IT news in your industry sector

Brexit implications for data protection

Leaving the European Union will have serious implications for data protection in the UK unless adequate steps are taken, so businesses are advised to have contingency plans in place Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

BT moves to strip Huawei kit from EE’s network

Telco will remove Huawei’s networking equipment from the core of EE’s 4G mobile network Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Situational awareness underpins effective security

As attackers begin to use multiple command and control systems to communicate with backdoors and other malware, how can organisations ensure they detect such methods and that all C&C systems are removed, including ‘sleepers’ designed to be activated at a future date? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

Mission: Interpolation

Tom Cruise has posted a video alongside Mission: Impossible – Fallout director Christopher McQuarrie, encouraging fans to adjust their television settings to improve their viewing experience of the ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

Symantec unveils AI-based protection for critical infrastructure

Cyber security firm has unveiled what it claims to be the industry’s first neural network to protect critical infrastructure from USB-borne malware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Australia races towards commercial quantum computing

Universities make headway in the challenge of commercialising quantum computing Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Nike and Zara drive fashion retail’s self-service future

New store openings from Nike and Zara show it is not just in grocery stores where self-service technology is impacting retail. Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

Nominet brings security expertise and tech to market

The .uk domain registry is to bring its DNS expertise and technology developed for the NCSC to market to address cyber security ‘blindspot’ Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Phishing at centre of cyber attack on Ukraine infrastructure

Phishing is one of the key tools used by cyber attackers against critical national infrastructure (CNI), as highlighted by attacks on telecommunications in Ukraine Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK consumers threaten data breach backlash

Most UK and global consumers are willing to walk away from businesses that fail to look after personal data, with retailers most at risk, research shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

‘Open-minded’ DVSA cuts cost of MOT testing

Government agency harnesses customised open source platform to ensure data security while cutting costs and plans to extend its MOT testing capability to do the same for drivers’ theory tests Continue Reading

By

• Christian Annesley

Financial institutions’ data at risk despite security spending

Despite increased spending on cyber security, digital transformation and advanced attacks mean financial institutions’ data is still at risk, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NHS email outage caused by ‘internal software issues’

NHSmail system shutdown, which saw staff locked out of their accounts, blamed on “software issues” in supplier Accenture’s internal infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Security Think Tank: Basic steps to countering malware comms

As attackers begin to use multiple command and control systems to communicate with backdoors and other malware, how can organisations ensure they detect such methods and that all C&C systems are removed, including "sleepers" designed to be activated at a future date Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

GovTech Catalyst Fund awards contracts to five SMEs to tackle rural isolation and loneliness

Five small tech companies have been awarded contracts through the GovTech Catalyst Fund to come up with innovative solutions to rural isolation and loneliness Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

As commercial 5G nears, small cells generate interest

Interest in small cells as an element of commercial 5G mobile networks is growing, particularly in countries with supportive regulatory environments. Meanwhile, a UK trial of wholesale small cell infrastructure has kicked off in London Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Zopa gains banking licence and prepares launch

Peer-to-peer lending pioneer Zopa is turning its attention to retail banking in the UK, with plans to offer savings, credit and money management products Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Barclays staff to transfer to HCL as IT deal is expanded

Bank announces closure of operation in Lithuania, with employees transferring to IT services company HCL Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Why is hiring a government chief security officer such a tricky business?

Security bosses and CIOs weigh in on why they think the government is struggling to recruit a chief security officer. Continue Reading

Tackling legacy systems by making IT evergreen

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we assess strategies for continuous IT improvement to help evergreen IT replace the difficulties caused by legacy tech. Our new buyer’s guide examines next-generation networking technologies such as SD-WAN. And we hear about digital transformation in the charity sector in an interview with the IT leader at Parkinson’s UK. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

100 million Quora.com user details exposed

Question-and-answer site is the latest organisation to admit a breach of users’ personal data, with industry commentators calling out credential theft as a top cause of such breaches Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Lloyds to use core banking technology from Google-inspired UK fintech

Banking group explores cloud-based core banking technology as part of a major transformation programme Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Combine tech, process and people to block malware comms

As attackers begin to use multiple command and control systems to communicate with backdoors and other malware, how can organisations ensure that they detect such methods and that all C&C systems are removed, including "sleepers" designed to be activated at a future date. Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Digital identity market welcomes plan to hand Gov.uk Verify to private sector

Players in the UK digital identity community welcome the clarity over the future of Verify, but question marks remain over prospects for government ID system Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

BT announces new head of security business

BT has appointed a former law enforcement officer and BT investigator as the new head of its security business Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK government commits to opening up data in bid to push adoption of AI

Opening up data is vital to government plans to push adoption of artificial intelligence across all sectors of the UK economy Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Police investigations into cyber crime up 14% in a year

Officers forced to follow up over 2,500 complaints of Instagram, Facebook, email and website hacking, and Bitcoin ransom, despite a rise in violent crime, report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Brexit and digital identity – avoiding future restrictions on digital trade

The UK has been a major contributor to European efforts to establish cross-border digital identities. Governments need to ensure that Brexit does not introduce unwanted restrictions that harm digital trade Continue Reading

By

• Gillan Ward, ID Crowd

Government mobilises to persuade tech sector to endorse May-EU deal

Jeremy Wright, the secretary of state at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, says the prime minister’s deal with the European Union will be good for UK tech, ensuring free flow of data Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

CCRC may hold off subpostmaster decision until after Post Office Horizon trial

The Criminal Courts Review Commission is deciding whether to delay its decision on subpostmasters’ claims of wrongful prosecution until after a related court case Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cyber crime most significant harm in UK, says top cyber cop

Cyber crime is the most significant harm in the UK, according to the cyber lead at the City of London Police, which is the national lead for online crime Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Marriott data breach highlights basic failings

A breach of a guest reservation database of the Starwood division of the Marriott International hotel group highlights basic personal data protection failures Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

WannaCry borderline national cyber emergency

The May 2017 WannaCry attack, which disrupted services at one-third of NHS trusts and more than 600 primary care organisations is the closest the UK has come to a national cyber emergency, says the NCSC Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: Theo Blackwell, London chief digital officer, Mayor of London’s Office

After more than a year in post, London’s chief digital officer reflects on changes, collaboration between boroughs and developing a smart city Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

E-commerce sites warned of heightened DDoS threat

E-commerce sites are being urged to ensure that they have adequate DDoS protection ahead of the vital holiday trading season after attacks ramped up on Black Friday and Cyber Monday Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

APAC healthcare providers reaping digital transformation returns

Digital transformation could potentially double the improvements in integrated care by 2020, study finds Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

How to build SME storage using public cloud storage

Small companies can often take advantage of public cloud storage offerings to supplement or replace on-premise infrastructure. We look at key options in file, block and object storage Continue Reading

By

• Chris Evans

Agile becomes mainstream

There are clear parallels between the conditions that led the IT industry to adopt agile approaches and the challenges facing business today Continue Reading

By

• Simon Masters

UK cyber security strategy making ‘good progress’

The National Cyber Security Strategy is making good progress, but there is much left to be done, according to a Cabinet Office official Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Danish government launches wide-ranging digital services project

Denmark's government has launched an ambitious project to digitise and automate public services Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

120,000 police officers to receive cyber security training

Cisco is partnering with UK police forces to offer cyber security training through the Cisco Networking Academy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Health and care must prepare for a digital world, says Scotland’s digital director

Challenges include dealing with ethical questions, data and collaboration needs in a digital environment, says Scottish government’s Colin Cook Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Scottish Government and Nesta launch health data challenge

Partnership between the Scottish Government and Nesta will see funding available for innovative projects driving the use of technology to give citizens access to data and help them live healthier lives Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cyber resilience lacking due to apathy of UK leaders

An unwillingness to accept that cyber is a real threat to critical national infrastructure by UK political and business leaders has resulted in a lack of resilience, says security industry veteran Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Lloyds Banking Group in Google maps mash up

Lloyds bank is integrating its mobile app with Google Maps in a Mash up that will help customers keep track of spending Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

More effective digital transformation through the power of your own people

The old model of escalating decisions up and down the management chain does not work any more. Business leaders need to delegate responsibility for projects to business and technology specialists and eliminate the fear of failure Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ironside, KPMG

Tips for minimising the impact of the Microsoft Office price rise

Microsoft has “adjusted” prices with Office 2019, making it more expensive to buy on-premise versions of its products Continue Reading

By

• David Chamberlain

Challenger bank signs up Google-inspired platform

Cloud-based platform offers functionality around smart contracts and a workflow engine for bank processes Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

FCA deeply concerned as no end in sight for IT failures in banking

The FCA has reported a massive increase in the number of banking IT failures in the UK and admitted there is no end in sight Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK competition watchdog concerned with PayPal’s fintech acquisition

Competition and Markets Authority fears $2.2bn deal could reduce competition for payment services in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Amazon sets about speeding up space data processing in the cloud with AWS Ground Station

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is aiming to take the cost and complexity out of processing space data to make it more readily accessible by colocating managed ground station antennas with its cloud datacentres Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Government yet to recruit chief data officer

Two years after the government began the process to hire a chief data officer, the post continues to sit empty Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Businesses failing to win consumer trust

Businesses are still largely failing to win the trust of consumers to keep their personal data safe as data breaches continue to make headlines Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GDS has lost momentum, MPs told

There are still significant culture issues in government and the Government Digital Service has stopped supporting departments to do the right thing, Science and Technology Committee hears Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Nordic IT network attracting big brands as well as startups

Tech Nordic Advocates is now seen as the go-to place for access to the Nordic tech startup sector Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Poor Wi-Fi connectivity damaging to home life, say UK consumers

A study for BT has revealed a substantial proportion of UK families feel they are being let down by poor in-home Wi-Fi networks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Openreach extends Gfast roll-out to a million more homes

Copper-based ultrafast broadband roll-out continues at pace Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

York teen crowned 2018 UK cyber security champion

Teenager beat off competition from 41 other cyber security enthusiasts from across the UK, and six from Singapore, in the UK Cyber Security Challenge final Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO fines Uber £385,000 for data protection failings

Like Facebook, Uber has escaped a potentially much higher fine for data protection failings because the 2016 breach that affected millions of UK customers is not covered by the GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Treasury Committee launches inquiry into bank IT failures

With IT outages in the financial sector a regular occurrence, the Treasury Committee is investigating the causes and consequences of these failures, and what industry and regulators are doing to promote resilience Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

High Court trial over Horizon computer system completes witness cross-examinations

The High Court trial in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office has reached an important stage Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

GDPR is encouraging UK IT directors to pay cyber ransoms

As predicted ahead of the General Data Protection Regulation enforcement deadline, research shows that fear of fines under the new laws is making some firms more likely to pay cyber ransoms Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Take the pain out of software patching

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at one of the oldest pain points for IT departments – software patching – and ask how to make it less complex across the enterprise. We examine the rise of Kubernetes, the open source container orchestration system that’s gathering popularity for cloud-native applications. And we look at the issues around storage strategy to support a multicloud environment. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

HPE makes bigger push in hybrid IT

Enterprise technology supplier HPE has doled out a slew of enhancements to its composable IT portfolio to help enterprises run IT more like cloud service providers Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Barnet Council looks to bring parts of Capita contract back in house

Barnet Council is planning to bring parts of its Capita outsourcing deal back in house, and expects the supplier to pay the council £4.12m due to delivery issues with some areas of the contract Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

NHS policy leaders: value AI but get the basics right

NHS doctors and policy chiefs said at the Westminster Health Forum that artificial intelligence has untapped value for healthcare, but needs to be underpinned with discipline Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

UK fails to make top eGovernment rankings

UK fails to make it into the top rankings in the European Commission’s eGovernment Benchmark report, which shows that across Europe, two-thirds of public sector services are now available online Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

ASOS launches digital assistant to help customers find right size

Online fashion retailer ASOS has launched an artificially intelligent assistant to help consumers find the right size of clothing before they place an order Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Hamburg has ambitions to be a virtual reality hub

The German city of Hamburg is setting itself up as a potential hub for virtual reality startups Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Lords call for HMRC to delay Making Tax Digital for VAT

The government must begin to listen to small businesses and should delay the roll-out of its Making Tax Digital for VAT programme by at least a year, says the Lords Economic Affairs Committee Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Smart meter benefits cut by old technology and rising costs

Energy companies may end up spending billions unless they can install smart meters more cheaply Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

IKEA to focus on digitisation and convenience shopping

Swedish furniture brand IKEA will be cutting jobs and focusing on smaller stores and its digital pipeline in a bid to usher in a new era of business transformation Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

CW Nordics: Swedish IT sector advises on election security

The security measures assembled and implemented around the 2018 election in Sweden were devised in consultation with leading actors within the country’s private IT sector. Also read about how Denmark’s ambition to become a leading ocation for hyperscale datacentres is gaining momentum, and why Estonia wants to recruit IT professionals from the UK. Continue Reading

Finland invests in IT to upgrade electricity network

National electricity transmission grid operator Fingrid’s Datahub system will play key role in retail market’s transition to a centralised information exchange Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O’Dwyer

TechUK calls on Matt Hancock to fast-track NHS digitisation

The tech industry body’s ‘Manifesto for Matt’ calls on the health secretary to focus on empowering citizens, enabling a world-class workforce and making the UK the number one place for health tech innovation Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

IBM pushes boundaries of AI, but insists companies take an ethical approach

Researchers at IBM are pushing the boundaries of what artificial intelligence and machine learning can do, but remain wary of the ethical implications that accompany the proliferation of this technology Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Interview: Comms sector ripe for disruption as climate change takes hold

Humanity has just 12 years left to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5⁰C and prevent climate meltdown. Paul Dickinson from the Carbon Disclosure Project discusses how CIOs can help take steps to avert disaster by changing their attitude to business communications Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office held back information about Horizon IT system errors

Post Office director admits to Horizon errors and not sharing details with subpostmaster network Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Citizens don’t want the NHS to prioritise digital health, report finds

The UK public want the NHS to focus spending on cancer care, staff and mental health, and rank digital access to services lowest on their list of priorities Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

NetApp and Pure show strong results on flash storage and cloud

NetApp records healthy year-on-year revenue increase with flash showing out well, while Pure Storage sees incredible earnings for its flash products over 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Lincolnshire Police signs 10-year cloud control room tech refresh deal with Motorola Solutions

Lincolnshire Police is embracing cloud technologies within its control room environment as it strives to improve the efficiency of its operations Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

How voice biometrics catches fraudsters

Telephone banking is often seen as the forgotten channel in multi-channel banking, something that fraudsters are now exploiting Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Police challenged over refusal to disclose files on WikiLeaks staff

Lawyers will challenge the Metropolitan Police Service today to confirm or deny whether it holds correspondence with US law enforcement about three WikiLeaks staff – including two UK citizens – in a freedom of information tribunal Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin and Niels Ladefoged

Sixth form college rebuilds after fire with Scale hyper-converged

Xaverian College suffered a server room fire but took the opportunity to build a hyper-converged infrastructure with Scale Computing that did away with costly VMware licence fees Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Jeremy Wright announces Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation board

Secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Wright, announces make up of Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation board at ODI Summit Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

CIO interview: Graham Evans, CITO, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust’s chief information and technology officer talks about joining up health and care, the importance of keeping up to date with technology, and why trying to deliver perfection won’t work Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

How the Science Museum is moving to the digital age

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how London’s Science Museum is dealing with legacy IT to move into the age of digital and data. We examine Nationwide Building Society’s move to cloud and DevOps to transform its operations. And we look at how technologies such as machine learning and blockchain are helping to automate global supply chains. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CIO interview: Jason Oliver, ICT director, Science Museum Group

The Science Museum’s outgoing ICT director talks about improving data, dealing with legacy systems and digitising the museum’s collection. Continue Reading

Putting the UK at the forefront of ethics and innovation in AI and data

The announcement of high-profile members of the UK's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation is another step for the government's commitment to be a global leader in AI, says secretary of state Continue Reading

By

• Jeremy Wright, DCMS

CDO interview: Aidan Millar, DNB

Norwegian bank hires chief data officer to lead its data-driven transformation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government lacks cyber resilience leadership, according to MPs

The government lacks political leadership and urgency in dealing with cyber threats, according to Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, calling for a minister in charge of delivering cyber resilience Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management turn to Workday to complete merger

Standard Life Aberdeen, created in August 2017 when two of Scotland’s largest financial services companies merged, is transferring 3,000 former Standard Life staff to Aberdeen Asset Management’s Workday HR system as it integrates the two businesses Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Three factors marginalising the CISO role

Chief information security officers are typically marginalised due to three factors, and de-coupling the technical and managerial aspects of the job will enable empowerment, says consultant Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Tech sector split over Brexit deal

The draft EU Withdrawal Agreement has caused rifts in the tech sector, with some calling for a People’s Vote with the option to remain in the EU, and others wanting MPs to back the agreement, saying it’s better than a no-deal scenario Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UK firms in the dark around the impact of cyber attacks

UK firms have a long way to go in building the business resilience required to withstand cyber threats and other major disruptions, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Securing the SD-WAN: The next network challenge

Every time an enterprise weighs up whether or not to try SD-WAN, security is an essential part of the picture Continue Reading

By

• Christian Annesley

Post Office executives cross-examined in Horizon IT system trial

A High Court trial, where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office for damages caused by an allegedly faulty IT system, ended its second week. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UN extreme poverty monitor is critical of Universal Credit ‘digital by default’ service

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights raises significant concerns with Universal Credit, including poor digital literacy among claimants, automation errors and lack of transparency Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

EE and Virgin Media fined for breaking consumer protection rules

Ofcom has imposed fines totalling £13.3m on EE and Virgin Media, saying both providers levied excessive charges on customers who ended their contracts early Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russian banks to introduce contactless ATMs

Russian banks have introduced their first contactless ATMs, which customers can link to via smartphones and wearable devices Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA