IT management

In-sourcing IT in Wales has provided a positive change, says auditor

While savings have not been as great as expected, the decision to in-source IT in Welsh government has been a success, according to Audit Wales Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Ireland’s DPC launches probe into Facebook leak

The Irish Data Protection Commission has launched an ‘own volition’ inquiry into the leak of data from 500 million Facebook profiles Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Middle East: Qatari regulator launches platform to help combat money laundering

The Qatar Financial Markets Authority is using a digital platform to enable financial services professionals to assess their knowledge of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Also in this issue, read how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the IT spending patterns among enterprises in Saudi Arabia. Continue Reading

How Windows patching leaves security exposed

Four years on since it devastated IT systems across the NHS, WannaCry remains a threat to organisations around the world Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

CMA provisionally clears merger of Virgin and O2

Six months after being requested to review joint venture that could transform UK’s wired and wireless communications provision, UK competition watchdog CMA removes potential major hurdle to Virgin and O2 merger Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Tesco reports online sales surge, advances digital platform

Retailer announces 77% boost to e-commerce sales, details on Clubcard app uptake and advances in its IT remediation plan Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Top 15 IT project manager interview questions

Project management positions are challenging to fill. Ask all the right questions the next time you screen project manager candidates and find just the right person for the job. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

FBI accesses ProxyLogon target servers to disrupt cyber criminals

US Justice Department reveals successful court-authorised effort to clamp down on ProxyLogon exploitation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Remote workers largely supportive of a UK right to disconnect

The introduction of a “right to disconnect” in the UK is popular among workers and has backing from trade unions Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

EU set to tilt AI balance in favour of citizen rights

New draft EU regulations aim to protect people from biased decision-making Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Saudi IT spending to hit $11bn in 2021

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NSA unearths more MS Exchange vulnerabilities

Microsoft patches more critical vulnerabilities in Exchange Server a month after the ProxyLogon incident, after being warned by the US National Security Agency Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

AET gets Ctera to smooth hybrid cloud access to big files

Remote locations with unreliable WAN connections needed to share large files, which was a real headache until US engineering firm got Ctera edge filers with Azure cloud as a tier Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Europe provides growth for TCS despite year floored by pandemic

Tata Consultancy Services grows its continental European business despite economic slowdown brought by Covid-19 restrictions Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Vaccine passports cannot be taken lightly

What are the security issues and challenges presented by vaccine passports, and how should they be designed and used with ethics and privacy in mind? Continue Reading

By

• Richard Hunt, Turnkey Consulting

Security Think Tank: Vaccine passports must be secure by design

What are the security issues and challenges presented by vaccine passports, and how should they be designed and used with ethics and privacy in mind? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

APAC buyer’s guide to HRM software

In this buyer’s guide, we look at the key considerations when choosing human resource management software to enable workforce resilience, flexibility and agility in the post-pandemic world Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Apply brain power to automation

With the economy opening up, business leaders are looking at how quickly things can start returning to normal. What does normal look like? Numerous studies have shown that over the last year, ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

MP told to ditch official email over hacking fears

MP Tom Tugendhat claims the intelligence services advised him to switch to the Gmail service due to concerns his parliamentary email could be hacked Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hyperbat accelerates industry 4.0 with 5G virtual 3D engineering model

Vehicle battery manufacturer uses the latest 5G-enabled technology to speed up the manufacturing process for hybrid and electric vehicle production in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

End of the road for Post Office IT system that destroyed lives

The Post Office has revealed the end to its controversial Horizon IT system which, through its errors and the Post Office's denial of them, caused huge suffering for hundreds of subpostmasters Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Civil Service Data Challenge aims to improve use of data

Business and government have partnered to launch a Dragon’s Den-style competition to encourage civil servants to come up with ideas on how to improve the use of data Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Millions of devices at risk from NAME:WRECK DNS bugs

Newly disclosed set of nine DNS vulnerabilities puts over 100 million consumer, enterprise and industrial IoT devices at risk Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

EncroChat lawyers raise questions over use of PII secrecy orders on UK decryption capabilities

Lawyers claim that public interest immunity certificates may have been used to withhold information on UK intelligence agencies’ ability to decrypt encrypted communications Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Microsoft enters the Dragon’s den with Nuance acquisition

The $19bn acquisition of Nuance firmly plants Microsoft at the forefront of voice recognition. The stage is set to combine voice with artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The evolution of RPA

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our latest buyer’s guide looks at the future of robotic process automation (RPA). Google’s legal victory against Oracle over the use of Java APIs has huge significance for software developers. And we find out how expectations of IT have grown as firms prepare for the post-Covid workplace. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Nvidia targets datacentre memory bottleneck

The graphics processing unit (GPU) chipmaker has introduced its first datacentre chip, named after computer pioneer, Grace Hopper Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Almost half of UK office workers fear return to offices

Research shows 83% of UK office workers agree that flexible working is here to stay, but fears persist of catching Covid-19 from colleagues if they return to the office Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Another 27 Danish banks get access to open banking APIs

Nordic banks gain access to open banking capabilities from Nordic API Gateway, with an agreement through their shared IT service provider Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Vaccine passports and travel plans race up Covid threat charts

With lockdown restrictions easing in the UK, cyber criminals are tailoring their phishing lures to new areas of interest Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why some jobseekers have turned to cyber crime during the pandemic

Research shows that many people have been seeking cyber crime-related work on the dark web, but why? Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

What has a year of home working meant for the DPO?

Byron Shirley of The Compliance Space explores how the role of the data protection officer has changed in the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Byron Shirley, The Compliance Space

University students adapt to remote learning but question value for money

New research outlines students’ fears around the impact of long-term remote education and lecturers’ skills to operate online Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Global demand for IT and business services highest ever for first quarter

Global demand for IT and business services began the year strongly, with a record first quarter Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Egypt, Italy and US most affected in Facebook leak

Researchers at VPN firm Surfshark have been analysing data on 533 million people leaked from Facebook Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IT leaders get the green light to spend on digitisation

According to Gartner, the pandemic has pushed IT to the top of the business agenda, and long-term IT integration is key to success Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Loan Charge Group MPs demand IR35 shake-up to stop contractors becoming ‘zero-rights employees’

Inquiry by Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group calls on government to tweak IR35 legislation during passage of next Finance Bill Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

CIO interview: Nitin Chaturvedi, chief digital and technology officer, KFC Global

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the digital element of KFC’s business becoming increasingly important, says the fast food retailer’s chief digital and technology officer Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Tech industry sees surge in remote working job postings

Pandemic drives an increase in demand for “work anywhere” jobs and hybrid skills, research says Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Cring ransomware hits ICS through two-year-old bug

A long-disclosed vulnerability in Fortinet’s Fortigate VPN servers is being exploited to distribute Cring ransomware Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Five ways that disaster recovery changes in a pandemic

 Continue Reading

Microsoft accused of stifling secondhand software market

In 2012, UsedSoft won a case for second user software, which has enabled the market to grow across Europe. But it is now under threat Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Post Office Horizon contract extension is part of project to bring Fujitsu work in-house

The Post Office is to move work done by Fujitsu in-house when its outsourcing contract ends, and is already recruiting IT experts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nation-state cyber attacks double in three years

Cyber attacks backed by nation states are becoming more frequent and varied, moving the world closer to a point of ‘advanced cyber-conflict’, according to a University of Surrey research project Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Future working models at big banks begin to fall into place

Banks traditionally lead the way in technology adoption, but what can businesses take from their post-Covid-19 remote-working strategies? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CIO interview: Gary Delooze, CIO, Nationwide

Building society’s CIO talks about building a technology strategy, working with the rest of the business and the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

The OVHCloud fire: Assessing the after-effects on datacentre operators and cloud users

One month on from the OVHCloud datacentre fire, it is time to assess the lasting impact the event might have on the way server farm operators run their facilities, and cloud users approach disaster recovery Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Facebook ducks calls to apologise over huge data leak

Facebook gives its side of the story as data on millions of its users leaks, but is yet to apologise for security lapses that put half a billion people at risk of compromise Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A billion extra contactless payments in year since limit increase

Visa said there was an extra one billion contactless payments made by its customers last year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Digital Markets Unit starts work on codes of conduct for tech giants

Digital markets regulator officially launched to ensure tech giants such as Facebook and Google cannot exploit their market dominance to crowd out competition and stifle innovation online Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Post Office gives controversial Fujitsu contract another year

The Post Office's controversial contract with Fujitsu has been extended another year to help the organisation manage its exit Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Irish employees’ ‘right to disconnect’ enshrined in code of practice

A code of practice giving employees the ‘right to disconnect’ from work and not engage in electronic communications outside of their normal hours has come into effect in Ireland Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Demands for changes to ‘barmy’ rules on digital evidence have government’s ear

The government is listening to calls for changes in how digital evidence is considered in court, as Post Office IT scandal spells out current rule's inadequacy Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Where now for storage? Hitachi, IBM and Pure Storage

Part II: Storage supplier strategy in the cloud era: Hitachi, IBM and Pure Storage. We snapshot the big six hardware makers, as they take things to the cloud and as-a-service models Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Facebook data leak could be outside scope of GDPR

Regulators may be unable to do much about leaked data on 533 million Facebook users, as it seems to have been stolen before GDPR came into force Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CDDO will assess delivery of government digital projects

Government Digital Service boss Tom Read and the government’s Central Digital and Data Office executive director Joanna Davinson reveal next steps for digital, data and technology in government Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Where now for storage? Dell EMC, NetApp and HPE

Part I: Storage supplier strategy in the cloud era: Dell EMC, NetApp and HPE. We snapshot the big six hardware makers, as they take things to the cloud and as-a-service models Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

US court issues Google API with Java ruling

US Supreme Court rules that specifying an API function call to enable third-party developers to access functionality should not be copyrighted Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

IR35 reforms: Private sector start date prompts mixed picture of predictions for contracting market

The IR35 tax avoidance reforms take hold in the private sector, prompting a mixed picture of predictions from stakeholders about what the future holds for contractors in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

GDS seeks director for identity assurance programme

The new leader will be focused on efforts to deliver a single digital identity system for online public services Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Clearer service information could add 1.6 million full-fibre homes by 2025

Report finds that the speed at which Britain could benefit from the economic and social impact of billions of pounds of full-fibre infrastructure investment could be improved by clear labelling and information on broadband services Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

EncroChat hearings delayed as lawyers seek disclosure on police hacking

Court hearings precipitated by police cracking the EncroChat secure mobile phone network have been delayed after defence lawyers request further disclosures on police decryption capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

IR35 reforms: Loan charge and employers’ NI issues prompt calls for legislative revamp

As the government prepares to extend the IR35 reforms to the private sector, contracting stakeholders say it is high time the ‘flawed’ legislation was scrapped entirely Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Project Monterey returns to haunt IBM and Red Hat

A tech initiative from the late 1990s has become IBM’s nemesis, as the owner of UnixWare and OpenServer file a copyright complaint Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

ASEAN enterprises face hurdles in digital transformation

Southeast Asian firms know what it takes to transform digitally, but they are not as adaptable as they would like to be, a survey has found Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

IR35 reforms: HMRC denies ‘squandering’ datasets that could rid umbrella sector of rogue players

Concerns grow about the number of IT contractors at risk of joining non-compliant umbrella firms ahead of the IR35 reforms taking hold in the private sector Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Commerzbank picks Google for cloud migration

German bank expands its work with Google Cloud and plans to move 85% of applications to its platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS is apparently closing security skills gap

By the end of 2020, there were more than twice as many in-house security professionals at NHS trusts as there were two years before Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber Security Council to champion UK security pros

A new cyber security professional body has launched with the aim of developing and promoting UK cyber security excellence globally and growing the skills base Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nordics run information sharing on digital vaccination passports

Nordic countries advance plans for digital Covid-19 vaccination passports in a bid to kick-start their economies Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Australian firms slow to wean off the mainframe

Australian companies tend to have a wait-and-see mindset that is slowing down mainframe modernisation initiatives, says Accenture expert Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Strong company culture the basis of a successful hybrid work environment

Study highlights how post-Covid working dynamics increase importance of communicative leadership with an inclusive organisational culture most important once logistics and technology are addressed Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Asda bags ex-Marks and Spencer CIO

Carl Dawson, who has been CIO at department store M&S for six years, is leaving the retailer to become CIO at Asda Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Ransomware attack on London schools highlights warnings

Ransomware attack on Harris Federation comes just days after a fresh NCSC alert for the education sector Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: Laura Dawson, CIO, London School of Economics

LSE’s CIO talks about focusing on team development, her vision of creating a connected network of technologists, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

IR35 reforms: Slow government progress on umbrella regulation exposes IT contractors to tax risks

With thousands of IT contractors set to start working through unregulated umbrella companies for the first time when the IR35 reforms take hold in the private sector, concerns are growing about the danger this could pose to their income and tax affairs in years to come Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

IR35 reforms: Confusion over who pays employers’ NI leaves IT contractors out of pocket

Litigators are circling as thousands of contractors realise that the 2017 roll-out of IR35 reforms to the public sector may have resulted in unlawful tax deductions – and the private sector could be next Continue Reading

The ticking timebomb of IR35

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal that IT contractors are seeking a multimillion-pound payout after confusion over the forthcoming IR35 tax reforms. Many firms are building data lakes to improve their analytics – we examine the storage implications. And we talk to the CIO at the London School of Economics. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

The Security Interviews: How to secure an F1 team in a pandemic

A multi-year digital transformation programme paid off for F1 team Williams Racing when the 2020 season was abruptly postponed thanks to Covid-19. Learn how the team’s CIO has been supporting remote working and protecting data Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Data warehouse storage: Has cloud made on-premise obsolete?

There once was no alternative to building a data warehouse on-premise, but with cloud providers targeting analytics, building data warehouses on-site is looking obsolete Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

How Gulf SMEs are building digital resilience amid the pandemic

SMEs in the Gulf region have accelerated their digital transformations during the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

How far has open banking come in Europe?

Open banking is a relatively new concept, having come into effect in Europe only in the last couple of years. So what is the state of play? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

TSB Smart Agent integrated into mobile banking app

TSB has integrated a smart agent, developed to relieve pressure on its contact centres during the Covid-19 pandemic, into its mobile app Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Backup survey: UK councils’ downtimes five times longer than average

Backup product supplier Veeam’s freedom of information request finds councils’ average downtime is seven hours and that backup and disaster recovery testing is not done frequently Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

UK courts face evidence ‘black hole’ over police EncroChat mass hacking

French investigators have refused to disclose how they downloaded millions of messages from a supposedly secure cryptophone network used by organised criminals – leaving UK courts to grapple with a forensic ‘black hole’ of evidence Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Ecolabels and data sanitisation key to recycling and reusing IT assets

Ecolabels on hardware and data sanitisation of devices are key to recycling and reusing old IT equipment respectively, helping enterprises avoid unnecessary asset destruction and contributing to increasingly high levels of electronic waste globally Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Preparing for enterprise-class containerisation

As more workloads are deployed in containers, IT teams will need to assess how to manage container sprawl, reduce cloud bills and support databases Continue Reading

By

• Adrian Bridgwater
• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

CW Innovation Awards: Recognising APAC’s top industry leaders

The region’s top industry innovators were recognised for their digital transformation efforts to tap new business opportunities, improve efficiencies and solve pressing issues Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CW Innovation Awards: How DBS is transforming credit processes

DBS Bank’s credit architecture programme has digitised and reimagined credit processes through a unified platform that has improved the productivity and efficiency of its credit teams Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CW Innovation Awards: Flybuys cranks up cloud for service efficiency

Australia’s biggest loyalty platform takes 12-month journey towards the cloud, slashing time to deliver customised offers to less than 45 minutes, among other outcomes Continue Reading

By

• Eileen Yu

CW Innovation Awards: Bharat Petroleum refines operations with a digital nerve centre

Bharat Petroleum has developed a digital nerve centre powered by the internet of things and artificial intelligence technologies to monitor the journey of its products Continue Reading

By

• Eileen Yu

CW Innovation Awards: Sime Darby ups ante in service management

Sime Darby Industrial’s inService Suite has returned more than 100,000 hours to the company in a digitisation initiative that has improved efficiency and customer engagement Continue Reading

By

• Edwin Yapp

Sarah Wilkinson resigns as NHS Digital CEO

After four years at the helm of NHS Digital, CEO Sarah Wilkinson will leave in the summer of 2021, and the organisation is looking for an interim replacement Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Backup appliances the hot topic for Pas-de-Calais fire brigade

With requirements for strict, long-duration backup and archiving, French fire brigade set out to replace optical media with a StorageCraft appliance and disaster-proof storage Continue Reading

By

• Pierre Berlemont
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Retailer FatFace pays $2m ransom to Conti cyber criminals

Retailer FatFace paid out a $2m ransom to restore its data following a January 2021 cyber attack by the Conti ransomware syndicate Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor
• Valéry Rieß-Marchive, Rédacteur en chef

Remote working burn-out a factor in security risk

After a year of working from the kitchen table, stress and burn-out are increasing, giving rise to more security risks – and Millennials seem to be particularly affected Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Openreach defies Covid to hit full-fibre target

BT-owned broadband provision division includes more than 170 city locations in multi-billion-pound gigabit broadband build including cities of Birmingham, Belfast, London and Manchester Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences combines AI and practice

University ensures cooperation between scientists and industry when developing artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Cyber security complacency puts UK at risk, says NCSC head

National Cyber Security Centre CEO Lindy Cameron, in her maiden speech in the role, warns of challenges ahead for the UK and sets out the future agenda for cyber Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DWP completes in-house VME replacement project

The department has taken an in-house approach to swapping its virtual machine environment (VME), getting rid of legacy infrastructure and replacing 11 key benefits systems Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad