IT for government and public sector

Business avoids cloud over fear of government snooping

Almost half of IT professionals are deterred from keeping sensitive data in the cloud because of fear of government intervention and possible legal action, a survey has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Twitter strengthens login security after hacker attack

Days after a hacking attack, it has emerged that Twitter plans to strengthen its login security with two-factor authentication Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Raspberry Pi Model A computer goes on sale for £16

The latest version of the small single-board Raspberry Pi computer – Model A – has gone on sale in Europe at just £16 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The great deverticalisation – part 1: the street

Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply? Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson & Jerry Fishenden

Why has NAC, like DLP, failed to take off?

Why are organisations not investing in systems that are designed to keep malicious actors out of their networks? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Encryption is safe bet, says SafeNet

Encryption is the only thing that can give peace of mind to CIOs and CISOs, says Dave Hansen, president and CEO of security firm SafeNet Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO hits Sony with £250,000 data breach penalty

The Information Commissioner’s office (ICO) has fined Sony Computer Entertainment Europe £250,000 for breaching the Data Protection Act Continue Reading

Defra plans £80m agile CAP system

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is planning a single integrated £80m Common Agricultural Policy system Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Why has DLP never taken off?

Why is data loss prevention (DLP) technology not being adopted if it provides the very protection most businesses need? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GDS must not become an outlier, warns Martha Lane Fox

The Government Digital Service (GDS) must not remain an outlier to the way the public sector delivers online services, says Martha Lane Fox Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

UK citizens unwilling to embrace big data

The public sector could improve services by imitating the private sector’s use of big data, but citizens are overwhelmingly against the idea Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

G-Cloud powers Huddle’s public sector sales growth

Cloud collaboration firm Huddle saw its public sector sales double to 30% of all revenues this year due to uptake generated through the CloudStore Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Met Police to equip officers with 30,000 mobile devices

The Metropolitan Police wants to roll out 30,000 mobile and tablet devices to officers this year to give better information on the beat Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Post Office wants to get to bottom of IT system allegations

A system that set out to modernise the Post Office in 1996 is under the spotlight after claims that Horizon accounting system is error prone Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Post Office announces amnesty for Horizon evidence

The Post Office is calling for evidence from people who have used the Horizon IT system which some have blamed for accounting discrepancies Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Oracle rushes out patches for Java zero days

Oracle has released two out-of-band security updates for the latest zero day vulnerabilities in Java Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Disable Java to protect from latest zero-day

Security researchers are warning of a zero-day vulnerability in all versions of Java, including the latest Java 7 update 10 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government extends employer £1,500 apprenticeship grant for further 12 months

Government and National Apprenticeship Service extend AGE 16-24 grant for further 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Kayleigh Bateman, Computer Weekly

Software piracy international in scope, says Fast

The scale of software piracy is both international in scope and military in its execution, says the Federation Against Software Theft (Fast) Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IT contractors seek to fill skills gap left by public sector cuts

IT contractors are increasingly confident about job opportunities in the public sector due to reductions in the civil service's head count, finds research Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

UK Border Agency tenders for security systems

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) and Border Force is tendering for an integrated border security system Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

VoIP awareness up but user numbers remain low

A report from Ofcom claims four in five consumers know what voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is, but just 29% use the technology Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

MPs slam the award of government contracts to tax-avoiding IT firms

MPs allege that Accenture used revenue from its deal with HMRC to reduce its tax bill Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

IT spending to rise in 2013

Find out what analysts are predicting for technology in Europe this year, including changes in budgets and how companies can reduce costs and improve sustainability. Continue Reading

Ernst & Young email keyword analysis identifies fraudsters

Fraud investigators have revealed the most common words used in email conversations by employees engaged in rogue trading and fraud Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Business priorities: what to protect, monitor and test

How information security professionals can prioritise what to protect, monitor and test in the light of current budget and resource constraints Continue Reading

Executive brings own software which is adopted by business

Rochdale Development agency (RDA) has started using cloud based Huddle collaboration software after a development officer started using it at work. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Immigrants wrongly told to leave UK due to inaccurate data

Some immigrants have been accidentally contacted by Capita and told to leave the UK as a result of inaccurate data used in a government push to remove thousands of illegal immigrants Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ofcom proposes early exit to combat price rises

Regulator Ofcom says users should be able to leave mobile, broadband and landline contracts without charge if their provider ups the price Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Post Office admits that Horizon system needs more investigation

Campaigners have forced the Post Office to look again at a computer system blamed for sub-postmasters being wrongly accused of false accounting Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2012

Ten articles that illustrate some of the major trends in cyber crime in 2012 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Facebook pays £2.6m tax on £840m profit

The social networking giant faces criticism for paying minimal tax by pushing all of its operations outside of the US through Ireland Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Government to cut large frameworks following procurement review

Government is to put an end to large ICT frameworks, following a review into the efficacy of procurement practices for SMEs Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Essex County Council signs £81m PSN deal

Essex County Council has signed a £81m network and telephony deal to introduce a Public Services Network (PSN) across its 200,000 users Continue Reading

Liam Maxwell named as first government chief technology officer

Liam Maxwell becomes the first Whitehall CTO, in the latest stage of a major shake-up of the government IT leadership organisation Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Government IT reformers criticise IT leadership shake-up

Government IT reformers have criticised plans to give procurement chief Bill Crothers a more prominent role in the IT leadership team Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

How to preserve forensic evidence in the golden hour after a breach

There is a golden hour at the outset where a clear head and good planning can make or break any subsequent forensic investigation Continue Reading

By

• Martin Roots, NIIP

Ghost Shell hacktivists publish over a million credentials

The Ghost Shell group, an offshoot of the Anonymous hacking collective has published the log-in details from 1.6 million accounts Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK CIOs see EU regulation as key

A third of UK CIOs are more concerned with EU regulation, such as the data protection directive, than their own local laws, a study has revealed. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK government jobs website exploited by hackers

Hackers have been able to exploit security flaws in a new government jobs website to steal personal information about job applicants Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How to secure Macs in the enterprise

Apple computers are becoming increasingly used in the enterprise - we look at how to securely introduce Macs in the corporate network Continue Reading

By

• Rob Buckley

MPs call for wider promotion of mutuals beyond Whitehall

Mutuals need to be effectively promoted across the whole public sector, not just Whitehall, say MPs Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

CW Buyer's Guide: Government IT

This 9 page Computer Weekly Buyer's Guide takes you through the UK government's open source initiatives and explains how they could benefit your business. Continue Reading

— www.computerweekly.com

HMRC slammed for 'undue complacency' on RTI systems

Report labels HMRC “unduly complacent” about the roll-out of the Real Time Information (RTI) system crucial to the Universal Credit programme Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

G-Cloud success depends on champions and a change in attitude

G-Cloud director Denise McDonagh has called for public sector champions to push forward adoption of the service. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

G-Cloud ramps up for next generation of government IT procurements

The G-Cloud has a new framework and calls for it to become a blueprint for all government IT procurement, but what challenges lie ahead? Continue Reading

Capita set to win £1.7bn Staffordshire outsourcing deal

Capita has been named preferred bidder in an educational support services joint venture with Staffordshire County Council, in a deal worth £1.7bn over 20 years. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Zero-day exploit for Yahoo Mail goes on sale

Hacker sells $700 zero-day exploit for Yahoo Mail that allows attacker to use cross-site scripting vulnerability to steal cookies and hijack accounts Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security needs to be integral part of life, says McAfee

The world is becoming increasingly connected and security and privacy are integral to modern society, says Raj Samani, CTO of McAfee Europe Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UKtech50 2012 - The most influential people in UK IT

We run down the top 20 names from this year's Computer Weekly UKtech50 list of the 50 most influential people in UK IT Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

UKtech50 2012 - The most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly has announced the third UKtech50, our annual definitive list of the real movers and shakers in UK IT Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Cyber criminals target Skype, Facebook and Windows users

Cyber criminals targeted users of Skype, Facebook and Windows using multiple Blackhole exploits in October, according to security firm GFI Software Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government wants suppliers to reveal UK taxes

Government officials are considering the viability of ordering suppliers bidding for contracts to disclose the tax they pay relative to UK sales Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Birmingham Metropolitan College cuts IT procurement time and cost

Birmingham Metropolitan College uses cloud-based procurement to reduce the cost and time it takes to buy IT equipment Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nasa to encrypt data after latest breach

Nasa is to encrypt all its mobile computers after the loss of a laptop containing personal information about more than 10,000 staff Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

First departmental sites move to Gov.uk

Two government departments have migrated onto the Gov.uk site, as part of the first moves to bring all departmental information under a single domain. Continue Reading

NHS reiterates commitment to digitise patient records by 2015

The Department of Health has reiterated its commitment to get all patient records online by 2015 Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

DWP CIO Philip Langsdale oversees Universal Credit overhaul

The Department for Work and Pensions CIO Philip Langsdale oversees an overhaul of the DWP’s flagship Universal Credit programme Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Universal Credit on-track - and thanks to agile, says discharged IT boss

Universal Credit is not turning into a car crash, the programme's discharged boss has told Computer Weekly.Speaking out after he and other managers were moved off the unfinished project, Steve ... Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Many UK firms underestimate cost of data breaches, study finds

Many UK organisations are still failing to understand the implications and costs of data breaches, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hacking attempts to top one billion in Q4, predicts NCC Group

One billion hacking attempts will be made globally in the final quarter of 2012, according to information assurance firm NCC Group Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Software issues risk delaying Universal Credit by one year, according to reports

The IT underpinning the government’s flagship £2.2bn Universal Credit programme is again being called into question Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Twitter apologises for unnecessary hacking warnings

Twitter has apologised after telling members their accounts had been hacked and forcing them to reset their passwords Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Stuxnet hit Chevron’s systems, the energy giant admits

US energy giant Chevron has revealed that it was hit by the Stuxnet virus in 2010 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government departments get go-ahead to use iPhones for sensitive data

Government departments have been given the go-ahead to use iPhones to send and receive sensitive emails Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Police arrest man for DDoS attacks on Theresa May sites

Police have arrested a 41-year-old man in connection with a cyber attack on websites connected to home secretary Theresa May Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Universal Credit programme director Malcolm Whitehouse steps down

Malcolm Whitehouse, programme director for the government's £2.2bn Universal Credit project, has stepped down Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Parliamentary committee joins criticism of draft communications data bill

Home secretary Theresa May faced stern criticism before a Parliamentary committee hearing evidence on the Draft Communications Data Bill Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government dips toe in water for single ERP

The government is to test the feasibility of moving to a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform across Whitehall Continue Reading

Apple squashes BlackBerry as Brent Borough deploys iPads

Brent Borough Council replaces BlackBerry and deploys MobileIron to securely manage almost 3,000 iPads and iPhones Continue Reading

Free mobile apps a threat to privacy, study finds

Free mobile apps pose a serious threat to privacy because of their ability to capture large amounts of user information Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IT security budgets mismatched to hacker targets, study shows

IT security budgets are not being used to provide defence technologies in some areas most likely to be targeted by hackers, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cheshire Constabulary polices network with SolarWinds

Police force in Cheshire uses SolarWinds’ infrastructure monitoring tools to keep its IT out of trouble Continue Reading

ACPO use online crime reporting company

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and charity Crimestoppers is using online self-reporting platform Facewatch, designed to reduce low-level crime. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Government expected to unveil eight IDA suppliers for online services

The government is to announce suppliers – including PayPal, BT and the Post Office – to provide identity assurance (IDA) for online public services Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

ICO hits Stoke-on-Trent City Council with £120,000 fine

Stoke City Council has breached the Data Protection Act, for the second time in two years, after details of a child protection legal case were emailed to the wrong person. Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

UK public sector contracts keep Atos Origin Q3 results buoyant

Large public sector contracts buoy IT services company Atos Origin, which has reported double-digit growth in the UK for its third quarter Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

CSC struggling to make a profit from Royal Mail outsourcing deal

CSC has stemmed losses in its 10-year outsourcing deal with Royal Mail through job cuts, tax breaks and relief payments, according to accounts Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: You can’t protect what you don’t know you’ve got

IP theft: who should be tackling it and how? Continue Reading

By

• Adrian Wright

The Government Digital Service (GDS) launches Gov.uk website

Gov.uk is intended to become a single domain for online public services replacing hundreds of departmental sites Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Theresa May: Hacker Gary McKinnon to stay in UK

Hacker Gary McKinnon will stay in UK, home secretary Theresa May has told MPs Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Organisations need alternative data protection as security models fail

Organisations' security models are failing - so could it be time to adopt an intelligence-led approach to data protection and fighting cyber crime? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Home secretary Theresa May rules on hacker Gary McKinnon’s US extradition

Home secretary Theresa May is to rule on self-confessed computer hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition to the US Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

RSA Europe: Thousands of unprotected virtual servers exposed to the web

Organisations are failing to protect data in virtual environments, says Jason Hart, vice-president cloud solutions, SafeNet Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Patchy uptake hinders Public Service Network roll-out

Key players involved in deploying the Public Service Network (PSN) say progress is being made, but different approaches are slowing it down Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

RSA Europe: Security concerns whole supply chain, says Misha Glenny

Targeted attacks affect the whole supply chain, not just big corporations, author Misha Glenny tells RSA Conference Europe 2012 attendees Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

RSA Europe: Cloud key to future information security, says Qualys

Cloud computing is an opportunity information security professionals should not miss, says Philippe Courtot, CEO of security firm Qualys Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

DWP to announce identity assurance suppliers

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is to announce the first providers in the government’s identity assurance (IDA) scheme at the end of October Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Telefónica launches business to sell mobile data

O2 parent company Telefónica is to offer user data from customer's mobile phones to organisations who want to analyse customer activity Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

4G victory was technical, not political

Speedy execution of the digital television switchover and clearing of spectrum improved the 4G timetable, not negotiations by central government Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

UKtech50 2012: Who are the most influential people in UK IT?

Computer Weekly is this week launching the third UKtech50, our annual definitive list of the real movers and shakers in UK IT Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

HMRC deploys Becrypt off-the-shelf encryption

HMRC will use Becrypt Disk protect, which has recently been certified under the government’s Commercial Product Assurance (CPA) Scheme. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Hackers target White House military network

Hackers using computers in China have infiltrated an “unclassified” network in the US White House, believed to be used for issuing nuclear commands. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

EC sets out strategy for EU cloud data and standards

The European Commission (EC) has unveiled a strategy for standards and a legal framework for cloud computing in European Union (EU) states Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam hackers launch cyber attack on US bank Wells Fargo

A hacker group connected to Hamas says it attacked US bank Wells Fargo in reaction to the video 'Innocence of Muslims' posted on YouTube Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

HMRC becomes first major department to use G-Cloud

HMRC is the first major government department to procure through the G-Cloud in a deal with Skyscape for centralised data storage. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

How agile is Universal Credit?

The DWP claims the IT for its flagship Universal Credit project is developed using agile principles. But how agile is a seven-year £2.2bn project? Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Security concerns hold back mobile banking adoption

More than two-thirds of smartphone owners have not yet adopted mobile banking apps because of security concerns, a survey has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Buyer's Guide: Healthcare in IT

This 7 page buyer's guide looks at the future of electronic healthcare records, healthcare technology and the use of mobile technology. Continue Reading

— www.computerweekly.com

Tune Raid performance to get the most from your HDDs

Tune Raid performance at the storage controller to match application I/O demands to optimal hard drive (HDD) performance Continue Reading

By

• Martin Taylor