News

IT for government and public sector

January 07, 2024 07 Jan'24
Metropolitan Police launches second criminal investigation in Post Office scandal

New investigation will examine potential crimes by the Post Office in its recovery of money from subpostmasters accused of theft and false accounting
January 05, 2024 05 Jan'24
Information Commissioner questions DWP plan to monitor bank accounts of benefit claimants

The Information Commissioner has warned that legislation to give new powers to the Department of Work and Pensions to check bank accounts of benefit claimants for indications of fraud lacks appropriate safeguards
January 03, 2024 03 Jan'24
Artificial intelligence to the front in Sweden’s National Technology Strategy

Sweden focuses in on artificial intelligence in its latest far-reaching national IT strategy
January 02, 2024 02 Jan'24
China’s UNC4841 pivots to new Barracuda ESG zero-day

The Chinese state threat actor behind a series of cyber attacks on Barracuda Networks customers embarked on a campaign targeting the supplier’s email security products in the run-up to Christmas

December 29, 2023 29 Dec'23
Top 10 investigations and national security stories of 2023

From a secret campaign by right-wing Brexit supporters against science journal Nature to Investigatory Powers Act 2016 revisions that will make it easier for police and intelligence agencies to access databases on the population, here are Computer ...
December 29, 2023 29 Dec'23
Top 10 AI regulation stories of 2023

From the UK government’s publication of its long-awaited AI whitepaper to its convening of the world’s first AI Safety Summit, here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 AI regulation stories of 2023
December 28, 2023 28 Dec'23
Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2023

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2023
December 27, 2023 27 Dec'23
Top 10 police technology stories of 2023

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 police technology stories of 2023
December 22, 2023 22 Dec'23
Top 10 government IT stories of 2023

In the year that gave life to four new government departments, Whitehall bosses have continued to fly the flag for technology, with mixed results and success. Here are the stories that made waves in 2023
December 22, 2023 22 Dec'23
Top 10 Middle East stories of 2023

Middle Eastern countries are on digital journeys, with many pinning their futures on expertise in advanced technologies

December 21, 2023 21 Dec'23
Immigration clampdown could worsen UK IT skills shortage

The UK government’s recent clampdown on immigration could exacerbate the IT skills shortage in the country, especially in web design and development
December 21, 2023 21 Dec'23
Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2023

Ransomware gangs dominated the cyber criminal underworld in 2023, a year that will prove notable for significant evolutionary trends in their tactics
December 20, 2023 20 Dec'23
Post Office gets government handout as Horizon replacement costs increase ‘significantly’

The increasing costs associated with replacing the Post Office’s controversial IT system have forced the government to hand it over £100m extra
December 20, 2023 20 Dec'23
'No hiding place' for those responsible for Post Office Horizon scandal

MPs want individuals to be held to account for their roles in causing the Post Office Horizon scandal, which destroyed thousands of lives
December 20, 2023 20 Dec'23
ALPHV/BlackCat operation down, but maybe not out

Multinational law enforcement has targeted the operations of the notorious ALPHV/BlackCat cyber extortion gang, but the group’s members appear to remain defiant
December 20, 2023 20 Dec'23
Top 10 NHS IT stories of 2023

In the year we said goodbye to NHS Digital, the NHS has made some serious strides in digitising the health service, but many challenges remain. We look back at the stories that made the headlines in 2023
December 20, 2023 20 Dec'23
Top 10 Benelux stories of 2023

The Benelux region is researching some of the latest digital technologies of the future with efforts to ensure the region keeps pace in quantum computing and artificial intelligence
December 20, 2023 20 Dec'23
Top 10 cloud stories of 2023

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 cloud stories of 2023
December 19, 2023 19 Dec'23
Government reveals its own slow progress in compensating Post Office scandal victims

Few of the subpostmasters who unearthed the widest miscarriage of justice in UK history have been compensated so far, four years after their court victory
December 19, 2023 19 Dec'23
Top 10 information management stories of 2023

Generative AI was inescapable as the leading theme of the information management stories of 2023 gathered here. But also selected are pieces about data and healthcare, and the inexorable rise of the CDO
December 15, 2023 15 Dec'23
Police defend facial recognition target selection to Lords

Senior police officers confirm to Lords committee that facial recognition watchlist image selection is based on crime categories attached to people’s photos, rather than a context-specific assessment of the threat presented by a given individual
December 15, 2023 15 Dec'23
Government advised to overturn all Post Office scandal convictions

An independent board set up to advise the government on compensation for innocent subpostmasters has recommended that all the Post Office scandal convictions are ‘unsafe’ and should be overturned
December 14, 2023 14 Dec'23
NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron to step down in 2024

NCSC chief exec Lindy Cameron, who helped lead and elevate the national dialogue on cyber security through major events such as Covid-19, SolarWinds Sunburst and Colonial Pipeline, is to step down in the New Year
December 14, 2023 14 Dec'23
Current Post Office executive in denial of Horizon cover-up

Executives at the Post Office today are still in denial of the part they played in destroying the lives of thousands of people
December 13, 2023 13 Dec'23
No UK AI legislation until timing is right, says Donelan

The UK government will not legislate on artificial intelligence until it has a better understanding of the technology, so is instead focusing on building up regulatory capacity and conducting safety-focused research, says digital secretary
December 13, 2023 13 Dec'23
Microsoft’s Christmas present for cyber teams: no zero-days

Barely 30 vulnerabilities, and no zero-days, have been fixed in the final Patch Tuesday drop of 2023
December 13, 2023 13 Dec'23
Critical UK infrastructure a ‘hostage of fortune’ to ransomware

A lack of ransomware planning and preparedness at the highest levels of government is leaving UK operators or critical national infrastructure dangerously exposed, according to a Joint Committee report
December 12, 2023 12 Dec'23
MoD fined after breach of Afghan staffers’ data put lives at risk

The MoD has been fined £350,000 by the ICO after an email blunder exposed data on Afghan nationals who had worked with British forces and were at risk of Taliban reprisals
December 12, 2023 12 Dec'23
Outdated data protection practice key factor in PSNI data breach

The August 2023 data breach at the Police Service of Northern Ireland arose chiefly from an outdated approach to data protection and compliance at the force, according to an independent review
December 08, 2023 08 Dec'23
Former Post Office investigator called subpostmaster campaigners ‘crooks’

Former Post Office investigator labelled subpostmasters attempting to clear their names as ‘crooks’
December 07, 2023 07 Dec'23
UK names Russian FSB agents behind political hacking campaign

Russian hacking group, Star Blizzard, was part of a Russian intelligence operation aimed at interfering with UK politics and the democratic process, says government.
December 07, 2023 07 Dec'23
CIO interview: Keith Woolley, chief digital information officer, University of Bristol

With Bristol set to host the UK’s biggest supercomputer, its technology chief is looking to make the most of internal and international collaboration to drive digital improvements
December 06, 2023 06 Dec'23
NHS whistleblower Peter Duffy threatens trust with legal action in row over alleged email tampering

NHS whistleblower warns his former employer of potential litigation over a dispute concerning allegations of email tampering
December 06, 2023 06 Dec'23
Government launches UK-wide Cyber Explorers Cup

Schoolkids across the UK are being called on to team up and defeat Herbert the Hacker in a new government-backed competition
December 06, 2023 06 Dec'23
Post Office prioritised its ‘bottom line’ over justice

The Post Office was more concerned with saving money and recovering unexplained losses than getting to the bottom of subpostmaster claims that Horizon errors caused shortfalls, inquiry told
December 05, 2023 05 Dec'23
Government to trial new border tech

The software, which the government hopes will make it easier for border staff to identify what is inside the container, will be tested in the New Year as part of plans to ‘cut red tape’ for UK exporters
December 05, 2023 05 Dec'23
Operator of Sellafield nuclear facility denies hacking claims

The operator of the Sellafield nuclear site has denied allegations that senior managers covered up a series of cyber security lapses that enabled Chinese and Russian threat actors to compromise its networks
December 05, 2023 05 Dec'23
Majority of GPs now give patients online access to records

NHS England is close to reaching its target of having nine in 10 GPs offering patients access to their primary care records online
December 05, 2023 05 Dec'23
Undisclosed document could reveal pressure on Fujitsu expert witness in Post Office prosecution

Details of Post Office prosecutor’s meeting with Fujitsu IT expert witness, used in subpostmaster prosecution, not yet disclosed to public inquiry
December 04, 2023 04 Dec'23
Microsoft leaves SME resellers in the dark over Cloud Compute 2 framework snub

SME IT suppliers are calling on Microsoft to explain why it has banned them from reselling its services through the government's new £1.35bn Cloud Compute 2 framework
December 01, 2023 01 Dec'23
Human augmentation tech requires dual use oversight

Researchers investigating human augmentation technologies must acknowledge the potential military applications of their work, and military bodies cannot be allowed to dismiss ethical concerns in their pursuit of national security interests, says NGO...
December 01, 2023 01 Dec'23
Lords committee urges caution on UK use of autonomous weapons

UK government must ensure proper democratic oversight of its development and use of AI-powered weapon systems, says Lords committee
December 01, 2023 01 Dec'23
The Security Interviews: Mark McClain, SailPoint Technologies

SailPoint founder and CEO Mark McClain reflects on how the concept of identity has evolved over the past 20 years, and points to rapid evolution still to come
December 01, 2023 01 Dec'23
Post Office lawyer with his fingerprints all over IT scandal spreads blame

Senior Post Office criminal lawyer was just following orders and claims his only mistake was believing those that told him the Horizon system was robust
November 30, 2023 30 Nov'23
Yarra Valley Water to roll out smart water meters

The move is expected to stem water losses, alert customers to possible leaks and improve the affordability of water
November 30, 2023 30 Nov'23
Government’s Online Fraud Charter welcomed

The government has corralled 11 of the largest tech platforms in the world to commit to its Online Fraud Charter, designed to tackle online scams, fake adverts, and more
November 30, 2023 30 Nov'23
Rhysida gang stole hundreds of gigabytes of British Library data

The Rhysida ransomware gang behind the cyber attack on the British Library has published almost 600GB of stolen data to its dark web leak site
November 30, 2023 30 Nov'23
Slow government response to Post Office scandal compensation forces new legislation

Subpostmasters who exposed widest miscarriage of justice in UK history still waiting for compensation after decades of fighting
November 29, 2023 29 Nov'23
Paula Vennells’ email fuelled Post Office Horizon cult, inquiry told

Faced with serious questions about the robustness of its core computer system, the Post Office doubled down on reliability myth, public inquiry told
November 28, 2023 28 Nov'23
CCRC refers two posthumous subpostmaster appeals to Crown Court

CCRC refers posthumous appeals against convictions to Crown Court for first time