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Zero-day that forced Barracuda users to bin kit was exploited by China

Mandiant has published details of how a Chinese threat actor targeted high-profile users of Barracuda Networks' Email Security Gateway appliances, including government agencies of interest to Beijing's intelligence goals Continue Reading

Nats resorts to fail-safe manual process after technical hitch

Just a few hours of manual processing has resulted in a massive backlog in flights Continue Reading

Top-performing CISOs reserve time for professional development

Survey of chief information security officers conducted by Gartner sheds light on habits shared by the top-performing members of the profession Continue Reading

Is the data guardian hinting that Palantir should be ousted from NHS IT?

Nicola Byrne, the National Data Guardian, published a blogpost on the Gov.uk site on 24 August that seems to suggest Palantir should be excluded from the technology involved in the NHS Federated ... Continue Reading

CIO perceptions of vendor AI marketing

With all the recent press coverage, it's not surprising to see IT vendors clamouring to message around their AI creds. In a survey by Freeform Dynamics and the CIO WaterCooler, a bunch of IT ... Continue Reading

Bletchley Park to host UK government AI safety summit

An international collaboration event on artificial intelligence safety is being run at the site that was home to the world’s first programmable computer Continue Reading

NHS SBS to launch £1.5bn digital workplace solutions framework

NHS Shared Business Services is planning on a second iteration of its digital workplace solutions framework before the current one expires in August 2024 Continue Reading

NHS England calls on NHS organisations to take part in wireless trials

NHS organisations are encouraged to apply for funding for the wireless trials programme, which aims to explore how cutting-edge tech can improve patient care Continue Reading

AWS debuts Dedicated Local Zones with Singapore government as first customer

The new offering will be fully managed by AWS, built for exclusive use by a customer or community, and placed in a customer-specified location or datacentre Continue Reading

Inside Micron Singapore’s sustainability journey

The chipmaker has been doubling down on sustainability efforts in Singapore by tapping solar power, recycling water and waste, as well as treating greenhouse gases, in a bid to achieve net zero by 2050 Continue Reading

Six subpostmaster appeals to be heard in Scottish court

Scottish court will hear appeals against the convictions of six former subpostmasters based on evidence from a Post Office computer system Continue Reading

St Helens Council in Merseyside hit by ransomware attack

St Helens Borough Council is investigating a suspected ransomware incident targeting its systems, and is advising residents to be on the alert for follow-on phishing attacks Continue Reading

Cyber attacks in 2023 develop quicker as average dwell times plummet

The median attacker dwell time shrunk from 10 to eight days in the first seven months of 2023, and in the case of ransomware attacks it is down to just five days Continue Reading

Innovative UK SMEs spend half of turnover on tech

UK SMEs are increasing spending on technology, with dedicated IT teams set up to enable them to keep pace with tech change Continue Reading

Met Police data platform £64m over budget

A freedom of information request has revealed that the Met’s Connect integrated record management system is running tens of millions over budget, and has already generated more than 25,000 support requests so far Continue Reading

Alternative perspectives: relational and virtue ethics in tech

In the second of three essays, Marc Steen explores the benefits of grounding ethical considerations in an understanding of social and power dynamics, and how relational and virtue ethics can help Continue Reading

Can low code/no code ease developer skills shortages?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, organisations are increasingly turning to low-code/no-code tools to enable “citizen developers” among staff – can this help to ease software developer skills shortages? SAP says it will restrict availability of its advanced AI capabilities – we examine the implications. And we go behind the scenes of the University of East Anglia’s digital transformation plans. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Cyber attack on Aussie energy services firm may hit UK CNI

Energy One, an Australia-based supplier of tech services to the energy sector, is investigating the possibility that some UK customers may have been caught up in an ongoing cyber attack on its systems Continue Reading

BSI launches sustainability-focused startup accelerator

Startups selected to participate in the BSI and Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership’s joint sustainability startup accelerator are working in a diverse range of areas and using a variety of technologies to positively affect society Continue Reading

More than 400 Liberty Global IT staff move to Infosys as part of €1.5bn contract

TV and broadband giant outsources the build and operation of its entertainment and connectivity platforms to Indian supplier in five year deal Continue Reading

NatWest customer calls bank’s handling of breach of his data ‘disgusting’

A second NatWest customer has contacted Computer Weekly after finding out from a whistleblower that his sensitive personal data has been in her home for 14 years Continue Reading

NUHS taps LLM to boost productivity, patient care

Healthcare professionals at Singapore’s National University Health System can now summarise patient case notes and predict patient healthcare journeys using a large language model trained by a supercomputer Continue Reading

MP calls for review of computer evidence rule which led to subpostmasters being wrongly convicted

MP writes to minister in charge of courts requesting he looks at the controversial rules on the use of computer evidence in court Continue Reading

Accenture’s Brussels AI lab to focus on European public sector and health

Accenture will use its Brussels AI lab to test AI and generative AI's application in the European public sector Continue Reading

Biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner resigns

Dual biometrics and surveillance camera watchdog will step down at the end of October 2023, noting that while he agreed to stay on until the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill received royal assent, continuing delays to its passage means he will not be able to effectively discharge his functions Continue Reading

Norfolk and Suffolk police hit by FoI-linked data breach

Latest UK police data breach relates to crime suspects, victims and witnesses across East Anglia, and comes just days after a similar incident at the Northern Irish service Continue Reading

Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box aims hyper-converged at AI/ML use cases

Nutanix targets a pre-configured bundle of AI/ML and GPT software with hyper-converged infrastructure and GPT to help organisations safely take advantage of learning networks Continue Reading

TSB and Fintech Scotland lab open for applications

High street bank opens applications to its latest fintech programme in partnership with Fintech Scotland Continue Reading

Bank of England core system experiences outage

The “beating heart” of the UK financial system stopped after a technical issue Continue Reading

NatWest offers compensation to customer affected by data breach exposed by whistleblower

NatWest bank has offered compensation to a former customer affected by a data breach alongside around 1,600 other former and current customers Continue Reading

CMA provisionally clears US healthcare giant’s purchase of GP IT supplier EMIS

US company UnitedHealth is looking to buy UK healthcare technology firm EMIS in a £1.2bn deal Continue Reading

Why technology jobs are proving resilient

The clamour for technology professionals has become less frenetic in recent months but demand for IT skills remains high Continue Reading

Google Help workers claim layoffs are retaliation for unionising

More than 100 Google Help workers claim that Google and Accenture’s decision to layoff two-thirds of the team was done in retaliation for their attempts to form a union, while companies claim decision was made well in advance of unionisation attempt Continue Reading

Biden administration bans investment in Chinese high tech

Executive Order prohibits investment firms from supporting Chinese firms specialising in AI, quantum and advanced semiconductors Continue Reading

DWP accounts highlight decline in outside IR35 workers in wake of department’s £87.9m tax bill

The Department for Work and Pensions has seen a marked decline in the number of outside IR35 contractors it engages since the department was hit with a £87.9m tax bill several years ago, its accounts show Continue Reading

Babylon Health faces downfall

GP at Hand provider once hailed by Matt Hancock looking to sell UK business after merger plans collapse Continue Reading

Sutton Council steps up tech-enabled care for residents

Council partners with technology-enabled care provider to support vulnerable residents living independently in their own homes Continue Reading

MoD embarks on cloud-based push to digitise data protection request service

After previously finding itself on the receiving end of a reprimand from the UK data protection watchdog for taking too long to respond to subject access requests, the Ministry of Defence sets out how its turned the situation around with the help of cloud-based system eCase Continue Reading

PSNI investigating second breach after laptop stolen

Just hours after accidentally disclosing the personal details of 10,000 personnel, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has notified a second data breach after a police issue laptop and documents were stolen from a parked car Continue Reading

AI interview: Krystal Kauffman, lead organiser, Turkopticon

Remote Mechanical Turk workers are responsible for training artificial intelligence algorithms and completing other data-related business processes - we hear about the workplace issues they face Continue Reading

Huawei a big storage hitter despite international troubles

Huawei is a leading storage player with an enterprise product offer across file, block and object storage, and the cloud, despite controversy and trading difficulties Continue Reading

CTO interview: Gavin Rea, Gulf Bridge International

GBI ensures service continuity of submarine cable networks, which bring high-speed internet to the Gulf states, supporting the region’s ambitious plans to be one of the world’s leading poles for technological innovation Continue Reading

Northern Irish police expose staff data in botched FoI response

Human error is being blamed for the leak of personally identifiable information on all serving officers and civilian staff at the Police Service of Northern Ireland Continue Reading

Podcast: File synchronisation benefits and use cases

If you’ve got the bandwidth and you need to share files or even synchronise virtual desktops, file synchronisation is worth a look. That’s the view of Peer Software CEO Jimmy Tan Continue Reading

Pentland Brands marshals Google BigQuery to improve customer insight

The name behind Speedo, Berghaus, Canterbury of New Zealand and Kickers turns to Google BigQuery to improve customer data understanding Continue Reading

MPs warn about growing prevalence of tech-enabled domestic abuse

The UK government must take action to prevent perpetrators from being able to use connected or smart technologies to conduct their domestic abuse, a select committee has warned Continue Reading

Podcast: HDDs have a long life ahead in certain workloads

Spinning disk hard drives are far from dead, and with data volumes set to explode, there are use cases that suit them well. That’s the view of Rainer Kaese of Toshiba in this podcast Continue Reading

UK voter data hacked in cyber attack on election watchdog

An unknown threat actor who attacked the UK’s Electoral Commission had access to data on millions of UK voters for over a year, the watchdog has revealed Continue Reading

Workplace monitoring needs worker consent, says select committee

Employers looking to monitor their employees through connected devices should only to so with the consent of those affected due to negative impacts such surveillance can have on work intensification and mental health Continue Reading

Ethics as a process of reflection and deliberation

In the first of three essays, Marc Steen outlines a three-step process for how organisations can practically integrate ethics into their IT projects and how different ethical perspectives can inform tech development Continue Reading

NHS trust suspends two governors as whistleblower email dispute continues

Governors at an NHS trust have been suspended after asking questions about emails used to bring a General Medical Council investigation against a whistleblower Continue Reading

HPE’s Alletra MP marries storage to cloud and software-defined choices

HPE’s Alletra was launched in April with an architecture that ties in with GreenLake consumption purchasing, SaaS configuration and addition of software-defined storage services Continue Reading

Rise in fraudsters spoofing the websites of leading UK banks

Despite safeguards to protect customers from scams, UK retail banks are still seeing high volumes of fake phishing websites exploiting their brands, and the problem seems to be increasing in scope and scale Continue Reading

Biden’s SBOM mandate a ‘shot heard around the world’, report says

Two years and three months after Joe Biden mandated new standards in supply chain security, over 40% of UK respondents to a survey say they have implemented new SBOM policies in direct response Continue Reading

Scottish NHS trust ducks fine after staff shared patient data via WhatsApp

NHS Lanarkshire has been issued a formal reprimand by the ICO after staff members used WhatsApp to share patients’ personal data with one another Continue Reading

Plexal takes on new cohort for cyber security leadership scheme

Six more cyber security startup founders have been selected to take part in Plexal’s latest Cyber Runway Ignite programme, which is designed to help them develop their leadership skills Continue Reading

UK government recruits panel to focus on semiconductors

A panel of experts is being recruited as part of the government's national semiconductor strategy to ensure the UK’s chip sector can grow Continue Reading

Ivanti MDM users told to patch against two dangerous flaws

Users of Ivanti’s mobile device management platform have been warned to act now to patch two vulnerabilities that were chained by a threat actor in a series of cyber attacks on the Norwegian government Continue Reading

Wirral Council set to deploy Microsoft Fabric data platform

The platform, which is being developed in collaboration with Simpson Associates, will be used to aid decision-making and improve operations Continue Reading

Cubbit offers cut-price cloud with DS3 distributed storage

Cubbit’s DS3 offers cloud at up to 20% the cost of the main providers via on-premise software that builds a cloud with other users and targets unstructured data use cases such as backup Continue Reading

Vast Data Platform aims at storage everywhere for AI/ML workloads

Vast Data to offer storage with data lake and warehouse functionality built in natively, in anticipation of a huge surge in AI/ML workloads and a need for ever-larger data stores Continue Reading

Going passwordless in online shopping

GUEST BLOG: In the contributed blog post, Ian Lowe, head of industry solutions, EMEA at Okta, explains why passwords can cause such an issues for people shopping online, and how technology can help ... Continue Reading

Large language models harnessed for education

Large language models are being used to teach, support and assess students, enhancing education rather than impairing it Continue Reading

G-Cloud 13 suppliers claim framework extension is making it ‘commercially unviable’ to sell through

Government procurement chiefs at the Crown Commercial Service are under fire for extending the life of the G-Cloud 13 framework and preventing suppliers from upping their prices as inflation bites Continue Reading

Chief data officer interview: Neema Raphael, Goldman Sachs

After two decades at Goldman Sachs, Neema Raphael tells Computer Weekly about his tech journey at one of the world’s biggest banks Continue Reading

Lancaster Uni lends cyber support to nuclear decommissioning body

Lancaster University’s cyber team has joined with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to help support and protect its 300-year mission, while enhancing its own capabilities in the process Continue Reading

Scottish university hit by Rhysida ransomware gang

Data allegedly stolen from the University of Western Scotland has been put up for sale on the dark web by a ransomware gang going by the name Rhysida Continue Reading

Post Office tried to convince independent IT witness that he was wrong about Horizon

‘Delusional’ Post Office tried to influence an expert witness and get him to change his view about IT evidence which was detrimental to its case against a subpostmaster Continue Reading

NATO countries must coordinate their cyber forces to combat the Russian threat  

The top item on the agenda at the Vilnius NATO Summit this month was the revamping the alliance’s defences. Continue Reading

Cyber attack on IT supplier hits two major ambulance trusts

Ambulance trusts serving millions across southern England have been hamstrung for the past week after a cyber attack took down their hosted patient records system Continue Reading

CCRC refers two more subpostmaster convictions for appeal

Two more subpostmaster convictions referred to appeal court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission Continue Reading

Tetra radio users’ comms may have been exposed for years

A number of flaws in the encryption algorithms used in the secure Tetra radio communications standard have potentially left users exposed to snooping Continue Reading

Mayor of London announces startup funding

Seven technology startups working on the Mayor of London’s Poverty Prevention Challenge will receive up to £50,000 each to further develop their proposals, designed to help alleviate the cost-of-living crisis for the capital’s most vulnerable Continue Reading

Small satellite testing gets funding boost

A new facility has been established as part of the government’s £200m funding for Earth Observation Continue Reading

Getting comfortable with data

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to ‘Data Bob’ – the head of IT at furniture retailer DFS – about building trust in data. The vulnerabilities in MOVEit software continue to attract new victims – we assess the impact of the widespread breaches. And we find out how online investigators are trawling social media to gather evidence of war crimes. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CIO interview: Sean Green, University of East Anglia

In his role as director of digital and data at the University of East Anglia, Sean Green provides high-performance computing to researchers and manages the diverse needs of a campus with the characteristics of a small town, all while finding the time to study one of his passions Continue Reading

CunoFS brings Posix file access to S3 object storage capacity

Developed out of data compression tools for genomics, PetaGene gateways allow application servers Posix-based file access to the deep data stores of S3 object capacity Continue Reading

Privacy and participation – technologies to open data for innovation

The Open Data Institute has launched Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and participatory data programmes. The ODI’s Calum Inverarity explains why they matter Continue Reading

Tribunal investigates complaint that journalists’ phones were unlawfully monitored

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has agreed to investigate complaints by Northern Ireland investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey that they were unlawfully placed under surveillance Continue Reading

Transforming the financial system's plumbing

Executive heading up the Bank of England’s core system replacement project says the financial services sector plumbing is getting the attention it deserves. Continue Reading

Bank of England’s project to replace ‘beating heart’ is foundation for continuous development

The Bank of England has reached a major milestone in its core system replacement programme, with next landmark in sight Continue Reading

Podcast: Sizing data storage for AI/ML workloads

Artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads come with I/O profiles of different shapes and sizes. We talk to Curtis Anderson of Panasas about how best to procure and size storage for them Continue Reading

Generative AI: Automating storage and backup management

We look at how generative artificial intelligence is being deployed to automate monitoring of repetitive tasks and report on enterprise storage and backup, but also the limits to its implementation Continue Reading

The problem with ‘secure’ messaging

Secure instant messaging is becoming a norm for business communications but it raises three important security and compliance questions   Continue Reading

What the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act means for UK industry

For years, many network-connected devices have lacked adequate security, putting their users and others at risk of cyber attacks. The UK’s PSTI Act aims to prevent this by mandating minimum security requirements, but what impact will this have on industry? Continue Reading

Artificial intelligence creates 40,000 new roles at Accenture

Accenture plans to hire thousands of AI experts as part of a $3bn investment. Continue Reading

Government boosts protection for encryption in Online Safety Bill but civil society groups concerned

House of Lords adopts amendment to require Ofcom to commission a report before requiring technology companies to scan encrypted messages, but drops proposals for judicial oversight Continue Reading

Electronic Trade Documents Act receives royal assent

Digital trade documents are to be accorded the same status in law as paper ones under a law implemented to help reduce paper waste and speed up the UK’s foreign trade Continue Reading

Online Safety Bill screening measures amount to ‘prior restraint’

The Open Rights Group is calling on Parliament to reform the Online Safety Bill, on the basis that its content-screening measures would amount to “prior restraint” on freedom of expression Continue Reading

Interview: Richard Corbridge, CDIO, DWP

Only 13 weeks into his new role, the Department for Work and Pensions’ CDIO speaks to Computer Weekly about plans for artificial intelligence, data modernisation and how to complete a business plan in record time Continue Reading

How the DSMA balances security and privacy with press freedom

In a world of information sharing and 24-hour news cycles, the Defence and Security Media Advisory committee have to balance national security and data privacy with freedom of the press Continue Reading

BBC outsources IT to India’s Tata Consultancy Services

TCS continues to build its UK public sector business, with the BBC its latest customer Continue Reading

Support for smaller businesses in AI revolution

Not a single day goes by without someone, somewhere talking about the pros or cons of artificial intelligence. Earlier this week, Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, took to the stage at the company’s ... Continue Reading

AI and data experts to be brought into government through secondment programme

The government has announced plans for a secondment programme designed to bring digital experts into government departments Continue Reading

‘Significant gaps’ in UK AI regulation, says Ada Lovelace Institute

UK government’s plans to diffuse regulatory responsibility for AI among existing regulators will mean the tech is “only partially regulated”, while its data reforms will undercut already-limited existing protections, says Ada Lovelace Institute Continue Reading

NATO membership to drive Nordic cyber security sector growth

The Nordic cyber security sector will see increasing demand as Finland and Sweden joint NATO Continue Reading

Computer Weekly: Soaring ahead with data at Rolls-Royce

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how aerospace giant Rolls-Royce is using data science, machine learning and internet of things to improve its competitive advantage. We examine the benefits and best practices in software-defined storage. And we analyse calls for a review of laws around the use of computer evidence prompted by the Post Office IT scandal. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Post Office inquiry must examine rule on IT evidence if miscarriages of justice are to be avoided

 Continue Reading

Subpostmaster compensation deadline will be missed, warns public inquiry chair

Subpostmasters that successfully sued the Post Office and exposed the Horizon scandal are at the ‘back of the queue’ and won’t receive compensation by current deadline Continue Reading

The essential role of PETs in unlocking the trillion dollar SaaS market

Ahead of the Eyes-Off Data Summit in Dublin, Jack Fitzsimons of Oblivious AI explains why so-called Privacy Enhancing Technologies or PETs may hold the key to unlocking the full potential of SaaS in the enterprise Continue Reading