IT news in your industry sector

Mobile checkout expanded to 50 M&S stores

After a successful trial, retailer Marks & Spencer has expanded its mobile checkout-free offering to 50 stores around the UK Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – episode 46

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna are joined by special guest Hannah Foulds, head of marketing and membership at the Open Data Institute, who flags stories about humans tricking AI. The group then discusses the Women in Software Powerlist, the loan charge and online targeting Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Chinese military personnel accused of Equifax hack

A US federal grand jury has indicted four Chinese army personnel over the 2017 Equifax breach Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Alan Bates: The ‘details man’ the Post Office paid the price for ignoring

In 2003, subpostmaster Alan Bates had his contract terminated when he refused to comply with Post Office policy. A decade and a half later, against the odds, he took the Post Office to the High Court and won a multimillion-pound legal case. Continue Reading

Two-thirds of workers at risk of robot-driven redundancy are unaware of the threat to jobs

People who do jobs that are most likely to be automated through technology are unaware and unprepared of the impending threat to their livelihoods, with Nesta calling on the government to do more to up-skill those at risk Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Scotland makes inroads in digital identity project

The government has started building a prototype of what is planned to be a "user-centric" platform to access public services online Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

AI in public service must be accountable

Committee on Standards in Public Life recommends that government departments make ethics a top priority when tendering artificial intelligence systems Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The big retail tech themes from Retail’s Big Show

The National Retail Federation’s Big Show signals the kick-off of the retail events calendar. We look over the themes promised for retail tech over the next year Continue Reading

By

• Glynn Davis

US hotel group ditches datacentre for Nasuni cloud NAS

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts got rid of its datacentre and put everything in the cloud, with Nasuni cloud NAS providing storage from which any user can restore files Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Australian government to roll out SAP S/4 Hana

Australia’s finance department earmarks S/4 Hana as its ERP system to provide common financial and HR services across government Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

IR35 private sector reforms: HMRC confirms last-minute tweak to incoming off-payroll rules

The government is rolling out a tweak to the IR35 private sector reforms that it claims will give businesses more time to prepare, but stakeholders are unconvinced Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Goldman Sachs considers building cloud service to sell to other finance firms

Internal memo reveals that bank could provide an Amazon Web Services-like cloud service to financial services companies Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is ‘most dangerous’ movie

Ahead of the 2020 Oscars, Kaspersky researchers say they found more than 300 files masquerading as the Joker movie Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Startup success is ‘The Finnish Dream’

Finland has a startup mentality running through its veins and its water, with an “all for one” attitude driving fledgling tech companies Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

NHS Digital appoints new CISO

Pete Rose will also act as deputy chief executive at the IT partner for the National Health Service Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Nordic industries increase IT outsourcing for IoT and big data skills

Nordic industries are outsourcing more to support their internet of things and big data capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Maastricht University pays €200,000 to Russian hackers

A Dutch university has taken the difficult decision to pay hundreds of thousands of Euros to Russian hackers that compromised its systems through a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

UK investigates drone use for search and rescue

Maritime & Coastguard Agency will examine whether drones can be used to aid missions by visiting rescue sites Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Darktrace signs to McLaren for 2020 F1 season

McLaren Racing has enlisted Darktrace to become its official artificial intelligence cyber security partner Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scammers using fake PayPal emails stole over £1m in the UK in last quarter

Fraudsters tricked Brits into sending over £1m worth of goods to them that they hadn't paid for Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Veeam pushes subscription licensing in cloud-centric ‘Act II’

Backup specialist wants to “win the cloud” as it pushes towards a cloud-focused vision that includes pay-for-what-you-use and multicloud after its acquisition last month Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Finnish digital initiative to drive EU digital-based passenger services

Finnish-driven transport-as-a-service concept gets EU-wide appeal as a way of increasing customer satisfaction and reducing fuel consumption Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Digital sector contributes £400m a day to UK economy

Sector is growing six times faster than economic growth overall, according to government figures Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

NHSX to mandate minimum technology spend for trusts

Recent guidelines for NHSX sets out plans to define spending levels required so organisations can achieve digital aims Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Caribbean island hospital rebuilds after hurricane with DataCore

Hurricane Irma tore the roof off a server room and flooded IT hardware, but that was an opportunity to rebuild redundant IT using DataCore’s SANsymphony software-defined storage Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

Acronis CEO bullish as specialist goes beyond backup

Acronis is set to launch Cyber Protect as it rides a wave of confidence based on increasing revenues and investor funding. Will the backup-plus-cyber protection calculation pay off? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Social media targeting algorithms need regulation, says CDEI

The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation is recommending regulation of social media algorithms as part of a drive to make user targeting safe and ethical Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Azimo gets loan from European Investment Bank to build cross-border payments infrastructure in EU

UK fintech gets validation from EIB through €20m loan which will contribute to building its smartphone app-based payments infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 45

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna are joined by investigations editor Bill Goodwin to delve deeper into the Travelex and related affairs, and to discuss public sector cloud trends, AI and the NHS, and the Hangar 51 startups accelerator programme Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Swedish rail firm’s digital journey running on time

Swedish rail company tells Computer Weekly about its successful mission to improve customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Jane Hamrin

MI5 faces court ruling over unlawful surveillance warrants

Privacy groups Liberty and Privacy International ask the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to order MI5 to disclose full details of ‘unlawful’ conduct, after classified documents reveal the spy agency failed to comply with surveillance laws Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Record-breaking rise in global cloud infrastructure spend between Q3 and Q4

Synergy Research Group’s fourth-quarter look at the cloud infrastructure market reveals a huge jump in sequential spend since the third quarter Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Ethics and the internet – how to build a web we can trust

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the steps being taken to ensure the future development of the web is ethical and open. We discuss the UK’s cyber security skills gap and ask what more the government should be doing. And we find out how cloud technology could help people stop smoking. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Australia’s Avalon Airport to provide self-service kiosks

Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and Geelong in Victoria, is implementing self-service kiosks to improve passenger experience and operations Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Digital strategy for 2020-2030 sets out police technology plans

National policing strategy sets a number of technological ambitions for the next decade, placing a particular emphasis on collaborative working and building common standards or frameworks Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

New jobs in Ireland as Brexit forces Revolut to migrate work from London

Brexit has pushed the financial technology firm into moving London jobs to Ireland Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government announces fast-track visa scheme for scientists and researchers

Government also removes cap on the number of people who can enter the UK via the Exceptional Talent route Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government refuses request to pay legal costs for subpostmasters in Post Office case

The government has refused to pay the huge legal costs subpostmasters incurred in their battle with the government-owned Post Office, which they won Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS adds supplier security audits to procurement platform

A new feature in the NHS’s Edge4Health procurement platform will help NHS suppliers improve their cyber security posture and NHS organisations make better buying decisions Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHSX appoints new chief technology officer

David Turner will join the digital unit of the National Health Service in May 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Estonian CIO gives UK IT professionals hope as Brexit removes rights

Tech chief says Estonia’s door is open to UK IT professionals if they want to continue enjoying an EU lifestyle Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Alan Bates: The ‘details man’ the Post Office paid the price for ignoring

In 2003, subpostmaster Alan Bates had his contract terminated when he refused to comply with Post Office policy. A decade and a half later, against the odds, he took the Post Office to the High Court and won a multimillion-pound legal case Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Davos: The clock is ticking on climate change but cyber crime and emerging technologies add to risks

Climate change, natural disasters, extreme weather and loss of biodiversity are the greatest risks we face. With cyber conflicts, state-sponsored hacking and internet fragmentation, doing nothing is not an option, says the World Economic Forum Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

UK police arrest three over Maltese cyber bank robbery

The NCA has made three arrests in Belfast and London following an investigation into money laundering linked to a cyber heist on a bank in Malta Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australia’s Iconic Hotels taps cloud for speed and cost savings

The independent hotel operator in the Australian Capital Territory has saved IT manpower and costs by moving from an on-premise hospitality management system to a cloud-based application Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Harvey Nash hires first female CEO

Beverley White takes over as Albert Ellis steps down after 14 years leading the IT recruitment and services firm Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

UK’s Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visa system ‘does not work well’, says MAC

During a review of whether the government should introduce a points-based system for migration, the Migration Advisory Committee claims the current Tier 1 system for exceptional talent is not fit for purpose Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Northern Rail will trial tech to tackle overcrowding

Troubled operator Northern Rail will attempt to improve services by using technology as it is brought under government control Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Sorting out the Dutch government’s IT mess

Tech experts discuss the challenges and potential solutions to the Netherlands government’s IT problems Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

UKCloud moots multi-cloud as a way to speed up public sector cloud adoption

Contributors to UKCloud's public sector-focused State of Cloud Adoption report flag barriers to using off-premise technologies, but could adopting a multi-cloud strategy assist with overcoming them? Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Microsoft contractor hit by health and safety violation claims at Israel datacentre building site

Microsoft declines to comment on a local media report that the site of its Israel datacentre campus has been subject to stoppage notices after two accidents there in two days Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK cyber security sector worth more than £8bn

The UK’s cyber security industry employs 43,000 full-time workers, and contributed nearly £4bn to the UK economy in 2019, according to DCMS Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Formulus Black Forsa turns memory into block storage

Forsa allows customers to bring application data into memory, by provisioning DRAM or persistent memory as block access storage with latency several times better than NVMe flash Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

NHS suffers fewer ransomware attacks, but threat persists

Ransomware attacks against the NHS have tapered off dramatically, according to statistics obtained under FoI legislation, but this does not mean the threat has diminished Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CTO interview: Juan Villamil discusses changing IT culture

Juan Villamil has worked at the Department for Work and Pensions for nearly five years. As he heads off to take up a new challenge at Imperial College, we speak to him about change and transformation Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Government creates AI playbook for the public sector

Wide-ranging advice is provided in a guide that covers all stages of projects, from evaluation through to post-implementation Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Government puts £140m NHS AI award in play to speed up advanced tech usage

Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, has launched a £140m competition for AI healthcare technology providers Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Apple posts record-breaking quarter, but prepares for Coronavirus impact

The Coronavirus outbreak is having a direct impact on Apple’s supply chain and its Chinese retail stores and channel partners Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Fintechs fear deepfake fraud

New research reveals the majority of CISOs working in the financial services sector are increasingly concerned about the potential use of deepfakes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Met Police could deploy facial recognition against protesters

Live facial recognition will be rolled out operationally by the Met Police, but police monitoring group Netpol believes it will hamper people’s ability to exercise their rights to protest Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

A new decade, a new government and a new horizon for UK tech

Brexit is being done, so it’s time for the government to look to the future and place technology at the heart of the economy Continue Reading

By

• Julian David, TechUK

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 44

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly and Brian McKenna are joined by Cliff Saran to discuss the end of support for Windows 7, the latest developments in IR35 in the private sector, Will Carling and AWS in respect of the Six Nations, data literacy, and IT at Davos Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor
• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Subpostmaster prosecutions move closer to appeal

Prosecutions are a significant step closer to being sent to the Court of Appeal as Criminal Courts Review Commission forms a group of commissioners to review them Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Top four compliance considerations for SMEs

We look at the key data compliance regulations that affect smaller companies – such as GDPR, the Data Protection Act, PCI-DSS and PECR – and some key industry-specific frameworks Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

IT must play its part in tackling the climate crisis

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at this year’s World Economic Forum and find out how the IT sector is aiming to help tackle climate change. Our buyer’s guide assesses onsite, offsite and cloud-based disaster recovery. And IT contractors are up in arms about the government’s loan charge policy – we examine the issues. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

LV= rolls out smart speaker skill

General insurance firm says customers will receive answers to commonly asked questions by invoking the skill on Alexa or Google Home Assistant Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Police sent information about potential Fujitsu staff perjury in subpostmaster prosecutions

The police have been asked to consider information from a High Court judge questioning evidence given by Fujitsu staff in criminal trials of Post Office subpostmasters Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHSX reports progress in screening transformation

Digital unit outlines work that has been done to address the shortcomings of screening IT programmes Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

UK teachers want more computers in schools

As well as equipment, a priority is to increase the provision of training for teachers in the use of technology, according to a new study Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Met Police to launch facial recognition operationally

Despite the continuing controversy around its use, the Metropolitan Police will be deploying live facial recognition across the capital Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

UK firms lack skills to make AI work, employees claim

Research finds employees are concerned about being blamed for tech blunders, with those fears increasing resistance towards artificial intelligence technology Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Cyber gangsters publish staff passwords following ‘Sodinokibi’ attack on car parts group Gedia

Sodinokibi hacking group steps up pressure on German automotive manufacturer by publishing information, including the CEO’s computer password and sensitive details of its IT systems, on the internet Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

SAP User Group launches Business One Academy

UK and Ireland SAP User Group sets up academy to provide training on SAP Business One, which is only available via resellers and in which there is a dearth of education for small businesses Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

IR35 private sector reforms: Bank of America IT contractors await verdict on future employment terms

Despite notifying staff of its intentions to phase out contractors from its workforce in December 2019, IT contractors at the Bank of America are still awaiting clarification about what their future at the firm will look like, Computer Weekly has learned Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

NHS alerted to severe vulnerabilities in GE health equipment

A series of vulnerabilities in patient monitoring equipment manufactured by General Electric could have left patient data exposed in hospitals around the world, including the UK Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Gender funding gap reveals complacency in the Nordics

Tech investors are biased towards men when it comes to investing – even if they are not aware of it Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Travelex hackers shut down German car parts company Gedia in massive ‘cyber attack’

Car parts manufacturer says cyber attack will have far-reaching consequences for its business, and it has put emergency plans in place to continue deliveries Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Spread of Kubernetes spurs backup and disaster recovery products

Growth of containerised applications brings with it the need to back up and provide disaster recovery. But what do you need to protect, and who provides the products? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Driving adoption: Are high costs putting public cloud out of reach to non-profits?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s insights into the sky-high cloud bills faced by some non-profit organisations prompts questions about whether the public cloud giants should do more to make their services more accessible to the third sector Continue Reading

By

• Sooraj Shah

Government should not be allowed to dismiss subpostmasters’ claims over Horizon IT scandal

Subpostmasters are stepping up their fight for justice after their huge court victory, with Westminister replacing the High Court as the battleground Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Aeris gears up for connected vehicle joint venture with VW

Connected technology provider forges joint venture with leading automotive manufacturer to improve service flexibility and speed, operational efficiency and customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Making gigabit broadband a reality for everyone in the UK

As the new government introduces its first legislation to boost full-fibre broadband, digital minister Matt Warman looks ahead to delivering on the Conservatives’ election promises Continue Reading

By

• Matt Warman, Digital minister

Singapore updates model AI governance framework

Second edition of Singapore’s artificial intelligence governance framework includes new guidance, use cases and a self-assessment guide Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

IR35 private sector reforms: Recruitment industry urges chancellor to halt April 2020 roll-out

Major players from the UK recruitment industry want the government to delay plans to roll out the IR35 reforms to the private sector so enterprises have more time to prepare Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Real digital modernisation – a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the new UK government

A new UK government with a decisive majority offers a unique opportunity to finally introduce public services for the digital age – if the Conservatives are willing to take it Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson, Exeter Business School and DIGITLab

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 43

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna talk about the loan charge review that is bearing down on IT contractors, the Tech Talent Charter, Windows 7, and combating loneliness among remote workers Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor
• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Loan charge under review: HMRC to invest £200,000 in readying IT systems for planned policy changes

Tax collection agency counts costs of having to upgrade IT systems to prepare for incoming changes to its controversial loan charge disguised remuneration policy, which has left thousands of IT contractors facing financial ruin Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Nicky Morgan says new government will be pro-tech

DCMS minister outlines five key ways the government aims to support technology going forward, including being “unashamedly” pro-tech Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

High-tech firms provide boost to consulting industry

Data privacy and the shift to service-based models are some of the areas where companies such as Google and Apple are turning to consultants for support, according to a new report Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

What are the key issues facing healthcare CIOs?

Six healthcare IT leaders give their views on the major challenges for digital transformation across the NHS. Continue Reading

Don’t become the next Travelex: Get ready for ransomware

With Travelex’s IT still in disarray and banks and travellers left without access to funds more than a week after it was hit by a ransomware attack, we ask what others can learn from the foreign exchange services company’s response to the incident. Continue Reading

How to avoid becoming the next Travelex

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at the lessons learned from the ransomware attack on Travelex and how other firms can avoid the same fate. As Microsoft ends support for Windows 7, we examine the issues for the many remaining users of the operating system. And healthcare CIOs explain the tech challenges facing the NHS. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

UK government strengthens ties with African tech firms

Plans announced to develop startups in Africa as part of the announcements around the first UK-Africa investment summit Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

NHS Digital launches login toolkit

Self-service package can be integrated into healthcare apps and platforms Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Norway’s government to upgrade digital in school curriculum

Primary and secondary schools in Norway will introduce more digital learning, following the latest government reforms Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

CAA debuts aviation cyber security assurance scheme

Civil Aviation Authority and Crest announce the first companies to be accredited under the CAA’s new cyber security oversight scheme, Assure Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IR35 private sector reforms: Blanket bans ‘devalue’ IT contractor contributions to digital projects

James Poyser, CEO of contractor-focused online accountancy firm InniAccounts, claims large firms that are failing to assess contractors fairly will lose out in productivity, reputation and talent retention Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Cabinet Office launches data handling review

Oliver Dowden issues statement explaining the New Year Honours list leak and announces new practices after the publication of personal details of over 1,000 public figures Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Do you use cloud storage for these use cases yet?

We look at the use cases most suited to a quick transition to the cloud: backup, archiving, disaster recovery, file storage and cloud bursting – cloud storage’s low-hanging fruit Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

NHS SBS launches consumer-style procurement hub

NHS Shared Business Services’ cloud marketplace The Edge4Health kicks off with four major NHS organisations to transform the way the health service buys products and services Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari