News

Information technology (IT) in Germany

• February 04, 2022 04 Feb'22

  Cyber attacks on European oil facilities spreading

  Following a cyber attack on distribution facilities in Germany, more incidents have been reported in Belgium and the Netherlands, but it is too early to necessarily draw a link between them

• February 02, 2022 02 Feb'22

  Mechanism underlying cookie popups found in breach of GDPR

  A fundamental element of the mechanism by which the advertising industry requests tracking consent from web users has been found in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation

• February 01, 2022 01 Feb'22

  German fuel supplier taken offline in cyber attack

  Cyber attack against Germany’s Oiltanking, a major fuel logistics company, affects 13 distribution terminals across Germany, in an incident with echoes of last year’s hit on Colonial Pipeline

• January 27, 2022 27 Jan'22

  CISOs must get out in front of Ukraine cyber crisis, says NCSC

  The National Cyber Security Centre is urging UK organisations to take steps to bolster their cyber security resilience in response to the ongoing Ukraine crisis

• January 26, 2022 26 Jan'22

  More intel emerges on WhisperGate malware that hit Ukraine

  Security experts have been poring over the WhisperGate malware with which alleged Russia-backed entities targeted Ukrainian government websites

• January 26, 2022 26 Jan'22

  Dutch education anticipates quantum technology

  Dutch academic talks about the Netherlands’ role in a pan-European quantum computing project as university investigates the technology’s possibilities

• January 25, 2022 25 Jan'22

  Prepare, but don’t panic, over supposed Russian cyber threat

  A fresh alert from the US Department of Homeland Security may have IT security teams jumpy over the possibility that their organisations could be targeted by Russian state actors

• January 12, 2022 12 Jan'22

  Outsourced IT and business services hit record levels in 2021

  Spending on IT and business process outsourcing services in Europe hits highest ever level in 2021, with cloud service spending continuing to grow rapidly

• December 07, 2021 07 Dec'21

  AI assistant Bürokratt to reduce bureaucracy in Estonian government

  Estonia to launch a Siri-like digital assistant that will automate the completion of government service requests

• December 06, 2021 06 Dec'21

  European finance firms increase open banking spend

  Financial services firms are increasing investment in open banking capabilities, with improvements to payment initiation and onboarding capabilities expected

• December 01, 2021 01 Dec'21

  Unesco member states adopt AI ethics recommendation

  The non-binding recommendation seeks to define a common set of values and principles to guide the development of ethical AI globally

• November 24, 2021 24 Nov'21

  Growing pains: Where next for Gaia-X?

  With one of its founding members preparing to exit the project because of concerns over the growing influence of non-European entities on its operations, questions are being asked about Gaia-X’s future

• November 10, 2021 10 Nov'21

  EU artificial intelligence regulation risks undermining social safety net

  Europe’s proposed artificial intelligence regulation will not adequately protect people from European governments' increasing use of the technology in social security decisions and resource allocation, says Human Rights Watch

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  Vienna’s tech startup ecosystem gathers momentum

  After a sustained period of inactivity, Vienna’s startup environment is finally on the rise again

• November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21

  Payments through open banking could end card dominance

  Payments made through open banking will eat into those made using cards as the next five years sees an acceleration in adoption

• October 22, 2021 22 Oct'21

  MEPs vote to expand Europol data mandate

  The European Parliament has voted in favour of expanding Europol’s mandate to process data and develop AI tools, but critics claim it contradicts a previous vote which opposed using new technologies to predict crime

• October 21, 2021 21 Oct'21

  German regulator imposes limit on number of new customers digital bank can sign each month

  BaFin limits the number of new customers that digital bank N26 can enrol until it is reassured on issues it has raised about the company

• October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21

  MEPs approve report opposing certain uses of AI by police

  European policymakers have approved a report on the use of AI in criminal matters, rejecting several amendments in the process that would have made it easier for police to potentially conduct predictive analytics and biometric surveillance

• September 30, 2021 30 Sep'21

  Digital bank fined by regulator due to weak anti-money laundering controls

  German digital bank is fined by financial services regulator for failing in relation to its anti-money laundering practices

• September 03, 2021 03 Sep'21

  Berlin court reverses ban on use of EncroChat evidence in criminal trials

  Berlin Superior Court allows use of EncroChat evidence in criminal trials but lawyers say the question will ultimately need to be decided by the German Supreme Court

• August 13, 2021 13 Aug'21

  GoStudent: Europe’s newest edtech unicorn

  Europe’s biggest ed-tech unicorn reaches unicorn status and tests sector traditions

• August 11, 2021 11 Aug'21

  Global fintech investments reach new heights

  The global financial technology industry is emerging from the pandemic-triggered slowdown with record levels of investment to fuel further growth

• August 10, 2021 10 Aug'21

  Dutch lead the way in protecting themselves against internet risks

  Dutch citizens come top in a study on awareness of internet risks in Europe, which showed major differences across the continent

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  Gaming could reduce the gamble for users of online finance

  Financial gaming platform designed to educate the increasing number of amateur traders

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  Infosys to open German operation focused on automotive sector

  Infosys is establishing a centre in Germany that will focus on supporting customers in the German automotive sector

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  More than half of European IT outsourcing spending will soon be on cloud services

  Cloud services will soon be the largest part of the IT services market in Europe, as enterprises invest in them as part of their Covid-19 recovery strategies

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Secureworks sets up in EU datacentre for XDR services

  New datacentre location helps Secureworks’ customers meet EU data residency requirements

• July 03, 2021 03 Jul'21

  Berlin court finds EncroChat intercept evidence cannot be used in criminal trials

  In a major setback for police hacking operations, Berlin’s regional court has decided that intercepted data from the EncroChat phone network should not be used in criminal prosecutions

• June 28, 2021 28 Jun'21

  German merger to fuel savings fintech expansion

  German savings fintechs merge and plan European and US expansion

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  European Union to set up new cyber response unit

  Proposed Joint Cyber Unit will tackle a rising number of serious incidents impacting public services, businesses and citizens of the EU

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  UK SMEs lack capacity to fend off cyber attacks

  Three-quarters of UK SME leaders would not have sufficient capacity or expertise to deal with a cyber attack, according to a report

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  FBI planned a sting against An0m cryptophone users over drinks with Australian investigators

  Australian Federal Police and the FBI came up with the idea over drinks: build a cryptophone network with a built-in backdoor and sell it to crime gangs around the world

• June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21

  FBI arrests distributors accused of selling An0m encrypted phones to crime groups

  Working with overseas law enforcement, the FBI has arrested eight people and named a further 13 accused of distributing An0m phones to organised crime groups

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  EC launches digital identity framework

  The European digital identity will be available to citizens, residents and businesses across the EU, and member states will offer digital identity wallets on a national level

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  Updated standard contractual clauses will provide ‘legal certainty’ for transfer of data

  Organisations have 18 months to update data transfer agreements, known as standard contractual clauses, or SCCs, to continue sharing data outside the European Union

• June 04, 2021 04 Jun'21

  Secrecy around EncroChat cryptophone hack breaches French constitution, court hears

  French lawyers claim that investigators are unlawfully withholding details of a cryptophone hacking operation in a case that could impact UK prosecutions

• May 24, 2021 24 May'21

  MEPs urge European Commission to revise UK adequacy decisions

  Members of the European Parliament are calling for the European Commission to ensure EU citizens have greater privacy rights

• April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21

  EncroChat: Top lawyer warned CPS of risk that phone hacking warrants could be unlawful

  Lord David Anderson QC warned prosecutors that there were formidable arguments against the lawfulness of a police operation to infiltrate the encrypted phone network, EncroChat

• April 26, 2021 26 Apr'21

  French legal challenge over EncroChat cryptophone hack could hit UK prosecutions

  Lawyers are challenging the legality of a French police operation to harvest tens of thousands of messages from the EncroChat encrypted phone network in a move that could overturn criminal prosecutions in the UK

• April 15, 2021 15 Apr'21

  Dutch accuse UK of ‘damaging confidence’ by disclosing details of EncroChat police collaboration

  The Dutch Public Prosecution Service claims Britain has damaged confidence by disclosing details of an international investigation into the EncroChat encrypted phone network to the courts

• April 13, 2021 13 Apr'21

  EncroChat lawyers raise questions over use of PII secrecy orders on UK decryption capabilities

  Lawyers claim that public interest immunity certificates may have been used to withhold information on UK intelligence agencies’ ability to decrypt encrypted communications

• April 09, 2021 09 Apr'21

  Global demand for IT and business services highest ever for first quarter

  Global demand for IT and business services began the year strongly, with a record first quarter

• March 29, 2021 29 Mar'21

  How far has open banking come in Europe?

  Open banking is a relatively new concept, having come into effect in Europe only in the last couple of years. So what is the state of play?

• March 17, 2021 17 Mar'21

  Digital Green Certificate proposed for travel in Europe

  Digital Green Certificates will supposedly help re-establish freedom of movement within the European Union

• March 09, 2021 09 Mar'21

  EBA restores services after Microsoft Exchange attack

  European Banking Authority was breached through vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server, but is now back online

• March 02, 2021 02 Mar'21

  EU seeking pan-European Covid-19 passport solution

  The European Union’s proposal could see the creation of a Covid-19 vaccine passport to enable travel across the EU

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  Fingerprints will help payment cards retain relevance

  Biometric payment cards using fingerprint technology could add billions to global banking revenues, says UBS

• February 16, 2021 16 Feb'21

  TransferGo to harness Google-inspired tech capability

  Payments fintech TransferGo chooses cloud-native core banking platform to build a digital wallet and expand its services

• February 02, 2021 02 Feb'21

  Nordic countries dominate European online banking take-up

  Nordics dominate online banking take-up in Europe, but the UK is not far behind

• January 27, 2021 27 Jan'21

  Grindr complaint results in €9.6m GDPR fine

  Norway’s data protection authority plans to apply a fine totalling 10% of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr’s revenues over its data sharing practices