IT for financial services

How DBS is industrialising AI across its business

Southeast Asia’s biggest lender is building a strong data foundation and upskilling employees on data and artificial intelligence to realise its vision of becoming an AI-fuelled bank Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Hunter-killer malware volumes seen surging

Latest Picus Security report on malware tactics, techniques and procedures reveals an increasing focus on disabling security defences Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Europe carves out niche in quantum computing

As the US, China and Europe accelerate investment in quantum computing, Europe is beginning to develop its own unique position in the fledgling global ecosystem Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Security Think Tank: The phishing forecast for 2024

Egress' Jack Chapman and James Dyer explore how phishing attacks are set to grow in their scope and sophistication this year, with generative AI playing a big role Continue Reading

By

• Jack Chapman and James Dyer

UK’s McPartland Cyber Review to probe trust in technology

The UK government has launched a cyber security review that will investigate how best to give businesses the confidence they need to use new technologies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Aviva signs 15-year contract with Indian IT giant

Tata Consultancy Services continues to make large gains in the UK life insurance and pensions sector Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Bugcrowd sees surge in vulnerability submissions, led by public sector

Crowdsourced vulnerability disclosure and bug bounty platform Bugcrowd says it saw a 151% uptick in submissions related to government and public sector organisations in 2023 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

WebKit vulnerability sparks Apple’s first major security update of 2024

A zero-day in the open source WebKit browser engine that powers Safari has sparked Apple’s first major patch roll-out of the new year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

AI will heighten global ransomware threat, says NCSC

The benefits of artificial intelligence to cyber criminals being well-known, the NCSC now assesses it’s likely AI will soon be widely used to enhance ransomware attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Treat cyber risk like financial or legal issue, says UK government

UK government and NCSC launch proposed code of practice on cyber security governance to help directors and business leaders toughen their defences Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Leak of 26 billion records may prove to be ‘mother of all breaches’

The discovery of a dataset comprising 26 billion stolen records may prove to be record-breaking in both its size and the danger it poses to ordinary people Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SEC bitcoin hack was result of SIM-swapping

A cyber attack on the US financial regulator earlier in January 2024 occurred after hackers took over one of its mobile phone accounts in a so-called SIM-swapping attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Biometric revolution in IAM: The future of authentication

The IAM landscape is experiencing profound change thanks to the advent of biometrics. Learn about the latest advantages and key benefits of biometrics in identity Continue Reading

By

• Isla Sibanda

Victims of 2023 Capita data breaches head to High Court

More than 5,000 people impacted by data breaches arising from two cyber incidents affecting outsourcer Capita have joined a group action lawsuit Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The human toll of ransomware: how IT pros suffer during incidents

Any ransomware attack causes significant challenges for a business or organisation going through such incident. But ransomware attacks also have tremendous impact on the staff – especially IT teams – working on mitigating the attack’s effect Continue Reading

By

• Pia Hüsch, Jamie MacColl and Gareth Mott

All eyes are on the Post Office scandal – at last

In this week’s Computer Weekly, 15 years since we first revealed the plight of subpostmasters, and four years since their High Court victory, the UK public and government are getting behind the victims, thanks to a TV dramatisation of the scandal. We look at government plans to quash convictions, and analyse the role of Horizon IT supplier Fujitsu in how the Post Office scandal developed. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Santander bank added 4,500 tech staff last year

Santander added thousands of IT staff to its global operation last year, as part of its digital transformation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cisco fixes high-impact flaw in unified comms platform

Cisco unified comms customers are urged to patch a critical vulnerability in Unity Connection, a messaging and voicemail product Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Windows Kerberos, Hyper-V vulns among January Patch Tuesday bugs

Microsoft starts 2024 right with another slimline Patch Tuesday drop, but there are some critical vulns to be alert to, including a number of man-in-the-middle attack vectors Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SEC social media hack highlights value of MFA

The US SEC briefly appeared to approve new bitcoin trading rules after a social media account was targeted by troublemakers, proving the value of MFA once again Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Babuk Tortilla ransomware decryptor made available

A joint effort between Cisco Talos, Avast and the Dutch police will bring relief to many victims of a variant of the Babuk ransomware known as Tortilla Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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 Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

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 Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Fighting money laundering with AI

Mike Foster, CEO of SymphonyAI Sensa-NetReveal, talks up how AI can be used to fight financial crime and how the company’s technology can augment existing AML investments Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Decoding zero trust in endpoint security: A practical guide for CISOs

The exponential increase in endpoints has vastly expanded the average organisation’s attack surface – address this by applying zero-trust best practice to endpoints Continue Reading

By

• Isla Sibanda

Top 10 Middle East stories of 2023

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

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Top 10 financial services and fintech stories of 2023

Generative AI is the buzzword on every financial services IT professional’s lips as the technology promises to accelerate the ongoing fintech revolution Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Beyond the office walls: Safeguarding remote workers from attack

Remote working has enabled people to work from almost anywhere but has piled pressure on cyber pros. Three years after Covid, how are best practices evolving and what can we expect going forward? Continue Reading

By

• Paul Lewis, Nominet

Zero-trust principles: Your gateway to securing remote workers

Remote working has enabled people to work from almost anywhere but has piled pressure on cyber pros. Three years after Covid, how are best practices evolving and what can we expect going forward? Continue Reading

By

• Michael Healey, Turnkey Consulting

Evolving best practice: What next for securing remote work?

Remote working has enabled people to work from almost anywhere but has piled pressure on cyber pros. Three years after Covid, how are best practices evolving and what can we expect going forward? Continue Reading

By

• Scott Burman

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 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Testing to improve remote worker security

Remote working has enabled people to work from almost anywhere but has piled pressure on cyber pros. Three years after Covid, how are best practices evolving and what can we expect going forward? Continue Reading

By

• Rowland Johnson

Security Think Tank: Anytime, anywhere access is achievable

Remote working has enabled people to work from almost anywhere but has piled pressure on cyber pros. Three years after Covid, how are best practices evolving and what can we expect going forward? Continue Reading

By

• Tim Holman, 2-sec

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 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: Sasha Jory, Hastings Direct

For a company aiming to be the biggest digital insurer in the UK, that means going cloud-first, and focusing on innovation for both customers and employees Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

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 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MPs have ‘little confidence’ in Making Tax Digital success

MPs say HMRC’s Making Tax Digital programme is riddled with widespread and repeating failures, and criticise the programme for failing to be open about the costs and increased burdens on taxpayers Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

‘Excited’ finance firms pump money into digital technology

Over three-quarters of finance firms are currently restricted in what they can spend on technology due to the global economic climate, but expect spending to resume next year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

India's Hexaware creates hundreds of jobs in UK

Hexaware opens IT services operation in Birmingham, with a plan to recruit 250 people in the region by 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

DORA raises the stakes for cloud use in financial services

The EU's DORA regulations will raise the stakes for cloud in financial services but resilience is more than just a tech issue, says NetApp's Steve Rackham Continue Reading

By

• Steve Rackham

DWP to surveil bank accounts of benefit claimants for fraud

The UK government has outlined how it plans to tackle benefit fraud by giving the Department for Work and Pensions new powers compelling banks to collect and share data on claimants’ bank accounts Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Three-quarters of finance executives expect generative AI to replace them

Survey reveals an expectation that GenAI will take over many of the finance executive roles currently held by people Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

JPMorgan Chase tops bank AI ranking

Report reveals that JPMorgan Chase is the world's top bank for AI, along with Capital One and Royal Bank of Canada, but Europeans are lagging behind Continue Reading

By

• Scarlet Charles

Interview: Dan Huddart, CTO, Homeprotect

After building up experience in the insurance sector, Homeprotect’s chief technology officer sought the freedom to innovate being offered at the rapidly scaling company Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

US government reinforces ICBC hack link to Citrix Bleed

US Treasury adds weight to reports that a ransomware gang gained access to the systems of Chinese bank ICBC by exploiting a critical Citrix flaw Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Million Brits could lose access to bank branch if closure rate continues

Even people in urban constituencies could lose access to a local bank branch, according to research Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lloyds Bank warns over rising threat of crypto scams

Report by Lloyds Banking Group finds there has been a 23% increase in cryptocurrency scams in 2023 compared with last year, targeting mostly younger investors Continue Reading

By

• Scarlet Charles

Shawbrook Bank slashes mortgage processing time through low code

Specialist business lending and savings bank is using Pegasystems’ low-code platform to rewrite and automate the customer journey Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ransomware attack on major Chinese lender disrupts financial markets

The financial services arm of one of the world’s largest banks was taken offline by a supposed LockBit ransomware attack, causing problems for US markets Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Visa launches artificial intelligence advisory service

Visa is giving its customers the opportunity to tap into its global network of AI experts through its AI Advisory Practice. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NatWest taps IBM skills for generative AI

NatWest and IBM are developing generative AI capabilities to expand the capabilities of the bank’s virtual customer assistant Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Netherlands starts building its own AI language model

Dutch government allocates €13.5m to develop an open artificial intelligence language model according to national values and guidelines. Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Cloud banking fintech unicorn cuts 50 staff

UK fintech unicorn reduces its total staff by about 7% with sales and marketing roles taking the biggest hit. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Banking should start testing out quantum ideas

The finance sector should not ignore quantum computing, even though the technology is not yet ready Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Lloyds bank kicks off Hyderabad operation

Lloyds Banking Group has opened its latest tech operation in Hyderabad, with plans to recruit around 600 IT experts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson on her AI Safety Summit goals

As the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park takes place, Computer Weekly caught up with Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson to find out what one of the UK’s most prominent AI advocates wants from proceedings Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The world's most advanced Arabic LLM is now available on open source

On 30 August 2023, Abu Dhabi-based Inception, a subsidiary of G42, announced the release of an Arabic large language model to open source Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Over a quarter of UK adults use buy now, pay later fintechs

Latest research from UK financial services regulator shows BNPL more likely to be used by people experiencing financial difficulty Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The implications of biased AI models on the financial services industry

The Bank of England has warned of the risk artificial intelligence models present in creating bias that could pose a threat to the UK’s financial services sector. How do those risks emerge and how they might be mitigated?   Continue Reading

By

• Jamie Rowlands

Finland shows off its new 20-qubit quantum computer

Anybody who scoffs at Finland’s lofty ambitions in the field of quantum computing should remember that not only is the country home to one of Europe's most successful companies (Nokia), but it also houses Europe’s most powerful supercomputer (LUMI). Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

UK Finance paints mixed picture of fraud as losses top £500m

UK losses to fraud in the first six months of the year topped £500m, but a slight decline in overall crime rates was observed, according to UK Finance’s latest data Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CDO interview: Carter Cousineau, vice-president of data and model governance, Thomson Reuters

The news and information provider places a premium on responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence, and central to that is the governance of data and the models surrounding it Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

DORA: Moving into a new era of digital resilience

The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act will come into force in just over a year, the majority of risk management professionals are only at the beginning of their planning journey. Kate Needham-Bennett of Fusion Risk Management explains how to get things moving Continue Reading

By

• Kate Needham-Bennett

Lloyds Bank launches digital identity app

Lloyds Bank has launched a digital identity app with tech startup Yoti, after it invested £10m in the firm Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Visa to invest $100m in generative AI startups

Payments giant investing in startups that focus on applying generative AI to commerce and payments Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

AI vs software outsourcing: An opportunity or a threat?

While artificial intelligence offers unprecedented opportunities for growth, efficiency and automation, it also raises pertinent questions about the future of software outsourcing Continue Reading

By

• Maxim Ivanov

HMRC names and shames non-compliant umbrella firms for running tax avoidance schemes

The government tax collection agency is stepping up its efforts to prevent contractors falling victim to non-compliant umbrella firms with three new names added to its list of known tax avoidance schemes Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Visa to fund AI scholarships for underrepresented students in government scheme

Payments giant supports UK scheme to increase diversity in the data and artificial intelligence sector through funding Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Insights from launching a developer-led bank

A software developer's approach to building a bank in the digital age. Continue Reading

By

• David Jarvis

Ending the online fraud epidemic

A different approach to managing personal data across the web is possible - and it could minimise online fraud, boost e-commerce, and help make the web more secure. So why isn't the government doing it? Continue Reading

By

• Jon Nash, Demos

Unregulated DeFi services abused in latest pig butchering twist

Pig butchering scammers are taking advantage of the unregulated nature of DeFi crypto trading apps to siphon off even more money from their victims, according to the latest findings of an ongoing investigation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government seeks industry views on cyber threat to UK CNI

The Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee is seeking evidence from the cyber sector as it launches an inquiry into the resilience of the UK's critical national infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Number of UK contactless payments rose by 30% last year

UK consumers are increasingly making contactless payments, with the number of payments using the technology up 30% last year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Banks less focused on metaverse technology than last year

Senior banking executives have reduced their focus on investigating metaverse technology in the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft fixes zero-days in Word and Streaming Service

September 2023 brings a light Patch Tuesday, with two zero-days and five critical vulnerabilities listed in the latest release Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

European enterprises to spend more on generative IT to close gap on US

European organisations are upping their spending on generative AI innovation, but face challenges recruiting the right people to support this Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

European fintech investment plummets, but more sustainable future lies ahead

Investment in European fintechs has seen a dramatic drop, but a more sustainable sector will result from investment discipline Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

University of Glasgow launches Centre for data science and AI

Scottish university will apply artificial intelligence and data science to help solve some of the world's biggest challenges Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HSBC collaborates on hybrid quantum optimisation

The bank, which wants to be at the forefront of quantum computing, is looking at how it can manage collateral assets more efficiently Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Sensitive NatWest customer files set to be returned after High Court agreement

Sensitive NatWest customer files set to be secured by bank after years in the home of a data breach whistleblower Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Interview: Ashish Gupta, head of EMEA, HCLTech

It’s not just enterprises that changed their operating models during and after Covid, but also the suppliers that took them on the journey, HCLTech Europe’s head explains Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Saudi Arabian fintech gets Mastercard boost

Saudi-based fintechs could soon benefit from Mastercard's extensive payments network Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London Stock Exchange plans blockchain-based market

The London Stock Exchange plans to have a blockchain-based trading venue available in the next 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Thousands of Klarna staff access ChatGPT Enterprise

Fintech unicorn Klarna has become an early adopter of the enterprise version of ChatGPT as it continues to focus on artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

July sees huge jump in open banking payments

The number of open banking payments in the UK have doubled over the past year, according to latest figures Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Zurich Insurance slashes ServiceNow application development time

Insurance giant cuts time it takes to complete development of ServiceNow applications by days Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Top-performing CISOs reserve time for professional development

Survey of chief information security officers conducted by Gartner sheds light on habits shared by the top-performing members of the profession Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber attacks in 2023 develop quicker as average dwell times plummet

The median attacker dwell time shrunk from 10 to eight days in the first seven months of 2023, and in the case of ransomware attacks it is down to just five days Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NatWest customer calls bank’s handling of breach of his data ‘disgusting’

A second NatWest customer has contacted Computer Weekly after finding out from a whistleblower that his sensitive personal data has been in her home for 14 years Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

TSB and Fintech Scotland lab open for applications

High street bank opens applications to its latest fintech programme in partnership with Fintech Scotland Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Bank of England core system experiences outage

The “beating heart” of the UK financial system stopped after a technical issue Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NatWest offers compensation to customer affected by data breach exposed by whistleblower

NatWest bank has offered compensation to a former customer affected by a data breach alongside around 1,600 other former and current customers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Why technology jobs are proving resilient

The clamour for technology professionals has become less frenetic in recent months but demand for IT skills remains high Continue Reading

By

• Andy Heyes and Rhona Carmichael, Harvey Nash, part of Nash Squared

Rise in fraudsters spoofing the websites of leading UK banks

Despite safeguards to protect customers from scams, UK retail banks are still seeing high volumes of fake phishing websites exploiting their brands, and the problem seems to be increasing in scope and scale Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chief data officer interview: Neema Raphael, Goldman Sachs

After two decades at Goldman Sachs, Neema Raphael tells Computer Weekly about his tech journey at one of the world’s biggest banks Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Mayor of London announces startup funding

Seven technology startups working on the Mayor of London’s Poverty Prevention Challenge will receive up to £50,000 each to further develop their proposals, designed to help alleviate the cost-of-living crisis for the capital’s most vulnerable Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Transforming the financial system's plumbing

Executive heading up the Bank of England’s core system replacement project says the financial services sector plumbing is getting the attention it deserves. Continue Reading

By

• Victoria Cleland

Bank of England’s project to replace ‘beating heart’ is foundation for continuous development

The Bank of England has reached a major milestone in its core system replacement programme, with next landmark in sight Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA