News

IT for telecoms and internet organisations

November 26, 2020 26 Nov'20
Robots taking jobs, but creating careers

Robotic process automation developers tell Computer Weekly about the job they never expected to be doing
November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
Merger of national policing systems over budget and behind schedule

UK government effort to replace legacy IT systems suffers further delays, and will not be fully completed until 2025 at the earliest
November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
Securing UK’s critical national infrastructure is a 2021 priority

Government outlines the UK’s strategic cyber security policies for the coming 12 months, with critical national infrastructure a clear priority
November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20
Telcos could face huge fines under new security laws

Government boasts of unprecedented powers to boost the security standards of the UK’s critical national infrastructure

November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20
Privacy advocates call for European probe into Palantir

Dutch group SOMI is trying to raise awareness of Palantir’s data privacy practices and how it works with European government agencies
November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20
Resident Evil studio Capcom confirms scale of Ragnar Locker breach

Videogame studio says the data of up to 350,000 people was likely to have been compromised in a Ragnar Locker ransomware attack
November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20
IT Priorities 2020: European IT budget share reflects home-working challenges brought by Covid

European organisations are being forced to redivert more limited budgets during the pandemic
November 12, 2020 12 Nov'20
Online kids’ game Animal Jam confirms large breach

Cyber criminals have stolen data on 46 million Animal Jam player accounts via a third-party attack
November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20
Amazon charged with breaching EU antitrust rules

Tech giant accused of using data it collects on smaller retailers to benefit its own e-commerce business
November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20
Border technologies largely fail to respect human rights

AI-powered border technologies used to ‘manage’ migration frequently make the process more arbitrary, discriminatory and unjust, says human rights group

November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20
EU moves closer to encryption ban after Austria, France attacks

Draft resolution document setting up an EU-wide ban on end-to-end encryption is set to be waved through this week
November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20
Mastercard: Looks like a tech firm, acts like a tech firm, is a tech firm

Financial services giant finds itself in a prominent position as the volume of digital transactions increases
November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20
Finnish government rolls out digital projects to support SMEs

Finland is set to create network of technology hubs that will support SMEs in the country, as well as create links across the EU
October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20
Victims contest technology firms’ attempt to dismiss cobalt mining deaths case

Technology companies say they cannot be held responsible for the deaths of children mining for the cobalt used in their products
October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20
Privacy and online safety are focus of new UKRI research funding

Online safety research centre of excellence will look into technology to boost privacy and tackle disinformation, fake news, conspiracies and other online harms
October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20
Dutch government ‘unambitious’ in digital

The Netherlands has been working at home as much as possible since the outbreak of Covid-19, but its dependence on technology and connectivity does not seem to be reflected by the government’s approach to digitisation
October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20
Cooperation between Norway’s security agencies planned following cyber attack on parliament

Government seeks to develop enhanced national IT infrastructure with an embedded early warning system and defence shield to protect the IT systems of public and private organisations
October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20
Nordic countries in denial over IT industry equality

Arriving in Denmark to find she was the only woman on a computer science master’s course was a shock to Plamena Cherneva
October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20
US Justice Department files antitrust lawsuit against Google

Lawsuit alleges Google used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in a number of interconnected digital markets, violating US federal antitrust law
October 16, 2020 16 Oct'20
Spanish court to question witnesses over ‘illegal surveillance’ of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

The Spanish National Court in Madrid is to hear evidence from information security expert Andy Müller-Maguhn and two lawyers who were subject to ‘illegal surveillance’ of their meetings with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
October 15, 2020 15 Oct'20
UK regulators lack the skills and expertise to cope with increasing use of algorithms

MPs told that multiple regulators will be needed to govern the ever-growing use of algorithmic systems in all areas of the economy and public sector
October 14, 2020 14 Oct'20
Fintech ‘unicorn’ Klarna probed over data misuse

Online bank blames misuse of user data on human error as Information Commissioner’s Office weighs in
October 12, 2020 12 Oct'20
Five Eyes spy group again demands access to private messages

Spooks are once again calling for the tech industry to break end-to-end encryption in messaging platforms
October 09, 2020 09 Oct'20
Facebook critics’ webpage removed over false phishing allegations

Real Facebook Oversight Board alleges Facebook is trying to censor it for speaking out against the social media company’s behaviour
October 07, 2020 07 Oct'20
US lawmakers release big tech antitrust report

House Democrats have published a report on the monopoly power wielded by big tech companies and how to restore competition in digital markets
October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20
Facebook critics launch ‘Real Facebook Oversight Board’

Organisation formed as an ‘emergency response’ to address the ‘immediate risk’ posed by Facebook’s role in the US election
October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20
Fake news tops list of online concerns worldwide

Receiving false information is a greater worry than other online risks such as cyber bullying and fraud, says the Lloyd’s Register Foundation
October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20
Future UK-EU data sharing put at risk by Brexit legislation

When the Brexit transition period ends, UK ministers will have the power to forge new data-sharing arrangements that risk undermining the viability of future data transfers with the European Union
September 30, 2020 30 Sep'20
‘American friends’ spied on Julian Assange in Ecuadorian Embassy, court hears

Two former employees of UC Global, which provides security services to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, claim the company shared surveillance footage with the US of the WikiLeaks founder meeting with lawyers and other visitors
September 30, 2020 30 Sep'20
Norway leaves door open to Huawei

Government gives telecoms companies responsibility to choose their equipment suppliers, which could include Huawei
September 28, 2020 28 Sep'20
TikTok ban stayed after last-minute court case

TikTok’s lawyers have staved off an imminent ban for the time being, after successfully arguing that it infringed rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States
September 24, 2020 24 Sep'20
Third-party code bug left Instagram users at risk of account takeover

A critical vulnerability in Instagram’s image processing could have allowed attackers to take over not just their victim’s account, but their entire device
September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20
Over half of firms intend to continue US data transfers despite Schrems II

Survey shows many organisations do not intend to significantly change their data-sharing practices, at least until there is more guidance from regulators or governments
September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20
Major tech firms urged to end targeted ads to under-18s

An open letter to Google, Facebook and others is calling on the tech firms to take responsibility for protecting users of their services by ending behavioural advertising to children
September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20
Video gamers barraged with cyber attacks

From credential stuffing to SQL injection and DDoS, video game producers and players are seeing massive volumes of cyber attacks
September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20
Twitter investigates image cropping algorithm for racial bias

The algorithm’s consistent favouring of white faces in image previews has forced the company to investigate it for racial bias
September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20
Activision shoots down data breach claims

Gaming company denies there has been any data breach after up to 500,000 accounts appeared to have been compromised, but evidence mounts that credential stuffing attacks are to blame
September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20
Scam mobile apps spreading via rogue TikTok accounts

Malicious TikTok accounts are promoting a number of adware scam mobile apps
September 21, 2020 21 Sep'20
Big questions to be answered over TikTok and WeChat reprieve

TikTok and WeChat seem to have received a stay of execution, but big questions and contradictions remain
September 18, 2020 18 Sep'20
Outgoing NCSC CEO: Ransomware threat kept us up at night

Former NCSC CEO Ciaran Martin sheds some light on some of the biggest cyber threats currently facing the UK
September 18, 2020 18 Sep'20
US government deplatforms TikTok and WeChat

The Commerce Department of the US government has banned new downloads of TikTok and WeChat in the US, and announced new prohibitions on doing business with them
September 15, 2020 15 Sep'20
TikTok-Oracle partnership moves forward for consideration

Joint venture proposal could create thousands of jobs and secure TikTok’s future outside China
September 14, 2020 14 Sep'20
Microsoft drops out of TikTok talks, paves way for Oracle partnership

Microsoft confirms it is dropping out of the running to acquire the US operations of TikTok, leaving the way clear for an imminent partnership deal with Oracle
September 11, 2020 11 Sep'20
Facebook takes legal action against Irish privacy watchdog

Facebook’s legal action against the Data Protection Commission will attempt to preserve the company’s ability to transfer European citizens’ data to the US despite its lower privacy protections
September 11, 2020 11 Sep'20
Zoom adds two-factor authentication for all users

Latest enhancements to Zoom security make it easier for organisations to protect users and prevent breaches and unauthorised meeting access
September 10, 2020 10 Sep'20
Irish privacy watchdog orders Facebook to stop sending user data to the US

Irish privacy watchdog orders Facebook to suspend transfers of European citizens’ data to the US after Schrems II ruling that Europeans have no effective way to challenge American government surveillance
September 10, 2020 10 Sep'20
Datacentre firm Equinix investigating ransomware attack

A number of internal systems at cloud and datacentre firm Equinix have been affected by a ransomware attack
September 09, 2020 09 Sep'20
Technology businesses vital to UK post-Covid economic recovery

Technology firms are set to play a larger role in UK’s post-Covid economy and are being encouraged to expand overseas after a strong year for digital exports
September 09, 2020 09 Sep'20
Abu Dhabi government launches peer-to-peer coding campus

Abu Dhabi government launches a specialist programming school that uses peer-to-peer teaching methods and gamification
September 04, 2020 04 Sep'20
Covid-19 has strained London tech firms but they have central role in recovery

London tech startups are feeling the effects of the economic slowdown brought on by Covid-19, but there is a huge opportunity for those with the right focus