IT for telecoms and internet organisations
Telecoms is one of the largest business sectors, and communications providers often have large IT budgets and are early adopters of new technologies. Our news and analysis of this important industry looks at how telecommunications firms, ISPs and other internet companies are using IT, and the regulatory issues that affect the services they provide.
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News
20 Dec 2024
Top 10 data and ethics stories of 2024
Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 data and ethics stories of 2024 Continue Reading
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News
19 Dec 2024
LockBit ransomware gang teases February 2025 return
An individual associated with the LockBit ransomware gang has broken cover to tease details of a new phase of the cyber criminal operation's activity, which they claim is set to begin in February 2025 Continue Reading
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News
09 Apr 2024
Is a cyber arms control treaty out of reach?
The world needs cyber arms control more than ever, but the challenges facing a multilateral agreement will be hard to surmount, according to researchers at Germany’s Digital Society Institute Continue Reading
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News
09 Apr 2024
Police forces check intelligence and criminal databases after errors discovered in O2 phone data
Criminal Bar Association calls for information about reliability of communications data used in criminal trials to be disclosed Continue Reading
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Opinion
03 Apr 2024
Security Think Tank: Banning ransomware payments is not so straightforward
In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading
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News
03 Apr 2024
RDP abused in over 90% of cyber attacks, Sophos finds
Threat actors continue to see great success using simple, tried and tested methods, and many defenders are failing to do the basics Continue Reading
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Opinion
02 Apr 2024
Security Think Tank: How to tackle the scourge of ransomware?
In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading
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Opinion
01 Apr 2024
Security Think Tank: Ransomware lessons from the armed forces
In the wake of renewed calls for lawmakers to consider enacting legal bans on ransomware payments, the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank weighs in to share their thoughts on how to tackle the scourge for good. Continue Reading
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News
29 Mar 2024
Organisations getting better at spotting identity fraud
As the barriers to committing identity fraud continue to drop, organisations should consider more sophisticated technical measures to successfully up their game, according to a report Continue Reading
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News
27 Mar 2024
Cyber spies, not cyber criminals, behind most zero-day exploitation
Analysis from Google has found that zero-day vulnerabilities are much more heavily exploited for espionage purposes than for financially motivated cyber crime Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2024
Shareholders win when businesses do better at cyber
The more advanced a company’s cyber security performance, and the more engaged its board is with security issues, the greater the return for shareholders, a report has found Continue Reading
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News
25 Mar 2024
Which? calls for government action on fake banking sites
Amid high volumes of spoofed, fraudulent banking websites, Which? is calling for the government to implement new legal obligations for domain registrars Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2024
Court finds EncroChat hacked messages admissible as former footballer is jailed
A judge in ‘lead’ EncroChat case found that messages obtained by police from the encrypted phone network can be lawfully used in evidence Continue Reading
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News
21 Mar 2024
NCSC guidance to help CEOs work through cyber incidents
The NCSC has published in-depth guidance on how business leaders should respond to a cyber attack or data breach. Learn about some of the key steps you will need to follow Continue Reading
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News
21 Mar 2024
Three UK sees top-line revenue growth but first EBIT loss since 2010
UK mobile network operator reports earnings loss for the first time since 2010 but growth in certain customer segments driven by business-to-business, 5G, home broadband and Smarty service Continue Reading
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News
20 Mar 2024
Ukrainians crack network that stole 100m email, social accounts
Three members of an organised cyber criminal group who hacked and appropriated personal email and social media accounts face up to 15 years in prison Continue Reading
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News
20 Mar 2024
UK’s cyber resilience stagnates as more fall victim to attacks
The government is calling on businesses to ramp up their cyber protections as study shows improvements to resilience are stagnating amid an ever-growing volume of attacks Continue Reading
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News
18 Mar 2024
Spring Budget risks funding legally questionable police tech
Open legal questions around how UK police are using facial recognition and cloud technology could undermine the £230m investment committed in the Spring Budget to “time and money-saving technology” for police Continue Reading
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News
18 Mar 2024
The Security Interviews: Alex Yampolskiy, SecurityScorecard
Alex Yampolskiy conceived the idea for risk management specialist SecurityScorecard after getting stung by a SaaS supplier that was being cavalier with its customer data. He tells his story to Computer Weekly Continue Reading
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News
18 Mar 2024
Deep fake AI services on Telegram pose risk for elections
Deep fake services advertised on Telegram and other platforms pose a risk to upcoming elections in Europe, Asia and the US Continue Reading
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News
17 Mar 2024
UK’s AI ambitions pointless while cyber security is still neglected
The UK’s AI ambitions may be at considerable risk without stronger cyber defences across the private and public sectors Continue Reading
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News
15 Mar 2024
UK government calls on comms firms to limit installation of telegraph poles
After public demonstrations, minister urges communications industry to ‘do whatever it takes’ to share existing infrastructure to avoid ‘inappropriately or unnecessarily throwing up’ new telegraph poles Continue Reading
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News
13 Mar 2024
US authorities move a step closer to banning TikTok
Lawmakers in Washington DC have moved a step closer to enacting a broad national ban on controversial video app TikTok in the US, with global ramifications Continue Reading
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News
13 Mar 2024
Microsoft AI-powered cyber service to go live in April
After a year being previewed by beta customers, Microsoft’s much vaunted Copilot for Security service is about to go on general release, promising time savings and improved accuracy for hard-pressed security pros Continue Reading
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News
12 Mar 2024
March Patch Tuesday throws up two critical Hyper-V flaws
Two critical vulnerabilities in Windows Hyper-V stand out on an otherwise unremarkable Patch Tuesday Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2024
TechUK calls for next government to introduce ‘industrial strategy’ for AI
Trade group TechUK publishes blueprint calling for winner of next election to boost tech startups, digitise government services and accelerate technology R&D Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2024
Unexpected costs hit many as they move to cloud storage
A Wasabi survey of cloud storage customers finds more moving to the cloud, but they are experiencing busted budgets and unexpected fees, and expect big demands from artificial intelligence workloads Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2024
Banning ransomware payments back on the agenda
The idea of banning ransomware payments to cyber criminals is back on the agenda, with former NCSC chief Ciaran Martin arguing that tougher measures need to be taken Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Mar 2024
Ivanti vulnerabilities explained: Everything you need to know
A series of vulnerabilities in Ivanti products have caused concern worldwide. Delve into some of the key issues arising from the Ivanti disclosures, looking at the vulnerabilities and their impact, what affected users should do, and learn about new developments Continue Reading
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News
29 Feb 2024
Home Office GPS tagging of asylum seekers breaches data protection law
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued an enforcement notice against the Home Office after finding its programme to tag asylum seekers with GPS monitors breaches data protection law Continue Reading
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News
28 Feb 2024
75% of third-party breaches target software, IT supply chains
Data drawn from SecurityScorecard’s telemetry reveals how supply chain breaches are becoming a weapon of choice for threat actors Continue Reading
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News
28 Feb 2024
Users love their cyber teams, but find them frustrating
Despite strong support for security teams, a good number of ordinary workers see them as obstructive to business goals, and would like to see them operate more transparently Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2024
Black Basta and Bl00dy ransomware gangs exploiting ConnectWise vulns
More ransomware gangs have been observed exploiting two dangerous vulnerabilities in ConnectWise ScreenConnect software, prompting new warnings for users to get patching Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2024
VulnCheck bug listing to help track new threats quicker
Exploit intelligence firm VulnCheck launches a proprietary Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue in hopes of improving end-user access to intel on emerging threats and reaching those that the likes of CISA do not Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2024
Majority of UK employees ‘willingly gamble’ with security
Human-centric threats originating from employees continue to damage organisations both financially and reputationally, according to a report Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2024
Cozy Bear and other APTs changing tack as cloud adoption increases
A change in APT tactics has been observed resulting from greater adoption of cloud-based services, according to the NCSC Continue Reading
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News
23 Feb 2024
ConnectWise users see cyber attacks surge, including ransomware
ConnectWise ScreenConnect users who have yet to patch against a critical vulnerability are now being targeted by a barrage of cyber attacks, including ransomware Continue Reading
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Opinion
22 Feb 2024
How can we adapt work practices to protect CISO mental health?
Cyber leaders are finding it harder to keep up with security requirements than just two years ago, risking a domino effect of dissatisfaction, burnout and eventually, resignation Continue Reading
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News
21 Feb 2024
CVE volumes set to increase 25% this year
The number of reported Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures is likely to grow significantly in 2024, hitting a new high of almost 35,000, according to Coalition, a cyber insurance specialist Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2024
Dutch Supreme Court approves use of EncroChat evidence
Defence lawyers plan appeal to European Court of Human Rights after Supreme Court upholds a conviction based on intercepted messages from the EncroChat encrypted phone network Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2024
Microsoft patches two zero-days for Valentine’s Day
Two security feature bypasses impacting Microsoft SmartScreen are on the February Patch Tuesday docket, among more than 70 issues Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2024
Security experts: Investigatory powers plans will delay security updates
Cyber security experts warn that government proposals to amend the Investigatory Powers Act will limit tech companies’ ability to respond to security threats and could hamper the use of end-to-end encryption Continue Reading
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News
13 Feb 2024
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
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News
08 Feb 2024
Executive alleged to be behind EncroChat encrypted phone network arrested
A businessman allegedly behind EncroChat, an encrypted phone network that was used by organised crime groups, has been extradited from the Dominican Republic to France Continue Reading
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News
07 Feb 2024
NCSC warns CNI operators over ‘living-off-the-land’ attacks
Malicious, state-backed actors may well be lurking in the UK’s most critical networks right now, and their operators may not even know until it is too late, warn the NCSC and its partners Continue Reading
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News
07 Feb 2024
Dozens of surveillance companies are supplying spyware to governments, says Google
Google’s Threat Analysis Group has identified 40 companies involved in selling and supplying security exploits and spyware services to governments Continue Reading
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Opinion
07 Feb 2024
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
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News
06 Feb 2024
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
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News
25 Jan 2024
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
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News
24 Jan 2024
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
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News
24 Jan 2024
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
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News
24 Jan 2024
Salesforce’s bug bounty programme paid out $3m in 2023
Ethical hackers disclosed more than 4,000 vulnerabilities to Salesforce last year through its bug bounty programme, and received over $3m in rewards Continue Reading
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News
23 Jan 2024
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
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News
23 Jan 2024
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
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News
22 Jan 2024
Chat control: Tech companies warn ministers over EU encryption plans
Tech companies have written to EU ministers to urge them to back the European Parliament, rather than the European Commission, over proposed regulations to police child abuse Continue Reading
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News
18 Jan 2024
Tech firms: Investigatory Powers review will undermine privacy of UK citizens
Trade group TechUK argues in a briefing sent to the Home Office that proposed amendments to the Investigatory Powers Bill could have a far-reaching impact on privacy and security Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Jan 2024
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
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Opinion
16 Jan 2024
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
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News
11 Jan 2024
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
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News
10 Jan 2024
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
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News
09 Jan 2024
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
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News
03 Jan 2024
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
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News
02 Jan 2024
China’s UNC4841 pivots to new Barracuda ESG zero-day
The Chinese state threat actor behind a series of cyber attacks on Barracuda Networks customers embarked on a campaign targeting the supplier’s email security products in the run-up to Christmas Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Dec 2023
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
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News
21 Dec 2023
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
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Opinion
20 Dec 2023
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
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Opinion
20 Dec 2023
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
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Opinion
20 Dec 2023
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
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News
20 Dec 2023
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
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Opinion
19 Dec 2023
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
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Opinion
19 Dec 2023
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
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News
13 Dec 2023
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
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News
13 Dec 2023
Critical UK infrastructure a ‘hostage of fortune’ to ransomware
A lack of ransomware planning and preparedness at the highest levels of government is leaving UK operators or critical national infrastructure dangerously exposed, according to a Joint Committee report Continue Reading
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04 Dec 2023
Collaboration paramount in KPN’s successful business transformation
KPN tells Oracle CloudWorld 2023 how it transformed when its legacy systems became obstacles to supporting its customers on their digital journeys Continue Reading
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News
01 Dec 2023
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
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News
30 Nov 2023
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
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News
27 Nov 2023
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
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News
13 Nov 2023
Rogue state-aligned actors are most critical cyber threat to UK
The prospect of rogue nation-state-aligned attackers bringing down the UK’s critical infrastructure is keeping the NCSC up at night Continue Reading
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Opinion
10 Nov 2023
How the Online Safety Act will impact businesses beyond Big Tech
The Online Safety Act will impact an estimated 100,000 online services in the UK and overseas Continue Reading
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News
07 Nov 2023
Unesco unveils seven-point anti-disinformation plan
United Nations body outlines seven proposals for civil society, governments, regulators and tech platforms to adopt to combat the source of disinformation Continue Reading
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News
06 Nov 2023
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
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News
01 Nov 2023
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
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News
27 Oct 2023
Tech firms cite risk to end-to-end encryption as Online Safety Bill gets royal assent
Tech firms continue to be concerned that the Online Safety Bill could undermine end-to-end encryption despite government reassurances Continue Reading
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News
27 Oct 2023
Germany: European Court opinion kicks questions over EncroChat back to national courts
Germany lawfully obtained data on German EncroChat users from France, but whether the evidence is legally admissible is a matter for national courts Continue Reading
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News
26 Oct 2023
ChatGPT, Bard, lack effective defences against fraudsters, Which? warns
Consumer advocacy Which? warns that popular generative AI tools are vulnerable to loopholes that render existing protections against malicious usage easily bypassed Continue Reading
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News
25 Oct 2023
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
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News
25 Oct 2023
1Password caught up in Okta support breach
After breaches at BeyondTrust and Cloudflare, 1Password, a third customer of Okta operating in the same space, has revealed that it too was impacted in a breach of the IAM house’s support systems Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2023
Kaspersky opens up over spyware campaign targeting its staffers
Kaspersky has shared more details of the TriangleDB spyware that was used against its own workforce by an unknown APT group Continue Reading
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News
24 Oct 2023
Customers speak out over Okta’s response to latest breach
Customers of identity specialist Okta have been attacked via a compromise of its systems, and are claiming Okta’s response leaves something to be desired Continue Reading
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News
20 Oct 2023
Collaboration paramount in KPN’s successful business transformation
KPN tells Oracle CloudWorld 2023 how it transformed when its legacy systems became obstacles to supporting its customers on their digital journeys Continue Reading
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Opinion
04 Oct 2023
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
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News
03 Oct 2023
Top science journal faced secret attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group
A conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists mounted an extraordinary campaign against one of the world’s most prestigious science journals – part of a series of joint investigations between Byline Times and Computer Weekly Continue Reading
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News
27 Sep 2023
Researchers offer free threat briefings on Vegas casino hackers
Permiso, a cloud detection and response startup, is making its threat intel team available to speak on Scattered Spider, the group behind recent cyber attacks on MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment Continue Reading
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News
20 Sep 2023
Parliament passes sweeping Online Safety Bill but tech companies still concerned over encryption
Ofcom will consult on standards to enforce new powers, but tech companies remain concerned about the impact of the bill’s ‘spy clause’, which could require them to scan encrypted messages Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2023
Braverman puts pressure on Meta to pause end-to-end encryption plans
The home secretary is calling on Meta to halt its plans to introduce encrypted messaging services on Facebook and Instagram until the company puts measures in place to detect abuse Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2023
New revelations from the Snowden archive surface
A decade after Snowden exposed NSA’s mass surveillance in cooperation with the British GCHQ, only about 1% of the documents have been published – but three major facts can finally be revealed thanks to a doctoral thesis in applied cryptography by Jacob Appelbaum Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2023
Nominet and European counterparts link up on intelligence sharing
The new European TLD ISAC, a collaborative project between top-level domain providers across Europe, aims to enhance their collective security posture to better protect internet users Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2023
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
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News
15 Sep 2023
TikTok fined €345m under GDPR for failing to protect children’s privacy
Data protection regulators warn social media companies to take all necessary measures to protect children’s privacy Continue Reading
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News
15 Sep 2023
UK space sector needs more people with AI skills, according to survey
Space sector survey shows machine learning and artificial intelligence skills are highly sought after, as the industry struggles to recruit and retain people with the necessary talent Continue Reading
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News
14 Sep 2023
As vehicle safety regulations loom, carmakers fret over cyber risks
Global, UN-backed car safety and security regulations come into force next year, and automotive bosses say they are not only unprepared, but “swamped” by a tide of compliance and security risks Continue Reading
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News
13 Sep 2023
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