IT for financial services

UK gets first millionaire ethical hacker

Six months after the first millionaire ethical hacker was announced, five more have been recognised, including a Briton, who have collectively discovered nearly 5,000 vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Don’t upset the Apple Card

Apple has reiterated its searing contempt for the hoi polloi that uses its products by releasing a physical credit card you’re not supposed to put in your wallet. The titanium card is, in Apple’s ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

Most UK firms ignore security in tech investments

Less than a quarter of UK firms prioritise security when investing in new technology, despite the threat of cyber attacks and data protection regulations, a survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Ransomware has evolved into a serious enterprise threat

Ransomware has seen a resurgence since the start of 2019, with cyber criminals changing code and tactics to target enterprises and local authorities for higher ransom payments, McAfee researchers warn Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Employees, MSPs and developers top third-party risks

Employees, managed service providers and developers are the top sources of third-party risks in terms of data security, a survey reveals, highlighting the value of workplace monitoring Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IR35 reforms: HMRC defends off-payroll rules guidance against "woeful" IPSE jibes

HMRC promises there are more preparatory materials in the pipeline to help the private sector prepare for the April 2020 IR35 rules, after IPSE brands its current guidance "woeful" Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

A helping hand from the Nordics in the eye of the GDPR storm

Nordic IT companies are well suited to supporting enterprises in their data protection projects, even though openness is more natural to them Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

UK businesses at risk due to PSD2 security standard myths re-emerging

UK businesses could put themselves at risk because of myths surrounding the PSD2 security standard Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Nordics: Copenhagen woos tech startups

Copenhagen offers all the advantages startups need to get off the ground and many are setting up with the intention of staying there for the long haul. Also read how shipping giant Maersk is employing a cloud-first strategy to disrupt competition and build innovation, and why three Finnish banks are sharing a core IT platform. Continue Reading

UK banks outage caused by problem at US payment service provider

UK consumers were unable to access some banking services due to a hardware failure at a US payments provider Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Still work to be done securing Open Banking as PSD2 deadline looms

Banks and retailers have work to do to ensure that open banking and PSD2 don't open doors for fraudsters Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

PSD2 creates more potential entry points for fraudsters

PSD2 widens the target for fraudsters preying on consumers through social engineering and other non technical attacks Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Buyers think SD-WAN is too expensive and complicated

Building and maintaining an SD-WAN is perceived as a complicated endeavour, and the industry’s messages are not getting through, says a new report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Restaurant group pays staff almost £1m early through fintech app

Wagestream app enables Casual Dining Group employees to receive salary payments in advance for a small fee Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Even fintech startups battling to meet cyber security challenges

A study shows that most fintech startups, like most banks, are failing to address vulnerabilities in the web and mobile applications, underlining the scale of the challenge Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK financial account takeovers up, report warns

Commercial cyber criminal services are helping to drive up the number of account takeovers, a fraud report for the first half of the year shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

First government organisation in Bahrain migrates to Amazon Web Services

Sovereign wealth fund’s internal IT team handled migration process, which has slashed the organisation’s technology operational costs Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London Stock Exchange glitch delays trading

The London Stock Exchange suffered a 90-minute technical outage which prevented early trading in major stocks Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

European fintech investment continues to grow as global investment falls

European countries are continuing to see significant growth in financial technology investment as total global investment decreases Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Most UK financial firms hit by cyber attack in the past year

The majority of UK financial companies are failing to prevent cyber security incidents, mainly because of employees failing to follow security policies and a lack of security budget, a survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK finance regulator gives extra time for companies to meet payment security rules

Financial Conduct Authority gives companies under its watch an extra 18 months to meet an EU payments security standard Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What 5G applications will transform your business?

The UK’s mobile network operators have started work on their 5G roll-outs, but what applications are most likely to gain enterprise traction for the new standard? Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

Breach cost $53m in Q2, says Desjardins

Credit union cooperative Desjardins reveals that a data breach in June cost the company $53m in the second quarter, but that could be just the start, warn industry commentators Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Financial services and cloud: Delivering digital transformation in a highly regulated industry

The financial services community has gone from being one of the least likely sectors to adopt cloud to becoming one of its keenest users, as regulator attitudes to using the technology have become more accommodating Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

F-Secure warns of F5 Big IP-related security issue

F-Secure has discovered security issues relating to an F5 device that it says could potentially turn hundreds of thousands of load balancers into beachheads for cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Ransomware a continued threat to business, report warns

Businesses are increasingly becoming the most popular targets for ransomware, which remains a top cyber threat around the world, especially in the US, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Benelux: Dutch academic hunts the personality behind the hacker

Rutger Leukfeldt, senior researcher on cyber crime at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, is working to help organisations understand the personalities behind criminal hackers. Also in this issue, read about research that shows over half of Dutch organisations admit their knowledge of blockchain is substandard. We also feature an article about ABN Amro’s work with researchers to explore how quantum computing can be used to secure online banking. Continue Reading

Shared files in the cloud are a top ransomware target

Vectra 2019 Spotlight report shows recent ransomware attacks cast a wider net to ensnare cloud, datacentre and enterprise infrastructures Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

African bank foils suspected North Korean cyber attack

An African bank is among the financial institutions to be targeted by North Korea’s multi-billion dollar cyber theft campaign to support its weapons programmes Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: Simon McNamara, chief administrative officer, RBS Group

Brought in after a catastrophic IT failure that affected 6.5 million customers, the IT chief at Royal Bank of Scotland Group says the bank is now a leader in innovation Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Nordic banks move into wearable payment technology

Payment by watch or watch strap is now an option for customers of two banks in Sweden Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Nationwide plans 750 tech roles at new digital hub in London

Building society is setting up its first major tech presence in London to help it access deep skills pool Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London Stock Exchange agrees to acquire Refinitiv for £22bn

The London Stock Exchange has agreed to a multi-billion pound takeover of data giant Refinitiv Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cisco pays $8.6m after whistleblower discloses security flaws in video surveillance system

James Glenn, a video surveillance expert working for a Cisco reseller in Denmark, alerted Cisco to security faults and stands to gain a share of a multimillion-dollar settlement with the US government Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Financial services top cyber attack target

Financial services are among the most attractive targets for cyber attackers, security researchers reveal, with phishing and credential stuffing among the top threats Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Middle East businesses welcome Amazon Web Services region launch

Bahrain AWS region, with three datacentres, links Middle East to AWS's global network and will help to accelerate digital transformation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Deutsche Bank’s public contraction marks a major breakthrough for fintech startups

German bank is cutting costs overall but is investing more in the latest digital technology as fintechs chip away at banking business Continue Reading

Digital takes the racing line in Formula One

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the CIO of Formula One racing team Haas F1 to find out how technology is helping to compete with better-funded rivals. We examine the latest best practice advice on disaster planning. And we look at what the troubles at Deutsche Bank tell us about the rise of fintech startups. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

London Stock Exchange eyes £22bn acquisition of Refinitiv to expand data capabilities

The London Stock Exchange is looking at a huge tech acquisition to provide customers access to a wealth of data services built using the latest technologies Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Former AWS engineer arrested for Capital One data breach

Capital One announces data breach affecting more than 100 million customers as US federal authorities arrest a Seattle woman formerly employed by Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Visa card vulnerabilities enable contactless limit bypass

Security researchers have discovered vulnerabilities on Visa cards that could be exploited to bypass contactless payment limits and result in huge losses Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

TSB takes another £36m hit related to botched IT migration

TSB has been stung for another £36m in costs related to its botched IT migration last year, but managed a profit in its latest six monthly results Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

WannaCry hero Marcus Hutchins spared jail

British security researcher who helped halt the global WannaCry ransomware attack that hit the NHS in 2017 has avoided jail in the US for creating other malware Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Surge in UK businesses switching bank account providers

The UK system that makes it easy to change bank account has seen a surge in businesses taking up the service Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Santander brings global digital services under one roof

Spanish banking giant Santander Group is creating a global digital unit as part of its transformation plans Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Innovate Finance expands national network with three regions added

Innovate Finance is continuing to expand its network of fintechs with agreements with three regional hubs Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Smart technology will transform Dutch neighbourhood

A programme in the Netherlands is creating a smart neighbourhood as a pilot for how people could live in the future Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Morgan Stanley uses Box to power new Digital Vault

Bank has integrated the Box collaboration platform to provide a new, secure document-sharing service for its customers Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Latest investments in Atom Bank will support cloud platform project

Bank has raised £50m more finance, which will contribute to funding its project to migrate to the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Most security pros still concerned about public cloud security

Despite accelerated adoption of public cloud services by companies keen to benefit from increased efficiency, scalability and agility, most security professionals have reservations Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Facebook accused of ‘breathtaking arrogance’ over Libra cryptocurrency plan

US senators grill Facebook’s David Marcus over social media giant’s plans to launch cryptocurrency Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Latest UK fintech investment figures reflect the evolution of the sector

Investment patterns in the UK fintech sector reveals how the businesses in it are maturing Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Deutsche Bank’s public contraction is a major landmark for fintech

German bank is cutting costs overall but is investing more in the latest digital technology as fintechs chip away at banking business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Manchester Metrolink gets contactless payments technology

Travellers using Manchester’s trams can now complete their journeys using contactless payment Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Organisations turn to AI in race against cyber attackers

Businesses are racing to automate their defences as hackers and nation states launch increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

SD-WAN in play: How software-defined solves core business challenges

For foodservice business HMSHost International and chemical products firm Element Solutions, both customers of networking supplier Aryaka, software-defined wide area networking technology is proving its mettle when it comes to solving core business challenges. Find out how. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Blockchain.com banks on Google cloud to support growth of cryptocurrency management platform

Blockchain.com reveals details of how it is ramping up its use of the Google Cloud Platform as the range of cryptocurrencies it supports grows, along with the size of its user base Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Sweden’s SEB bank uses mob programming across business

Hack day sees 70 developers successfully demonstrate mob programming method that banking group is now using to develop applications in an agile way Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

Securing your mobile estate – best practice for CIOs

The prevalence of mobile devices in every part of daily life is shaping how enterprises make choices about software and network infrastructure, but how do businesses go about securing these vast new endpoint estates? Continue Reading

By

• Christian Annesley

Zopa gets in-house tech ready for 2019 bank launch

Peer-to-peer lender tests out banking platforms in anticipation of launching products in the UK before the end of this year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch privacy watchdog tells banks not to use customer payment data for marketing

Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens tells banks to respect client privacy and not to market products based on spending data Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

People that have never heard of the cloud enjoy cloud services, so why should open banking differ?

Open banking has some way to go before and banks' shouldn't pin all their hopes on Millennials Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Deutsche Bank cuts jobs but increases tech spend

Deutsche Bank is making swingeing cuts to its workforce over the next two and a half years and has pinned its hopes on the latest technology to make it possible. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Challenger bank shuts up shop in UK amid uncertainty

Digital bank Fidor is ending its time in the UK, blaming uncertainties in the market Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintech pioneer helps to give fintech treatment to debt financing after Fidor sale

The founder of digital bank Fidor has turned his attention to fixing the inefficiencies of debt processing at banks through technology and empathy Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Why Facebook’s Libra digital currency could run rings round the regulators

Facebook’s cryptocurrency isn’t really a cryptocurrency, nor is it really a money transfer network, but it’s been formulated in such a way that regulators might not be able to do anything to stop it Continue Reading

By

• Tim Worstall, Adam Smith Institute

Nordic payments tie-up as Nets and Swish collaborate

Payments provider and app developer work together to test out mobile phone-based in-store payments system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Implementing IoT – overcoming barriers to commercial adoption

Tim Wright from the Institute of Telecoms Professionals reports from a recent seminar exploring questions around the barriers to commercial, at-scale adoption of the internet of things, and how to overcome them Continue Reading

By

• Tim Wright, Institute of Telecommunications Professionals

Why PSD2 adoption in the Netherlands is lagging behind

The Netherlands appears to be falling behind in open banking, even though the Dutch are digitally proficient and are often early adopters of new technology. What is going on? Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

What do the fintechs think of Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra?

Fintechs welcome Facebook Libra but realise the scale of the social media giant's challenge to make it work Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CPS faces legal ruling over refusal to disclose emails with US on WikiLeaks and Assange extradition

A court will decide whether the Crown Prosecution Service can refuse to neither confirm nor deny the existence of correspondence with US on investigations into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Few UK firms are cyber insured despite financial losses

More than one-fifth of UK firms have been impacted financially by cyber attacks, yet potentially more than three-quarters of companies polled have never been insured for cyber-related losses Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Huge jump in cyber incidents reported by finance sector

The number of cyber incidents reported by financial services firms increased nearly 12-fold in 2018 from 2017, mainly due to third-party failures, highlighting several key areas that need improvement Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How to get the basics of mobile device management right the first time

When adopting mobile device management, there are often fears around implementation and whether or not the strategy is even required Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

The Great Eastern way to digital transformation

Regional insurance company Great Eastern has rolled out a new digital platform to better serve customers while morphing its DNA from the inside out Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Visa modernises B2B global payments through open source blockchain

Visa is modernising cross-border business-to-business payments, with blockchain used to connect participating corporate Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

TIN coalition calls for industry action against cyber fraud

An industry group aimed at improving cyber security by tackling enduring challenges has called for collaboration in the fight against cyber fraud Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Exploring UCaaS: The main benefits for enterprises

Getting unified communications-as-a-service right can mean more agility, higher productivity, and cost control Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

Interview: Yasmeen Al Sharaf, head of fintech and innovation unit, Central Bank of Bahrain

Yasmeen Al Sharaf heads up financial technology strategy at Bahrain’s central bank, which is on a mission to grow and diversify the sector in the Middle East island state Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch bank and researchers begin defence against quantum computing’s dark side

ABN Amro is working with QuTech to ensure that banks can protect data against quantum computers in the future Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The ID Co passport to travel the internet: Fintech interview 23

The ID Co is offering businesses technology that has the potential of getting a mortgage approval in seconds Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Commercial interests put customer security at risk, survey shows

Firms are bypassing security to push products and services into the market, increasing security risks for the organisation and its customers, a poll of information security professionals shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Open banking could generate £18bn in value for UK SMEs and citizens

Consumers and SMEs could generate billions of pounds in value if open banking adoption reaches its potential Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Wider threat campaign behind Wipro breach

A sophisticated, far-ranging threat campaign was behind the breach at Indian IT services firm Wipro in April, which was not an isolated incident, RiskIQ report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nordic public dispels fears over AI and welcomes its advance

People in the Nordic countries are more welcoming and less fearful of the advance of artificial intelligence than those in other regions Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Scepticism and the challenges beyond for Facebook’s Libra

Facebook faces major hurdles to make Libra a success even if it overcomes the rampant scepitisim Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Six arrested over €24m cryptocurrency theft

Police have arrested six people in the UK and the Netherlands in connection with the theft of cryptocurrency worth €24m Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Half of Dutch IT decision-makers can’t explain blockchain technology

IT decision-makers in the Netherlands know that blockchain has significant benefits, but half don’t understand how to apply it Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Three Finnish banks, one core IT platform

Can a shared core IT platform enable three Finnish banks to become more efficient yet maintain individual competitiveness? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Saudi banks trial blockchain-based identity technology at ATMs

Biometric and blockchain technologies are being used in tandem to provide ID verification at Saudi Arabian cash machines Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

UK firms downloading vulnerable open source software

Vulnerable open source software components are posing a security threat to UK firms, according to a report that also shows how best practice, including automation, can reduce the risk Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nominations open for UK’s security unsung heroes

The Security Serious cyber awareness campaign has opened nominations for the fourth annual cyber security Unsung Heroes awards Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Disaster planning: How to expect the unexpected

Focusing too much on specific disasters rather than considering an organisation’s data protection, network security and process requirements, can lead to unpredicted vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

Lloyds Bank uses community effort to push out DevOps

The developers and IT operations teams were once separate. Now they are one. The challenge is getting this to scale across the business Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Looming private sector IR35 reforms prompts calls for gig economy-focused tax system overhaul

The growth of the gig-based economy has exposed weaknesses in the UK tax system – exacerbated by the IR35 reforms – that mean an overhaul is needed, panel claims Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Fintech IT chiefs earn more than chief financial officers

Fintech IT heads are the top earners but this will change as the industry matures and needs for different skills Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Luxembourg tech startups get premium connections

Luxembourg is at the centre of a continent with ambitious plans to develop a thriving tech industry, but what makes it different? Continue Reading

By

• Richard Edwards, Freeform Dynamics

Facebook announces global digital currency Libra

Facebook is launching digital coin to open up affordable financial services to the world Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Openreach trials will speed up broadband upgrade

Tests to focus on process of migrating households and businesses to fibre to the premise and voice over IP Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

DevSecOps is key to uniting opposing forces

Unifying DevOps and security teams with the aid of automation will bring harmony and added business benefits, says systems engineer Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst