IT news in your industry sector

Ransom DDoS attacks on the rise

The use of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to extort money from organisations is on the rise, warns security firm Kaspersky Lab Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fruit firm W B Chambers uses IFS suite to grow business

W B Chambers, a Kentish fruit farm, has chosen IFS to support its business growth and to guard against the labour pool uncertainties of Brexit Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Apple share price reaches record high on quarterly results

Apple’s share price rose 6% in after-hours trading to reach a record high in response to the company’s quarterly financial report Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Imperial College, University of Edinburgh and Harvard to run NHS Digital Academy

Consortium comprising Imperial College, Harvard University and the University of Edinburgh has been chosen to run three-year, £6m virtual academy aimed at upskilling CIOs and CCIOs Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

The fields of Athenry – how Apple’s datacentre plans are causing turmoil in a small Irish town

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look into Apple’s controversial plans to build a huge datacentre in a small town in the west of Ireland, and hear the local arguments it has caused. We find out how the Met Office is managing the vast quantities of data it uses for weather forecasting. And we examine Google plans to bring artificial intelligence tools to the job recruitment market. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Why Facebook’s AI termination raises safety concerns

Revelations that researchers at Facebook had to switch off two bots that went rogue have raised questions about the safety of artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Parliament’s digital chief quits to become Arup CIO

Rob Greig is leaving in September for a new role in the private sector Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

OVH opens first UK datacentre in south London

French cloud provider OVH has opened the doors on its first datacentre in the UK, slightly later than planned Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

CIA hacking tools for Mac OS and Linux exposed by WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks has exposed hacking tools targeting the Mac and Linux operating systems in the latest of its series of leaks allegedly from the US Central Intelligence Agency Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Tech suppliers assess the latest iteration of GDS

The general election has passed by, new ministers are in place, and so the Government Digital Service (GDS) is coming back out of its shell. As it embarks on a new parliamentary cycle, GDS is a ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

GDS wants IT suppliers to use its GaaP products – but won’t offer service guarantees

The Government Digital Service encourages tech firms to adopt the platform services it has developed – but can’t offer any service or support guarantees Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Radiation detection devices open to cyber attack, researcher finds

A security researcher has discovered numerous security flaws in multiple devices that are used to detect radiation in critical facilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Adobe to kill off Flash Player by end of 2020

Adobe has announced it is to stop updating and distributing Flash Player in just over three years’ time Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Big data means big risk, Swedish Transport Agency leak shows

The Swedish Transport Agency exposed sensitive information by transferring its databases to a third party cloud provider without following data protection procedures Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

AA Ireland turns to predictive analytics in fraud crackdown

Roadside assistance company invests in analytics software to fight fraud and introduce dynamic pricing after its split with the AA Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Nordea deploys AI to speed up customer service

Nordea is reaping the rewards of its fintech investments through its latest project to use artificial intelligence to support customers Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

How the DVLA is making driving digital

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we hear from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) about how it is becoming a digital hub for motoring and moving away from its legacy IT. Our latest buyer’s guide examines the future of data management. And we look at the importance of understanding the small print in your software licensing agreements. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

UAE hotel upgrades wireless network and internet connectivity

Beach resort completes major project to revamp its wireless infrastructure with TP-Link technologies Continue Reading

By

• Edward Banda

Mastercard outlines future digital payment platforms after improvements to Qkr

Mastercard has developed its mobile app, Qkr, for spectators at The Open Championship. The improvements further demonstrate new digital payment platforms offered by the company Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Tesco expands reach for same-day grocery delivery

Supermarket retailer Tesco announces it will be extending its offering of same-day delivery for groceries to across the UK Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Daimler and Bosch show off autonomous valet parking

A test of an app-based autonomous valet service is to take place at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart over the next few months Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IR35 reforms: IT contractor fleshes out details of potential HMRC legal challenge

Following the early-stage success of efforts to crowd-fund a legal challenge against the IR35 reforms, one of the IT contractors behind the campaign outlines details of what could happen next Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Scottish community broadband network gets funding to expand

The Locheilnet community wireless broadband scheme has been awarded funding to upgrade its core infrastructure and target new customers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Retail data breaches still high as GDPR deadline looms

As the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation compliance deadline approaches, retail data breaches remain unacceptably high, a data threat report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

TSB to introduce iris scan authentication in September 2017

TSB customers will soon be able to access their mobile bank accounts through iris scanning, which is regarded as the most secure biometric authentication available Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Newcastle council data leak shows need for security automation

Leak of child adoption information by Newcastle City Council resulted from accidental email attachment by employee Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Charity swaps SAN for Hypergrid hyper-converged to save £1m

Tearfund saves £950,000 by deploying Hypergrid hyper-converged in place of HP servers and SAN, cutting costs on space, power, staff and hardware, and avoiding VMware Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

The challenge of our era - digital transformation at Allianz

The insurance firm wants to become "digital by default" and its CIO explains the vital role DevOps and cloud play in its change programme Continue Reading

By

• Jacob Abboud, Allianz Insurance

London Stock Exchange uses IBM blockchain technology

The London Stock Exchange is testing out IBM's blockchain technology in a platform to help SME operations become more transparent Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Stamford Bridge to offer stadium connectivity in partnership with Ericsson

Ericsson has begun its partnership with Chelsea to offer home fans a “seamless” connected experience Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Airbus helps secure critical infrastructure

In this week's ezine, Computer Weekly explores how to secure industrial control systems, which have often lagged behind the leading edge of IT security and pose serious risks to critical national infrastructure. Airbus believes that despite the vulnerabilities of individual components, industrial control systems as a whole are quite resilient. We also speak to the head of technology at Centrica about how the utility company is becoming a specialist provider of data lake integration tools, and we explore the 802.11ac Wave 2 standard. Continue Reading

Post Office defence in computer system legal case due this week

The Post Office will this week present its defence against allegations brought by subpostmasters in a group legal action Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IBM claims breakthrough in mainframe encryption

IBM says its new mainframe ushers in a new era of data protection in response to a call to action from chief information security officers and security experts worldwide Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Defence minister opens £3m cyber security centre in Gloucester

UK minister for defence procurement has opened Lockheed Martin’s job-creating cyber security centre aimed at boosting UK cyber defence capability and skills Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How Formula 1 plans to digitise fan experience

For a sport built on advanced technology, Formula 1 has lacked a truly digitally enabled fan experience – but that could be about to change Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

NHS urged to spend extra cyber defence funds wisely

The NHS has been urged to invest wisely in cyber defences after the government announced plans to increase data security funding by millions of pounds in response to the Caldicott review Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Encryption keys too predictable, warn security researchers

Encryption keys are not as random as most people think, which means encrypting data is often not as secure as it could be, according to security researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

HPE and CSC merger wins confidence of Zurich

Zurich Insurance has demonstrated confidence in CSC's merger with HPE through a contract extension Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Visa encourages US businesses to go cashless with £500,000 in hard cash

Card giant offers small US businesses financial support to upgrade their payments technology if they agree to abandon cash Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ofcom sets up Openreach Monitoring Unit

Telecoms regulator Ofcom is setting up a dedicated unit to keep a watchful eye on Openreach Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

HMRC’s customs IT system may not be ready before Brexit

National Audit Office is concerned that customs declaration service will not be ready in time for the UK’s departure from the EU because significant challenges remain Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cognizant opens London lab to help customers with digitisation

Cognizant has opened its latest digital development centre in London, where it will work with customers and partners on digital business challenges Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Middle East: How women can fill the tech skills gap

The growth of the IT sector continues to drive both innovation and employment in the Gulf, but women – as with all industries in the region – are under-represented in technology by significant margins, and could help to fill the tech skills gap. Also in this issue, read about growing threats in Saudi Arabia’s cyber sector, and how Dubai is becoming a world leader in smart city developments. Continue Reading

Verizon denies data loss but admits potentially huge breach

Verizon has responded to reports of millions of customer records being exposed to the internet by saying no data was accessed by malicious third parties, but the incident raises thorny issues Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Criminal law: Are Twitter threats taken seriously?

As threats of violence become increasingly common online, law enforcement is taking stronger action against the perpetrators Continue Reading

By

• John F Marchiano

NVMe flash blocked by array architecture, says Kaminario CTO

Flash pioneer CTO says array controllers are built for a different era and must scale-out as clusters to provide the CPU power needed to allow NVMe to realise its potential Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

MoJ electronic monitoring programme fails to achieve value for money, says NAO

National Audit Office slams severely delayed MoJ electronic tag project for series of failures, including being too ambitious, not delivering benefits and procurement shambles Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UK ranked as top 10 digital economy

The UK has been ranked among the top 10 nations in terms of digital capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cisco to build O2’s public Wi-Fi network for City of London

O2 enlists Cisco to help build out the multi-million pound public Wi-Fi network currently taking shape in London’s Square Mile Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Legal & General picks HomeServe’s IoT LeakBot to protect homeowners

Insurance firm partners with HomeServe to deploy its internet of things LeakBot technology and lower customer premiums Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Met Police signs £8m digital forensics deal

MASS wins seven-year contract to supply a digital forensics managed service to London’s Metropolitan Police Service Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cryptocurrencies: a niche pursuit?

Cryptocurrencies are on the rise, but why have digital currencies yet to reach the mainstream market? Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Mobile operators must act soon as 5G business models emerge

Full deployment of a commercial 5G mobile network is still at least two years away, but new business models are already beginning to crystallise around the technology, and operators would be wise to start preparations soon, a new report claims Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Experian admits mobile and online issues after system upgrade

Some customers of credit referencing company are having problems accessing a service they pay for following an IT upgrade and large customer migration to a new system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Second phase of Dubai Health Authority’s electronic records implementation to start in August 2017

Unified electronic medical record (EMR) system to be rolled to more medical facilities across Dubai Continue Reading

By

• Edward Banda

Citizens Advice calls for roll-out of Universal Credit to be paused

A report by the advisory charity highlights issued around making and managing claims online, lack of digital skills and problems with identity verification through Gov.uk Verify Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Europe takes measured approach to 5G, driven by ROI concerns

European operators may be more concerned with getting the maximum value for money from their 3G and 4G networks than rushing to roll out 5G Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Sainsbury’s Group sales grow as Argos boosts performance

Group reports 8% increase in online grocery business and 10% rise in online Argos sales as total like-for-like sales jump 2.3% in first quarter Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Why now is the time to appoint a chief agility officer

Companies need to innovate and find new ways of getting products to the market more quickly. Appointing a chief agility officer to the board will help Continue Reading

By

• Simon Masters and Tess Bregman

Virgin Media fails to deliver on broadband speed claims, says investigation

An investigation by the BBC’s Watchdog programme accuses ISP Virgin Media of over-promising and under-delivering on the claims it makes about its fibre-based broadband services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Sweden trials blockchain for land registry management

Swedish land registry is trying out blockchain as a means of proving ownership Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

Nando's technology director explains using cloud to digitally disrupt its own business

Nando’s technology director, Richard Atkinson, describes how the restaurant chain is using cloud to get closer to its customers and build stronger ties with its 14,000-strong workforce Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Royal Free and Google DeepMind data sharing not compliant with DPA, ICO rules

Information Commissioner’s Office finds that the controversial NHS data-sharing deal with Google DeepMind did not fully comply with the Data Protection Act Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Why immutable buckets are a worthy risk management tool

Immutable buckets offer businesses benefits in terms of data compliance, backup, archiving and security Continue Reading

By

• Michael O'Dwyer

Danish shipping giant Maersk recovering from major Petya cyber attack

Company confirms attack took down its IT system across multiple sites and business units, but has now been contained Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

Security Think Tank: Focus on high risk by automating low-risk patching

How should organisations address the need to keep software up to date with security patches without it costing too much or being too labour intensive? Continue Reading

By

• Gabe Chomic

Key lessons from ‘Petya’ ransomware attack

While the cyber security community is still working to understand the latest ransomware attack that has reportedly hit 60 countries, there are key lessons to be learned Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

App-based banking continues its ascent in the UK

The number of people banking from their mobile phones is increasing as more services are made available through the channel Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dear Caroline Nokes, a few items for your digital government to-do list

I feel a little sorry for Caroline Nokes, announced this week as the latest minister responsible for digital government - the third to take on that mantle in less than a year. She’s clearly a ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Security Think Tank: Patching is vital and essentially a risk management exercise

How should organisations address the need to keep software up to date with security patches without it costing too much or being too labour intensive? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Policing should embrace IoT opportunities

The internet of things brings more opportunities than challenges for the UK’s police forces, according to a TechUK report that urges the police to embrace digital technologies Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

DVLA aims to slash IT costs by moving to public cloud and open standards

Agency’s IT strategy for 2019/20 will see a concerted move to deprecate legacy systems, deploy applications in the cloud and develop in-house IT Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Finnish government scraps paper and digitises archives

The government in Finland is digitising 94 shelf kilometres of documents to save millions of euros and make the information easier to access Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

Co-op digital chief Mike Bracken quits to focus on digital government consultancy

The former GDS chief is leaving the Co-op to work on advising governments around the world on their digital strategy Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Will mobile networks cope with the end of roaming charges?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, while mobile users are celebrating the end of roaming charges in the EU, mobile networks have to deal with the consequences – we examine the industry challenges. We also look at the future plans for Openstack, the open source cloud environment. And we learn how European law enforcement is working with business to tackle organised cyber crime. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Palo Alto Networks confident of taking security into SaaS era

Security platforms could make it easier to take products to market and improve firms’ security posture by making innovative products easier to consume, but the biggest winners could be the platform providers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Interview: Louise McCarthy and Valeria Della Rosa, EBRD

Two women are at the helm of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development’s technology change programme – the bank’s first-ever digital transformation Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

News UK dumps tape for backup with Zadara cloud storage

News publishing corporation saves up to 40% on hardware and software costs by switching in-house hardware for a cloud-first policy, using Zadara cloud storage as a backup target Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Swedish fintech Klarna gains full banking licence

Swedish online payments provider Klarna becomes one of “the largest banks in Europe” after being granted an EU-wide banking licence by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

Voice biometrics still relatively unheard

Authentication system could help reduce UK fraud by making it hard for fraudsters to glean information from contact centres Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Waitrose joins John Lewis for Jlab 2017

The 2017 JLab will see Waitrose, John Lewis and JLP Ventures band together to mentor and develop several retail technology startups Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Microsoft admits Windows 10 disables third-party security software

Microsoft has admitted Windows 10 disables some third-party security software, but claims this is purely because of compatibility issues Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Queen’s Speech highlights digital charter and data protection

Government confirms plans to create a digital charter to ensure the UK is “the safest place to be online”, and a new law protecting personal data Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

The human apprentices behind robotic automation

IT apprentices are helping large businesses transform their back-office processes through software robots Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tesco customers miss out on deliveries due to tech fault

A glitch in the supermarket’s store-side systems has meant Tesco’s deliveries to customers have been delayed Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Web hosting firm agrees to pay $1m ransomware demand

South Korean hosting firm Nayana agrees to pay more than $1m to restore data that was encrypted by a ransomware attack on its Linux servers on 10 June 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Why did British Airways’ datacentre crash?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, after an IT outage at British Airways left passengers stranded at airports, we examine the possible causes and ask what BA’s official explanation really means. We analyse the challenges for digital government now the UK election is over. And we hear how the charity Barnardo’s is leading an initiative for a data platform to improve children’s social care services. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

NTT Docomo turns to SAP Hana to boost customer experience

Japanese telco NTT Docomo rolls out in-memory database in eight months to analyse data from retail outlets and customer call centres in a bid to improve service levels Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Abu Dhabi uses surveillance tech to protect Grand Prix

Police use surveillance technology and monitoring software to ensure public safety when Formula One visits the UAE each year Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

The Macedonian surveillance scandal that brought down a government

Macedonia has been accused of using surveillance technology for covert spying - the subsequent political protests were instrumental in the ruling party losing power after 10 years Continue Reading

By

• Tena Prelec

South African game reserve goes digital to save the rhino

Dimension Data and Cisco have teamed up to protect rhinos living on a private game reserve in South Africa with the latest networking and IoT sensor technology Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

10 ways to prevent breaches and minimise impact

Attackers are continually adapting to security technologies to fly under the radar, but taking action in 10 key areas can reduce the risk of breaches and minimise their impact, according to a resilience expert Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Finnish mobile operators opt-out from free EU roaming

Finnish mobile operators have been exempted from new European Union data roaming rules for now Continue Reading

By

• Eeva Haaramo

PaloAlto Networks partners with US Girl Scouts on security skills

Palo Alto Networks is partnering with the Girl Scouts of the USA to develop cyber security badges to foster knowledge of the topic and support interest in the profession Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

British Airways to outsource contact centre work

British Airways is evaluating technologies from an outsourcing company as an option to replace contact centre staff Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Microchips implanted in hands could be in use for payments in 20 years

UK consumers are becoming more accepting that biometric authentication will become the norm for payments Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Palo Alto Networks set to drive new era in security innovation

Palo Alto Networks announces a cloud-based application framework the company claims will enable its security platform to disrupt and change the security industry completely within a decade Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

HR technology essential to cutting-edge customer service, say big businesses

If you can’t get your internal HR systems right, the business will suffer – Jaguar Land Rover, Lufthansa and Russia’s Sberbank explain why Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Tips for buying hyper-converged systems

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the growing market for hyper-converged infrastructure - combining processing, storage and networking into an integrated design - and assess the options available to IT leaders. We ask mature users of the cloud what’s next for their migration to off-premise systems. And we analyse how retail supply chains are developing to keep up with online and mobile shopping trends. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Wickes customers hit by ‘system-wide’ online ordering problems

Computer Weekly understands a “system-wide” issue is affecting the home improvement firm's online delivery bookings, as well as its click-and-collect services Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK