IT management

Biometrics ethics group addresses public-private use of facial recognition

Home Office’s Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group releases briefing note on the use of live facial recognition in public–private collaborations following a year-long investigation Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Revealed: Brits who fuelled ‘vicious’ conspiracy theory by Trump supporters

Trump supporters have apologised and paid millions in damages to the family of murdered Democratic Party staffer Seth Rich for promoting false allegations that Rich – not Russian agents – stole emails from the Democratic National Committee Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University

Commerzbank announces big job cuts and branch closures

German bank is closing hundreds of branches and cutting thousands of jobs as it reshapes for the digital age Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Manufacturing particularly at risk of Solorigate-linked breaches

Every fifth victim of the SolarWinds Solorigate/Sunburst attack was a manufacturing organisation, say researchers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Rethinking IT recruitment

IT job applications tend to look for skills in particular technologies, but for some tech roles, life skills and worldly experience are equally important Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Apprenticeships may be a solution to cyber skills shortage, say insiders

Cyber security professionals are open to new approaches to finding sorely needed talent, according to a poll Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Five key questions about Kubernetes backup answered

We look at when to back up containers, what to protect, the main methods of backup for Kubernetes and the main Kubernetes backup products available in the market Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

End of Emotet: A blow to cyber crime, but don’t drop your guard

The takedown of Emotet is a huge event with repercussions that will reverberate across the cyber criminal world, but unfortunately that’s not to say there will be much of a long-term impact Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Contactless payment limit could rise to £100 as FCA seeks industry views

UK financial services regulator is considering raising the contactless card payment limit to £100 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK government reviews law on access to land for digital infrastructure

Reacting to reports that agreements have been slow to conclude, holding up the roll-out of better mobile and broadband connectivity, UK government consults on changes to the legal framework for agreements on access to land for digital infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

TCS rings in the new year on a roll

India’s Tata Consultancy Services recorded one of its strongest third-quarter earnings and grew its brand value amid a global pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Pandemic response has improved privacy posture, says Cisco

Data privacy seems to be ‘coming of age’ to some extent and organisational responses to Covid-19 may be partly responsible, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Yorkshire Building Society migrating application development to improve customer satisfaction

Yorkshire Building Society is moving to new application development platform to support the creation of customer-friendly online services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Mimecast breach was work of SolarWinds attackers

Mimecast’s investigation into a January 2021 breach of its systems turns up evidence that the culprit was the same group that targeted SolarWinds in December Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Emotet botnet goes offline as cops seize servers

The Emotet botnet has been disrupted and knocked offline after a major international effort by law enforcement Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS Scotland uses ServiceNow to power vaccination and contact-tracing

ServiceNow is at the heart of NHS Scotland’s digital response to the coronavirus, supporting the mass vaccination programme Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How Nottinghamshire County Council saved loads of money on SAP

The council was paying £100,000 a year just to keep ECC patches up to date and needed to find savings to support frontline services Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Grindr complaint results in €9.6m GDPR fine

Norway’s data protection authority plans to apply a fine totalling 10% of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr’s revenues over its data sharing practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Emergency Apple updates patch exploited zero-days

Three vulnerabilities could give attackers full control of their target Apple devices, and must be patched immediately Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Latest Microsoft results show strength in Teams and Azure

Microsoft reports 50% growth in Azure and integration between Teams and ServiceNow, Workday and Salesforce Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

APAC career guide: How to become a DevOps engineer

A DevOps career can be highly rewarding, as long as you are open to learning new things and collaborating with team mates to solve problems in software development Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

After a push at the start, Mencap’s automation journey is gathering pace

UK charity was helped out by a bank at the start of an automation investigation that is now a project sweeping across the organisation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Australia’s IT spending set to bounce back in 2021

IT spending in Australia will grow by 4% this year, reversing a decline of 1% in 2020 as organisations seek to grow their digital chops Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

The ransomware routine: pages from the Secret IR Insider’s diary

The Secret Incident Response Insider shares behind-the-scenes stories of what really happens after organisations are hit by cyber attacks – and shows how they could have been avoided Continue Reading

By

• The Secret IR Insider, Check Point

Conservatives broke data law to racially profile millions

The Conservative Party acted illegally in collecting data that inferred voters’ ethnicity and religious background, a Select Committee has heard Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

North Korean state attacks legitimate security researchers

Threat researchers specialising in vulnerability research and development appear to be being targeted by a North Korean state-backed group Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Customers turn to cash as IT issue hits card payments at major supermarkets

IT problem at payment processing company has forced shoppers to resort to cash in Morrisons and Co-op stores Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Saudi IT spending to hit $11bn in 2021

Saudi Arabian organisations will spend about $11bn on IT this year, with emerging technologies high on shopping lists Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

ICO extends commissioner Denham’s term of office

Extension of Elizabeth Denham’s tenure as information commissioner will give the government more time to appoint her successor Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust launches digital service for HIV patients

Klick service triages patients according to their clinical needs and allows them to review results, manage appointments and complete health assessments Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cyber fraud a national security issue, says Rusi report

A report from the Rusi think tank calls for fresh approaches to how we think about fighting fraud Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Are security teams the unsung heroes of 2020?

After a year of unprecedented disruption thanks to Covid-19, it looks like remote working is set to remain with us for now, which means security strategies will change in 2021. What will this change look like, and what tools and services will be selling like hotcakes? Continue Reading

By

• Josh Bregman

Gartner: IT budgets shift to mature processes around remote business

The pandemic forced businesses to work remotely. Now, almost a year on, CIOs must consider the IT to run long-term remote business strategies Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Salad as a service: How tech could revolutionise farming

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how new technologies are supporting the rise of vertical farming, and could revolutionise food supply chains. We examine one of the biggest trends in the cloud – serverless computing. And Brexit has not yet ended the debate about UK-EU data protection. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Inside Grab’s DevOps practices

A senior software engineer at Grab offers a peek into the DevOps practices at one of Southeast Asia’s technology unicorns Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Brexit deal grants UK temporary data adequacy

The EU-UK Brexit deal has granted the UK temporary data adequacy to allow for the continued flow of data across borders, but the agreement has divided data protection experts Continue Reading

Cracking the message in a bottle

Between 2016 and 2019, a number of bottles washed ashore in Hamburg, each containing an ‘uncrackable’ message Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Are banks overburdened with responsibility for money lost to online scams?

Bank boss calls for cross-industry cooperation to reduce scams that trick people into making instant payments online Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Executive interview: Antony Roberts, Audi

The head of digital at Audi UK discusses how the luxury car company has revamped its online presence as it shifts gear to drive online sales Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

McLaren Group hires new CIO

Chris Hicks will take on the role as CIO for McLaren Group following the departure of Karen McElhatton in December 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Department for International Trade signs £2.6m deal with Capita

Deal will see department deploy a digital platform to distribute grants to small and medium-sized enterprises Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Security Think Tank: Time to rethink stopgap solutions

After a year of unprecedented disruption thanks to Covid-19, it looks like remote working is set to remain with us for now, which means security strategies will change in 2021. What will this change look like, and what tools and services will be selling like hot cakes? Continue Reading

By

• Paul Holland, Information Security Forum

HMRC criticised over continued ‘shortcomings’ in loan charge policy response

House of Lords committee tells HMRC it still has work to do to improve its response to past criticisms of its handling of the government’s controversial loan charge policy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Nine out of 10 UK card payments in 2020 were contactless

Contactless cards payments accounted for around 90% of card payments in the UK in 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

ICO resumes adtech investigation

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office was criticised for ending its investigation into alleged malpractice in advertising technology, but has now resumed its probe Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Where is Intel going to place its next strategic bet?

Intel is getting a new CEO and the company is on a mission to move beyond the x86, a processor architecture that it has defined and dominated Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Sepa data leaks as agency resists ransom demands

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is resisting extortion demands from a ransomware gang, but has suffered a data leak in retaliation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google threatens to cut off Australia

Google’s threat to end its Australian Search operation comes in the face of new legislation that would force it to pay media publishers for news content Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Immigration exemption in data protection law faces further legal challenge

Human rights groups set to take legal challenge against immigration exemption to Court of Appeal on the basis that everyone, regardless of their nationality or residence, should have their fundamental rights and freedoms protected as stated in the GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Hackney Council tenders for cyber security upgrade

Suppliers are being invited to tender for enhanced cyber security capabilities at ransomware victim Hackney Council Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How can healthcare organisations fight increased cyber crime in 2021?

As the Covid-19 pandemic enters what may be its most dangerous phase, we explore how healthcare organisations can ward off cyber threats while preserving their ability to deliver critical care Continue Reading

By

• Nicholas Fearn

Two-thirds of CISOs say they’ll be cyber attack victims this year

Security professionals are ever alert to the threats they face, but some still seem to think it is unlikely they will be attacked Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UKtech50 2021: Vote for the most influential person in UK technology

Our judges have picked a shortlist, and now we invite readers to tell us who should be chosen as the most influential person in the UK tech scene for 2021 – submit your vote now Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Interview: Tony Porter, chief privacy officer, Corsight AI

Tony Porter speaks to Computer Weekly about the changes in facial-recognition during his time as surveillance camera commissioner, the ethics of using the technology, and his new role as chief privacy officer at Corsight AI Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Incompetent cyber criminals leak data in opsec failure

Even cyber criminals need to pay attention to their information security posture, as this cautionary tale uncovered by Check Point reveals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS Business Services Authority launches digital strategy

NHS body’s digital strategy aims to change culture, practices and processes to create an environment where people can do their best Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Government needs to ‘take stock’ of digital progress, says Reform

Think-tank says Covid-19 has shown the importance of a ‘digitally enabled’ public sector, but there is still a long way to go to realise the full potential of technology Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Digital knowledge must be integral part of Dutch police training

Research reveals gaps in digital knowledge among Netherlands police, with calls for a training ‘roadmap’ to get officers up to speed to tackle cyber crime Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

IR35 private sector reforms: IT contractors warned to be wary of non-compliant umbrella companies

The proliferation of websites offering comparison site-like services for umbrella companies has prompted tax experts to warn IT contractors of the financial risk posed by firms offering ‘too good to be true’ take-home pay rates Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CW APAC: Trend Watch – CIO trends

Data is everywhere and businesses are seeking ways of using this data to benefit themselves, their customers and their employees. In this handbook, focused on CIO trends in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly reviews some key IT trends that are likely to shape the industry in 2021 and looks at what a number of companies in the region are doing in the field of big data analytics. Continue Reading

Should I be worried about MFA-bypassing pass-the-cookie attacks?

Malicious actors bypassed multi-factor authentication using so-called pass-the-cookie attacks, but how worrying is this and what is the risk to organisations? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

More subpostmasters’ prosecutions sent to appeal for wrongful conviction

Four more subpostmasters are to have their appeals against criminal convictions heard in the appeal courts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Where is the UK’s digital strategy?

While the devolved nations press on with their digital plans, the UK government has delayed its digital strategy – yet this is too important for the economy to be put off any further Continue Reading

By

• Amanda Brock, OpenUK

HSBC closing more branches as customers turn to digital channel

Bank announces branch closures as it reshapes its network for the digital age Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Architect slashes 20% off storage costs with Nasuni NAS gateway

LA-based Jerde Partnership replaced on-premise storage and backup with Nasuni hybrid cloud NAS gateways to provide seamless access across timezones to project files Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Malwarebytes also hit by SolarWinds attackers

The nation state group that attacked SolarWinds in December got inside Malwarebytes by exploiting privileged access to its Microsoft Office 365 tenant, the firm reveals Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: It’s time to secure the collaboration revolution

After a year of unprecedented disruption thanks to Covid-19, it looks like remote working is set to remain with us for now, which means security strategies will change in 2021. What will this change look like, and what tools and services will be selling like hotcakes? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

CIOs blame siloed IT teams and tools for misalignment

The inability of teams to see a single version of the truth is leading to a lot of time wasting among IT departments and businesses Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Could ambiguous rules spur IT personnel offshoring bonanza?

Could the combination of Brexit and ambiguous rules on recruitment enable businesses to hire IT staff from overseas to carry out work remotely? Continue Reading

By

• Yash Dubal

Value of GDPR fines shows dramatic increase in 2020

European regulators imposed almost €160m worth of fines during the past 12 months, a substantial rise Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The UK’s struggle with digital schooling

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the UK government’s sudden decision to close schools left many unable to provide children with online schooling - we examine the home learning challenges. Cyber security experts give us their forecasts for 2021. And we find out how technology supports the work of the Guide Dogs charity. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Click fraud levels reach new heights in pandemic

Small companies risk losing £10,000 a year, and enterprises as much as £520,000, to cyber criminals as click fraud volumes spike Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Criminals fiddled stolen Covid-19 vaccine data to damage trust

Malicious actors manipulated stolen Covid-19 data in a way clearly intended to damage public trust in vaccines, says the EMA Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: In 2021, enable, empower and entrust your users

After a year of unprecedented disruption thanks to Covid-19, it looks like remote working is set to remain with us for now, which means security strategies will change in 2021. What will this change look like, and what tools and services will be selling like hot cakes? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Gillespie

Fixing the cracks in public sector digital infrastructure

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the flaws in the UK's digital government set-up. The appointment of new IT leadership presents an ideal opportunity for the government to fix them Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Fetzer, Reform

MoD reports 18% rise in data loss incidents

The Ministry of Defence reported more than five hundred data security incidents in 2019-20, with seven serious enough to warrant disclosure to the ICO Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nottinghamshire uses citizen engagement tools to inform residents

Nottinghamshire Council is seeking to expand Granicus integrations after success in using its communications services to keep citizens informed during pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

UKtech50: The 2021 longlist

Each year, Computer Weekly launches its annual search for the most influential people in UK IT, where the tech industry nominates who it thinks should be in the top 50 – here is the longlist for 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

The UK tech sector has been a force for good during the Covid-19 pandemic

The UK's digital minister hails the tech companies that have helped people cope with many of the challenges of living through lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Dinenage, DCMS

Smarter use of AI means business process optimisation, not simply automation

To get the most from artificial intelligence and automation, IT leaders need to focus on where the technology adds real-world business value, not the trendy tech Continue Reading

By

• Rob Bamforth, Timefort

NCSC CyberFirst Girls 2021 contest kicks off

UK’s national cyber agency says it has already had hundreds of entrants in spite of the challenges presented by the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

150,000 records accidentally wiped from police systems

Home Office claims data wiped from national police systems only relates to people who have never been convicted of a crime or had further police action taken against them following an arrest Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

US cyber security agencies get $9bn in Biden plan

New funding proposals come as US government reels from the impact of the December 2020 SolarWinds attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nordic startups make advances in pet tech

Nordic tech startups are looking to take pet tech mainstream following the acceleration of the industry during the current pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Coalition proposes secure standard model for Covid-19 passports

Vaccination Credential Initiative is working to ensure that people vaccinated against Covid-19 can access their records in a secure, verifiable and privacy-preserving way Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tech partnership to drive Finland’s quantum computing project

Organisations in Finland are developing quantum computing capabilities through a state and private sector partnership Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

UK government urged to implement cloud-centric transformation plan

The approach to digital public services needs to be reinvented to catch up with global leaders, according to new research Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Etive to create digital identity trust scheme for residential property market

The tech company has received funding from Innovate UK to create a digital identity trust scheme, aiming to improve identity verification in the residential property sector Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

All EU states can take data protection cases against Facebook, says EU court

An opinion from the European Court of Justice has the potential to lead to a flood of privacy complaints against Facebook if upheld Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

UK government needs a digital reboot

The appointment of new digital leadership is a welcome start to what – if the UK is to thrive in a post-Covid, post-Brexit world – must become a wholesale reboot of digital government Continue Reading

By

• Daniel Korski

Experian calls for less bureaucratic data regulations

Open banking requires cross-industry collaboration, but sharing personal data requires explicit consent, which can become a bottleneck Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

London received quarter of all European tech funding in 2020

Technology startups in London raised near-record levels of venture capital investment last year despite uncertainty related to Brexit and Covid-19 Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Numbers stack up for UK open banking three years on

Three years have passed since open banking regulations came into force and momentum is gathering Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Scottish councils need better digital skills, report finds

Councils in Scotland still suffer from a lack of digital skills among staff despite progress during the pandemic, and the Scottish Local Government Digital Office has failed to deliver its goal of common platforms and joint procurement, according to Audit Scotland’s Accounts Commission Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Old, on-premise systems targeted in Hackney ransomware attack

Council reveals some more insight into how the Pysa ransomware gang infiltrated its systems by exploiting legacy technology Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Unforeseen consequences of new technologies put UK at risk

Lords committee told that the risks associated with various emerging digital technologies must be assessed together, with input from UK citizens, if the government is to avoid ‘siloisation’ of fundamentally interconnected problems Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

VVOLs and Pure win VM storage beauty parade for French chain

VMware Virtual Volumes and a move from NetApp to Pure Storage saw cosmetics retailer Beauty Success make performance gains and eliminate bottlenecks in ordering and logistics Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

CW Middle East: $60m venture capital fund targets 120 startups

Countries in the Middle East see technology as an industry of the future and are investing heavily in the sector as part of their economic diversification plans. Read in this issue how the latest development will see a $60m venture capital fund, based in Bahrain, invest in 120 early-stage startups across the Middle East region. Also read how Saudi Arabia has signed two agreements with Chinese IT suppliers as it strives to deliver its ambitious programme to diversify its economy. Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Plan for hybrid working to become normal

After a year of unprecedented disruption thanks to Covid-19, it looks like remote working is set to remain with us for now, which means security strategies will change in 2021. What will this change look like, and what tools and services will be selling like hot cakes? Continue Reading

By

• Martin Kuppinger, KuppingerCole

Court to rule on Facebook data sharing after Schrems drops legal challenge against Irish regulator

Irish High Court says it will issue a judgment as soon as possible over a draft decision by Ireland’s data protection commissioner to order Facebook to stop the transfer of data about EU citizens to datacentres in the US Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly