IT operations management and IT support

April Patch Tuesday fixes zero-day used to deliver ransomware

A zero-day in the Microsoft Common Log File System that has been abused by the operator of the Nokoyawa ransomware is among 97 vulnerabilities fixed in April’s Patch Tuesday update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Gartner: Rebalance cyber investment towards human-centric elements

Security decision-makers need to reprioritise their investment outlooks towards people, rather than technology, according to the latest market forecast from Gartner Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

operational-level agreement (OLA)

An operational-level agreement (OLA) is a contract that defines how various IT groups within a company plan to deliver a service or set of services. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan

NatWest supports tech training for displaced Ukrainian women

NatWest bank joins scheme to give tech training to displaced Ukrainian women in Scotland Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Windows Admin Center

Windows Admin Center (WAC), formerly Microsoft Project Honolulu, is a browser-based management tool from Microsoft that allows administrators to manage Windows servers and clusters from a centralized, graphical user interface. Continue Reading

By

• Katie Terrell Hanna
• Tom Walat, Site Editor

IBM's Nataraj Nagaratnam on the cyber challenges facing cloud services

Governments are introducing increasingly prescriptive data protection policies, but with organisations becoming ever more reliant on multiple cloud service platforms for essential business needs, how can they ensure they meet regulatory requirements? Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Clop ransomware booms in March as Fortra zero-day pays off for gang

Backed by the threat actor tracked variously as Gold Tahoe and TA505, the Clop ransomware operation hit new ‘heights’ of activity last month, according to researchers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CCRC says ‘door open’ for more reviews of subpostmaster convictions

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has told former Post Office workers the door is still open for them to come forward if they were prosecuted for financial crimes based on evidence from Horizon software Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Inspired by the human brain, Belgian researchers develop a new generation of sensors

Belgian researchers have found ways of mimicking the human brain to improve sensors and the way they pass data to central computers Continue Reading

By

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

Quick-acting Rorschach ransomware appears out of nowhere

Emergent Rorschach ransomware strain is highly advanced and quite unusual in its capabilities, warn researchers, who say they have been unable to link it to any other known strains Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scottish police tech piloted despite major data protection issues

Scottish policing bodies are pressing ahead with a data sharing pilot despite data protection issues around the use of US cloud providers, placing sensitive personal data of tens of thousands of people at risk Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

CGI signs up to prison leaver employment initiative

IT supplier is working with training company specialised in helping prison leavers to find recruitment in the tech sector Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Developers say Apple and Google are running app store monopolies

Coalition for App Fairness and its members speak to Computer Weekly about alleged anti-competitive practices of Apple and Google in their respective app stores, and call for urgent regulatory action to level the playing field Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Threat researchers dissect anatomy of a Royal ransomware attack

Trellix researchers share the inside track on a Royal ransomware attack that hit one of its customers in late 2022 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UAE central bank selects partners for phase one of digital currency programme

The UAE central bank has kicked off the first phase of its project to launch a digital currency Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Over 90% of organisations find threat hunting a challenge

Understaffed security teams and high levels of background noise are making basic security operations tasks a chore for defenders, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Lloyds and NatWest banks join Barclays in latest round of branch closures

Lloyds and NatWest banks announce more branch closures as UK high streets continue to be stripped of banking services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Better SME connectivity could contribute more than £5bn a year to local economies

Operator research finds almost two-thirds of small to medium-sized enterprises in UK’s second city reveal their business could grow faster if they had access to better tech Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Three-day Capita outage was result of cyber attack

Public sector outsourcer Capita has confirmed a major outage which began on 31 March was the result of a cyber attack affecting its Office 365 apps Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Generative AI central to Accenture’s tech vision

Generative AI will play a central role over the next 10 years as the digital and physical world become more and more integrated Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How observability can help companies build strong teams

This is a guest post by Sascha Giese, SolarWinds Head Geek Highly sought-after skilled workers are increasingly expecting to have the flexibility of hybrid and remote work environments while still ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

OSC&R supply chain security framework goes live on Github

The OSC&R framework for understanding and evaluating threats to supply chain security has made its debut on Github to allow anybody to contribute to the framework Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC issues revised security Board Toolkit for business leaders

National Cyber Security Centre calls on CEOs and senior business leaders to take a more hands-on approach to cyber resilience with the launch of revised board-level tools Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Reactive approach to cyber procurement risks damaging businesses

Too many organisations are following a reactive approach to cyber security, which WithSecure believes is stifling security teams ability to demonstrate value and align with business outcomes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

3CX unified comms users hit by supply chain attacks

Ongoing supply chain attacks against customers of UC firm 3CX appear to be linked to North Korean threat actors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK government publishes AI whitepaper

Artificial intelligence whitepaper outlines UK government’s proposals to regulate the technology, which are based around creating an agile, “pro-innovation” framework Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Generative AI presents opportunities and challenges to UK schools

Generative AI and LLMs hold great potential for use in the classroom, but the privacy and security implications of its use must be carefully considered, says the Department for Education Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft expands AI Copilot project into security realm

New Microsoft service, Security Copilot, will supposedly expand the reach, speed and effectiveness of cyber teams Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Apple security updates fix 33 iPhone vulnerabilities

A larger-than-usual update to Apple’s mobile operating system fixes more than 30 distinct vulnerabilities, including two serious issues that may potentially affect device kernels Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BNP Paribas moves to Swedish datacentre in high-performance computing strategy

BNP Paribas is moving data-intensive workloads to a Swedish datacentre to increase capacity while reducing its carbon footprint Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Europol warns cops to prep for malicious AI abuse

In a report looking at how large language models can be used by criminals, Europol’s Innovation Lab calls on law enforcement agencies to prepare themselves for wide-ranging impacts on their work Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ethical hackers urged to respond to Computer Misuse Act reform proposals

The deadline for submissions to the government’s consultation on reform of the Computer Misuse Act is fast approaching, and ethical hackers and security experts need to make their voices heard, says Bugcrowd Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Barclays makes further cut to branch network

Barclays cuts another 14 branches from its network as it continues to see a migration to digital banking channels Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Many of world’s biggest banks lack transparent policies for responsible AI

It is unclear whether many of the world’s largest banks have adopted and are using ethical artificial intelligence development principles Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How APCOA is using big data to reinvent car parks

Car park operator APCOA is using big data to transform traditional car parks into mobility hubs that will offer electric vehicle charging, space for small businesses and depots for delivery companies Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Most Singapore organisations operate distributed IT infrastructure

More than two-thirds of organisations in Singapore use a mix of private and public clouds as well as on-premise and hosted datacentres, even as they face challenges with data management and complexity Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

National Crime Agency sting operation infiltrates cyber crime market

The UK National Crime Agency has tricked thousands of potential cyber criminals into registering with a fake website pretending to offer tools for creating DDoS attacks Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Accenture to cut 19,000 jobs globally

Accenture is cutting ‘structural’ costs which includes a reduction of 19,000 staff and a consolidation of office space Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nationwide Building Society begins another ‘generational’ tech change

Nationwide Building Society's migration of its payments to a cloud-based software platform is a ‘generational change’ Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Podium taps ChatGPT for reputation management

The customer interaction and payment specialist with operations in Australia has integrated ChatGPT into its platform to help local businesses respond to customer reviews on social media Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Government launches seven-year NHS cyber strategy

The new Cyber Security Strategy for Health and Adult Social Care lays out a plan for promoting cyber resilience in the sector by 2030 to protect services and patients alike Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Telent completes communications systems upgrades at HS1 railway stations

Telent designs and installs data network and management system at four international stations Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Hitachi Energy emerges as victim of Clop gang’s Fortra attack

The power and energy division of Japanese conglomerate Hitachi has disclosed that it has fallen victim to a Clop cyber attack, but insists customer data is safe Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Danish law firm transforms digital collaboration through core system replacement

NJORD has transformed how it shares documents among lawyers through a cloud-based platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ransomware gangs harass victims to ‘bypass’ backups

Analysis reveals how cyber criminal gangs are turning to extensive, targeted harassment campaigns to force victims to pay up, even if their backups are in good order Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: Russ Thornton, chief technology officer, Shawbrook Bank

Russ Thornton swapped life on the theatre podium for financial services IT, but thrives in an environment where orchestrating IT teams is a core skill Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The changing role of the CIO from a Finnish perspective

A small country with a sophisticated workforce, Finland has its own perspective on how IT leadership is changing in both the public and private sector Continue Reading

By

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

BEC attacks doubled in 2022, outstripping ransomware

Massive growth in the volume of Business Email Compromise or BEC attacks was linked to a surge in successful phishing campaigns, according to data from Secureworks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Rubrik customer, partner data exposed in possible Clop attack

Rubrik was supposedly compromised by the Clop ransomware gang via a zero-day vulnerability in a managed file transfer software package it uses Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Mandiant: Dangerous MS Outlook zero-day widely used against Ukraine

A zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook that was fixed in the March Patch Tuesday update has likely been actively exploited by Russian actors for a year or more, and its use will now spread rapidly Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ansible

Ansible is an open source IT automation platform from Red Hat. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati
• Meredith Courtemanche, Director of Editorial Training

IT gives Ukrainian economy resilience in the face of adversity

Computer Weekly speaks to IT companies from Kharkiv a year after the Ukrainian city became headline news across the world as Russian troops invaded Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Chinese Silkloader cyber attack tool falls into Russian hands

A loader tool used by Chinese cyber criminals seems to have been enthusiastically taken up in recent weeks by Russian ransomware operators Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)

Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is a Microsoft Management Console snap-in that provides a graphical user interface that enables Active Directory (AD) administrators to manage Group Policy Objects (GPOs) from one console. Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Zola
• Ben Rubenstein, Senior Manager, Social Media and Online Community

Microsoft patches Outlook zero-day for March Patch Tuesday

A highly dangerous privilege escalation bug in Outlook is among 80 different vulnerabilities patched in Microsoft’s March Patch Tuesday update Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How William Hill’s IT copes with big sporting events

The Grand National is one of those events that pushes online betting sites beyond their limits. Understanding where there are bottlenecks is key Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

event stream processing (ESP)

Event stream processing (ESP) is a software programming technique designed to process a continuous stream of device data and take action on it in real time. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

NCSC warns over AI language models but rejects cyber alarmism

The UK's NCSC has issued advice for those using the technology underpinning AI tools such as ChatGPT, but says some of the security doomsday scenarios being proposed right now are not necessarily realistic Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

As Covid fades away, what’s the future of remote work in Europe?

Many IT leaders are still supporting some form of work from home, and a trend is beginning to take shape in Europe Continue Reading

By

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

Subpostmaster demands names of Post Office executives who crushed him to suffocate truth

One Post Office scandal victim was deliberately destroyed by the Post Office to deter other subpostmasters from challenging the integrity of its core computer system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

MI5 to oversee new National Protective Security Authority

The new National Protective Security Authority will address various national security threats including state-sponsored cyber espionage against UK targets Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BAI Communications outlines growth ambitions as it transforms into Boldyn Networks

Looking to create a global neutral host partner of choice for customers, BAI Communications rebrands to support mobile and fixed network operators and customers in the transit, venue, government, military and enterprise sectors with an integrated portfolio and expanded capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

SolarWinds doubles down on APAC business

SolarWinds teams up with key systems integrators in the APAC region to develop joint offerings as it bolsters its capabilities in observability and autonomous operations Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

early adopter

An early adopter refers to a person who embraces new technology or tries a new product before most others. Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Awati

Government departments need to better understand digital transformation or efforts will ‘peter out’

National Audit Office report says that the people making digital transformation decisions in government don't properly understand the challenges Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Millions in the Arab world use VPNs to overcome restrictions and bandwidth throttling

Citizens in the Arab world are using VPNs to help them bypass internet restrictions and increase available bandwidth Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IT worker evidence reveals a toxic Post Office IT helpdesk that discriminated against subpostmasters

IT worker tells public inquiry that the Post Office Horizon helpdesk was toxic, rudderless and racist Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nationwide goes cloud native to transform payments

Nationwide Building Society is moving retail payments from on-premise systems to a cloud-native platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What can security teams learn from a year of cyber warfare?

With the passing of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we reflect on the ongoing cyber war, and ask what security leaders can learn from the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

White House unveils National Cybersecurity Strategy

The strategy will focus on ensuring closer collaboration on cyber security between government and industry, while giving software and other tech companies a bigger role in combatting threats due to their resources and expertise Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Shawbrook Bank uses Pegasystems for low-code business process rewrite

SME lending and savings bank Shawbrook Bank is using a low-code platform from Pegasystems to rewrite outdated business processes Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK government migration scheme to boost tech ties with India

The UK has agreed to allow thousands of young Indian professionals to work for two years in the UK as part of a migration exchange Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

APAC is proving to be ‘substantial growth engine’ for Rimini Street

Rimini Street CEO Seth Ravin outlines growth opportunities in Asia-Pacific and discusses the company’s move up the support value chain Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Post Office’s most senior executives hushed up Horizon errors, public inquiry told

The Post Office messaging strategy was designed to reassure staff that the Horizon accounting system was robust after Computer Weekly first revealed problems in 2009 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Training can no longer be a compliance exercise

Historically, security training has tended to take a compliance-based focus, a ‘tick-box’ exercise using generic, off-the-shelf courses. This needs to change, says Hayley Watson of Turnkey Consulting. Continue Reading

By

• Hayley Watson, Turnkey Consulting

Cyber training in 2023 needs to drive measurable change

2023 will see more focus on security training programmes that not only provide employees with an understanding of the risks they face but more importantly drive measurable behavioural change, says PA Consulting’s Richard Allen Continue Reading

By

• Richard Allen

controller (computing)

A controller, in a computing context, is a hardware device or a software program that manages or directs the flow of data between two entities. In computing, controllers may be cards, microchips or separate hardware devices for the control of a peripheral device. Continue Reading

By

• Paul Kirvan
• Ivy Wigmore

WithSecure proposes ‘undo’ button for ransomware

WithSecure’s Activity Monitor technology supposedly overcomes the shortcomings of sandbox test environments, and may be able to stop ransomware attacks from ever happening Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Aryaka brings managed SD-WAN and SASE to more markets, verticals

Aryaka adds rich capabilities and innovations to accelerate the adoption of its cloud-based delivery for network and security services and to enable acceleration for improved application performance for increasingly hybrid workforces Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head)

STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head) is a Linux service for maintaining the integrity of nodes in a high-availability (HA) cluster. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon
• Julia Anderson, TechTarget

UK forces lead live-fire cyber war exercise

The seven-day Defence Cyber Marvel 2 exercise put cyber responders from 11 countries through their paces Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Half of cyber leaders to switch jobs by 2025, citing stress

A substantial number of cyber security leaders are plotting their great escape, saying the industry is leaving them too stressed to go on, according to a study Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Royal Mail resumes full export service after cyber attack

Royal Mail resumes the last of its international services as it recovers from a ransomware attack, while the Post Office offers postmasters compensation for their lost business Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Care provider’s IT capability expands to support wider sector and beyond

Care Plus’s IT operation went from being under NHS control to an autonomous department selling its services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cyber security training: Insights for future professionals

Future cyber security professionals need soft skills as well as technical ones, says security educator Sudeep Subramanian Continue Reading

By

• Sudeep Subramanian

CIO interview: Hans van der Waal, director of global IT, Travelex

Travelex has weathered a storm that saw it sink into administration, before emerging to solidify its digital foundations for the future Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Financial advisory firm Succession Wealth probes cyber attack

Aviva-owned wealth consultancy and financial advisory practice Succession Wealth was hit by an undisclosed security incident on 8 February Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: New trends and drivers in cyber security training

Self-paced, interactive, bite-sized learning is becoming the optimum path for cyber security training in the workplace, says John Tolbert of KuppingerCole Continue Reading

By

• John Tolbert, KuppingerCole

Multi-purpose malwares can use more than 20 MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

Report warns of the development of increasingly sophisticated, multi-purpose malwares, and calls on defenders to play close attention to the MITRE ATT&CK framework to ward them off Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft fixes three zero-days in February update

February’s Patch Tuesday update contains fixes for three previously unpublicised zero-days in Microsoft Office, Windows Graphics Component and Windows Common Log File System Driver Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Royal Mail refused to pay £66m LockBit ransom demand, logs reveal

Leaked chat logs reveal Royal Mail has supposedly refused to pay a £66m ransom demand from the LockBit ransomware gang Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

boot

To boot (to boot up, to start up or booting) a computer is to load an operating system (OS) into the computer's main memory or random-access memory (RAM). Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Zola

Vidar, nJRAT re-emerge as prominent malware threats in January

Trojans and infostealers once again dominate the list of most commonly observed threats, according to Check Point’s latest telemetry Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Payment tech provider opens Finnish tech hub

Nordic payment tech supplier opens a hub in the Finnish city of Espoo to access expertise Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

KPMG launches metaverse and digital twin hub in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabian government’s commitment to investing in metaverse technology has attracted a KPMG centre of excellence to its shores Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Universal Naming Convention (UNC)

The Universal Naming Convention (UNC) is a standard for naming resources -- such as files and devices -- that are shared by computers on a network. Continue Reading

By

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

Security buyers lack insight into threats, attackers, report finds

The majority of cyber security purchasing decisions are made without proper insight into the attackers organisations are facing, according to a Mandiant report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Killnet DDoS attacks disrupt Nato websites

A series of distributed denial of service attacks on various public websites belonging to the Nato alliance were largely repelled but some resources remain unavailable Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BNPL accounted for 12% of UK online spending in January

Buy now, pay later products from fintech providers accounted for 12% of the £8bn spent online in the UK in January, according to analysis Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Social media platform Reddit breached in phishing attack

An unspecified threat actor obtained access to internal documents, code and business systems at Reddit after stealing employee credentials in a phishing attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor