News

IT for government and public sector

• April 19, 2024 19 Apr'24

  CEST: Putting HMRC’s IR35 status checker under the microscope

  Since its launch in March 2017, HMRC's online IR35 status checker tool has come under fierce criticism and scrutiny, only exacerbated in recent weeks by the disclosure it has not been updated in five years

• April 18, 2024 18 Apr'24

  TUC publishes legislative proposal to protect workers from AI

  Proposed bill for regulating artificial intelligence in the UK seeks to translate well-meaning principles and values into concrete rights and obligations that protect workers from systems that make ‘high-risk’ decisions about them

• April 18, 2024 18 Apr'24

  Lords to challenge controversial DWP benefits bank account surveillance powers

  Members of the House of Lords are pressing for amendments to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill following concerns over government powers to monitor the bank accounts of people receiving benefits

• April 18, 2024 18 Apr'24

  Gov.uk One Login accounts on the rise

  Since August 2023, more than 1.8 million people verified their identity using the Gov.uk One Login app, while face-to-face verifications have also increased

• April 18, 2024 18 Apr'24

  IT expert who helped expose Post Office scandal offers to investigate second controversial system

  IT expert Jason Coyne, who played a critical part in exposing the Post Office Horizon scandal, said he would examine the Capture System

• April 17, 2024 17 Apr'24

  Mandiant formally pins Sandworm cyber attacks on APT44 group

  Mandiant has formally attributed a long-running campaign of cyber attacks by a Russian state actor known as Sandworm to a newly designated advanced persistent threat group to be called APT44

• April 16, 2024 16 Apr'24

  Post Office boss signed off hush money to cover up smoking gun

  A former Post Office boss admitted the pain and suffering of subpostmasters could have been avoided had the organisation done the right thing

• April 16, 2024 16 Apr'24

  CISOs not yet convinced to invest in AI

  CISOs say their eyes are fixed firmly on threats like ransomware and supply chain attacks, and while AI is becoming a threat that needs to be dealt with, it’s not yet an immediate spending priority

• April 16, 2024 16 Apr'24

  NHS England scouts for national CCIO

  The new national chief clinical informatics officer (CCIO) role comes with a salary offer of up to £146,000 and includes leading NHS England’s Transformation Directorates digital clinical informatics team

• April 16, 2024 16 Apr'24

  Alan Bates and JFSA won’t back down in fight with government and Post Office

  Over the past 15 years, Computer Weekly has learnt that Alan Bates and the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance don’t give up, and it would be crass to disregard their plans

• April 15, 2024 15 Apr'24

  EU’s AI Act fails to protect the rule of law and civic space

  Analysis reveals that the AI Act is ‘riddled with far-reaching exceptions’ and its measures to protect fundamental rights are insufficient

• April 12, 2024 12 Apr'24

  Apple iPhone security alert renews spyware concerns

  An Apple security alert received by users in 92 countries raises fresh fears over ongoing campaigns by users of mercenary spyware products

• April 12, 2024 12 Apr'24

  UK in critical need of regulation to fight misinformation online

  Misinformation, where it is generated by AI, poses a serious threat due to the ease with which plausible false content can be created and spread

• April 12, 2024 12 Apr'24

  Government could still replace Fujitsu in key nuclear contract

  Fujitsu’s first government contract of the year could be just a stay of execution as department says that all replacement options are still being considered

• April 12, 2024 12 Apr'24

  Post Office boss said subpostmasters had hands in till and blamed technology for missing cash

  Former boss reacted to 2009 Computer Weekly expose by telling a colleague that 'subbies with their hands in the till' were blaming technology for their own theft

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  PSNI criticised after ‘utterly vague’ answers on covert surveillance of journalists

  The Policing Board of Northern Ireland has asked the Police Service of Northern Ireland to produce a public report on its use of covert surveillance powers against journalists and lawyers after it gave ‘utterly vague’ answers

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  Facial recognition to play key role in UK shoplifting crackdown

  UK government will fund roll-out of police facial recognition across the country as part of its crackdown on shoplifting and violence against retail staff, but civil society groups say the government is attempting to police its way out of the ...

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  Former Post Office executive’s neglect prolonged Horizon reliability myth

  Executive’s failure to provide terms of reference for a controversial Post Office investigation into its own computer system resulted in a one-sided whitewash report

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  AI skills gap blocking public sector take-up

  A Salesforce report claims that a lack of skills in artificial intelligence is preventing effective take-up of generative AI to enhance frontline citizen services across the public sector

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  CMA set to tackle interconnected web of strategic AI partnerships

  Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Nvidia are all collaborating on AI foundation models, potentially to the detriment of fair, open and effective competition

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  IR35: HMRC restores Github access to deleted CEST source code, but confirms update data lost

  After the source code for its much-maligned online IR35 status checker tool was deleted in error from Github, HMRC confirms it has now been re-uploaded, but any data about past updates to the tool have been lost

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  Fujitsu public sector contracts dry up in Post Office scandal aftermath

  Disgraced IT supplier has won just one public sector contract following public anger over Post Office scandal

• April 11, 2024 11 Apr'24

  Government dismisses Lords’ concerns over facial recognition

  UK government is claiming police forces’ use of live facial recognition is comprehensively covered by existing laws, in response to a Lords investigation that found police lacked a clear legal basis to deploy it

• April 10, 2024 10 Apr'24

  Biden considering whether to end prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

  US president Joe Biden says he is considering requests by Australia to end the prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under espionage and computer fraud charges

• April 10, 2024 10 Apr'24

  Subpostmasters stealing from branches ‘didn’t make sense,’ former judge tells inquiry

  The former judge who chaired a scheme set up by the Post Office to settle claims against its Horizon system said he told bosses their prosecutions of subpostmasters "didn't make sense"

• April 10, 2024 10 Apr'24

  The challenges of securing a UK semiconductor supply chain

  The UK’s national semiconductor strategy aims to establish the country's credentials as a leader in the sector. We look at how it stacks up

• April 10, 2024 10 Apr'24

  IR35: HMRC rushing to restore CEST source code deleted from Github ‘in error’

  HMRC has confirmed online repository containing code underpinning maligned IR35 status-checker tool has been taken down ‘in error’ by team working to decommission legacy platform that used to host platform

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Report highlights shortcomings in UK chip plans

  The national semiconductor strategy needs to encourage greater collaboration with international parters such as South Korea

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Civil servants more to blame for Post Office cover-up than ministers, says Alan Bates

  Campaigning former subpostmaster believes the civil service has more to answer for than ministers in the Post Office Horizon scandal

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  UK plc failing on multiple cyber measures

  Government report shows 50% of businesses and 32% of charities reported a cyber attack or breach in the past 12 months and organisations across the UK are failing on multiple cyber measures

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Public worried by police and companies sharing biometric data

  More than half of the British public do not feel comfortable with police forces sharing biometric data with the private sector, including facial recognition images, to tackle crimes such as shoplifting

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Is a cyber arms control treaty out of reach?

  The world needs cyber arms control more than ever, but the challenges facing a multilateral agreement will be hard to surmount, according to researchers at Germany’s Digital Society Institute

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Labour promises digital red book and smartphones for children with diabetes

  The Labour Party has announced plans for children’s health records to be put on parents’ NHS App, while also partnering with Virgin Media O2 to give children with type 1 diabetes smartphones to check their blood sugar

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Government struggles to upgrade legacy IT systems, says PAC chair

  In her annual report, Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier calls legacy IT one of government’s ‘big nasties’ and says money urgently needs to be spent to fix the situation

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Police forces check intelligence and criminal databases after errors discovered in O2 phone data

  Criminal Bar Association calls for information about reliability of communications data used in criminal trials to be disclosed

• April 09, 2024 09 Apr'24

  Greek government fined over AI surveillance in refugee camps

  Greece’s Data Protection Authority has issued a €175,000 fine against the country’s migration ministry over its deployment of artificial intelligence-powered security systems in refugee camps after the watchdog’s investigation found ‘serious ...

• April 08, 2024 08 Apr'24

  UN adopts ‘landmark’ resolution on making AI safe and trustworthy

  A UN draft resolution promoting the use of artificial intelligence in sustainable development and the protection of human rights was backed by over 120 member states

• April 08, 2024 08 Apr'24

  Further extension to controversial Post Office contract with Fujitsu inevitable

  Post Office is seeking software developers as it replaces the controversial Horizon system from Fujitsu with an in-house alternative

• April 08, 2024 08 Apr'24

  Some former Post Office staff should be jailed over scandal, says government minister

  Government minister outlines the real prospect that people will be jailed for their roles in the Post Office Horizon scandal

• April 08, 2024 08 Apr'24

  MPs will grill Cabinet Office over Fujitsu contract bidding pause

  Parliamentary select committees have their eyes trained on Fujitsu’s response to the Post Office Horizon scandal, with its pause on bidding for contracts under scrutiny

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  China ramps up use of AI misinformation

  Microsoft researchers have identified a growing pattern of AI-laced misinformation and political interference coming from Chinese threat actors

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  Future Councils pilot finds systemic blockers to digital innovation

  Councils face a range of challenges, hindering digital transformation, including inconsistent approaches to making the case for change, complexities surrounding resource allocations, lack of data and time

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  Europol offers law enforcement agencies data on Europe’s most threatening crime networks

  Europol has collected and analysed data from over 40 countries to identify 800 most threatening criminal networks operating in Europe in what it describes as a unique dataset for law enforcemnt

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  UKtech50 2024 – help us find the most influential people in UK IT

  Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK IT is on – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year's list

• April 05, 2024 05 Apr'24

  Environment Agency dumps Fujitsu as Post Office scandal takes its toll

  Troubled supplier loses flood warnings contract with government department after almost a decade

• April 04, 2024 04 Apr'24

  IR35 reforms: Incoming legislative tweak could reignite contracting market, experts claim

  A long-awaited tweak to the IR35 rules that will put a stop to HMRC over-collecting tax from non-compliant entities is great news for IT contractors, experts claim

• April 04, 2024 04 Apr'24

  Fujitsu should stop bending rules, stop bidding and pay up, says MP

  MP Liam Byrne calls on Fujitsu to put actions behind the promises it made to MPs, victims of the Post Office scandal and UK taxpayers

• April 04, 2024 04 Apr'24

  Obituary: Professor Ross Anderson, pioneer in security engineering and campaigner

  Ross Anderson, a titan in the field of security engineering and campaigner for privacy and security, has passed away

• April 03, 2024 03 Apr'24

  RDP abused in over 90% of cyber attacks, Sophos finds

  Threat actors continue to see great success using simple, tried and tested methods, and many defenders are failing to do the basics

• April 03, 2024 03 Apr'24

  Women in Data: MoD’s first chief data officer on overcoming imposter syndrome

  At the recent Women In Data event, Caroline Bellamy outlined why the defence sector needs diversity of thinking when tackling threats