News

IT strategy

May 21, 2021 21 May'21
Government Digital Service sets out three-year strategy

The new GDS strategy up to 2024 includes a focus on making Gov.uk a single, trusted source of information, joining up services, and creating a pan-government digital identity solution
May 21, 2021 21 May'21
Alibaba taps machine learning to digitise Chinese classics

Alibaba’s research arm Damo Academy has developed a machine learning model to convert scanned pages of ancient Chinese classics into text
May 20, 2021 20 May'21
UK regulators commit to closer cooperation on digital economy

Two UK regulators have issued a joint statement and signed a memorandum of understanding on the need for closer collaboration on digital markets
May 20, 2021 20 May'21
Pandemic tech use heightens consumer privacy fears

Report on consumer attitudes to privacy finds evidence of a “heightened sense of fear” as digital footprints expand inexorably

May 20, 2021 20 May'21
Malicious scans for at-risk systems start minutes after disclosure

Statistics collated by Palo Alto Networks reveal malicious actors begin scanning the internet for systems at risk of new CVEs within minutes
May 19, 2021 19 May'21
Reports of stolen Irish health service data being leaked online

Leaking of deeply confidential and personal information on patient healthcare marks a new low for the criminal Conti gang
May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Cisco acquires Kenna Security amid security expansion

Cisco announces a new acquisition alongside service enhancements around XDR and SASE in support of its security customers
May 18, 2021 18 May'21
Australian budget lends support to digital economy

Australia’s A$1.2bn Digital Economy Strategy ticks most of the right boxes, but some industry experts say areas such as broadband infrastructure and artificial intelligence are still underfunded
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
Half of UK workforce lacks essential digital skills for work

A ‘hidden middle’ of more than 17 million people do not have the abilities needed to participate and contribute to the digital world in life and at work, study says
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
IR35 reforms: Government gifted roadmap to umbrella regulation by ex-senior policy adviser

Rebecca Seeley Harris, a former senior policy adviser to the Office of Tax Simplification, has joined forces with Offpayroll.org founder James Poyser to pen a draft policy to help the government fast-track its umbrella market regulation plans

May 17, 2021 17 May'21
NCSC study to probe disability and neurodiversity in cyber

National Cyber Security Centre and KPMG have launched a new diversity study aiming to capture benchmarks on disability and neurodiversity in cyber
May 17, 2021 17 May'21
Government seeks input on supply chain security

Amid concerns that too few companies are addressing vulnerabilities in their supply chain, DCMS is opening a consultation on new measures to enhance security
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Colonial Pipeline paid $5m ransom, reports say

Colonial Pipeline may have paid a significant ransom within hours of being attacked, it has emerged, but it’s unlikely the story ends here
May 14, 2021 14 May'21
Irish health service hit by major ransomware attack

IT systems in hospitals across Ireland have been switched off following a significant ransomware attack
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Portworx gets container-native array management for Pure hardware

Container storage player Portworx builds in container-native functionality to allow discovery, provisioning and management from inside Kubernetes cluster, but only on Pure arrays so far
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Publishing exploit code does more harm than good, says report

Disclosing exploit code before patches are available gives malicious actors a ‘massive’ head-start, says Kenna Security
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Too many disconnected systems in government, says minister

Cabinet Office minister Julia Lopez wants to address issues with legacy systems, improve digital skills across government and improve department collaboration, including in procurement
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Biden beefs up public-private security cooperation

Joe Biden has signed a new Executive Order to harden US cyber security and government networks, with an emphasis on information sharing
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
CISOs weathered the pandemic well, but at personal cost

Over 80% of CISOs think their existing security capabilities stayed strong during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, but now face stress and burnout on an unheard-of scale
May 13, 2021 13 May'21
Verizon DBIR underscores year of unprecedented cyber challenge

Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report draws predictable conclusions as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be felt
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
NHS Digital replaces system for collection of GP data

New system designed ‘with interests of patients at its heart’ will provide near-real-time primary care data to support improvements in healthcare and help research
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
CyberUK 2021: NCSC encourages startups to invest in cyber

National Cyber Security Centre is launching bespoke cyber security guidance aimed at the UK’s valuable startup community
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
Microsoft fixes four critical bugs on lighter Patch Tuesday

Four critical RCE vulnerabilities put users of various Microsoft products at risk, and should be patched right away
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
Running a bees and spirits business on low-code

We look at how a small honey and gin producer has adapted and grown its business without requiring external software development expertise
May 12, 2021 12 May'21
Queen’s Speech approaches key themes for UK tech

From online safety to skills for the future, the speech contained several points that are relevant to the industry for the year
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
NCSC cyber guidance targets cloud and home working

The NCSC’s refreshed cyber security guidance for larger organisations places particular emphasis on cloud, home working and ransomware
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
Collaboration key to success of UK’s Cyber Security Council

The founders of the UK’s Cyber Security Council have been setting out their plans to professionalise the cyber sector at the NCSC’s CyberUK 2021 event
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
SolarWinds CEO calls for collective action against state attacks

SolarWinds CEO tells NCSC’s CyberUK conference he is exploring the possibility of collaborating with other companies on collective cyber action against attacks backed by nation states
May 11, 2021 11 May'21
IBM doubles down on AI and hybrid cloud

IBM is beefing up its core technology capabilities in artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud to speed up application modernisation and improve AI adoption
May 10, 2021 10 May'21
NCSC Active Cyber Defence blocks surge of pandemic scams

The NCSC responded to a surge in online scams last year as it moved to protect both the general public and critical national services during the pandemic
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
NCSC, CISA publish new information on Russia’s Cozy Bear

New intelligence from UK and US cyber agencies suggests that APT29, or Cozy Bear, has been switching up its tactics
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
NCSC publishes smart city security guidelines

Guidance for local authorities, IT and cyber professionals aims to ensure the security of connected, smart city projects
May 07, 2021 07 May'21
Reddit enlists HackerOne to run public bug bounty programme

Online community platform is opening up its HackerOne bug bounty programme to any ethical hacker who cares to have a look under the bonnet
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Tech startups turn to digital PR platform for media exposure

Digital PR platform Newspage helps early-stage tech startups with limited resources increase their visibility to journalists and news organisations
May 06, 2021 06 May'21
Wipro’s AI platform to improve vaccine safety

Wipro is partnering a stem cell technology firm on the use of its Holmes artificial intelligence platform to help researchers ascertain the safety and potency of vaccines
May 05, 2021 05 May'21
Why ITAM can aid IT-fuelled business recovery

As a sense of normality returns, we look at why IT asset management is the stealth tool for clearing a path towards greater digitisation
May 05, 2021 05 May'21
Executive interview: Juergen Mueller on SAP’s tech strategy

SAP CTO Juergen Mueller offers a glimpse into the company’s thinking around delivering business applications as microservices, among other areas and updates in its technology strategy
May 04, 2021 04 May'21
Half of organisations breached via a third party in 12 months

New report highlights the risks of outsourcing key business processes without paying due care and attention to your service provider’s security
May 04, 2021 04 May'21
Government digital chiefs outline plans for CDDO and GDS

Paul Willmott, Joanna Davinson and Tom Read talk about establishing a digital, data and technology sub-board, plans to hire a chief technology officer and a chief data officer, and a five-year plan for the Government Digital Service
May 04, 2021 04 May'21
Tech firms unite to advance diversity and inclusion in the sector

The plan will focus on areas such as leadership representation and inclusive product development
April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21
MPs accuse government of unduly interfering in information commissioner appointment

Cross-party group of MPs says government is influencing the appointment of a new information commissioner by explicitly seeking a candidate who will support its policy agenda, rather than regulate independently
April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21
Government gets updated powers to intervene on tech-related M&A deals on national security grounds

The National Security and Investment Bill has secured royal assent, giving the government the legislative support it needs to intervene on business transactions in a variety of tech-related industries on national security grounds
April 29, 2021 29 Apr'21
UK demand for digital automation skills soars

The need for automation proficiency has more than doubled in the past two years, according to research
April 29, 2021 29 Apr'21
GCHQ: Dyslexic thinkers key to solving UK cyber security challenges

Neurodiverse staff are bringing a unique contribution to keeping the country safe, according to the intelligence and cyber agency
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Covid-19 security challenges leave bank customers at risk

Challenges arising from the pandemic have left gaping holes in banking security, putting consumers at risk of fraud
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Recruiters can’t afford to hold out for cyber ‘unicorns’

The perfect security candidate is hard to find, so hiring policy needs to be more pragmatic
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Office 365 compromise likely led to Merseyrail ransomware attack

Compromise of Merseyrail employee data seems to have begun after a key email account was hacked
April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21
Government extends Gov.uk Verify for a further two years

The government’s Gov.uk Verify identity platform will continue to run until April 2023 while a new identity service is developed
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Total cost of ransomware attack heading towards $2m

Sophos’ latest study finds that ransomware attacks are proving increasingly disruptive to their victims’ finances
April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21
Apple OS updates patch multiple security holes

The much-heralded release of the privacy-centric iOS 14.5 also brings patches for multiple CVEs, and users of Apple smartphones, tablets and notebooks are best advised to update as soon as possible