IT management

Government gets updated powers to intervene on tech-related M&A deals on national security grounds

The National Security and Investment Bill has secured royal assent, giving the government the legislative support it needs to intervene on business transactions in a variety of tech-related industries on national security grounds Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Simon Bolton named as NHS Digital interim CEO

Following the announcement of Sarah Wilkinson’s departure as CEO of NHS Digital, the organisation has appointed NHS Test and Trace CIO Simon Bolton as interim CEO Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

G7 countries to cooperate on digital regulation

Digital and technology ministers outline their agenda for how technology can be used to facilitate the post-Covid recovery, signalling closer collaboration in key areas of the digital economy Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Impact of low chip supply spreads

Covid-19, shifts in consumer purchasing, sanctions and a drought in Taiwan have come together as a perfect storm to squeeze the supply of semiconductors Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How to tackle intellectual property crime

Crimes against intellectual property are big business for organised crime groups, commercial competitors and foreign states alike. In the first of a series of legal columns, David Cowan offers a practical approach Continue Reading

By

• David Cowan, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

UK demand for digital automation skills soars

The need for automation proficiency has more than doubled in the past two years, according to research Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

GCHQ: Dyslexic thinkers key to solving UK cyber security challenges

Neurodiverse staff are bringing a unique contribution to keeping the country safe, according to the intelligence and cyber agency Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Microsoft outlines five-year plan for accessibility tech

Department for Work and Pensions staff to be trained on accessibility technologies to help people with disabilities return to work Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Covid-19 security challenges leave bank customers at risk

Challenges arising from the pandemic have left gaping holes in banking security, putting consumers at risk of fraud Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Norway’s agritech innovators are ready to expand to pastures new

A tech startup industry aimed at modernising farming is making hay in Norway and laying down roots in other countries Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Recruiters can’t afford to hold out for cyber ‘unicorns’

The perfect security candidate is hard to find, so hiring policy needs to be more pragmatic Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Office 365 compromise likely led to Merseyrail ransomware attack

Compromise of Merseyrail employee data seems to have begun after a key email account was hacked Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google Cloud reports $1bn operating loss, but Alphabet remains committed

Company has extended the life of its servers from three to four years, netting $625m more revenue Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

IR35 private sector reforms: What firms need to do now the start date has passed

While the start date for the onset of the IR35 private sector reforms may have passed, firms in-scope of the revamped tax avoidance legislation may find themselves still with plenty of compliance work still to do Continue Reading

By

• Matt Fryer, Brookson Legal

Microsoft results get a pandemic jab

Covid-19 has stimulated businesses to digitise more, and this is reflected in Microsoft’s latest results Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

NHS App to serve as vaccine passport for foreign holidays

Existing NHS App will have vaccine passport functionality added to it, transport secretary confirms Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: Chris Porter, VP talent acquisition and matching, BP

With the help of digital technologies and recruitment of data-savvy talent, BP is aiming to become a net-zero business by 2050 Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Government extends Gov.uk Verify for a further two years

The government’s Gov.uk Verify identity platform will continue to run until April 2023 while a new identity service is developed Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Flexible CIOs gain friends in finance

The pandemic has shown the value of IT to business leaders. Chief financial officers are looking for quick IT investment returns Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK supermarkets to trial age estimation tech for alcohol purchases

Biometric age estimation technology developed by Yoti to be tested in UK supermarkets for alcohol purchases as part of government-led digital identities initiative Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Total cost of ransomware attack heading towards $2m

Sophos’ latest study finds that ransomware attacks are proving increasingly disruptive to their victims’ finances Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Leaky Azure storage account puts software developer IP at risk

Source code for multiple products was left exposed in an unsecured Microsoft Azure cloud storage account, say researchers, but attributing responsibility for the error has proved difficult Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why we need to reset the debate on end-to-end encryption to protect children

Private messaging is the front line of abuse, yet E2EE in its current form risks engineering away the ability of firms to detect and disrupt it where it is most prevalent Continue Reading

By

• Andy Burrows, NSPCC

Apple OS updates patch multiple security holes

The much-heralded release of the privacy-centric iOS 14.5 also brings patches for multiple CVEs, and users of Apple smartphones, tablets and notebooks are best advised to update as soon as possible Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Python @ 30: Praising the versatility of Python

Python recently celebrated its 30th birthday, and pioneers of the language have been reflecting on its significance as an open source project Continue Reading

By

• Calvin Hendryx-Parker

Falkirk Council deploys end-to-end digital telecare

Council has become the first in Scotland to go live with a complete digital telecare service for its local residents Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

The Security Interviews: Making sense of outbound email security

Screening inbound emails is an accepted part of an organisation’s security posture, but the topic of securing outbound traffic is less often discussed. Zivver’s Rick Goud is on a mission to change this Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

Justice at last in Post Office IT scandal

In this week’s Computer Weekly, 12 years after we broke the story, victims of the Post Office IT scandal finally have their criminal convictions overturned. We take a virtual tour of a Microsoft datacentre and meet a server called ‘Mega-Godzilla Beast’. And we find out how technology is transforming Nationwide Building Society. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Another 38 subpostmasters submit appeals against convictions

The biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history is set to get bigger as more subpostmasters take their cases to the Court of Appeal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW APAC: Trend Watch: IoT in India

A solid IT infrastructure has become more essential for business than ever before. In this handbook, focused on the internet of things in India, Computer Weekly looks at the country’s potential as an IoT hotspot Continue Reading

French legal challenge over EncroChat cryptophone hack could hit UK prosecutions

Lawyers are challenging the legality of a French police operation to harvest tens of thousands of messages from the EncroChat encrypted phone network in a move that could overturn criminal prosecutions in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Digital tech potential in health and social care not yet realised, says King’s Fund

Report by health policy think-tank says that although there is evidence that digital technology can support staff and patients, there are large gaps in the evidence base Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Post Office scandal CEO steps down from roles after massive miscarriage of justice is laid bare

Former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells has left roles in the church, Morrisons and Dunelm after postmasters’ convictions were overturned in the Court of Appeal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How Toffs is seizing Asia’s CDN market

Toffs Technologies is eyeing second- and third-tier cities in Asia as it bolsters its infrastructure and experiments with the use of home networks as content delivery networks Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

How AI and automation drive better customer service

Forrester analysts explore the benefits of combining artificial intelligence with automation Continue Reading

By

• Karine Cardona-Smits and Ian Jacobs

HMRC downplays significance of CEO email ‘questioning’ legal basis of loan charge policy

A document dump of emails shared between HMRC officials has prompted loan charge campaigners to further question the legal footing of the government’s controversial disguised remuneration policy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Intel quarterly results reveal tactics to address ARM in the datacentre

The chipmaker aims to make use of standard chip libraries and offer its customers different ways to package and optimise Intel silicon Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Post Office scandal victims have criminal convictions overturned in Court of Appeal

Subpostmasters have their criminal convictions overturned after a judge rules that the Post Office prosecuted them without investigating computer errors Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London mayoral candidates debate tech

The four mayoral candidates have set out their plans for the tech sector, including creating skills academies, harnessing kinetic energy, creating a London passport and setting up new tech hubs, but Tech London Advocates founder Russ Shaw says they all missed the mark Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

GCHQ: Cyber investment a guarantor of UK’s global status

GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming sets out a vision for the UK’s cyber security future Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US O-RAN first as DISH and AWS form 5G-cloud strategic collaboration

Telco and cloud giant claim industry first by using infrastructure and services to build cloud-based, 5G open radio access network that is said to deliver consistent, cost-effective performance from core to the edge Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Five reasons to look at hyper-converged infrastructure

HCI promises easy setup, purchasing flexibility, low procurement and operation costs, reliability and all in one box – but there are challenges too Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Researchers shed more light on APT29 activity during SolarWinds attack

RiskIQ’s Atlas threat intel team uncovers new patterns and threat infrastructure used in the SolarWind’s attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Met Office prepares for 1.5 million processor, 60 petaflop supercomputer

Azure, Cray supercomputers and Epyc core are the key ingredients inside weather forecasting service’s latest development to improve data Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Department for Education publishes digital strategy

The department's digital and technology function wants to become a leader in the field, invest in its own platforms and manage its legacy technologies Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Automation, zero-trust, API-based security priorities for EMEA CISOs

Report by FireMon sheds light on buyer behaviour across the EMEA region Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ToxicEye malware exploits Telegram messaging service

The Telegram instant messaging service is being used by malicious actors to manage a remote access trojan called ToxicEye Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Grafana Labs switches open source licensing to stem strip-mining tactics

Public cloud providers have been accused of strip-mining open source products, offering them as managed services, cutting a valuable revenue Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security Think Tank: Security culture must underpin vaccine passports

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

By

• Mike Gillespie

Australia and India team up on critical technology

The first three projects under a joint research grant programme will focus on developing ethical and regulatory frameworks for quantum computing, AI and 5G Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

How AWS is supporting Asia’s battle with Covid-19

Public sector organisations and startups across the region have been tapping AWS cloud services to speed up and enable a range of pandemic-related initiatives Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

NCSC offers teachers free cyber security training

The NCSC’s latest security training offer builds on a package of measures designed to protect schools from cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government should do more to protect well-being in the digital world, says report

A select committee report argues that new health and employment rights are needed to tackle the negative effects of increasing digitisation Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

CIO interview: Richard Corbridge, Boots

Boots has been hugely successful in its transition to e-commerce and the Covid-19 pandemic has seen several digital initiatives spun up to continue offering services to customers Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

EU lays out plans to regulate AI development

Proposal aims to encourage the development of ethical artificial intelligence systems that do not infringe the human rights of EU citizens Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

SonicWall Email Security zero-days need urgent patch

Users of SonicWall Email Security are advised to patch immediately, but the supplier is being criticised for the pace of its response Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post-Covid digital transformation requires ERP innovation

As businesses begin on the road to recovery, they will face a choice: modernise their core ERP or build new services around a legacy core Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Time is running out to probe networks for Emotet

Security teams will lose an unprecedented opportunity to gain valuable intelligence to enhance their defences when Emotet is finally ‘executed’ in a few days’ time Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ocado advances autonomous vehicle strategy with Oxbotica deal

The £10m investment is part of a push to enhance Ocado’s last-mile delivery and logistics capabilities, with first prototypes expected for 2023 Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Health app myGP adds Covid-19 vaccine passport function

The new feature is described as the UK’s first NHS-assured Covid-19 certification feature Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK’s proposed IoT cyber security law gathers momentum

New statistics appear to vindicate UK government proposals to force suppliers to be upfront about IoT security Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chinese APT exploits critical CVE in Pulse Secure VPN

A newly disclosed vulnerability in Pulse Secure’s VPN is being exploited by a Chinese advanced persistent threat group – assume compromise and mitigate today Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: ‘Legitimate interest’ crucial for vaccine passports

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

• Petra Wenham

Drax partners with Solace to manage biomass supply chain

Event-based IT architecture helps energy provider optimise its biomass supply chain and drive greater efficiencies, but questions remain about the fundamental sustainability of biomass as an alternative to coal Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Codecov supply chain attack has echoes of SolarWinds

Supply chain attack on code auditing service may have compromised the likes of HPE and IBM Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Banco Santander moving more than 200 servers to cloud per day

Banco Santander has migrated about 60% of its IT infrastructure to the cloud and is reaping the benefits Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London needs a mayor of growth

Here East’s CEO Gavin Poole on why the next mayor must ensure London remains the tech capital of Europe, and the importance of learning from the past Continue Reading

By

• Gavin Poole, Here East

Government launches plan for smart use of knowledge and innovation

Strategy sets out how Westminster can harness and achieve better value from £104bn worth of innovation and knowledge assets within central government Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Transatlantic relationship strengthens Sweden’s startup sustainability

Nordic startup network is taking lessons from Canada in getting women into the IT industry Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Shop and go – will Amazon’s cashless ‘just walk out’ store work?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, Amazon has opened its first ‘just walk out’ grocery store in the UK, but is it the right time to hit the high street? We examine the human and technical issues around email security. And we analyse Microsoft’s $19bn purchase of voice recognition supplier Nuance. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

BBC appoints new digital and technology leaders

BBC splits former chief technology and product officer role into two, with Just Eat executive Storm Fagan to join in September Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Google and Siemens combine forces to address AI at the industrial edge

The partnership shows how the public cloud giants are branching out into specialist application areas to different industry sectors Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Digital secretary steps in on Nvidia/Arm deal

The first stage of a formal investigation by the CMA is now underway, to look at whether the sale of Arm to Nvidia will damage the chip industry Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

YouGov incentivises sharing of personally identifiable information

YouGov Safe is a new service to help organisations target consumers more precisely, where people can select how much personal data they wish to share Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK technology job creation nears two-year peak

Pace of recruitment accelerates and optimism reaches highest level since 2014, according to KPMG Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Tech professionals most likely to see mental health decline due to pandemic

Struggling to cope with anxiety and new ways of working are among the problems workers in the sector face, study says Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

A bottom-up and top-down look at intelligent automation

We look at robotic process automation at a coding level and an organisational level, and see how artificial intelligence fits Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The Secret IR Insider’s Diary – from Sunburst to DarkSide

From dealing with SolarWinds fallout to ransomware attacks, it’s been a busy few weeks for the Secret IR Insider, but they've picked up some new tricks along the way Continue Reading

By

• The Secret IR Insider, Check Point

London tech manifesto calls on next mayor to support tech industry

The London tech manifesto, put together by several tech organisations, calls on the city’s next mayor to support tech companies, increase digital skills investment and tackle the lack of diversity in the sector Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Sutton Council trials in-home sensor tech

The council is deploying sensors in the homes of vulnerable people to be able to detect when they might need help Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Post Office’s full and final settlement with Horizon scandal victims in plain English

The legal settlement with subpostmaster victims of the Horizon scandal that the government and the Post Office say is “full and final” is anything but Continue Reading

By

• Alan Bates

Uber ordered to reinstate six drivers fired by automated process

A default judgment handed down by Dutch court has ordered Uber to reinstate six drivers with compensation following unevidenced accusations of fraud and automated firing via algorithm Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Biden sanctions Russia over SolarWinds cyber attacks

US president imposes new sanctions on Russia following malicious cyber attacks against the US and allies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dell spins off VMware to fuel post-pandemic PC growth opportunities

Five years after completing the purchase of EMC and gaining a software-defined powerhouse, Dell is now offloading VMware Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Only government standing in the way of fair compensation for subpostmasters

The UK government is the only block to fair compensation for subpostmasters who were wrongly punished for accounting shortfalls Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

University of Hertfordshire is latest academic cyber attack victim

Multiple systems are offline at the University of Hertfordshire following a cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

 Continue Reading

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