IT for government and public sector

Microsoft releases four critical security updates

Microsoft is to release four “critical” patches in its monthly Patch Tuesday security update, according to the advance notice. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hilary Reynolds latest universal credit programme director to move

Universal credit programme director Hilary Reynolds has moved off after just four months, the latest senior figure to leave the programme Continue Reading

Midlands health trust trials BlackBerry 10 OS on PlayBook with Z10 roll-out

The Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust tests the Blackberry 10 operating system (OS) for a mobile fleet deployment Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

MP adamant Universal Credit IT suppliers told to down tools

Universal Credit IT contractors have been told to down tools, says Stephen Timms, Labour MP for East Ham Continue Reading

"Universal credit contractors told to down tools," claim MPs

"Universal credit contractors told to down tools," claim MPs Continue Reading

What is RSA's build, buy, partner strategy?

Computer Weekly takes a closer look at RSA's build, buy, partner strategy Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How to tackle big data from a security point of view

Before leaping into big data, companies must be clear what they are trying to achieve, otherwise their investment will be wasted Continue Reading

By

• Peter Wood, First Base Technologies LLP

UK teams up with Estonia to develop digital public services

The UK government has signed an agreement with Estonia to work together on developing digital public services Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

RSA 2013: Suppliers need to prepare for new security vulnerability handling standards

Software makers and online service providers need to prepare for two ISO standards on vulnerability handling processes due by the end of 2013 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Health records should be protected like bank details, says BCS

The BCS and NHS say people should protect their online medical records in the same way they look after their bank details Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

RSA 2013: Obama cyber order will have significant effect, says DoHS

President Barack Obama’s executive order on cybersecurity is a “very big deal” says Mark Weatherford, deputy under-secretary for cybersecurity at the US Department of Homeland Security (DoHS). Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The Great Deverticalisation - part 2: The power of open

The public sector has the opportunity, through the power of 'open', to take the lead in creating organisations for the future success of UK plc Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson & Jerry Fishenden

Universal Credit has the hallmarks of another IT failure

Charities, housing associations and consultancies have warned that the Department for Work and Pensions’ £2.2bn Universal Credit programme has all the hallmarks of another public sector IT disaster. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Music companies critical of Google’s anti-piracy efforts

Music companies have accused Google of failing to fulfil a pledge not to give prominent rankings in search results to websites offering illegal music downloads. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Pitchford to head-up Universal Credit programme

David Pitchford, executive director of Major Projects Authority heads up the Universal Credit at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Bad outsourcing decisions cause 63% of data breaches

Bad outsourcing decisions nearly two-thirds of data breaches investigated by security firm Trustwave in the past year Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Grant Thornton uses Huddle for business support programme

Grant Thornton is using Huddle to share information and content as part of the £200m government-backed GrowthAccelerator Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HMRC alerts businesses to impending real-time PAYE changes

HMRC is notifying businesses about impending real-time information (RTI) changes to the PAYE payroll system Continue Reading

How to find the most vulnerable systems on your internal network

Most corporate networks share common vulnerabilities, but many could be mitigated with education in “hacker thinking” for technical staff Continue Reading

By

• Peter Wood, First Base Technologies LLP

CIO interview: David Matthewman, CIO, Open University

Three years after joining the Open University, CIO David Matthewman continues to push a strategic programme to deliver value and innovation Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Social media: A security challenge and opportunity

Generation Y workers are posing increasing security challenges to their employers as they share data unreservedly Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

EU cyber strategy aimed at boosting preparedness and cooperation

The European cyber security strategy addresses insufficient national preparedness and boosting co-operation in the region, says the EC Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Business avoids cloud over fear of government snooping

Almost half of IT professionals are deterred from keeping sensitive data in the cloud because of fear of government intervention and possible legal action, a survey has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Twitter strengthens login security after hacker attack

Days after a hacking attack, it has emerged that Twitter plans to strengthen its login security with two-factor authentication Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Raspberry Pi Model A computer goes on sale for £16

The latest version of the small single-board Raspberry Pi computer – Model A – has gone on sale in Europe at just £16 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The great deverticalisation – part 1: the street

Why do we persist in running vertically integrated organisations when standardising many of these processes would free us up to do things so much better, and more cheaply? Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson & Jerry Fishenden

Why has NAC, like DLP, failed to take off?

Why are organisations not investing in systems that are designed to keep malicious actors out of their networks? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Encryption is safe bet, says SafeNet

Encryption is the only thing that can give peace of mind to CIOs and CISOs, says Dave Hansen, president and CEO of security firm SafeNet Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO hits Sony with £250,000 data breach penalty

The Information Commissioner’s office (ICO) has fined Sony Computer Entertainment Europe £250,000 for breaching the Data Protection Act Continue Reading

Defra plans £80m agile CAP system

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is planning a single integrated £80m Common Agricultural Policy system Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Why has DLP never taken off?

Why is data loss prevention (DLP) technology not being adopted if it provides the very protection most businesses need? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GDS must not become an outlier, warns Martha Lane Fox

The Government Digital Service (GDS) must not remain an outlier to the way the public sector delivers online services, says Martha Lane Fox Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

UK citizens unwilling to embrace big data

The public sector could improve services by imitating the private sector’s use of big data, but citizens are overwhelmingly against the idea Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

G-Cloud powers Huddle’s public sector sales growth

Cloud collaboration firm Huddle saw its public sector sales double to 30% of all revenues this year due to uptake generated through the CloudStore Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Met Police to equip officers with 30,000 mobile devices

The Metropolitan Police wants to roll out 30,000 mobile and tablet devices to officers this year to give better information on the beat Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Post Office wants to get to bottom of IT system allegations

A system that set out to modernise the Post Office in 1996 is under the spotlight after claims that Horizon accounting system is error prone Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Post Office announces amnesty for Horizon evidence

The Post Office is calling for evidence from people who have used the Horizon IT system which some have blamed for accounting discrepancies Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Oracle rushes out patches for Java zero days

Oracle has released two out-of-band security updates for the latest zero day vulnerabilities in Java Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Disable Java to protect from latest zero-day

Security researchers are warning of a zero-day vulnerability in all versions of Java, including the latest Java 7 update 10 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government extends employer £1,500 apprenticeship grant for further 12 months

Government and National Apprenticeship Service extend AGE 16-24 grant for further 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Kayleigh Bateman, Computer Weekly

Software piracy international in scope, says Fast

The scale of software piracy is both international in scope and military in its execution, says the Federation Against Software Theft (Fast) Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IT contractors seek to fill skills gap left by public sector cuts

IT contractors are increasingly confident about job opportunities in the public sector due to reductions in the civil service's head count, finds research Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

UK Border Agency tenders for security systems

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) and Border Force is tendering for an integrated border security system Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

VoIP awareness up but user numbers remain low

A report from Ofcom claims four in five consumers know what voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is, but just 29% use the technology Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

MPs slam the award of government contracts to tax-avoiding IT firms

MPs allege that Accenture used revenue from its deal with HMRC to reduce its tax bill Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

IT spending to rise in 2013

Find out what analysts are predicting for technology in Europe this year, including changes in budgets and how companies can reduce costs and improve sustainability. Continue Reading

Ernst & Young email keyword analysis identifies fraudsters

Fraud investigators have revealed the most common words used in email conversations by employees engaged in rogue trading and fraud Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Business priorities: what to protect, monitor and test

How information security professionals can prioritise what to protect, monitor and test in the light of current budget and resource constraints Continue Reading

Executive brings own software which is adopted by business

Rochdale Development agency (RDA) has started using cloud based Huddle collaboration software after a development officer started using it at work. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Immigrants wrongly told to leave UK due to inaccurate data

Some immigrants have been accidentally contacted by Capita and told to leave the UK as a result of inaccurate data used in a government push to remove thousands of illegal immigrants Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ofcom proposes early exit to combat price rises

Regulator Ofcom says users should be able to leave mobile, broadband and landline contracts without charge if their provider ups the price Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Post Office admits that Horizon system needs more investigation

Campaigners have forced the Post Office to look again at a computer system blamed for sub-postmasters being wrongly accused of false accounting Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2012

Ten articles that illustrate some of the major trends in cyber crime in 2012 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Facebook pays £2.6m tax on £840m profit

The social networking giant faces criticism for paying minimal tax by pushing all of its operations outside of the US through Ireland Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

Government to cut large frameworks following procurement review

Government is to put an end to large ICT frameworks, following a review into the efficacy of procurement practices for SMEs Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Essex County Council signs £81m PSN deal

Essex County Council has signed a £81m network and telephony deal to introduce a Public Services Network (PSN) across its 200,000 users Continue Reading

Liam Maxwell named as first government chief technology officer

Liam Maxwell becomes the first Whitehall CTO, in the latest stage of a major shake-up of the government IT leadership organisation Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Government IT reformers criticise IT leadership shake-up

Government IT reformers have criticised plans to give procurement chief Bill Crothers a more prominent role in the IT leadership team Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

How to preserve forensic evidence in the golden hour after a breach

There is a golden hour at the outset where a clear head and good planning can make or break any subsequent forensic investigation Continue Reading

By

• Martin Roots, NIIP

Ghost Shell hacktivists publish over a million credentials

The Ghost Shell group, an offshoot of the Anonymous hacking collective has published the log-in details from 1.6 million accounts Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK CIOs see EU regulation as key

A third of UK CIOs are more concerned with EU regulation, such as the data protection directive, than their own local laws, a study has revealed. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK government jobs website exploited by hackers

Hackers have been able to exploit security flaws in a new government jobs website to steal personal information about job applicants Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How to secure Macs in the enterprise

Apple computers are becoming increasingly used in the enterprise - we look at how to securely introduce Macs in the corporate network Continue Reading

By

• Rob Buckley

MPs call for wider promotion of mutuals beyond Whitehall

Mutuals need to be effectively promoted across the whole public sector, not just Whitehall, say MPs Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

CW Buyer's Guide: Government IT

This 9 page Computer Weekly Buyer's Guide takes you through the UK government's open source initiatives and explains how they could benefit your business. Continue Reading

HMRC slammed for 'undue complacency' on RTI systems

Report labels HMRC “unduly complacent” about the roll-out of the Real Time Information (RTI) system crucial to the Universal Credit programme Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

G-Cloud success depends on champions and a change in attitude

G-Cloud director Denise McDonagh has called for public sector champions to push forward adoption of the service. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

G-Cloud ramps up for next generation of government IT procurements

The G-Cloud has a new framework and calls for it to become a blueprint for all government IT procurement, but what challenges lie ahead? Continue Reading

Capita set to win £1.7bn Staffordshire outsourcing deal

Capita has been named preferred bidder in an educational support services joint venture with Staffordshire County Council, in a deal worth £1.7bn over 20 years. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Zero-day exploit for Yahoo Mail goes on sale

Hacker sells $700 zero-day exploit for Yahoo Mail that allows attacker to use cross-site scripting vulnerability to steal cookies and hijack accounts Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security needs to be integral part of life, says McAfee

The world is becoming increasingly connected and security and privacy are integral to modern society, says Raj Samani, CTO of McAfee Europe Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UKtech50 2012 - The most influential people in UK IT

We run down the top 20 names from this year's Computer Weekly UKtech50 list of the 50 most influential people in UK IT Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

UKtech50 2012 - The most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly has announced the third UKtech50, our annual definitive list of the real movers and shakers in UK IT Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Cyber criminals target Skype, Facebook and Windows users

Cyber criminals targeted users of Skype, Facebook and Windows using multiple Blackhole exploits in October, according to security firm GFI Software Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government wants suppliers to reveal UK taxes

Government officials are considering the viability of ordering suppliers bidding for contracts to disclose the tax they pay relative to UK sales Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Birmingham Metropolitan College cuts IT procurement time and cost

Birmingham Metropolitan College uses cloud-based procurement to reduce the cost and time it takes to buy IT equipment Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nasa to encrypt data after latest breach

Nasa is to encrypt all its mobile computers after the loss of a laptop containing personal information about more than 10,000 staff Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

First departmental sites move to Gov.uk

Two government departments have migrated onto the Gov.uk site, as part of the first moves to bring all departmental information under a single domain. Continue Reading

NHS reiterates commitment to digitise patient records by 2015

The Department of Health has reiterated its commitment to get all patient records online by 2015 Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

DWP CIO Philip Langsdale oversees Universal Credit overhaul

The Department for Work and Pensions CIO Philip Langsdale oversees an overhaul of the DWP’s flagship Universal Credit programme Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Universal Credit on-track - and thanks to agile, says discharged IT boss

Universal Credit is not turning into a car crash, the programme's discharged boss has told Computer Weekly.Speaking out after he and other managers were moved off the unfinished project, Steve ... Continue Reading

By

• Mark Ballard

Many UK firms underestimate cost of data breaches, study finds

Many UK organisations are still failing to understand the implications and costs of data breaches, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hacking attempts to top one billion in Q4, predicts NCC Group

One billion hacking attempts will be made globally in the final quarter of 2012, according to information assurance firm NCC Group Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Software issues risk delaying Universal Credit by one year, according to reports

The IT underpinning the government’s flagship £2.2bn Universal Credit programme is again being called into question Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Twitter apologises for unnecessary hacking warnings

Twitter has apologised after telling members their accounts had been hacked and forcing them to reset their passwords Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Stuxnet hit Chevron’s systems, the energy giant admits

US energy giant Chevron has revealed that it was hit by the Stuxnet virus in 2010 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government departments get go-ahead to use iPhones for sensitive data

Government departments have been given the go-ahead to use iPhones to send and receive sensitive emails Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Police arrest man for DDoS attacks on Theresa May sites

Police have arrested a 41-year-old man in connection with a cyber attack on websites connected to home secretary Theresa May Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Universal Credit programme director Malcolm Whitehouse steps down

Malcolm Whitehouse, programme director for the government's £2.2bn Universal Credit project, has stepped down Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Parliamentary committee joins criticism of draft communications data bill

Home secretary Theresa May faced stern criticism before a Parliamentary committee hearing evidence on the Draft Communications Data Bill Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government dips toe in water for single ERP

The government is to test the feasibility of moving to a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform across Whitehall Continue Reading

Apple squashes BlackBerry as Brent Borough deploys iPads

Brent Borough Council replaces BlackBerry and deploys MobileIron to securely manage almost 3,000 iPads and iPhones Continue Reading

Free mobile apps a threat to privacy, study finds

Free mobile apps pose a serious threat to privacy because of their ability to capture large amounts of user information Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IT security budgets mismatched to hacker targets, study shows

IT security budgets are not being used to provide defence technologies in some areas most likely to be targeted by hackers, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cheshire Constabulary polices network with SolarWinds

Police force in Cheshire uses SolarWinds’ infrastructure monitoring tools to keep its IT out of trouble Continue Reading

ACPO use online crime reporting company

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and charity Crimestoppers is using online self-reporting platform Facewatch, designed to reduce low-level crime. Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

Government expected to unveil eight IDA suppliers for online services

The government is to announce suppliers – including PayPal, BT and the Post Office – to provide identity assurance (IDA) for online public services Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

ICO hits Stoke-on-Trent City Council with £120,000 fine

Stoke City Council has breached the Data Protection Act, for the second time in two years, after details of a child protection legal case were emailed to the wrong person. Continue Reading

By

• Jennifer Scott, TechTarget

UK public sector contracts keep Atos Origin Q3 results buoyant

Large public sector contracts buoy IT services company Atos Origin, which has reported double-digit growth in the UK for its third quarter Continue Reading

By

• Kathleen Hall, TechTarget

CSC struggling to make a profit from Royal Mail outsourcing deal

CSC has stemmed losses in its 10-year outsourcing deal with Royal Mail through job cuts, tax breaks and relief payments, according to accounts Continue Reading