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How Microsoft aims to tackle information overload

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we hear from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella about how the software giant wants to use cloud, machine learning and innovative datacentre technologies to open up access to information. Our new buyer’s guide looks at the emerging trend of network function virtualisation. And we examine the role of blockchain in cloud data security. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

DDoS attacks consistent, relentless and costly, report shows

The latest global DDoS report from Neustar underlines the importance of investing in appropriate defences as the high volume of attacks looks set to increase Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Dymaxia: Combining cloud, IoT and wearables to manage the anxiety of autism

Canadian startup Dymaxia explains how it's using cloud, IoT and wearable devices to help autistic people manage anxiety Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Government invests £220m in tech projects to help "future-proof" post-Brexit economy

Chancellor Philip Hammond highlights the role high-tech industries have to play in safe-guarding the post-Brexit economy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Network Rail hires Jeremy Vincent as CIO

Jeremy Vincent takes on the role of CIO at Network Rail after former CIO Susan Cooklin was appointed as route services director earlier in 2016 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Dutch government uses Microsoft Dynamics to improve recruitment

Government recruitment and career management of senior civil servants in the Netherlands has been improved through a Microsoft Dynamics implementation Continue Reading

By

• Rian van Heur

TalkTalk overhauls broadband packages to challenge rivals

Internet service provider TalkTalk throws down the gauntlet to its rivals by making a number of changes to its packages that it claims will put customers' interests first Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NGOs challenge UK and US mass surveillance in human rights court

Privacy International, Liberty and the American Civil Liberties Union are among 10 human rights groups backing a landmark challenge to mass surveillance in the European Court of Human Rights Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Trust issues stifling digital economy growth, study shows

Businesses that have products and services based on trust have a significant opportunity to future-proof their business, but those who do not risk being side-lined, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Business secretary calls for national broadband upgrade

In a speech to the Institute of Directors’ annual conference, Greg Clark calls for a major broadband upgrade to support the reinvention of the government’s industrial strategy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mastercard woos software developers with API platform

Credit card company Mastercard is investing heavily in digital payments and wants to engage with developers and startups Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Emirates Islamic bank and the Muslim finance revolution

The CIO at Dubai-based bank Emirates Islamic tells Computer Weekly how IT is supporting the company through industry change Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

Ministry of Justice IT systems are ‘fragile and precarious’, say MPs

Public Accounts Committee calls on ministry to urgently improve its “inefficient” IT systems to avoid delays to service transformation Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Government’s lack of clear plan for digital NHS poses risk to ‘credibility’

The King‘s Fund warns that the government’s plans for a digital NHS lack clarity around funding and priorities Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Pizza Hut Hong Kong rips up traditional CRM rule book

IT director of parent company Jardine Restaurant Group has transformed the way Pizza Hut interacts with customers in Hong Kong and plans the same in Myanmar and Vietnam Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Cyber attack aimed at destruction, says TV5Monde

TV5Monde counting the cost of not being adequately prepared for a cyber attacked that downed the network in 2015 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Computer Weekly 50th anniversary special

It’s been 50 years since Computer Weekly's launch on 22 September 1966. To mark this achievement, we have compiled a special edition of the magazine to reflect on how much the British technology industry has contributed over that time – and, of course, to celebrate our role in keeping IT professionals in touch with those developments – week-in, week-out, for half a century. Read this 100-page anniversary special now. Continue Reading

Essex hospital trust upgrades IT infrastructure

Mid Essex NHS Trust upgrades its storage infrastructure to keep up with increasing volumes of data Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Business warned not to be complacent about cyber security

Lloyds of London survey reveals just how badly some European firms are failing in terms of cyber security and low levels of awareness about the role of cyber insurance Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Digital Catapult sets up London-wide IoT network

The Digital Catapult is launching a London-wide internet of things network to support digital startups and SMEs as they develop applications and use-cases Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital giving – transforming Save the Children with technology

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to global charity Save the Children to find out how digital technology is helping to transform its work in improving children’s lives. We go behind the scenes at the UK’s most secretive court as it discusses bulk data surveillance of citizens by the UK intelligence services. And we analyse the often contradictory experiences of firms implementing SAP’s Hana in-memory database platform. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Italian bottle maker deploys 88TB of Syneto hyper-converged storage

Serioplast gets reliable disaster recovery as it replaces NetApp plus remote physical servers with Syneto hyper-converged infrastructure at factories across Europe, Africa and Asia Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Consumers trust banks more than government for biometric security

UK citizens think banks are the best organisations to provide biometric authentication for payments Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Royal Wolverhampton NHS merges IT systems

The NHS trust has merged its community patient administration system with its central system used by the acute service Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Alleged hacker Lauri Love can be extradited to the US, court rules

Westminster Magistrates’ Court has ruled that alleged hacker, Lauri Love, can be extradited to the US, where he could face a 99-year prison sentence Continue Reading

By

• Fiona O'Cleirigh

DWP to begin private beta roll-out of CIS database

The Department for Work and Pensions has been giving its customer information system an overhaul, and will begin deploying it to a limited number of users this month Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Lauri Love: the student accused of hacking the US

How did a brilliant but fragile computer science student from a rural English town end up facing life imprisonment in the US? Computer Weekly speaks to Lauri Love Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin and Niels Ladefoged

Lauri Love - my battle with extradition

A court ruled today that Lauri Love, a 31-year old electrical engineering student, from Suffolk, can be extradited to the US to face hacking charges. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

The all-new GDS under Kevin Cunnington starts here

So, the first phase of changing the Government Digital Service (GDS) is underway, and it’s clear there is a lot more to come. The Cabinet Office pitched the latest news as minister Ben Gummer’s ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

GDS takes over DWP Digital Academy and gets ‘national presence’

More changes ahead for Government Digital Service as Cabinet Office minister Ben Gummer tells staff they will be moving to east London as the organisation takes over the DWP Digital Academy Continue Reading

Is Europe a growing datacentre destination?

In this quarter’s issue of CW Europe, we ask whether European datacentres will benefit from the UK’s exit from the EU. As the dust settles on the EU referendum and the new-look US-Europe Privacy Shield data transfer agreement, we look at what it could mean for European datacentre operators. For example, 451 Research issued an advisory note several days after the result of the EU referendum, suggesting operators have slowed or suspended datacentre planning until a clearer idea emerges of how the post-Brexit world will pan out. Continue Reading

Banks and fintech firms respect each other, says HSBC boss

The relationship between banks and fintech companies has sweetened over the past five years with mutual respect evident, says HSBC boss Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

DNB and Nordea to merge IT operations for Baltic super bank

Two of the Nordic region’s banks will use joint operations, including IT, to help them grow in the Baltic area Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

Scottish local government appoints CDO and CTO

Chief digital officer and chief technology officer will drive forward the digital transformation strategy of 27 Scottish councils Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Dell Technologies aims for an intelligent, connected future

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as Dell and EMC complete the largest IT supplier merger in history, we look at the new $74bn company’s strategy and what it means for IT leaders. Our latest buyer’s guide examines a key aspect of cloud – cloud bursting, used for dynamic capacity management. And we assess the latest views on the UK government’s plans for internet surveillance legislation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Australian council removes costly bottleneck with traditional storage architecture

Redland City Council chose to return to a traditional storage architecture when it was struggling to get rates notices out in good time Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Kennedy

CIO interview: Neil Pearce, Travis Perkins

Retailer Travis Perkins’ largest IT transformation programme to date is a challenge CIO Neil Pearce is more than happy to take on Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

The grubby day-to-day frustrations of digital change in Whitehall

Change is hard. Few business or IT leaders would disagree with such a statement. But learning the lessons from change should be the easy and obvious outcome. Failing to learn the lessons from ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Dell Technologies to cut up to 3,000 jobs

Creating the world’s largest privately controlled tech company is to come at the price of up to 3,000 jobs following Dell’s acquisition of EMC Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Insurance brokers count cost of lost business as SSP SaaS platform outage enters second week

SSP confirms to Computer Weekly it has no clear idea when all brokers will be able to continue doing business via its SaaS platform, two weeks on from Solihull datacentre power outage Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Bank IT spending to hit $241bn across four major global regions

IT spending across four major economic regions will increase by around 4% in 2016, but Europe is the least certain Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

A new nearshoring game is emerging

Countries selling themselves as nearshore business services locations need to change their sales pitches to avoid becoming like all the other countries doing the same Continue Reading

By

• Ilan Oshri

Barclays uses blockchain for trade finance transactions

Barclays Bank has successfully tested the use of blockchain technology to complete a large trade finance agreement, which promises huge efficiencies Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NSA used Iraq war to develop surveillance capability, documents show

As the controversial Investigatory Powers Bill inches closer to becoming law, NSA documents reveal that the agency used the Iraq war to develop and expand its surveillance infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Basic security could have prevented OPM breach, says report

Basic security controls and malware-detection tools could have prevented the breach of more than 21 million records at the US Office of Personnel Management in 2015, claims a congressional report Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

A quarter of local council procurement policies do not support use of G-Cloud, research shows

Latest research by public sector-focused IT provider Eduserv sheds further light on reasons why local councils have been slow to adopt the G-Cloud procurement framework Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Use ransomware to get security buy-in, says Trend Micro CTO

Ransomware is one of the top cyber threats to business, but organisations should use that to engage stakeholders and review processes and defences, says Trend Micro CTO Raimund Genes Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

DWP "seriously considered" suing IT suppliers over Universal Credit failure

Institute for Government report reveals that during the 2013 “reset” of Universal Credit, the Department for Work and Pensions pointed fingers at suppliers Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Mobile device use feeds card fraud in Asean region

Card fraud is rising in Asean countries, with the high use of mobile devices a contributing factor. Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Silverstone Circuit pilots smart transport service at 2016 British MotoGP

Silverstone Circuit tests InterDigital’s oneTransport traffic flow management service at the 2016 British Grand Prix MotoGP Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Banks should avoid customer service robots for a few more years

Banking sector should not use software robots to automate customer services such as chat because consumers expect better service levels when it come to their finances Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cloud collaboration boosts Cumbria County Council's disaster response abilities

How Cumbria County Council tackled the unsanctioned use of cloud services within its organisation and improved the robustness of its disaster response in face of December 2015's Storm Desmond Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Lessons from the Dropbox breach

Dropbox is the latest major company to confirm a data breach, albeit four years old, but – as with all recent data breaches by cloud-based services – it highlights some key security lessons Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IoT will help ease transition to renewables, says National Grid chief

The National Grid’s chief executive, Nicola Shaw, wants to use the internet of things to balance energy demand as the UK transitions to renewable energy sources Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Evidence of DNS tunnelling in two-fifths of business networks

Cyber criminals are capitalising on the failure of many businesses to examine their DNS traffic for malware insertion and data exfiltration, according to Infoblox Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Westpac bank launches Databank data protection service

Australia's Westpac bank is offering organisations that share customer data a service that it says securely locks down personal information Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Kennedy

Cloud firm Backbone relegates X-IO SAN with Atlantis tiered storage

London-based Backbone uses Atlantis USX as storage virtualisation layer on top of PCIe flash and X-IO and as a stepping stone to hyper-converged infrastructures Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Encryption hiding malware in half of cyber attacks

Cyber attackers are using encryption to hide malicious activity, making it increasingly difficult to find as more organisations turn to encryption to protect data, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Get protected: The importance of security

It is not uncommon for computer systems to be compromised by a company’s own employees. In this week’s issue we look at the Sage data breach, which highlights the risk every organisation faces from its staff. Staff are often motivated by revenge, but sometimes internal logins can be compromised, enabling hackers to circumvent firewalls. Our CIO interview is TalkTalk’s CTO, Gary Steen, and we have a report from the Intel Developer Forum on the chipmaker’s future plans. Continue Reading

VMware to help enterprises manage AWS, Azure and Google cloud deployments

Virtualisation giant VMware offers enterprises a helping hand with managing multi-cloud environments, spanning AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Law firms planning litigation market for GDPR

Businesses should be preparing for the storm of litigation that is likely to be unleashed when the GDPR goes into force, warns Stewart Room of PwC Legal Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Computing GCSE continues to rise in popularity, but grades drop

The number of girls taking computing at GCSE level has more than doubled with more students taking the subject than ever before, but grades are dropping Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Apple iPhones plagued by device failure and crashing apps, report claims

A report on mobile device performance produced by Blancco Technology Group says the performance of Apple iPhones is flagging compared with Android-based devices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

French submarine maker data breach highlights challenges of IP security

French naval contractor data breach proves that protecting intellectual property is challenging, say security experts Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

London datacentre market enjoys pre-Brexit surge in demand for colocation space

CBRE's pre-Brexit look at the European datacentre market sees London reap the benefits of a surge in demand for colocation space during the second quarter Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK second only to US in DDoS attacks

Distributed denial of service attacks on UK organisations have eased from a peak in the fourth quarter of 2015, but the UK remains the world’s second most targeted country Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Singapore models entire country in 3D with smart map

Singapore authorities are creating 3D maps of the entire country to help organisations in the public and private sector make better planning decisions. Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Interim Gov.uk Verify boss sets out future priorities

Jess McEvoy looks at potential for re-use of the government’s identity assurance platform in both public and private sector Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Projected gains: Odeon and UCI cinemas adopt hybrid cloud

In this issue, we profile Odeon and UCI Cinemas Group’s use of hybrid cloud as part of a digital transformation programme aimed at enhancing customer experience and staving off competition from on-demand streaming. We also look at the summertime game of musical chairs at the Government Digital Service, and at 50 years of business software. Continue Reading

There is life in Finland’s IT sector despite Nokia and Microsoft layoffs

Regional development organisations in Finland describe how despite massive job cuts Nokia and Microsoft have provided the foundations for IT industry development Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

How to break up GDS without breaking up GDS

The Cabinet Office and its latest recruit – new Government Digital Service (GDS) chief Kevin Cunnington – are adamant that GDS will not be broken up. Cunnington told us so in his first blog post of ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Bangkok Hospital recognised for its use of electronic records

Private hospital in Thailand is recognised for its effective use of IT by a global accreditation body Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Expect ransomware arrests soon, says bitcoin tracking firm Chainalysis

Law enforcement organisations are set to ramp up arrests of cyber criminals behind ransomware attacks, according to financial technology startup Chainalysis Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Police arrest woman in connection with Sage data breach

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of fraud in connection with a data breach at accounting software firm Sage Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

HPE boosts MSA and StoreVirtual with sub-$10,000 flash storage options

HPE launches new StoreVirtual 3200 entry-level array that can cost as little as $6,000, plus the SME-focused MSA 2042 array which has 800GB of flash embedded Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

GDS loses another senior exec with departure of Gov.uk Verify’s Janet Hughes

Following the departure of GDS boss Stephen Foreshew-Cain earlier this month, Gov.uk Verify director Janet Hughes has announced she’s leaving too Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

TfL’s 24-hour tube API retains app compatiblity

TfL extends its open data API to support London’s 24-hour tube service, with TfL saying the API won’t break existing apps Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Cerber ransomware service reaps $195,000 profit in a month

Franchises such as Cerber are making highly profitable ransomware available to a broader range of cyber criminals, according to a report by security firm Check Point Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Case study: Improving food safety and traceability

We look at how Transparency-One is using a Neo4j graph database to deliver traceability across the global food supply chain Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

HMRC ramps up digital tax plans

HM Revenue and Customs launches six consultations on its plans to digitise the tax system and promises free software to small businesses Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Financial sector faces era of cyber mega heists

Banks and other financial institutions are threatened by a new breed of elite cyber criminals running professional operations that will use any means to achieve their goals, says Barclays security chief Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Sage data breach underlines insider threat

Organisations need to take insider threats more seriously say security experts, as Sage warns that a data breach using an internal log-in may have compromised employee data at nearly 300 UK firms Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Care charity Avante enhances unified communications capabilities with 3CX

Kent-based residential care charity Avante Care and Support installed an IP PBX to manage telephony across multiple sites and a mobile workforce Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia competition watchdog fines Google $6.8m over Android

As Google faces a fine of around $3bn for anti-competitive practices in Europe, Russian authorities have ordered the internet giant to pay $6.8m for abusing its dominant position with Android device makers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nimble adds to all-flash arrays with entry-level AF1000

Nimble made its debut in all-flash in February 2016, but now adds an entry-level array, the AF1000, plus upgrades to its hybrid flash array products that up performance and capacity Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Google Fiber to expand tests of gigabit-speed wireless broadband

Google Fiber plans to expand tests of wireless broadband to accelerate the roll-out of low-cost superfast internet across the US Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

South East Coast Ambulance Service deploys EPR on iPads

The South East Coast Ambulance Service has implemented the Evolve electronic patient record (EPR) system from Kainos to let staff look up and enter patient data while attending emergencies Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

MI5 staff repeatedly overrode data surveillance rules

Security service MI5 is responsible for 210 “clear contraventions” over five years for the way it accessed private internet and telephone data Continue Reading

By

• SA Mathieson

PwC Australia uses gamification to teach cyber security lessons

With the number of cyber incidents identified by Australian organisations more than doubling in the past year, PwC is using an online game to give enterprises first-hand experience of what it means to face a cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Will Rio’s 4G networks sink or swim?

The Rio Olympic Games are meant to be the fastest ever – not just for the athletes, but also for mobile data speeds, as users seek to upload photos and videos in real time. In this week’s Computer Weekly, we investigate how operators are working around Brazil’s patchy 4G. We also find out how Glasgow’s smart city initiatives are evolving following its Future City projects in 2014, and assess how Google and Microsoft are lining up to take on the might of Amazon Web Services. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

IT failure grounds Delta flights worldwide

US airline Delta has temporarily grounded flights worldwide after a power failure took key IT systems offline in its home base of Atlanta, Georgia Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Strider cyber attack group deploying malware for espionage

Symantec security researchers have uncovered a spying campaign by a previously unknown group using modular malware as stealthware Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

RBS abandons IT project for hiving off 300+ bank branches

RBS has abandoned a project to create an IT platform to support the sell-off of more than 300 bank branches Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Banner Health cyber breach underlines need for faster intrusion detection

A data breach at Banner Health has highlighted the importance of intrusion detection and prompted calls for greater cyber security investment in the increasingly targeted healthcare industry Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Artificial intelligence takes centre stage in cyber security

Artificial intelligence-led cyber security technology has been in the spotlight at two major industry conferences in Las Vegas, signalling a firm trend in cyber defence research Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Italian-based Android RAT spies on mobiles in Japan and China, say researchers

Researchers discover an Italian-based Android RAT designed for spying that is targeting mobile devices using their unique identification codes Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Singapore’s DBS Bank signs up to Amazon cloud

The latest move in the cloud journey of DBS bank in Singapore is an agreement with Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

One in five businesses hit by ransomware are forced to close, study shows

More than half of UK companies have been hit by ransomware in the past year, a study on the impacts of this popular attack method has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Will Whitehall power struggle cripple Government Digital Service?

After losing its second leader in less than a year, does the Government Digital Service stand any chance of a successful future? Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Giving fashion a digital makeover

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how one of the UK’s biggest mail order retailers – N Brown, owner of JD Williams and Simply Be – is moving to digital. We examine the growing importance of network function virtualisation and what it means for CIOs. And a year after Microsoft turned Lync into Skype for Business, we assess how the unified communications product is faring. Read the issue now. Continue Reading