News

IT for government and public sector

December 24, 2012 24 Dec'12
Facebook pays £2.6m tax on £840m profit

The social networking giant faces criticism for paying minimal tax by pushing all of its operations outside of the US through Ireland
December 20, 2012 20 Dec'12
Government to cut large frameworks following procurement review

Government is to put an end to large ICT frameworks, following a review into the efficacy of procurement practices for SMEs
December 20, 2012 20 Dec'12
Essex County Council signs £81m PSN deal

Essex County Council has signed a £81m network and telephony deal to introduce a Public Services Network (PSN) across its 200,000 users
December 13, 2012 13 Dec'12
Liam Maxwell named as first government chief technology officer

Liam Maxwell becomes the first Whitehall CTO, in the latest stage of a major shake-up of the government IT leadership organisation

December 12, 2012 12 Dec'12
Government IT reformers criticise IT leadership shake-up

Government IT reformers have criticised plans to give procurement chief Bill Crothers a more prominent role in the IT leadership team
December 12, 2012 12 Dec'12
Ghost Shell hacktivists publish over a million credentials

The Ghost Shell group, an offshoot of the Anonymous hacking collective has published the log-in details from 1.6 million accounts
December 10, 2012 10 Dec'12
UK CIOs see EU regulation as key

A third of UK CIOs are more concerned with EU regulation, such as the data protection directive, than their own local laws, a study has revealed.
December 07, 2012 07 Dec'12
UK government jobs website exploited by hackers

Hackers have been able to exploit security flaws in a new government jobs website to steal personal information about job applicants
December 06, 2012 06 Dec'12
MPs call for wider promotion of mutuals beyond Whitehall

Mutuals need to be effectively promoted across the whole public sector, not just Whitehall, say MPs
December 03, 2012 03 Dec'12
HMRC slammed for 'undue complacency' on RTI systems

Report labels HMRC “unduly complacent” about the roll-out of the Real Time Information (RTI) system crucial to the Universal Credit programme

November 30, 2012 30 Nov'12
G-Cloud success depends on champions and a change in attitude

G-Cloud director Denise McDonagh has called for public sector champions to push forward adoption of the service.
November 28, 2012 28 Nov'12
G-Cloud ramps up for next generation of government IT procurements

The G-Cloud has a new framework and calls for it to become a blueprint for all government IT procurement, but what challenges lie ahead?
November 28, 2012 28 Nov'12
Capita set to win £1.7bn Staffordshire outsourcing deal

Capita has been named preferred bidder in an educational support services joint venture with Staffordshire County Council, in a deal worth £1.7bn over 20 years.
November 27, 2012 27 Nov'12
Zero-day exploit for Yahoo Mail goes on sale

Hacker sells $700 zero-day exploit for Yahoo Mail that allows attacker to use cross-site scripting vulnerability to steal cookies and hijack accounts
November 26, 2012 26 Nov'12
Security needs to be integral part of life, says McAfee

The world is becoming increasingly connected and security and privacy are integral to modern society, says Raj Samani, CTO of McAfee Europe
November 22, 2012 22 Nov'12
UKtech50 2012 - The most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly has announced the third UKtech50, our annual definitive list of the real movers and shakers in UK IT
November 19, 2012 19 Nov'12
Cyber criminals target Skype, Facebook and Windows users

Cyber criminals targeted users of Skype, Facebook and Windows using multiple Blackhole exploits in October, according to security firm GFI Software
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
Government wants suppliers to reveal UK taxes

Government officials are considering the viability of ordering suppliers bidding for contracts to disclose the tax they pay relative to UK sales
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
Birmingham Metropolitan College cuts IT procurement time and cost

Birmingham Metropolitan College uses cloud-based procurement to reduce the cost and time it takes to buy IT equipment
November 16, 2012 16 Nov'12
Nasa to encrypt data after latest breach

Nasa is to encrypt all its mobile computers after the loss of a laptop containing personal information about more than 10,000 staff
November 15, 2012 15 Nov'12
First departmental sites move to Gov.uk

Two government departments have migrated onto the Gov.uk site, as part of the first moves to bring all departmental information under a single domain.
November 14, 2012 14 Nov'12
NHS reiterates commitment to digitise patient records by 2015

The Department of Health has reiterated its commitment to get all patient records online by 2015
November 13, 2012 13 Nov'12
DWP CIO Philip Langsdale oversees Universal Credit overhaul

The Department for Work and Pensions CIO Philip Langsdale oversees an overhaul of the DWP’s flagship Universal Credit programme
November 13, 2012 13 Nov'12
Many UK firms underestimate cost of data breaches, study finds

Many UK organisations are still failing to understand the implications and costs of data breaches, a study has revealed
November 12, 2012 12 Nov'12
Hacking attempts to top one billion in Q4, predicts NCC Group

One billion hacking attempts will be made globally in the final quarter of 2012, according to information assurance firm NCC Group
November 12, 2012 12 Nov'12
Software issues risk delaying Universal Credit by one year, according to reports

The IT underpinning the government’s flagship £2.2bn Universal Credit programme is again being called into question
November 09, 2012 09 Nov'12
Twitter apologises for unnecessary hacking warnings

Twitter has apologised after telling members their accounts had been hacked and forcing them to reset their passwords
November 09, 2012 09 Nov'12
Stuxnet hit Chevron’s systems, the energy giant admits

US energy giant Chevron has revealed that it was hit by the Stuxnet virus in 2010
November 07, 2012 07 Nov'12
Government departments get go-ahead to use iPhones for sensitive data

Government departments have been given the go-ahead to use iPhones to send and receive sensitive emails
November 07, 2012 07 Nov'12
Police arrest man for DDoS attacks on Theresa May sites

Police have arrested a 41-year-old man in connection with a cyber attack on websites connected to home secretary Theresa May
November 06, 2012 06 Nov'12
Universal Credit programme director Malcolm Whitehouse steps down

Malcolm Whitehouse, programme director for the government's £2.2bn Universal Credit project, has stepped down
November 01, 2012 01 Nov'12
Parliamentary committee joins criticism of draft communications data bill

Home secretary Theresa May faced stern criticism before a Parliamentary committee hearing evidence on the Draft Communications Data Bill
October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12
Government dips toe in water for single ERP

The government is to test the feasibility of moving to a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform across Whitehall
October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12
Apple squashes BlackBerry as Brent Borough deploys iPads

Brent Borough Council replaces BlackBerry and deploys MobileIron to securely manage almost 3,000 iPads and iPhones
October 31, 2012 31 Oct'12
Free mobile apps a threat to privacy, study finds

Free mobile apps pose a serious threat to privacy because of their ability to capture large amounts of user information
October 30, 2012 30 Oct'12
IT security budgets mismatched to hacker targets, study shows

IT security budgets are not being used to provide defence technologies in some areas most likely to be targeted by hackers, a study shows
October 29, 2012 29 Oct'12
Cheshire Constabulary polices network with SolarWinds

Police force in Cheshire uses SolarWinds’ infrastructure monitoring tools to keep its IT out of trouble
October 26, 2012 26 Oct'12
ACPO use online crime reporting company

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and charity Crimestoppers is using online self-reporting platform Facewatch, designed to reduce low-level crime.
October 25, 2012 25 Oct'12
Government expected to unveil eight IDA suppliers for online services

The government is to announce suppliers – including PayPal, BT and the Post Office – to provide identity assurance (IDA) for online public services
October 25, 2012 25 Oct'12
ICO hits Stoke-on-Trent City Council with £120,000 fine

Stoke City Council has breached the Data Protection Act, for the second time in two years, after details of a child protection legal case were emailed to the wrong person.
October 25, 2012 25 Oct'12
UK public sector contracts keep Atos Origin Q3 results buoyant

Large public sector contracts buoy IT services company Atos Origin, which has reported double-digit growth in the UK for its third quarter
October 23, 2012 23 Oct'12
CSC struggling to make a profit from Royal Mail outsourcing deal

CSC has stemmed losses in its 10-year outsourcing deal with Royal Mail through job cuts, tax breaks and relief payments, according to accounts
October 17, 2012 17 Oct'12
The Government Digital Service (GDS) launches Gov.uk website

Gov.uk is intended to become a single domain for online public services replacing hundreds of departmental sites
October 16, 2012 16 Oct'12
Theresa May: Hacker Gary McKinnon to stay in UK

Hacker Gary McKinnon will stay in UK, home secretary Theresa May has told MPs
October 16, 2012 16 Oct'12
Organisations need alternative data protection as security models fail

Organisations' security models are failing - so could it be time to adopt an intelligence-led approach to data protection and fighting cyber crime?
October 16, 2012 16 Oct'12
Home secretary Theresa May rules on hacker Gary McKinnon’s US extradition

Home secretary Theresa May is to rule on self-confessed computer hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition to the US
October 11, 2012 11 Oct'12
RSA Europe: Thousands of unprotected virtual servers exposed to the web

Organisations are failing to protect data in virtual environments, says Jason Hart, vice-president cloud solutions, SafeNet
October 11, 2012 11 Oct'12
Patchy uptake hinders Public Service Network roll-out

Key players involved in deploying the Public Service Network (PSN) say progress is being made, but different approaches are slowing it down
October 11, 2012 11 Oct'12
RSA Europe: Security concerns whole supply chain, says Misha Glenny

Targeted attacks affect the whole supply chain, not just big corporations, author Misha Glenny tells RSA Conference Europe 2012 attendees
October 10, 2012 10 Oct'12
RSA Europe: Cloud key to future information security, says Qualys

Cloud computing is an opportunity information security professionals should not miss, says Philippe Courtot, CEO of security firm Qualys