policy Exchange

Government could save £33bn a year applying big data analytics to departmental information, claims a report from the Policy Exchange Continue Reading

Key HMRC IT plans delayed due to spending freeze, says NAO

Key HMRC IT plans have been delayed because of the Cabinet Office’s moratorium on spending, the National Audit Office (NAO) says Continue Reading

White House cyber security coordinator Howard Schmidt joins Qualys

Former White House cyber security coordinator Howard Schmidt is to join the board of security and compliance company Qualys Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Network security: Is new technology bypassing traditional controls?

Network security practices are among the most mature, but can businesses be sure network traffic is not sneaking past traditional controls? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

FTC sues Wyndham Worldwide hotel group over data breaches

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing hotel group Wyndham Worldwide over claims it failed to secure customer data Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Six arrested in the UK in worldwide FBI-led credit card data sting

Six people in the UK and 12 in the US arrested in an FBI-led sting operation that netted a total of 24 credit card cyber fraudsters in 13 countries Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government slashes SAP and Microsoft spend by £150m

The government expects to slash licence and maintenance spend with Microsoft and SAP up to £150m by 2015, via a framework renegotiation. Continue Reading

Web surfers keen to compromise own privacy, study finds

Web users voluntarily compromise their own privacy by typing more personal information into online forms than is needed, a study has found Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing

Alan Turning (1912-1954) was the genius mathematician who cracked the German World War 2 Enigma Code. He is also the father of computing. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Interview: GDS head Mike Bracken on Estonia's digital services

UK government IT could learn much from Estonia’s open source model, says head of Government Digital Services (GDS), Mike Bracken Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Ethiopian government blocks Tor Network online anonymity

The Ethiopian government is blocking access to the Tor Network that enables online anonymity, according to Reporters Without Borders Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Asian scientists call for government action on supercomputers

Scientists in India, China, Japan, Korea and India have called on their governments to collaborate on supercomputer technology Continue Reading

Vodafone in the clear for UK tax bill

The National Audit Office states Vodafone’s £1.25bn settlement with HMRC was "reasonable" and "good" for the public purse Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Cumbria votes against broadband proposals from BT and Fujitsu

Cumbria County Council turns down bids from BT and Fujitsu, claiming they don’t fulfil the full requirements for superfast broadband in the area Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

South Lanarkshire moves to IBM XIV disk storage platform

South Lanarkshire council has invested in an IBM XIV disk storage platform as part of its move to virtualisation. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Teachers share concerns and ideas for ICT in 2014 curriculum

IT professionals and education bodies used Westminster Education forum to air concerns over the government’s decision to remove ICT from the curriculum two years before it is replaced by a computer science alternative Continue Reading

By

• Kayleigh Bateman, Computer Weekly

2012: Will this be the year TPM finally comes of age?

Will 2012 be the year that TPM finally delivers on its potential to provide a hardware-based "root of trust" for enterprise information security? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Flame malware gets kill command

The controllers of Flame, the most powerful cyber weapon discovered to date, have recently sent a kill command that removes the malware from some infected computers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK technology sector gets financial support

A US hi-tech investment bank with $20bn in assets has opened its first UK branch offering banking and loan services to the technology industry Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

eHarmony, Last.fm join LinkedIn with password leaks

Online dating site eHarmony and Last.fm have joined LinkedIn with password leaks, as hackers focus on social networks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Apple faces £1.43m fine in Australian 4G iPad case

Apple has agreed to pay a £1.43m fine for misleading Australians about the 4G capacity of its latest iPad in a case brought by the national consumer watchdog Continue Reading

Microsoft publishes its response to government open standards consultation

Microsoft has become the first major IT supplier to publish its submission to the government's consultation on the use of open standards. Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

TfL opens up live bus data

Transport for London (TfL) has finally released live bus data, several months after it delivered the Countdown Live Bus Arrivals website Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Top 10 tips for IPv6 security

Many organisations are being misled about the complexities surrounding IPv6 security, according to security firm Stonesoft Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Royal Signals ‘Unsung Heroes’ Awards

IT experts from the Royal Signals were rewarded for their support and commitment to the service during an event for "unsung heroes" at Mansion House. Continue Reading

By

• Kayleigh Bateman, Computer Weekly

Majority of UK websites fail to comply with cookie law

Most UK websites are not yet compliant with the newly enforced cookie law, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Former MI5 boss loses laptop

The former boss of the UK's MI5 security service has caused a security scare by losing her laptop at Heathrow. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cambridgeshire launches PSN to cut £1m per year

Cambridgeshire County Council will save £1m per year with the launch of its public services network (PSN) Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Security researchers discover powerful cyber espionage weapon 'Flame'

Security researchers have discovered a cyber espionage weapon, dubbed 'Flame', with a functionality greater than any other known threat Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

EU to launch trade case against Chinese telcos Huawei and ZTE

The European Union has accused the two Chinese telecoms firms of obtaining illegal government subsidies and selling products below cost Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

UK regulator PhonepayPlus shuts down Angry Birds smartphone scam

UK users of Android smartphones have been targeted by premium-rate phone scams masquerading as popular apps such as Angry Birds Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Video: ICO publishes new guidance on cookie law

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published new guidance on cookie law and revealed the organisations it has approached on the issue Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Overrun in big IT projects leads to one in three failures

One-third of big IT projects are likely to get derailed after they have been running for two years, according to research. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Mobile threats demand focus on data protection, says Websense

Business needs to focus on data protection as cyber criminals turn to mobile malware, says Websense. Continue Reading

Analyst Insight: Is There a Smart City Market?

The value of the IT market for smart cities globally is approximately $35bn, according to this in depth analysis from Ovum. Continue Reading

Smart Cities: The anywhere working city

This report from Microsoft presents a vision for the development of smart cities which bring together technology, architecture and people. Continue Reading

The Pirate Bay is latest site to be hit by DDoS attack

The Pirate Bay has become the latest high-profile website to be hit by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Court stops Dutch party sharing Pirate Bay links

A court in The Hague has ordered a political party in the Netherlands to stop publicising ways to get around blocks to Swedish file-sharing site, The Pirate Bay Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attackers increasingly targeting applications, research shows

Web and mobile applications are the new frontiers in the war against cyber attack, according to an HP cyber security risks report Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Troubled RPA systems to be replaced by 2015

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to roll out a new payments system for the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) by 2015 Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

The future of Government operations: Digital citizen survey

This report from Accenture looks at the challenges facing the public sector in offering digital services. Continue Reading

Government snooping plans unveiled

The Queen's Speech has revealed that the government still plans to make it easier for security and police services to spy on e-mails, phone calls and internet activity Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

London to test urban operating system

London is to test an operating system developed to support the smart cities of the future to keep buildings, traffic and services running smoothly. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK to expand cyber info-sharing hub after initial success

A public/private cyber security initiative exposed a campaign of malicious emails targeting UK defence companies, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has revealed. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Why the public sector is turning to multi-sourcing

Sarah Burnett explains why the public sector is moving from single sourcing to multi-sourcing, in an age of austerity. Continue Reading

By

• Sarah Burnett, NelsonHall

What UK citizens think about digital government

Two-thirds of UK citizens already use the internet to interact with government, according to Accenture research. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

European copyright ruling good for IT innovation, say lawyers

The top European court's ruling on copyright is good news for innovation, say lawyers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

US to legislate to protect Facebook passwords from employers

The US is planning legislation that will protect Facebook passwords from prying employers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

G-Cloud cost £4.93m to set up, says Maude

The government’s G-Cloud programme and CloudStore cost £4.93m to set up, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said in response to a parliamentary question. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Half of UK networks vulnerable to APTs

Many UK corporate networks are vulnerable to advanced persistent threats (APTs), a survey has revealed. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government launches MyCSP mutual project

The government has launched the first of a planned series of mutuals which take public services and split the ownership between government, staff and private sector. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Infosec 2012: Unscrubbed hard drives a threat to business, says ICO

Unscrubbed hard drives on computers that are decommissioned and sold on represent a significant risk to business Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Infosec 2012: Internet security body to tackle SSL problems

The Trustworthy Internet Movement (TIM) is to tackle implementation and governance internet communication protocol (SSL) as its first project. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Infosec 2012: Patching alone can deliver 80% protection

Keeping software up to date with security patches can deliver 80% protection from cyber threats, says security firm Secunia. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK firms see competitors as greater cyber attack risk than criminals

More than half of UK firms expect a cyber attack in the next six months, but see competitors as a greater risk than criminals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Open standards are about the business model, not the technology

Software companies, abuzz with lobbyists and patent lawyers over government open standards, are similar to the record industry 10 years ago. Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson, Exeter Business School and DIGITLab

Supercomputers will reach 'exascale' speeds within decade

Supercomputers will be powerful enough to simulate the human brain within seven years, says founder of Top500 list. Continue Reading

Staff at IT services firm CSC protest redundancy policy

Workers at IT services giant CSC in the UK are holding a lunchtime protest today (19 April) to protest at the company’s redundancy policy Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government unaware how much it pays for e-mail services

Government departments do not know how much they are spending on e-mail services, according to research by Computer Weekly. Continue Reading

HP losing grip of EDS’s Ministry of Defence contract

HP’s grip on a flagship Ministry of Defence contract could be weakening after CSC took over a key outsourcing deal. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Transforming IT at HM Revenue & Customs - Phil Pavitt, CIO for HMRC

HMRC CIO Phil Pavitt talked to the CW500 club about IT transformation. These are his slides with a report of his talk. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin & Faisal Alani

Busy security patch month for Microsoft administrators

Microsoft has released six patches, four critical, for 11 vulnerabilities in Office, Windows and various server products in its April security update. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: David Jones, CIO, Crown Prosecution Service

CPS CIO David Jones is leading a comprehensive technology revamp to modernise operations across the entire criminal justice system. Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari