IT news in your industry sector

Most businesses vulnerable to supply chain cyber attacks

UK firms trail the leaders US and Germany in knowing the most about their partners’ cyber security practices, but most companies globally are in the dark about this growing source of vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Brighton Dome theatre gets access to city’s 5G mobile testbed

Brighton Dome & Festival is to deploy a 5G network to explore future applications for the technology in the arts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Open data programme OpenActive ramps up efforts to get people off the sofa

OpenActive, a programme run by the Open Data Institute and funded by Sport England, is intensifying efforts to get nearly 17 million Britons off their sofas and into sport and fitness Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Department for International Trade slashes tech SME funding

Smaller UK companies will see their ability to showcase their offerings at large international events compromised, trade bodies say Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Nearly half of UK IT pros report serious data breaches

Integration of security systems and employee training recognised as key ways to reduce the growing severity of data breaches Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How Microsoft is prepping manufacturers for Industry 4.0

Building on its manufacturing and technology knowhow, Microsoft has teamed up with industrial firms to support the growing demand for smart manufacturing capabilities Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Does the UK government want to support tech SMEs in 'Global Britain' or not?

The reluctance of the government to commit to continued support for UK tech SMEs overseas is baffling Continue Reading

By

• Julian David, TechUK

Privacy and data protection an opportunity, says entrepreneur

Organisations should see data protection and privacy compliance as an opportunity to build trust with customers, according to startup One.Thing.Less Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

LightBits Super SSD brings NVMe on vanilla Ethernet

Israeli startup LightBits offers super-fast NVMe flash storage over plain Ethernet networks in a move that some think will bring “iSCSI for the NVMe generation” Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

Fix the basics first, then worry about AI, advise experts

The freedom of the internet is at risk, with the cyber arms race and the industrialisation of hacking are set to continue as attackers move up the value chain to target trust mechanisms, threat experts predict Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Home Office to award £300m contract for management of biometric services

Government department is behind schedule in the selection of suppliers to work on two platforms covering fingerprints, DNA and facial matching capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Ofcom must rethink rural broadband USO, says Lords report

There are still serious concerns about whether or not the 10Mbps broadband USO is fit for purpose, and Ofcom needs to take account of them, according to The House of Lords Select Committee for the Rural Economy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: Dylan Roberts, CDIO, Leeds City Council

After 15 years leading technology in Leeds, Dylan Roberts is building a digital ecosystem for the entire region, even looking at how digital services can help extend life expectancy for local people Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Danske Bank and IBM bring AI to banking IT

Artificial intelligence partnership is designed to reduce the risk of major IT outages and keep the bank’s customers happy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Bank of England governor speaks as maiden UK Fintech Week begins

The UK's first Fintech Week kicks off with Innovate Finance Global Summit Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

British 5G developers to test their mettle in South Korea

DCMS launches £2.4m project to support the development of 5G applications for public transport alongside its South Korean counterpart Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital map of UK underground pipes and cables to be developed

The Underground Asset Register is expected to reduce the costs and safety issues associated with maintaining underground cables and pipes Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Security Think Tank: Surviving the existential cyber punch part 2

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Gregory Touhill, ISACA

Amazon cautions against reading too much into slowdown in AWS revenue growth rate

Amazon's CFO claims slowdown in revenue growth and capital expenditure should not be interpreted as signs of distress for any of its business units, as firm shifts growth strategy to prioritise operational efficiency Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Huawei leak inquiry launched

Cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill has instituted an inquiry aimed at discovering who leaked confidential discussions about UK mobile operators’ use of Huawei in their future 5G networks to the press Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NVMe is ‘ready’, say Dell EMC, Virtual Instruments and Cisco

Storage and networks big guns say super-fast NVMe flash is ready for enterprise users, with performance 10x over existing Fibre Channel and ecosystem in place Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Central government fails to meet SME tech spending targets

Smaller businesses find it “impossible” to win public sector tenders while the number of single-bid contracts rises, report says Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Dutch road management organisation encourages startups to innovate

Dutch highway management agency RWS is sharing data with the private sector to stimulate innovation Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Digital shopping endangers retail employment

A shift towards online shopping and digital retail technologies has led to a decrease in investment in retail employment Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Scale-out NAS: File storage with cloud and flash from big five

We run the rule over scale-out NAS from the big five storage array makers to find all-flash and hybrid-flash commonplace and use of the cloud as a tier almost ubiquitous Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Data firms join forces to help Path beat malaria

Tableau, Mapbox, Exasol and Alteryx commit $4.3m to back anti-malaria scheme in sub-Saharan Africa run by health charity Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

UK up for cyber challenge but work to be done, says minister

Lidington says National Cyber Security Strategy has “revolutionised the UK’s fight against cyber threats” Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCSC and ICO pledge to support data breach victims

The UK’s cyber security agency and privacy watchdog have agreed to work together to improve support for data breach victims and enhance cyber guidance Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

European Union to create central biometrics database

New rules will see the introduction of a repository of personal data from hundreds of millions of citizens to support law enforcement across member states Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Cloud uptake drives third-quarter sales for Microsoft

Demand for Microsoft’s cloud offerings spiked again during the firm’s third quarter, reports Redmond Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cabinet Office seeks chief digital information officer

The newly created role will sit within the Government Digital Service and lead a 630-strong reporting function for digital, data and technology strategy Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

No final decision taken on Huawei 5G ban, government claims

Culture secretary tells MPs that a final decision on use of Huawei in UK 5G networks has not been taken, and says government is taking the leak of confidential discussions at the National Security Council very seriously Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

JEDI cloud chief quits as award date for controversial 10-year US government cloud deal nears

Chris Lynch, director of the US Defence Digital Service, has assured staff that the 10-year JEDI cloud project will proceed as he confirms his departure Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

School should prepare kids for the digital workplace, say teachers

Many teachers say school should prepare young people for working in a digital environment, but a number of schools are underinvesting in technology Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Cabinet Office addresses 5G security issue

Cabinet Office uses NCSC conference to lay out government’s approach to the security of 5G networks, as controversy grows around using equipment from Chinese supplier Huawei Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCSC looks to industry to scale Active Cyber Defence

The national cyber security agency is calling on wider government organisations as well as industry to help scale automated cyber attack blocking systems country-wide Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Mobile phones and health: is 5G being rolled out too fast?

European countries are rolling out 5G mobile communications at breakneck speed as they seek to gain a competitive edge over the US and Asia. But some scientists have raised questions about the effects of 5G mobile phone radiation on public health and are calling for a precautionary approach Continue Reading

By

• Crina Boros
• Investigate Europe
• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Internet Watch Foundation raises stakes in war against online child porn

Organisation’s work around tackling the spread of child sexual abuse imagery is being enhanced with advanced video tagging technology and artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Online fashion brand Boohoo sees year-on-year revenue growth

Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com has seen a spike in revenue over the past year across all of its operating brands, and has announced the completion of several digital projects Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

AWS bags multi-year deal to support Ford-backed bid to create open connected car cloud platform

Amazon Web Services has secured a multi-year deal to provide underlying support for a Ford-backed bid to create an open cloud platform to accelerate the development of connected car services Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

NCSC to scale up intelligence sharing, says GCHQ director

The GCHQ director has outlined the agency’s cyber security mission in the third decade of the internet age at CyberUK, promising to scale up the sharing of declassified cyber intelligence with industry Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Challenger bank Tandem migrates to AWS in one weekend

Customer migration to Amazon Web Services demonstrates challenger banks’ agility in moving quickly to the latest technology Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Market must address IT failures in large infrastructure projects, government says

If companies want certainty that strategic investment will continue post Brexit, they need to address areas such as technical complexity management, says the chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Pure Storage buys Compuverde to put object storage on steroids

Fast flash storage specialist Pure Storage adds object storage to FlashArray and aims to compete with NetApp on NAS while bringing flash performance to web applications Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

Eagle Eye enlists Rackspace to lead 'all-in' Google Cloud Platform migration

Digital marketing platform provider Eagle Eye is leaning on Rackspace to support its move to the Google Cloud Platform Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

PM May approves Huawei for use in 5G networks despite opposition

The UK’s National Security Council has approved the use of Huawei’s networking equipment in parts of the country’s 5G mobile networks in spite of widespread opposition Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Global intelligence agencies share UK stage for first time

Representatives of intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes alliance are to share a public platform in the UK for the first time at this year’s NCSC CyberUK conference Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Stockholm prospers as tech hub as perceptions of entrepreneurs changes

Stockholm has thrived as a tech startup hub after out-of-date attitudes to entrepreneurs changed Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Apple spends upwards of $30m a month on AWS during first quarter of 2019, report claims

According to US media reports, Apple is spending upwards of $30m a month on procuring cloud services from Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

London Ambulance Service trials real-time access to patient data

The NHS Identity Service pilot enables clinicians to access summary care records on secure iPads Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Digital court system reaches first key milestones

The platform rolled out at Crown Courts in England and Wales a year ago has increased speed and efficiency of online citizen services and saved 100 million sheets of paper so far Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Casual collaboration comms pose security risk, survey shows

UK employees have a worryingly casual attitude to workplace communications, underling the need for employers to take steps to counter related cyber attack vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Open doors at Huawei in China as it mounts defence

Computer Weekly was on a recent UK press tour of Huawei’s new campus in Dongguan, China. The company is opening up as it faces US criticism for alleged complicity with China’s security apparatus Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

WannaCry hero pleads guilty, urges others to stay on ‘good side’

Briton hailed as WannaCry hero finally pleads guilty to charges of writing and distributing malware, but urges security researchers to stay away from the “dark side” Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

APAC set for blockchain boom

Led by China, spending on blockchain technology in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan will surpass $2bn by 2022 Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

NCSC urges better online security practices

UK cyber security agency is urging citizens to improve online safety and password security after research reveals most-hacked passwords and a survey exposes gaps in online security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK government adds voice to citizen services delivery

Voice technology enables access to more than 12,000 information items through Alexa or Google Home Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Spotify opens new London R&D hub

Music streaming service Spotify has opened a new technology hub in London, as part of its push to open offices outside the US and Stockholm Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Facebook leaks: Zuckerberg turned data into dollars in ruthless battle with competitors

Facebook’s CEO ruthlessly exploited personal data shared by its users to turn Facebook into the biggest social network, but internal documents show that privacy appeared to be an afterthought for executives Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Sebastian Klovig Skelton and Duncan Campbell

20 firms join Tech Nation’s cyber security scale-up programme

Tech Nation scale-up programme is designed to boost the UK’s cyber sector, accelerate the growth of its top companies and build a robust, cross-industry network Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Widespread adoption of digital ID could boost economic growth

New study argues that the standard could bring benefits to businesses in sectors such as financial services as well as government – but it all depends on high adoption rates Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Etihad Airways automates customer and luggage journey monitoring

National airline of United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, will improve passenger journeys through automated monitoring Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

State-sponsored hackers are hijacking DNS, researchers warn

A DNS-hijacking campaign targeting the Middle East and Africa may lead to actors more broadly attacking the global DNS system Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK government to introduce online porn age checks

World-first regulations will see age verification introduced in July and enforced by the British Board of Film Classification. Non-compliant sites risk withdrawal of payment services or being blocked Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Hyper-converged infrastructure vs NAS and SAN shared storage

Can compute, storage and networks in one box be a better option than shared storage? And which organisations can most benefit from it, and for what scale of deployment? Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

HM Land Registry completes blockchain trial

HM Land Registry’s blockchain project is part of a wider digital transformation initiative which aims to simplify and speed up the process of buying and selling property Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Apple and Qualcomm settle up as Intel quits 5G chip business

Apple and Qualcomm have set aside their ongoing litigation and struck a deal to work together on future 5G iPhones, leaving Intel in the lurch Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cloud storage 101: Specifying for cloud storage

We run through key questions to ask when specifying cloud storage, such as disk type, performance, availability and the possible hidden cost of getting data out of the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Paul Stringfellow, Gardner Systems

Government says no conflict of interest in trial despite Post Office chairman’s dual role

BEIS refutes MP’s suggestion of Post Office chairman’s conflict of interest in group litigation case involving Horizon IT system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Middle East CIOs optimistic as budgets increase and digital transformations expand

Cyber security and risk management will see the biggest increase in spending, but digital transformation of businesses is a major driver of investment, survey shows Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Politics, privacy and porn: the challenges of age-verification technology

The age-verification requirements of the Digital Economy Act are to come into force in July this year, but registering people’s personal details for accessing age-restricted content carries significant risks and challenges Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Qumulo upgrades hybrid-flash hybrid cloud C-series with C-72T

Hybrid cloud-focused clustered NAS provider Qumulo’s C-72T takes advantage of cheaper and better components to start at 72TB and scale to petabytes from a 1U node Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

TfL suspends Wi-Fi service as Extinction Rebellion spreads

Transport for London has cut off its public Virgin Media Wi-Fi service to disrupt climate change protests Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Morrisons to launch fresh appeal against breach liability ruling

Supermarket chain Morrisons is to launch a second appeal against a High Court ruling that found it liable for a data leak by a former employee Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Home Office curbs bulk emails following data breach

Department has introduced new rules for mass messaging after exposing email addresses of EU settled status scheme applicants Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Findings published from three-month pilot for NHS App

Biometric login functionality and additional repeat prescription ordering capability are among the enhancements made in response to user feedback to the NHS App Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Vodafone upgrades old phone boxes to support surfers

MNO is giving old phone boxes in Cornwall a new lease of life with a 4G upgrade Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Surviving the existential cyber punch

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Gregory Touhill, ISACA

Huawei cyber security chief John Suffolk: It’s not our culture to be aggressive

John Suffolk, global cyber security and privacy officer at China-based telecoms equipment supplier Huawei, tells Huawei Analyst Summit growth is the best answer to US criticism Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

MP questions government over Post Office Horizon case

Labour MP asks the government about the costs associated with the Post Office Horizon legal battle Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch national weather service adopts cloud to expand service offerings

The migration of legacy systems to an AWS set-up will precede the design of a real-time early warning centre for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Digital transformation at the Crown Prosecution Service

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine how the Crown Prosecution Service is helping to transform the UK justice system with a world-first digital overhaul. We report from Google’s cloud conference on the firm’s plans to expand its presence in enterprise IT. And we look at the opportunities and challenges of using artificial intelligence in the education sector. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Digital transformation sees CPS build evidence of more efficient services

The introduction of fully digital services to improve stakeholder engagement is among the highlights of a world-first transformation initiative in the criminal justice system Continue Reading

Third of people would allow tech platform to automatically move mortgage

Almost a third of people have such confidence in fin tech that they would allow a digtal platform to automatically move their mortgage to a better deal. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Energy industry needs to up cyber defences, warns report 

Cyber threat actors are advanced and persistent, but firms in the energy industry are using outdated systems and technology to save money, putting them at risk of cyber attacks, warns F-Secure report Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NatWest eases business payments with biometric authentication on mobile

NatWest is making it easier and safer for businesses to make payments of any size via a mobile app using biometric authentication technology Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Post-Brexit IT talent shortages concern UK CIOs

Finding and training tech staff remains an issue and is set to get worse after the UK leaves the European Union, says Barclaycard study Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Facebook takes extraordinary legal steps to contain document leak

Facebook targets journalists and news organisations for computer searches Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Zero trust is about more than products

The zero trust security model is more than just products and network segmentation, it’s an architectural design principle with identity at its core that needs to be applied enterprise-wide, says KuppingerCole Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Seven steps to manage risk of catastrophic cyber attack

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

CityFibre loses court battle over ‘fake fibre’

CityFibre has been knocked back by the courts in its dispute with the ASA over the use of the word ‘fibre’ in broadband ads Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS launches care home availability portal

New tool is aimed at optimising hospital occupancy and saving social care staff “hours of phoning around” Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Automation will bring job security, say most IT security pros

Most security professionals believe that although automation can support humans, it will not result in a reduction in job opportunities, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 12

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team discusses SuiteWorld 2019, NetSuite’s annual user conference, the government’s introduction of internet safety regulations and the complex journey from collecting data to using it for insight Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

NCSC seeks new breed of cyber security startups

The UK intelligence community is seeking to promote a new breed of technology startup to help detect, respond to and facilitate rapid recoveries from cyber attacks on the UK Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Broadband upgrade improves response times for cave rescue team

The South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team has switched on a new ultrafast broadband connection to help its members react more quickly in life-threatening emergencies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Singapore firms streamline operations, fend off disruption with cloud

Certis and financial institutions are among those in the city state that are turning to cloud services to gain a competitive edge Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Retail technology, sports sponsorship and a global marketing opportunity

Sports sponsorship remains a focus area for B2B software companies and retail technology businesses looking to impress the C-suite Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

How botnets pose a threat to the IoT ecosystem

While connected devices are transforming our personal and working lives in a multitude of ways, they are also a growing security risk – attackers are hijacking these devices and turning them into internet of things botnets Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

UK government launches cloud sustainability probe

Government departments are being asked to provide information about the energy footprint of the cloud services they use Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari