IT news in your industry sector

Deutsche Bank’s public contraction is a major landmark for fintech

German bank is cutting costs overall but is investing more in the latest digital technology as fintechs chip away at banking business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Conditions ‘not quite there’ for government chief data officer

The long-awaited appointment for government’s chief data officer requires a perception in departments that data is actually valuable, government officials said Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

MPs slam Home Office over troubled Emergency Services Network programme

The plan for a new communications network for police, fire and ambulance services is three years late and £3.1bn over budget, and Public Accounts Committee fears further delays Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Vulnerable firmware in enterprise server supply chain

Researchers are warning of vulnerabilities in firmware from a third-party supplier that put some servers from Lenovo, Gigabyte and six other manufacturers at risk Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Translating GDPR compliance into business benefits

What strategies can information security professionals use to shift focus from General Data Protection Regulation fines to enabling business gains and success, changing the way data is used, and aligning data privacy with business purpose? Continue Reading

By

• Emma Bickerstaffe, Information Security Forum (ISF)

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 24

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Brian McKenna, Caroline Donnelly and Clare McDonald talk about using Alexa to search for medical advice, how a good cup of tea can solve most problems and whether more should be done to provide childcare at tech events Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

NCSC calls out Microsoft over Dmarc reports

The UK’s cyber security agency has called out Microsoft for seriously undermining global email security by failing to provide crucial reports from its email platforms Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cambridge Cognition CTO on applying server monitoring principles to suicide prevention

Cambridge Cognition CTO, Ricky Dolphin, discusses why it pays to think outside the box when trying to find technological answers to business and customer problems Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Digital safety skills initiative launched against cyber crime

Security industry partners have launched an initiative aimed at raising individuals’ digital safety skills to enable them to protect themselves and their families from most common cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Manchester Metrolink gets contactless payments technology

Travellers using Manchester’s trams can now complete their journeys using contactless payment Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Computer Weekly – 16 July 2019: Reaping the benefits of digital transformation at Defra

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we check out the digital transformation at Defra, and see how the government department is preparing for Brexit. The new technology chief for the NHS explains how he’s going to bring the health service into the digital age. And we examine how to make a success of enterprise social media platforms. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Interview: Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX, on transforming health service technology

NHSX is the latest on a long line of organisations created to overhaul NHS technology – can it make the difference this time? Its new CEO explains why it will Continue Reading

Interview: John Seglias, chief digital information officer, Defra

The tech leader at the government department most affected by Brexit talks about digital transformation and carrying out one of the most complex projects in the public sector Continue Reading

NCSC reports on second year of cyber defence at scale

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre releases a report on the second year of its Active Cyber Defence programme to demonstrate its effects in the public sector and wider UK cyber ecosystem Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Aligning data privacy with business objectives

What strategies can infosec pros use to shift focus from GDPR fines to enabling business gains and success, changing the way data is used, and aligning data privacy with business purpose? Continue Reading

By

• Sanjana  Mehta, (ISC)2

BA/Marriott GDPR fines: What they were for and how to avoid them

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about the BA and Marriott GDPR fines and what organisations can do to ensure they achieve compliance with GDPR and similar regulations Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Government must ‘stop choosing ignorance’ around data

In a letter to digital secretary Jeremy Wright, civil society groups warn that a number of shortcomings must be addressed to enable the government to reap data-related benefits Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

UK launches 5G security inquiry

The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy is to probe the UK government’s approach to telecoms technology as a national security issue Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Smartodds bets on Rubrik backup appliance with cloud archive

Betting intelligence analytics firm Smartodds replaced its old tape backup infrastructure with Rubrik appliances to cut management time and database restores from hours to minutes Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Billion-dollar privacy penalties put CEOs on notice

Facebook’s potential $5bn settlement with the FTC follows notifications of planned GDPR fines for British Airways and Marriott International, underlining the importance of data stewardship Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

US judge dismisses challenge over Department of Defense mega-cloud contract

The US Department of Defense looks set to award a $10bn cloud contract after a legal challenge to the procurement process failed Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

No technical grounds to ban Huawei, DCMS told

Science and Technology Committee tells Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport that there are no technical grounds for it to exclude Huawei Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Organisations turn to AI in race against cyber attackers

Businesses are racing to automate their defences as hackers and nation states launch increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

UK public sector needs to prioritise mobile device security

Only 10% of public service stolen and lost mobile are recovered, underlining the need for mobile-centric, zero-trust model to reduce the risk, says MobileIron Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK boards ignoring £30bn cyber risk

Despite the danger posed by cyber attacks to mid-sized companies, boards are not prepared to manage the risk and firms are over-confident in their cyber capabilities, report finds Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

SD-WAN in play: How software-defined solves core business challenges

For foodservice business HMSHost International and chemical products firm Element Solutions, both customers of networking supplier Aryaka, software-defined wide area networking technology is proving its mettle when it comes to solving core business challenges. Find out how. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Home Office boosts tools to tackle online child abuse

New systems will be introduced to speed up investigations and limit the number of distressing images viewed by law enforcement officers Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Security Think Tank: Don’t dismiss the business benefits of GDPR

What strategies can infosec pros use to shift focus from GDPR fines to enabling business gains and success, changing the way data is used, and aligning data privacy with business purpose? Continue Reading

By

• Richard Hunt, Turnkey Consulting

New FinSpy versions extend surveillance capabilities

New versions of the FinSpy malware for iOS and Android smartphones have extended targeted surveillance capabilities, warn security researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Blockchain.com banks on Google cloud to support growth of cryptocurrency management platform

Blockchain.com reveals details of how it is ramping up its use of the Google Cloud Platform as the range of cryptocurrencies it supports grows, along with the size of its user base Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Sweden’s SEB bank uses mob programming across business

Hack day sees 70 developers successfully demonstrate mob programming method that banking group is now using to develop applications in an agile way Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

Windows 10 to enable passwordless sign-in

Windows 10 users will soon be able to sign in to devices without using a password to encourage the use of two-factor authentication methods to improve security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NHS makes health information available through Alexa

The collaboration between the government and Amazon follows a push from the centre to add voice to services Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Draft finance bill dims hopes of private sector reprieve on April 2020 roll-out of IR35 reforms

Publication of the draft IR35 private sector reform legislation dims hopes the government might announce a delay to rolling out the changes in April 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

We shouldn't need to debate online identity again, but it's right that we do

The latest select committee report by MPs into the progress of digital government in the UK has resurrected a question that has reared its head on several occasions in the past – do we need a ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Securing your mobile estate – best practice for CIOs

The prevalence of mobile devices in every part of daily life is shaping how enterprises make choices about software and network infrastructure, but how do businesses go about securing these vast new endpoint estates? Continue Reading

By

• Christian Annesley

Zopa gets in-house tech ready for 2019 bank launch

Peer-to-peer lender tests out banking platforms in anticipation of launching products in the UK before the end of this year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Attacks against AI systems are a growing concern

European research group says attacks against AI systems are already occurring, difficult to identify, and could be far more common than currently understood Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

University of Bristol upgrades to Nimble as it takes IT off-site

Higher education institution gets trouble-free hybrid flash performance from Nimble and stores 600TB of data at two colocation sites to which it is transitioning from on-campus Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

RiskIQ uncovers new Magecart campaign

A fresh Magecart campaign is breaching websites on a massive scale using indiscriminate attacks exploiting misconfigured Amazon S3 buckets, say researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Align compliance objectives with business goals

What strategies can information security professionals use to shift focus from GDPR fines to enabling business gains and success, changing the way data is used, and aligning data privacy with business purpose? Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Retailers engineer new ways to recruit and retain IT talent

Senior leaders at Holland & Barrett, Feelunique and BrandAlley offer tips on finding and keeping sought-after engineering and developer talent Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

CW Middle East: SAP drives digital transformation for Saudi Arabian auto company

The automotive division of Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel Company (ALJC) has completed one of the biggest SAP projects ever undertaken in the automotive distribution sector. Also in this issue, read about Dubai-based delivery app Fetchr’s bid to become one of the largest tech companies in the Middle East, and how a UAE startup is using digital technology to simplify medical appointment bookings. Continue Reading

AI may be a solution to the social care crisis, but what are the legal concerns?

Artificial intelligence and robotics has great potential to assist in social care environments, but due care must be given to data protection and privacy, among other legal concerns Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Taylor

Dutch privacy watchdog tells banks not to use customer payment data for marketing

Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens tells banks to respect client privacy and not to market products based on spending data Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Crown Commercial Service launches ICT framework for education

The deal aims to help education sector bodies procure technology products and services, with SME participation becoming more prominent Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Max Schrems not calling for SCCs to be invalidated

The privacy activist at the centre of legal battle against Facebook is not calling for all standard contractual clauses to be invalidated, according to his non-profit privacy organisation Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The technology that runs the Wimbledon 2019 tennis championship

Wimbledon is more than just a showcase for the best tennis - it also makes use of the latest technologies to bring the event to life for fans Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Agent Smith mobile malware hits millions of devices

New mobile malware that exploits Android vulnerabilities has infected millions of devices, security researchers have discovered Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Changing the GDPR focus to business benefit

What strategies can information security professionals use to shift focus from General Data Protection Regulation fines to enabling business gains and success, changing the way data is used, and aligning data privacy with business purpose? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

People that have never heard of the cloud enjoy cloud services, so why should open banking differ?

Open banking has some way to go before and banks' shouldn't pin all their hopes on Millennials Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Demand for ICO help escalates in GDPR's first year

The past year has seen increased demand across all support services offered by the UK’s privacy watchdog as new data protection laws went into force Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government Digital Service relevance is fading, says Commons Committee

According to a report, GDS is losing authority and the ability to deliver digital change, and calls for its purpose to be renewed, along with the appointment of digital champions Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

UK government publishes guidance for national data strategy

The ongoing call from the government for evidence will be followed by a full consultation in the autumn with a view to publish the final data strategy plan in 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Marriott International facing £99m GDPR fine

Hotel group Marriott International is the second major company to be fined by the UK privacy watchdog for infringements of the GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO issues warning about using facial recognition technology

The UK privacy watchdog has ruled that any police force or private organisation using live facial recognition technology is processing personal data and needs to pay attention to data protection laws Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Data protection: How privacy can be a benefit, not a burden

With the growing number of data breaches, consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about how their data is used. Organisations can take advantage of this trend by treating data protection and user privacy as product features Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Security Think Tank: Benefits of GDPR compliance

What strategies can information security professionals use to shift focus from General Data Protection Regulation fines to enabling business gains and success, changing the way data is used, and aligning data privacy with business purpose? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

CIO interview: Craig Donald, CIO, The Football Association

Although self-confessed as ‘not the most passionate football fan’, the FA’s IT chief is helping to transform administration of the sport through technology Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 23

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Ryan Priest rejoins the show to help this week’s co-hosts, Caroline Donnelly and Clare McDonald, take a light-hearted look at the past week in tech Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

European Court hears case on EU-US data transfers

Facebook could be forced to rethink its legal position regarding transfers of data of EU citizens to the US, as the CJEU considers the validity of standard contractual clauses that many businesses rely on Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Universities use data analytics to tackle student mental health

UK universities turn to data analytics software to tackle student mental health. Are there duty of care lessons for other sectors? Continue Reading

By

• SA Mathieson

Interview: How Hackney Council will help accelerate innovation across London boroughs

Hackney Council’s director of ICT, Rob Miller, talks to Computer Weekly about how one of the most digitally advanced local authorities plans to collaborate with counterparts across the capital to revamp public services delivery Continue Reading

Post Office fixes technical problem causing accounting errors in Horizon

Problem revealed during High Court trial left subpostmaster with £18,000 surplus after IT system failed to register full amount of cash scanned in Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

StorOne brings leasing for high-performance multiprotocol flash storage

To make a name for itself in the SME storage market, startup StorOne intends to innovate in technology and its economic approach, with a subscription model for storage Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

Deutsche Bank cuts jobs but increases tech spend

Deutsche Bank is making swingeing cuts to its workforce over the next two and a half years and has pinned its hopes on the latest technology to make it possible. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nearly half of firms fear cloud apps make them insecure

Survey shows more than one-third of global companies appoint a CISO in the face of data breaches, and the UK is giving CISOs more power despite making fewer appointments Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Buckinghamshire village pools broadband vouchers to fund full-fibre dig

The village Lillingstone Lovell in Buckinghamshire is helping to fund an Openreach broadband network dig using vouchers pooled through the government’s Rural Gigabit Connectivity scheme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Former NHSI chief moves on to government automation taskforce

Ian Dalton, former NHSI chief, has taken up the lead position for driving automation through government in a bid to improve public services Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

TfL launches wireless device tracking to gather Tube data

Transport for London aims to use passenger movement data to make using the London Underground a more pleasant experience Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Eventful second Post Office Horizon trial ends

The latest High Court trial in the long-running dispute between the Post Office and subpostmasters has concluded, with part three set for March 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Embrace data protection as a necessary business process

What strategies can information security professionals use to shift focus from GDPR fines to enabling business gains and success, changing the way data is used, and aligning data privacy with business purpose? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

CIO interview: Lee Wilmore, data intelligence director, TI Media

The media company formerly know as Time Inc. UK has put data at the heart of its business strategy, integrating silos of information to bring greater value to the business Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

British Airways facing £183m GDPR fine

British Airways is to appeal against a record fine for infringement of data protection rules for a breach of customer data in 2018 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IISP gains Royal Charter status

The UK finally has its first national professional body for cyber security that will be responsible for setting the standards for skills and knowledge in the industry to reduce the skills gap and increase diversity Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Public sector should embrace multicloud to cut risk of cloud market monopolisation, says report

Joint report by the Internet Economy Foundation think-tank and business consultancy Roland Berger urges governments to take steps to prevent a cloud computing oligopoly that would leave organisations at greater risk of supplier lock-in Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

The Trending Store, a data-led retail popup

A new popup store has opened in Westfield London to use data collected from social media to sell only products that are trending in real time. By partnering with tech firm Nextatlas, the store will ... Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

NHSX announces key senior appointments

NHS England chief clinical information officer Simon Eccles will take over as deputy chief executive of NHSX, while technology advisor Hadley Beeman will step in as acting chief technology officer of the new unit Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Met Police use of facial recognition could be unlawful, finds report

The first independent report into use of facial recognition technology by the police found a number of shortcomings around trials that would not withstand legal scrutiny Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Challenger bank shuts up shop in UK amid uncertainty

Digital bank Fidor is ending its time in the UK, blaming uncertainties in the market Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintech pioneer helps to give fintech treatment to debt financing after Fidor sale

The founder of digital bank Fidor has turned his attention to fixing the inefficiencies of debt processing at banks through technology and empathy Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

St John Ambulance praised for response to ransomware attack

Charity’s response to ransomware attack demonstrates that it is possible to ensure minimal disruption if properly prepared Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Autonomous delivery van drives at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Kar-go aims to revolutionise online deliveries by cutting the cost of the final mile Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Security and privacy key to smart buildings and cities

Security and privacy capabilities are essential for stakeholders if they are to realise the benefits of smart buildings and cities, says expert whitepaper Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Longer-term tech investment must support policing reform

Investment in technologies such as facial recognition and artificial intelligence should be introduced to tackle compromises to public safety levels, says report Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

GDS signs agreement with Polish counterpart

The memorandum of understanding is aimed at boosting trade and technology development opportunities between the UK and Poland Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Why Facebook’s Libra digital currency could run rings round the regulators

Facebook’s cryptocurrency isn’t really a cryptocurrency, nor is it really a money transfer network, but it’s been formulated in such a way that regulators might not be able to do anything to stop it Continue Reading

By

• Tim Worstall, Adam Smith Institute

Nordic payments tie-up as Nets and Swish collaborate

Payments provider and app developer work together to test out mobile phone-based in-store payments system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Implementing IoT – overcoming barriers to commercial adoption

Tim Wright from the Institute of Telecoms Professionals reports from a recent seminar exploring questions around the barriers to commercial, at-scale adoption of the internet of things, and how to overcome them Continue Reading

By

• Tim Wright, Institute of Telecommunications Professionals

FireEye ties Microsoft Outlook exploit to Iranian hackers

US Cyber Command has issued a warning that a patched Microsoft Outlook vulnerability is being exploited by unnamed threat actors, and recommended immediate patching Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Competition watchdog launches study into internet firms

Findings from a Competition and Markets Authority consultation will inform a report aimed at assessing how digital advertising can harm UK consumers Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Email still top security vulnerability, survey shows

Email is still the top security vulnerability, a survey shows, but security researchers caution that switching to instant messaging is not necessarily a solution in the longer term Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Sodin ransomware exploiting Windows zero-day, Kaspersky warns

Security researchers are warning that a recently discovered type of ransomware is now exploiting a zero-day Windows vulnerability, and does not require user interaction to trigger an infection Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

BT and Openreach told to be more transparent over split

Ofcom’s latest monitoring report on the changing relationship between BT and Openreach finds room for improvement, but is mostly positive Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why PSD2 adoption in the Netherlands is lagging behind

The Netherlands appears to be falling behind in open banking, even though the Dutch are digitally proficient and are often early adopters of new technology. What is going on? Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Public cloud: A key component in a disaster recovery plan

The key things to consider when creating a disaster recovery plan that uses public cloud: DIY vs DRaaS, native cloud tools vs third party, and how low can you go with RPO and RTO? Continue Reading

By

• Paul Stringfellow, Gardner Systems

Top VPNs secretly owned by Chinese firms

Nearly a third of top VPNs are secretly owned by Chinese companies, while other owners are based in countries with weak or no privacy laws, potentially putting users at risk, security researchers warn Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

What do the fintechs think of Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra?

Fintechs welcome Facebook Libra but realise the scale of the social media giant's challenge to make it work Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government ramps up efforts to counter fraud with analytics

Challenges have been outlined and a consultation launched to find ways to reduce fraud and error loss in central and local government through data-driven technologies. Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

CPS faces legal ruling over refusal to disclose emails with US on WikiLeaks and Assange extradition

A court will decide whether the Crown Prosecution Service can refuse to neither confirm nor deny the existence of correspondence with US on investigations into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly