IT news in your industry sector

Canadian arrested by France after cooperating with US on Sky ECC cryptophone investigation

Thomas Herdman, who faces charges in France over his involvement in distributing Sky ECC encrypted phones, was arrested by French police despite agreeing to cooperate with US law enforcement Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin & Morgan Ayre

Cloud repatriation: How to do it successfully

The keys to reverse migration success include workload selection, how to prepare your on-premise infrastructure and future-proofing the decision to come back in-house Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Lloyds Bank uses artificial intelligence to check trade finance documents

Bank is automating checks of digital and paper-based documentation in trade financing with the help of artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Retailers question using live facial recognition for shoplifting

Retailers praise benefits of retrospective over live facial recognition in dealing with shoplifting, but stress there are ongoing concerns around the ethical, legal and safety implications of using the technology in stores Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Fraud and scam complaints hit highest ever level in UK

The Financial Ombudsman Service says it recorded almost 9,000 complaints about fraud and scams from April to June, the most ever recorded Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means huge final taxpayers’ bill

The human tragedy caused by the Post Office scandal cannot be measured, but the total financial cost will be well beyond the £1bn set aside by the government Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

TSB systems could be on the move again as BBVA eyes its parent

TSB was migrated to the systems of Sabadell in a project remembered for its monumental IT meltdown in 2018 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tech secretary pledges to ‘rewire Whitehall’ and plug the digital gap

Secretary of state for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, promises to drive innovation through the NHS, champion AI safety and ensure government harnesses the power of digital Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Key-value flash targets more efficient data storage

We look at key-value storage, which promises much greater I/O efficiency and longer flash drive lifespans, but may be constrained by limited use cases and lukewarm productisation efforts Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Flash prices drop as drive production increases but demand lags

Flash prices were high in the early part of this year as a result of manufacturer production squeezes but have since dropped because demand has been slack, with flash now costing just under 10 cents per gigabyte Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Transport for London hit by cyber attack

London’s transport network provider TfL experiences cyber security incident, but reassures customers there is no impact on services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nationwide development platform uses Red Hat technology

Building society is speeding up its software releases through Red Hat cloud application development platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The politics of techno-refusal

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we learn about the politics of techno-refusal and the lessons to be learned from a group of IT workers who spent the early 1980s sabotaging tech infrastructure. Following the controversy around Broadcom’s purchase of VMware, we examine some alternative virtualisation solutions. And our latest buyer’s guide looks at the state of software-defined wide-area networking. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Police Digital Service staff arrests: Everything you need to know

In July 2024, details emerged that two employees working for the Police Digital Service had been arrested on suspicion of bribery, fraud and misconduct in public office. Here’s everything we know about the story so far Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK and Ukraine digital trade deal comes into force

The UK eases access to the deep tech startup community in Ukraine through digital-only agreement Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Storage technology explained: Kubernetes, containers and persistent storage

In this guide, we look at the market-leading container platform Kubernetes, how it works, the challenges with persistent storage and backup, and how they have been overcome Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Government funds research to tackle extreme weather

Researchers will use data gathered from monitoring rivers, weather conditions and ground water saturation to improve flood and drought defences Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Norwegian Refugee Council leverages Okta for Good cyber scheme

Pietro Galli, CIO of the Norwegian Refugee Council, reveals how the globally distributed NGO has been taking advantage of the Okta for Good CSR programme to improve its own cyber security and data protection practice, and elevate good practice in the third sector Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government renews hunt for UKRI CEO

Two senior innovation roles are up for grabs as government looks for a CEO to lead UK Research and Innovation, as well as a new executive chair of Innovate UK Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov under formal investigation, released on bail

European Commission confirms it has powers to place Telegram under ‘direct supervision’ if it meets the threshold for regulation under the Digital Services Act Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Iranian APT caught acting as access broker for ransomware crews

Members of Iran-backed Pioneer Kitten APT appear to be trying to supplement their pay packets by helping Russian-speaking ransomware gangs to access their victims in exchange for a cut of the profits Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber law reform should be top of Labour's policy list

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Craig Watt

Primark adds five more years to IT outsourcing contract with TCS

Retailer has worked with Indian IT services giant for eight years and new agreement will take the relationship to 13 years at least Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Met Police deploy LFR in Lewisham without community input

The Met’s latest live facial recognition deployment in Catford has raised concerns over the lack of community engagement around the police force’s use of the controversial technology Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Interview: Currys CIO Andy Gamble on AI strategy

The CIO of Currys on the four pillars of the retailer’s artificial intelligence strategy and how generative AI can enable staff to be the best versions of themselves Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

Governments looking to "small IT” for greater project success

Governments should invest in smaller pilots, hypothesis testing and co-development with vendors before committing to large production rollouts to avoid project failures Continue Reading

By

• Arthur Mickoleit

A coherent Labour cyber strategy depends on consistency

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Aled Lloyd Owen

Iranian APT Peach Sandstorm teases new Tickler malware

Peach Sandstorm, an Iranian state threat actor, has developed a dangerous new malware strain that forms a key element of a rapidly evolving attack sequence Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Global cyber spend to rise 15% in 2025, pushed along by AI

Security spending will increase at pace in 2025, with artificial intelligence, cloud and consultancy services all pushing outlay to new highs, according to Gartner Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Updating taxation: Can AI and data analysis help with HMRC’s human resources problem?

HMRC resources are currently thinly spread in the aftermath of Covid and Brexit. Could automating systems using generative AI help HMRC’s digital transformation? Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Cambridge Enterprise saves big with Keepit SaaS backup

University innovation body avoids hardware spend and saves management time as it switches from tape to cloud-to-cloud backup, instant recovery and decades-long retention from Keepit Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Interview: Nick Woods, CIO, Manchester Airports Group

The IT chief of the UK’s biggest airport operator wants to give his organisation the world’s most intelligent airports – he explains the data-led approach that’s aiming to reach that destination Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Telegram founder Pavel Durov questioned over cyber crime charges

Billionaire founder of Telegram accused of failing to co-operate with law enforcement requests for lawful interception Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Government commits to £4m data and AI package for education

Plans include a £3m data store for education data, £1m catalyst fund for new AI tools, and a commitment to publish an AI safety framework Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Extending zero-trust principles to endpoints

By combining zero-trust principles with other security strategies and continuously monitoring and improving their security posture, organisations can effectively mitigate risks and protect their resources, says Gartner's Nikul Patel Continue Reading

By

• Nikul Patel

The US courts may have thrown a wrench into cyber regulation

A recent decision by the US Supreme Court to overrule the longstanding Chevron Deference has serious implications for global cyber security regulation Continue Reading

By

• Brian Arnold

Public education on security must be a top priority for Labour

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

NHS partners with libraries to help people access NHS App

The scheme, which will launch in October, will train librarians to support people to download and use the NHS App and NHS.uk Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Computer simulations show Swedish fusion initiative could have global impact

The only nuclear fusion initiative in the Nordics, Novatron, believes it has a lot to offer on the global scale Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

AI innovation key to UK business, but obstacles threaten progress

AI is seen by IT leaders as essential, but it requires innovation, skills and infrastructure – all of which are under pressure from day-to-day firefighting, energy costs and cyber threats Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

New Qilin tactics a ‘bonus multiplier’ for ransomware chaos

Sophos X-Ops caught the Qilin ransomware gang stealing credentials stored by victims' employees in Google Chrome, heralding further cyber attacks and breaches down the line. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Police Digital Service taps up former biometrics commissioner as interim CEO

The Police Digital Service has confirmed the appointment of an interim chief executive Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Post Office apologises for IT problem text alert that was never sent

After subpostmasters complained they received no communications from the Post Office when they could not log in to the Horizon IT system, the organisation admits a text message alert failed to be sent Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA
• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

DHSC should have dedicated digital records unit, says Tony Blair Institute

The digital health record unit would drive creation and implementation of electronic patient records to deliver health and care improvements and ensure the NHS is ready for the era of artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Tech sector layoffs mount amid AI investment frenzy

Technology firms globally are cutting their workforces as they look to increase spending on and investment in artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Women in data: Claire Thompson, chief data officer, L&G

The insurer’s data chief discusses using data for better insights, building data capabilities through apprenticeships, and the value of diversity in data leadership Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

QiStor flashes key-value storage software for hardware acceleration

US-based startup will develop storage software allied with FPGA chips to allow data storage to bypass spinning disk era block addressing to speed performance and cut energy use Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Podcast: Ransomware and what data storage can do about it

We talk to NetApp’s Chris McKean about ransomware attacks and the role of data storage in protecting against them Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Wells Fargo bank turns to AI to help families settle estates after a death

Wells Fargo bank is winning customers after using business automation software and artificial intelligence to help people manage the estates of relatives following a bereavement Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Post Office Horizon crash disconnected branches from datacentre

The Post Office has apologised to subpostmasters affected by a major IT outage, which stopped them from doing business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

From manifesto to material: What No. 10 needs to make reality

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Paul Lewis, Nominet

ICO launches privacy notice tool for SMEs

ICO tool designed to make it easier for small businesses and sole traders operating online to create bespoke data privacy notices for compliance purposes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Phishing links becoming bigger threat than email attachments

Phishing techniques are evolving away from malicious email attachments, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office systems crash hits 'collapsing' Horizon system

Thousands of subpostmasters were unable to log into the controversial Horizon IT system at the start of business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Helsinki braced for elevated cyber attacks

The City of Helsinki is increasing its collaboration with cyber security and crime investigators following a major attack on its systems Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

A gold medal for Olympic mobile coverage

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we go behind the scenes with Orange, networking partner for the Paris Olympic Games, to discuss the challenges of connecting 120 venues. We talk to a CIO for whom IT accessibility and usability is a very personal concern. And we look at how to keep control of SaaS licensing costs. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

How might the UK's cyber landscape change under Labour?

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Dhairya Mehta and Cate Pye

NHS England plans EPR for prisons and detention centres

The government is looking to procure an electronic patient record system with the aim of improving health records access for individuals in the justice system Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Thousands of NetSuite customers accidentally exposing their data

Misconfigured permissions across live websites are leaving thousands of NetSuite users open to having their valuable customer data stolen, researchers say Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Campaigners criticise Starmer post-riot public surveillance plans

A UK government programme to expand police facial recognition and information sharing after racist riots is attracting criticism from campaigners for exploiting the far-right unrest to generally crack down on protest and increase surveillance Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Google's cookie conundrum: What comes next?

Google's revised approach to third-party cookies shouldn't come as a surprise, and may also be welcome Continue Reading

By

• Christian Ward

With the right tools and strategy, public cloud should be safe to use

Despite the complexity and evolving nature of threats, with the right strategy, tools, and constant vigilance, businesses can safely and securely leverage public cloud services Continue Reading

By

• Jason Lau

'Black swans' take flight: the legal ramifications of the CrowdStrike incident  

A ‘guinea pig’ approach to testing software could lead to class actions against technology companies Continue Reading

By

• Hermès Marangos

August Patch Tuesday proves busy with six zero-days to fix

Microsoft patches six actively exploited zero-days among over 100 issues during its regular monthly update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Newcastle City Council swaps out Oracle Java for Azul

Changes to Oracle’s Java licensing meant the council no longer received free security patches Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Post Office brings in new IT chief as it awaits funding for Horizon replacement

Incoming tech leader Andy Nice will be responsible for the troubled programme to replace the Horizon IT system at the heart of the Post Office scandal - and a new non-executive director for technology is on the way too Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Automated police tech contributes to UK structural racism problem

Civil society groups say automated policing technologies are helping to fuel the disparities that people of colour face across the criminal justice sector, as part of wider warning about the UK’s lack of progress in dealing with systemic racism Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

IR35 public sector reforms: HS2 finalises £6.2m settlement with HMRC over compliance failings

After setting aside over £10m to cover its IR35 compliance liabilities, HS2 accounts confirm the organisation reached a final settlement with HMRC totalling £6.2m Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

Leeds Teaching Hospitals deploys patient records and data sharing on Azure

In-house patient records system has been migrated to the Microsoft public cloud, opening up the potential for greater data sharing Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

NIST debuts three quantum-safe encryption algorithms

NIST has launched the first three quantum-resistant encryption algorithms, and as the threat of quantum-enabled cyber attacks grows greater, organisations are encouraged to adopt them as soon as they can Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: Storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31

We talk to Sergey Pronin of Percona about new storage functionality in Kubernetes 1.31, including volume attribute class and changes to persistent volumes, as well as other long-term fixes Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Labour's first cyber priority must be the NHS

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Adam Button

Oracle Exadata Exascale: Big architecture shift for small workloads

Exascale is multitenant architecture for Oracle Database that promises performance equal to dedicated infrastructure and savings compared with existing products, with AI workloads in mind Continue Reading

By

• Gaétan Raoul, LeMagIT

Designed to deceive – reviewing the Post Office scandal inquiry

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we review the marathon latest phase of the Post Office scandal inquiry, as ministers, civil servants, executives and lawyers were shamed. We look at IOWN – a candidate for the next generation of networking technology. And we examine best practice in software asset management. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Social care must ensure IT systems comply with data standards

As social care is moving towards meeting its target of 80% of providers having digital records, the Department for Health and Social Care calls on them to ensure the digital systems meet national standards Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Deep dive into quantum-resistant cryptography for email security

Quantum computers have the potential to crack many of the encryption methods we currently rely on to keep our digital communications safe. Quantum-resistant cryptography may be the answer Continue Reading

By

• Isla Sibanda

Post Office scandal: Phases 5 and 6 had islands of conscientiousness in great depths of neglect

Computer Weekly rounds up the latest phase of the Post Office Horizon scandal public inquiry after a marathon 16 weeks of questions Continue Reading

How UK firms can get ready for the implementation of NIS2

Many British companies will need to adhere to NIS2’s cyber security risk management and reporting requirements if they want to continue operating in the EU market and avoid huge fines Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Kubernetes and storage in the enterprise: What the analysts say

We talk to analysts about Kubernetes adoption in the enterprise, how mature it is, deployment challenges and key obstacles to enterprises that want to go cloud-native with containers Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Kubernetes at 10: CRDs at core of extensible, modular storage in K8s

We talk to VMware engineer Xing Yang, who saw Kubernetes storage evolve from the early days where its modular, extensible origins translated to Operators for storage and backup Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Royal ransomware crew puts on a BlackSuit in rebrand

The Royal ransomware gang is back, with a new name and refreshed capabilities, including an apparently unique ‘partial encryption’ gambit, according to CISA Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US lawmakers seek to brand ransomware gangs as terrorists

Proposals from legislators in Washington DC could shake up the global ransomware ecosystem and give law enforcement sweeping new powers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ofcom issues online safety warning to firms in wake of UK riots

Ofcom has issued a warning reminding social media firms of their upcoming online safety obligations, after misinformation about the Southport stabbings sparked racist riots throughout the UK Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Can regulators rein in Google's excesses?

The ruling against Google in a case of anti-competitive practices, filed by the US Department of Justice, reveals the extent to which Google will attempt to thwart legislators. Court documents show ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Rocketing AI demand sees Lumen light up custom networks division

Connectivity provider shakes up corporate structure in response to artificial intelligence economy changing business operations and companies recognising need for powerful network to manage unprecedented data flows and demand Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

5 ESG benefits for businesses

ESG programs help businesses attract investors, build customer loyalty, improve financial performance, make operations sustainable and gain a competitive edge. Continue Reading

By

• Kinza Yasar, Technical Writer

Advanced faces fine over LockBit attack that crippled NHS 111

Advanced Software faces a multimillion pound fine for a series of failings which directly led to a 2022 LockBit ransomware attack that disrupted NHS and social care services across the UK Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

2024 seeing more CVEs than ever before, but few are weaponised

The number of disclosed CVEs soared by 30% in the first seven-and-a-half months of the year, but a tiny fraction of these have been exploited by threat actors, a reminder of the importance of focused security strategies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

AI disempowers logistics workers while intensifying their work

Conversations on the algorithmic management of work largely revolve around unproven claims about productivity gains or job losses - less attention is paid to how AI and automation negatively affect low-paid workers Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Kersley

IR35 public sector reforms: Chancellor urged to review departmental costs generated by blanket bans

Chancellor Rachel Reeves urged to review ‘non-essential’ departmental spend since the introduction of IR35 reforms in April 2017 as part of her push to close £22bn public spending gap inherited from the Conservatives Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Migrating to S/4Hana – how the Co-op made its move

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as SAP users prepare for the deadline to move off the ECC platform, we find out how the Co-op is migrating to S/4Hana. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at how to manage SaaS and on-premise software licensing. And we talk to former NCSC CEO Ciaran Martin about the true risks from nation-state cyber attacks. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Chinese cyber attack sparks alert over six-year-old MS vuln

After a proof-of-concept for a six-year-old Microsoft vulnerability emerged in a Chinese APT attack chain, defenders should be on the look-out for exploitation of CVE-2018-0824 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

World’s largest companies at near-universal risk of supply chain breach

Data from SecurityScorecard once again focuses on the interconnected nature of business supply chains and the risk posed to operational resilience by unexpected IT problems and cyber threats Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia’s luxury car phish continues to prove effective

Government organisations and other bodies operating in Ukraine continue to be targeted by a relatively unsophisticated phishing campaign that has proven so effective for Russia’s cyber spooks that there are now multiple agencies involved Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber lessons, and priorities for the UK's new government

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Ameet Jugnauth and Mark Pearce

Post Office scandal: Phases 5 and 6 had islands of conscientiousness in great depths of neglect

Computer Weekly rounds up the latest phase of the Post Office Horizon scandal public inquiry after a marathon 16 weeks of questions Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Labour axes £1.3bn AI funding promised by the Conservatives

Government scraps £1.3bn worth of AI and tech programmes launched by the Conservatives, but says it is committed to building technology infrastructure in the UK through its AI Opportunities Action Plan Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Police hunt scammers after takedown of Russian Coms fraud platform

The National Crime Agency has arrested four people after taking down a phone number spoofing platform used by criminals to defraud hundreds of thousands of people in the UK with more arrests to follow Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

CrowdStrike shareholders sue, alleging false security claims

A US pension fund is lining up a lawsuit against CrowdStrike, claiming the cyber company lied about the integrity of its systems, leading to failings that caused a worldwide IT outage Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Is it time to refresh the UK's cyber strategy?

With Labour returning to 10 Downing Street after 14 years, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank panellists share advice and wish lists for the new government Continue Reading

By

• Jon Carpenter