IT news in your industry sector

Broadcasters treat data science as niche and sporadic in use

Data science specialists at UK broadcasters conveyed a similar picture of niche use cases at Big Data London 2022 Continue Reading

Keeping an IT business going during the Russian invasion

After heading home and discovering that his country had been invaded, Konstantin Klyagin was forced to make life-changing family and business decisions. Continue Reading

Making digital a key ingredient at Mondelez

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to snack giant Mondelez, the owner of Cadbury, about how AI and data are transforming its business. SAP is increasing support costs for the first time in years – we assess the impact on customers. And a Ukrainian tech CEO tells us how his company kept going despite the Russian invasion. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Bank warns of spike in online cost-of-living scams

Fraudsters are exploiting the cost-of-living crisis by tricking people into sending money to help friends and relatives pay bills, TSB has warned Continue Reading

How Russian intelligence hacked the encrypted emails of former MI6 boss Richard Dearlove

Hack by Russian-linked ColdRiver group exposed former MI6 chief Richard Dearlove’s contacts and email communications with government, military, intelligence and political officials Continue Reading

Data analysis and artificial intelligence key industrial strategy missions for Labour

Shadow business secretary announces Labour’s proposed industrial strategy, in which data would take a central role Continue Reading

More than 30 startups to join Plexal’s Cyber Runway accelerator

Now in its second year, the Cyber Runway accelerator has been designed to support firms at various stages of growth, as well as help the cyber security sector to improve on its diversity, inclusion and regional representation Continue Reading

PoINT to offer on-site S3 object storage archive on disk and tape

Archival Gateway can cluster up to 256 tape readers to provide S3 object storage clusters capable of storing 50 billion objects per bucket, and giving throughput of 230GBps Continue Reading

FCSA calls for government clampdown on cloned umbrella companies

One year has passed since the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association spoke out about the problem of umbrella company cloning, and it claims the authorities are not moving fast enough to tackle the issue Continue Reading

Conversation between two police officers formed basis of EncroChat warrant, court hears

The National Crime Agency did not seek a written explanation of a French hacking technique before applying for a surveillance warrant to use French “intercept” in the UK, a court heard Continue Reading

Copenhagen Fintech connects its members to the world

Copenhagen-based startup initiative is driving fintech developments across the Nordic region, with Mastercard its latest global partner Continue Reading

The challenges of verifying AI for healthcare

Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionise healthcare, but even in areas such as medical imaging, where it is easy to spot AI errors, more research is needed Continue Reading

NCA ‘deliberately concealed’ information when it applied for EncroChat warrants, tribunal hears

Investigatory Powers Tribunal hears that the National Crime Agency made ‘serious and fundamental errors’ Continue Reading

IR35 reforms to be scrapped in public and private sectors from April 2023, government confirms

The government has confirmed that the 2017 and 2021 roll-out of the IR35 reforms to the public and private sectors, respectively, will be repealed in April 2023 Continue Reading

Post Office scandal inquiry chair intervenes in slow compensation progress

Chair of statutory public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal has aired his disappointment over the slow progress in making interim payments to victims Continue Reading

Mini-Budget 2022: HMRC tells firms to update payroll software ahead of November NI tax cut

HMRC is urging employers to ensure their payroll software systems are updated now, before the reversal of the previous government’s National Insurance tax hike kicks in Continue Reading

Tech Nation announces 13 startups for 11th Future Fifty cohort

Thirteen high-growth startups set to join Tech Nation’s 11th annual Future Fifty programme to help them scale further Continue Reading

CCS £2bn big data and analytics framework goes live

The Crown Commercial Service has launched a big data and analytics framework worth up to £2bn over the course of the agreement Continue Reading

Privacy Pledge signatories dream of alternative internet

A group of privacy-focused organisations have come together to establish a set of principles for taking the internet back from big tech and surveillance capitalism Continue Reading

Dr Martens goes feetfirst into cloud-to-cloud backup

Iconic bootmaker laces up for a strategy to move all applications to the cloud, beginning with cloud-to-cloud backup for Microsoft 365 apps plus on-site VMware operations Continue Reading

American Express recruiting thousands of tech professionals

Amex will add 5,000 IT professionals to its workforce in 2022 as digital products and services become the staple of the finance sector Continue Reading

Contractors call for IR35 review and tax cuts in Chancellor’s mini-Budget

The contractor community is patiently awaiting the outcome of this Friday’s mini-Budget, with hopes for some concrete details on the Prime Minister’s proposed IR35 review and news of a corporation tax cut Continue Reading

NCSC publishes cyber guidance for retailers

The NCSC has published tailored advice to support online retailers, hospitality providers and utility services in protecting themselves and their customers from cyber crime Continue Reading

European Central Bank working on prototypes of digital Euro interfaces

European Central Bank’s digital Euro investigation phase is at the point of developing and testing systems that might interface with consumers Continue Reading

5G fixed wireless access services to see huge growth

Spending on 5G fixed wireless access services is set to explode globally over the next 12 months Continue Reading

Thousands of customers affected in Revolut data breach

Digital challenger bank has warned its customers to be vigilant after their data was exposed in a cyber attack Continue Reading

IHG attackers phished employee to deploy destructive wiper

A couple from Vietnam who claim to be behind a destructive wiper cyber attack on hotel operator IHG told the BBC how they orchestrated their operation Continue Reading

Reports Uber and Rockstar incidents work of same attacker

Rockstar Games was hit over the weekend by an attacker who claimed to have accessed its Slack channel to steal data on an upcoming release, and may be the same person who compromised Uber Continue Reading

NHS Scotland to transform population health through digital technologies

A collaboration between NHS Scotland, industry partners and academia aims to launch large-scale programmes to improve population health in the country through digital technologies and new patient pathways Continue Reading

Dutch student team aims to enable uninterrupted drone cargo delivery

Dutch student team aims to make the world of flying more sustainable by creating a global network of autonomously flying cargo drones that can have their batteries swapped mid-air Continue Reading

How Lloyd’s of London is digitising

The centuries-old insurance market is transforming its complex IT estate through digital data. Continue Reading

A gold medal performance for networking

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the IT team behind the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham delivered a winning performance. We also look at how the centuries-old London insurance market is going digital, thanks to Lloyd’s of London. And we find out how low-cost high street stores succumbed to the inevitable and are going online. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Barnet Council awards Capita contract extension

Barnet Council has awarded Capita a contract extension as part of its transition away from a large contract with the supplier Continue Reading

Uber suffers major cyber attack

Details are trickling out of an apparent ‘near total’ compromise of ride-sharing service Uber by an alleged teenage hacktivist Continue Reading

EU Cyber Resilience Act sets global standard for connected products

European Commission lays out proposed security regulations on device and software security to better protect consumers and drive global standards Continue Reading

New player pioneers ‘active cyber insurance’ for UK market

Arrival of US-based insurer Coalition in London will supposedly offer SMEs more options when it comes to cyber security insurance Continue Reading

Organisations failing to account for digital trust

The vast majority of businesses are well aware of the importance of digital trust, yet very few have a dedicated staff role responsible for it, report finds Continue Reading

Ex-CISA head Krebs: Disrupt ransomware support networks to win the war

Speaking at an event hosted by data protection specialist Rubrik, former CISA director Chris Krebs calls for the security community to work collectively to kick out the supports from under ransomware gangs Continue Reading

US to see huge increase in embedded finance transactions

Retailers and other non-financial businesses are increasingly offering their customers financial services, such as credit and payment options Continue Reading

DDoS attacks on UK financial sector surged during Ukraine war

A quarter of cyber security incidents reported to the Financial Conduct Authority in the first six months of 2022 involved DDoS, with a likely link to events in Ukraine Continue Reading

AI Sweden connects the dots to keep the country competitive

How and why a centre dedicated to accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence technology has been created in Sweden Continue Reading

Cisco confirms leaked data was stolen in Yanluowang ransomware hit

Cisco has confirmed that data leaked last week by the Yanluowang ransomware gang was that stolen during a May 2022 cyber attack Continue Reading

JP Morgan acquires fintech for payments modernisation

JP Morgan acquires cloud-native payments technology as it modernises its IT infrastructure Continue Reading

Investment in UK fintech sees fall amid global turmoil

Investment in fintech drops, but because figures are distorted by last year’s records, it’s not as bad as it looks, says KPMG Continue Reading

Blancco works with charity to provide IT for African schools

Blancco is providing data sanitisation and erasure software to The Turing Trust so that old IT equipment can be securely reused by school children in Sub-Saharan Africa, instead of adding to world’s growing e-waste problem Continue Reading

The story behind Sibstar, the fintech app for people suffering with dementia

Creator of app and debit card designed to support people with dementia relates how the idea developed. Continue Reading

Source responsibly: Tech sector efforts to root out forced labour are failing

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we analyse the technology industry’s failure to extirpate forced labour and slavery from its supply chains. We find out how cyber security firm Okta is rebuilding customer trust after a major security incident. And we discover how Caterpillar is modernising its data management to offer better customer service. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Mandiant floats off into Google Cloud

As planned, the acquisition of Mandiant will see the threat intel and incident response giant become a part of Google’s Cloud business Continue Reading

Contractors lack confidence in prime minister to follow through with promised IR35 review

Contractor poll suggests lack of faith among freelancers about new prime minister Liz Truss honouring her pledge to review the IR35 rules Continue Reading

Mistakenly transferred $504m to be returned to Citigroup

Judge rules that creditors should return $504m that was accidentally transferred to them by Citigroup Continue Reading

CISOs should spend on critical apps, cloud, zero-trust, in 2023

Faced with a global recession next year, security buyers should try to direct investment towards technology that protects customer-facing and revenue-generating workloads, say analysts Continue Reading

NHS Business Services Authority goes to tender for £1.7bn HR system

Organisation is looking for an integrated workforce solution for the NHS, which includes NHS electronic staff record services Continue Reading

Lloyd’s of London is digitally transforming through the front door

Centuries-old financial services organisation is transforming its complex IT infrastructure through digital data Continue Reading

Interview: Keeping an IT business going during the Russian invasion

After heading home and discovering that his country had been invaded, Konstantin Klyagin was forced to make life-changing family and business decisions Continue Reading

CW Europe: Why Russia could become the world’s biggest market for illegal IT

Faced with international sanctions and the departure of many global IT suppliers from Russia, companies there are seeking alternative, and sometimes illegal, routes to access IT products. Also read how new requirements are driving scientists and engineers in Europe back to the lab to start developing 6G technology. Continue Reading

Panasas’s double NAS offer aims at multiple analytics workloads

ActiveStor Flash and ActiveStor Ultra XL target I/O profiles from rapid AI/ML to processing-heavy modelling but remain firmly on-prem, with object and cloud declared ‘interesting’ Continue Reading

Sweden is ideal breeding ground for a direct-to-consumer unicorn

Sweden’s socially driven technology prowess could soon yield an e-commerce unicorn digitising direct to customers Continue Reading

NCSC CyberUK event heads to Belfast in 2023

National Cyber Security Centre’s annual CyberUK roadshow is crossing the Irish Sea to Belfast in April 2023 Continue Reading

CGI gets ESA order to develop predictive routing tool for satellite constellations

Tool will support increased need to equip satellite networks with software-defined networking to deliver simplified management, better end-to-end network automation support and streamlined delivery of network services Continue Reading

Luxembourg taps into innovation for better government tech

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Russia could become the world’s largest market for illegal IT

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Chinese APT using PlugX malware on espionage targets

China’s Bronze President APT is once again targeting government officials of interest to its paymasters, this time using forged diplomatic correspondence, according to the Secureworks Counter Threat Unit Continue Reading

India’s wake-up call on health data privacy

Health app developers and industry watchers in India are keeping an eye on data privacy following the reversal of the Roe vs Wade ruling in the US Continue Reading

If you smell what the DCMS is cooking

The Liz Truss era is upon us, and while you might expect us to indulge in the kind of trite banter you’ve seen elsewhere online – an observation that real-life politics is very much imitating that ... Continue Reading

Albania cuts diplomatic ties with Iran after cyber attack

In a global geopolitical first, the Albanian government has severed diplomatic ties with Iran and expelled its ambassador after it was targeted by an APT backed by Tehran Continue Reading

Tech Nation Libra programme selects 35 scaleups for second cohort

The Libra 2.0 programme is designed to help underrepresented founders in the UK who are growing and seeking specific support for scaling up their business Continue Reading

Hotel group IHG confirms cyber attack after two-day outage

IHG, the operator of hotel chains Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Intercontinental and Kimpton, says it has been targeted by an unknown threat actor Continue Reading

US remains favoured datacentre location for world’s hyperscale cloud and internet giants

Data released by Synergy Research Group confirms thatr the US remains the favoured location for hyperscale datacentres, but the analyst house predicts this could change in the years to come Continue Reading

VMware’s vSAN 8 gets a rebuild for the solid-state storage era

At VMware Explore 2022, we interview VMware’s John Gilmartin about the new, faster vSAN, plans to use DPUs, the vSAN+ cloud offering, and VMware Ransomware Recovery Continue Reading

Digital identity is key to coping with surge in air travel

The International Air Transport Association’s One ID digital identity initiative will pave the way for seamless air travel from curb to gate and help airports cope with growing passenger traffic Continue Reading

IWGB to take Deliveroo to Supreme Court over riders’ rights

The legal challenge to establish riders as workers rather than self-employed comes months after Deliveroo and GMB signed a voluntary partnership agreement, which IWGB says does not grant riders the full range of rights they are entitled to Continue Reading

Companies House to introduce digital ID system

Companies House will introduce a digital identity verification process for people wanting to register and run a company in the UK Continue Reading

Bus company Go-Ahead fighting off cyber attack

Go-Ahead Group, which operates bus companies around the UK, says it is in the process of dealing with a cyber attack that may cause disruption to services Continue Reading

New prime minister Liz Truss urged to press on with IR35 and loan charge policy reviews

Contracting stakeholders are calling on Liz Truss to make good on her pledge to undertake a review of the IR35 rules when she became prime minister Continue Reading

Saudi Arabian organisations choose to outsource to improve cyber security posture

Overwhelmed by rising threats and a growing number of government mandates, many organisations in Saudi Arabia are looking for outside help to take care of cyber security Continue Reading

Out with the old at Asda

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to Asda’s CIO, Carl Dawson, about the supermarket’s cloud-oriented renovation of its technology stack. We narrate the security woes at Twitter. And we examine best practices for data backup. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

It’s all systems go for Asda as takeover brings in brand new e-commerce platform

As the IT handover from Walmart looms, Asda CIO Carl Dawson tells Clare McDonald how the business is renewing all of its technology, putting the retailer in the rare position of being able to start from scratch. Continue Reading

UK payments upgrade to add more than £3bn to GDP, but much more on offer

UK GDP will increase when its ageing payments infrastructure is replaced with the latest technology to enable real-time payments Continue Reading

Data-driven government needs practical steps

We should build data platforms for government with the same techniques used in creating anything digital, argues Jim Stamp, head of data at Made Tech Continue Reading

Huge leap to contactless payments in past three years

Covid-19 pushes the use of contactless payments for face-to-face transactions to 90% of total Continue Reading

How Okta is regaining customer trust after a cyber attack

In early 2022, cyber firm Okta was among several tech companies hit by the Lapsus$ gang. Vice-president of customer trust Ben King talks about how he has been working behind the scenes to rebuild confidence after the incident Continue Reading

Cloud bursting: What it is and what it’s good for

We look at cloud bursting, which allows organisations to meet demand by bursting compute and storage to the cloud Continue Reading

Interview: Sibstar, the fintech app for dementia sufferers

Creator of app and debit card designed to support people living with dementia tells Computer Weekly how the idea developed Continue Reading

BBVA to add 2,000 software engineers to workforce this year

Spanish bank BBVA is boosting its IT department while its traditional workforce reduces amid digital transformation Continue Reading

Dutch government finally allowed to use public cloud

Public cloud is finally within reach for Dutch public services. Previously, the Dutch government was only allowed to use private clouds due to risks concerning privacy and security Continue Reading

Unstructured vs semi-structured data: Order from chaos

We look at alternatives to relational databases that have emerged to help bring some structure to unstructured data and gain valuable insight by making it semi-structured Continue Reading

HMRC to review how IR35 works in practice following PAC criticism

Several months have passed since the Public Accounts Committee issued its damning report on the fallout from the introduction of the IR35 reforms in the public sector, and HMRC has shared its feedback on its contents Continue Reading

Police interview Horizon scandal victim in investigation into potential perjury by Fujitsu staff

The Met Police have interviewed a former subpostmaster as part of an investigation into potential perjury by former Fujitsu staff Continue Reading

Local authorities experience 10,000 attempted cyber attacks every day

Local authorities across the UK face a daily deluge of cyber incidents, with phishing and DDoS attacks the most prevalent, according to an insurance broker Continue Reading

Google workers oppose cloud contract with Israeli government

Google workers and Palestinian rights activists call on company to divest from involvement in cloud and artificial intelligence contract with Israeli government and military, following allegations the tech giant has retaliated against an employee for being publicly critical of the deal Continue Reading

Podcast: Storage the key bottleneck for AI processing

We talk to Panasas about the need for storage that can cope with delivering high volumes of small files for artificial intelligence with the throughput and latency needed to service costly GPUs Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Effective DevSecOps requires collaboration

Application security and effective DevSecOps can only be achieved through collaboration with the business – the ultimate goal is to make it safer to do business, which requires considering integrated risk management and identity and access management alongside cyber security and application security Continue Reading

Regional tech hub leaders want more support with levelling-up from next prime minister

Several senior leaders from the regional-focused UK Tech Cluster Group have shared their views on what they think the next prime minister should do to ensure tech funding is distributed more evenly across the UK Continue Reading

Google debuts open source bug bounty programme

Google is calling on hackers to take pot-shots at its open source projects for the first time through a new vulnerability research programme Continue Reading

Norway has NOK200m plan to bolster cyber defences

Norway is investing heavily in its cyber defences amid heightened threat from Russia Continue Reading

NHS staff fall further behind amid ransomware attack

While some NHS bodies are now recovering their services after the ransomware attack on a crucial software supplier, others are still being forced to rely on pen and paper, and some will be waiting months to recover Continue Reading

Quantum computing: Industrial opportunities

Mainstream quantum computing may be years away, but some companies are finding ways to pilot the technology now, to see if it can deliver tangible business benefits Continue Reading

IAM house Okta confirms 0ktapus/Scatter Swine attack

Following last week’s disclosureby Group-IB researchers of a major phishing campaign, Okta has warned its customers to be on their guard Continue Reading

UK government presses on with new cyber rules for telcos

Government has finalised new security rules for telecoms companies and will move to make them binding in the near future Continue Reading

NetApp storage goes GA for VMware Cloud on AWS

Move will bring up to 50% decrease in TCO for customers running VMware apps in the Amazon cloud, says NetApp. No date yet for extension of the service across other public clouds Continue Reading