IT news in your industry sector

UK government organisations’ email security lagging

Email security in UK government organisations is lagging far behind that of central government, analysis reveals, with less than a third implementing standard protection Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CCRC watching Post Office Horizon trial closely

The Criminal Courts Review Commission considering judgment in subpostmasters versus Post Office litigation trial Continue Reading

Post Office ‘lacked humanity’ in the treatment of subpostmasters, says peer

Peer slams Post Office after High Court judgment reveals its oppressive style of managing the people who run its branches Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government launches investigation into AI bias

Advisory body will look at how systems that support decision-making may have inherent algorithmic biases that need to be taken into account Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Growing board focus on cyber risk challenges current thinking

As digital transformation continues to drive change in the business and risk landscape, business and cyber security leaders need to improve discussions around this topic Continue Reading

By

• Marcus Alldrick

Salisbury to get ‘universal’ full-fibre broadband

Every residential and business property in Salisbury will be able to access full-fibre broadband in 12 months, claims Openreach Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Norsk Hydro confirms ransomware attack

A Norwegian aluminium producer has confirmed a ransomware attack is affecting several areas of its business, forcing it to switch to manual operations Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

More than half of EU firms report cyber attack losses

More than half of European firms admit business disruption and data loss due to cyber attacks in the past 24 months, with UK firms among the most targeted, a survey shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NatWest launches female-focused crowdfunding programme

Consumer bank NatWest is backing female entrepreneurs through a crowdfunding programme Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Ctera teams with HPE to put cloud gateways in Simplivity HCI

X Series appliances marry HPE’s hyper-converged hardware with Ctera’s hybrid cloud file server gateway to provide edge compute with storage tiered to the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Firms urged to protect against spear phishing

Spear phishing attacks are sophisticated, targeted, costly and increasing in popularity among cyber attackers, a report warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NatWest launches business virtual account platform

Features supported by a new system enable corporate customers to manage and segregate money, and are part of a wider digital transformation plan to enhance customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Norwegian aluminium producer hit by ‘extensive’ cyber attack

A Norwegian aluminium producer has disclosed that it has come under cyber attack affecting several areas of its business as the firm faces claims of environmental damage Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Post Office director cross-examination confirms lack of investigation into branch IT problems

A high court judge heard that the Post Office did not investigate a computer system error that could cause losses, despite being offered evidence Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Build in trust, experts advise cyber innovators

Trust will be increasingly important in the digital era, and is therefore a key component of new products and services, experts have told cyber security innovators Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Department of Health considers overhaul of screening IT

Modernisation intended to address high-profile failures in national screening services will be informed by an investigation on the topic to be published next month Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

EU law enforcement agencies prepare for major cyber attacks

Law enforcement agencies across the European Union are preparing for major cross-border cyber attacks, says Europol Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UKCloud secures £25m investment to support multi-cloud public sector push

G-Cloud-listed IT services firm UKCloud has received a sizeable financial boost to support its efforts to cater to the differentiated demands of public sector technology buyers Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CyLon announces latest cyber security accelerator cohort

Swiss and Israeli cyber security startups join teams from the UK for CyLon’s ninth London accelerator cohort Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Microsoft Government Community Cloud adds Teams, Dynamics 365

U.S. government agencies are undergoing a digital transformation, and Microsoft hopes that upgrades to its Government Cloud lineup will make its platform part of that change. Continue Reading

By

• Jesse Scardina, News Writer

Subpostmasters achieve ‘stunning victory’ against Post Office in Horizon case

Judge rules that Post Office showed “oppressive behaviour” in response to claimants accused of accounting errors they blamed on Horizon IT system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Businesses failing to grasp DevSecOps

UK and US businesses are being exposed to security risks by a failure to integrate security into DevOps programmes, research shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

StepChange uses Pegasystems to power digital efficiency drive

Charity StepChange, which helps people manage debt problems, has developed a modern IT system to help double the number of people it can support Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Brexit complicating already complex data protection

GDPR impact is yet to be felt and data protection is set to become increasingly complex, with Brexit adding even more complexity that could be overwhelming, warns head of international privacy association Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Venture capitalists driving Nordic tech enterprise growth

The vibrant tech sector in the Nordic region is attracting increasing attention from venture capitalists Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

National Cyber Security Programme at risk of missing targets

The National Audit Office has sharply criticised the Cabinet Office over failings in how it set up the National Cyber Security Programme that mean it may struggle to meet its goals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Avoid infosec mistakes of the past, urges Robert Hannigan

Technology innovators need to avoid security mistakes of the past by building in integrity so that products and services can be used with trust and confidence, says former GCHQ director Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Met Police collaborated with US prosecutors in WikiLeaks investigation

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it exchanged information on WikiLeaks staff in the UK with the US Department of Justice, which is conducting criminal investigations into the organisation Continue Reading

By

• BIll Goodwin & Niels Ladefoged

Predicting Senturion’s magnificent seven

Luxury wrist-worn supercar key manufacturer Senturion has revealed it will release seven limited edition £211,550 pieces, fashioned from some asteroid, later this year. But who’ll get them? They ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

NHS Shared Business Services seeks suppliers for £500m cloud procurement framework

NHS Shared Business Services is seeking suppliers for a four-year procurement framework designed to streamline how public sector organisations source cloud services Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Security Think Tank: Map your own important risk metrics

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• RV Raghu, ISACA

Spring Statement 2019 allocates £200m to technology

Chancellor Philip Hammond's latest statement announces funding to support progress in areas including supercomputer development, photonics and bioinformatics, promises tighter digital regulation and attempts to ensure flow of skilled professionals into the UK Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

ICO pledges to support innovation

UK data privacy watchdog is increasingly gearing up to support innovation to ensure developers of tech and digital services do not lose society’s trust Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Furman Review urges greater competition for tech giants

The six-month review into the UK digital economy includes recommendations of a new code of conduct for large companies, along with greater data openness and mobility Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Bank of England’s large IT spend partly due to use of manual processes and legacy systems

The Bank of England admits there is room for improvement when it comes to IT efficiency Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Shetlands get broadband upgrade to support local NHS services

Shetland Islands Council is to receive £1.91m of funding to expand full-fibre broadband expansion to NHS sites on remote islands through the government’s Local Full-Fibre Networks initiative Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hear from some of the women shaping UK fintech

Find out what needs to done to increase diversity in fintech from some of the women shaping the industry Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Financial loss as a key security risk indicator

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Yeomans, Information Security Forum

Almost half UK firms hit by phishing attacks

Almost half of UK organisations have been compromised in the past two years using phishing attacks, despite high levels of cyber awareness and training, research shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attackers favouring stealthier attacks, says Darktrace

Cyber attackers are moving away from ransomware to stealthier tactics, including banking Trojans and cryptojacking, an analysis of attack data reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Defra criticised over no-deal IT systems plan

The introduction of slower, burdensome systems brought about by the challenges of preparing for Brexit must not become the ‘new normal’, MPs warn Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Security Think Tank: No one key risk indicator is generic across all businesses

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

Many firms unaware of data exfiltration threat

Many firms are unaware that they are being targeted by cyber espionage and that data is being exfiltrated from their networks by overseas adversaries, a security firm warns Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: Martin Draper, CIO and change director, Liberty London

Department store’s IT leader is bringing a traditional retail business into the digital, omnichannel age Continue Reading

Nationwide uses natural language processing to discover what annoys customers

SAS has run a proof of concept at building society Nationwide, using artificial intelligence and natural language processing to determine how to improve customer correspondence Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 7

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team talks cyber attacks against the NHS, the everywoman in Tech Forum, 5G connected cows, and covers off the latest round of revelations about Facebook’s data processing procedures Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

Despite failings, exec appetite for secure collaboration growing

Top business decision makers are more reckless than ever with company data, but the appetite for secure collaboration tools is growing, survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Openreach exploring options for copper network shutdown

Openreach has begun to assess how and when it might be able to shut down its copper broadband network Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told

The Post Office considered Horizon a high operational risk in an internal review, a trial focused on alleged fallibilities in the system used in thousands of Post Office branches has heard Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Department for Transport kicks off cloud transformation

A major system has been moved to Google Cloud Platform as part of a wider modernisation exercise Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

HMRC CDIO Jacky Wright on why building diverse tech teams is socially responsible

During a wide-ranging Q&A session at this year's everywoman in tech forum, HMRC CDIO Jacky Wright set out why diversity matters when building government services, while worrying about workplace stereotypes is a waste of time Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

NatWest launches biometric card pilot

NatWest Bank is set to trial biometrics-based cards with 200 customers to verify contactless payment transactions over £30 Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Security Think Tank: Key considerations for determining cyber risk

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Citrix breach once again highlights password weaknesses

A reported breach of Citrix, which has potentially exposed data at hundreds of thousands of customer organisations, has once again highlighted the need for an alternative to passwords and the importance of supply chain security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Web @ 30: Thank you for global connectivity

For the last three decades since its introduction, the web has informed, educated and entertained society. It has given musicians, artists and businesses of any size connectivity to a global ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

United Utilities’ RPA crack team makes early gains

Water company United Utilities is looking for opportunities to automate processes through a central team and collaboration with business users Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

ICO data raises doubts over UK firms’ ability to manage breaches

Most ICO data breach reports late and incomplete prior to full GDPR implementation, FoI request data reveals, raising doubts about breach prevention, detection and response capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

House of Lords committee calls for creation of a digital authority to oversee regulation

The proposed regulatory framework would coordinate regulators, assess rules and make recommendations to respond to developments in digital services Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Government announces changes to immigration rules

The government has announced changes to immigration rules, which will provide two new visas designed to allow skilled talent into the UK Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Growing awareness of mobile security risk

There is a growing awareness of mobile security risk among members of the information security community, but most admit accessing corporate data from personal devices or public Wi-Fi Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Equifax defends against scathing Senate report

Equifax chief says firm did take cyber security seriously in a response to a scathing Senate report on the credit rating agency’s 2017 data breach, which experts say highlights failings around open source software Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Five elements of a key cyber risk indicator

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Mary-Jo de Leeuw, (ISC)2

How supercomputing is transforming experimental science

NERSC lead data scientist Debbie Bard talks about how large-scale data analytics using super computers is making new types of science possible Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Half of government IT jobs in 2023 do not exist today

Widespread digital transformation in the public sector means government CIO responsibilities will change rapidly in the next four years and many of those future roles do not yet exist, says Gartner Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

ICO head still in top three of DataIQ data leader list

The UK’s information commissioner remains in the top three data leaders after claiming top spot in 2018 in the DataIQ 100 list of most influential data leaders, but GDPR is not the only focus in the industry Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Machine identities for sale on dark web, business warned

Academics and security professionals are warning businesses that certificates used to establish trust and privacy on the internet are being weaponised and sold to cyber criminals bundled with other services Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Ministry of Justice concludes prison biometrics pilots

Use of iris scanning and facial recognition software is part of a wider crackdown on drug trafficking in UK jails Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

US government ban unconstitutional, says Huawei

Huawei’s lawsuit accuses Washington of violating the US Constitution by banning it from government contracts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tech under spotlight at High Court in second subpostmasters versus Post Office trial

The second trial in a court battle between the Post Office and the people who run branches analyses alleged bugs in the computer system they use Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Zuckerberg commits to Facebook becoming privacy-focused

After a storm of controversy and criticism over the way Facebook fails to protect users’ privacy, the company’s chief says he plans to transform it into a privacy-focused platform Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How Europe’s largest datacentre is helping to expand broadband access

NGD, the operator of the largest datacentre in Europe, is playing an unlikely role in helping expand access to full-fibre broadband in south Wales. We find out how, and why Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK military robotics get multimillion-pound boost

A budget of £66m from the Ministry of Defence's Transformation Fund has been allocated to a project that will see mini-drones and autonomous vehicles deployed to the battlefield Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Security Think Tank: Aim for business intelligence-driven system of risk indicators

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

NAO hammers another nail into Gov.uk Verify

It’s not commonly known outside Whitehall that by the time the National Audit Office (NAO) – Parliament’s independent spending watchdog – publishes a report, it will have been through several ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

NatWest fintech loan platform partners Microsoft for data warehouse and AI chatbot

NatWest fintech loans platform tapping Microsoft data warehouse expertise to support its rapid decision making Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government must prioritise replacement of legacy IT, MPs told

Science and Technology Committee inquiry into digital government told that Treasury needs to offer funding in next spending review to eliminate ageing technology in Whitehall Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

US doubles down on Huawei fears as Chinese prepare to sue

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has reinforced his attacks on Huawei as the firm apparently prepares to sue the US government over its federal-level ban Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bank of England to migrate from core system with a one-off big bang

The Bank of England will migrate from its current 23-year-old core settlement system with a big bang migration before the end of 2025 in an effort to modernise its way of working Continue Reading

Innovate Finance launches initiative to get teens into fintech

Innovate Finance wants to establish a long term pipeline of fintech talent Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Santander latest bank to tap Google experience

Spanish banking giant is tapping IT skills from Google through its latest senior tech appointment Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 6

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team talks about Mobile World Congress, Facebook’s latest data privacy row, the Ocado and M&S partnership, and how the technology industry can tackle unethical data use Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

NatWest launches its baseline open banking feature

NatWest is the latest bank to offer its baseline open banking service Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Invest in proactive approach to security and digital risk

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

GDS cut expected benefits of troubled Gov.uk Verify system by 75%

In a highly critical report, the National Audit Office says it is 'difficult to conclude' that past decisions to continue with the flagship digital identity system have been justified Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

UK among most expensive countries for mobile data

The UK ranks 136th in the world for the average cost of 1GB of mobile data, according to new statistics Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber awareness of UK boards found wanting

Boards of many of the UK’s biggest firms must do more to be cyber aware, according to a government report. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

RSA Security bets on digital risk management

RSA Security chief predicts that managing digital risk is set to become increasingly important to organisations as they complete their journeys to digital transformation Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Cyber metrics need to be meaningful

What should be the key cyber security risk indicator for any business? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Futuristic logistics: retailers focused on rapid delivery

From Asos Instant to Ocado Zoom, and a host of new services in between, rapid delivery is gaining traction in UK retail in an attempt to meet customer demand Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

Danske Bank builds on machine learning to predict IT failures

Danish bank is using artificial intelligence to help it prevent IT outages that could damage its reputation with customers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Is it too soon for AI in the education landscape?

This year saw education secretary Damian Hinds call for more tech in schools to help reduce teacher workload, but are schools ready, and how do we fix the pressing issues faced by UK education? Continue Reading

By

• Cath Everett

Clearer North Korean link to global infrastructure malware campaign

Researchers have uncovered clearer links between a North Korean hacking group and a cyber espionage campaign targeting government, defence, nuclear, energy and financial organisations around the world Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Technology can transform lives and society for the better

GUEST BLOG: In this contributed post, Helen Lamprell, General Counsel and External Affairs Director, Vodafone UK, talks about how technology can be used for social good We are living in an age of ... Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Fresh data analytics tool slashes Openreach’s Ethernet delivery times

Openreach discusses its work with analytics partner Qlik, which is giving its teams new insights into Ethernet and enterprise fibre network service delivery data, and says it has seen significant service improvements in doing so Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Facebook asked George Osborne to influence EU data protection law

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg invited one of the chancellor’s children to Facebook’s office as part of a intensive lobbying programme to influence European data protection legislation Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Duncan Campbell & Sebastian Klovig Skelton

Facebook facing 10 GDPR investigations in Ireland

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has revealed it has 10 active probes into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as Apple, LinkedIn and Twitter, on its books Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Using simulated disaster management to tackle the security skills gap

With the increasing need for cyber security professionals, organisations are turning to new ways to address the skills gap facing the security sector Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Yoyo on its way up: Fintech interview part 17

Fintech Yoyo is on its upward trajectory as mobile phones take centre stage in people's lives Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Microsoft Azure gains ground on AWS in public cloud

RightScale report suggests Microsoft Azure is closing the gap between it and public cloud market leader AWS in the enterprise, while Google is attracting increasing attention from the C-suite Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

What are the CDN options for enterprises?

We look at how content delivery networks can give your organisation’s web presence a literal edge Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman