IT news in your industry sector

Defra first department to implement Gov.uk Verify

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs first to utilise government’s new identity assurance system Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Drones a threat to privacy, says former GCHQ chief David Omand

The use of drones in the UK raises significant safety, security and privacy concerns, according to a report from ex-head of GCHQ, David Omand Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government releases social media guidance for civil servants

New social media guidelines for civil servants have been released by the Cabinet Office Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

GCHQ embodies British values, says Iain Lobban

Outgoing GCHQ director Iain Lobban has defended the intelligence agency in his final speech before retiring Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

US retailer Staples investigates possible data breach

US retailer Staples confirms it is investigating a possible credit and debit card breach Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IBM operating income falls by 18% as it offloads semiconductor unit

IBM reported lower-than-expected earnings for the third quarter of 2014, with revenue down by 4% year-on-year Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Disney spreads the magic through wearable technology

The Walt Disney Company is using wearable technology to improve customer experience and engage with visitors Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Forget devices, we still need signal, says WWF IT director

Organisations such as the WWF are still trying to focus on sufficient connectivity for remote workers says WWF director of ICT services, Linda Humphrey. Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

FBI director James Comey joins call for online surveillance tools

FBI director James Comey has reiterated the need for online surveillance and joined calls for more tools to do so Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Local government outsourcing shrinks workforce 35%

The number of staff directly employed by a fifth of local authorities will reduce 35% by 2020 as a result of outsourcing Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Google shares down on mixed third quarter results

Google's share price dipped around 3% in response to mixed financial results for the third quarter Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK is prime target for cyber attacks, says FireEye

The UK has been greatest target of advanced cyber attacks in Europe, the Middle East or Africa in the first half of 2014, report shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Comic Relief’s digital challenge: talent, data and the No Make-Up Selfie

Social media campaigns such as the No Make-Up Selfie and the Ice Bucket Challenge threaten charities such as Comic Relief with their digital reach Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Industrial control systems: What are the security challenges?

Targeted attacks on industrial control systems are the biggest threat to critical national infrastructure, says Kaspersky Lab Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Gov.uk Verify identity assurance service ready to go live

Government expected to launch first service using digital identity assurance in "next couple of weeks" Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

B&Q launches online kitchen planning and design tool

The DIY retailer debuts its B&Q Spaces planning and design tool which allows customers to plan their kitchen, bathroom and bedroom projects online Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Backup and disaster recovery in the age of virtualisation

One of the benefits of using virtual machines is the scope for improved backup. We look at the product offerings from traditional and new suppliers Continue Reading

By

• Bob Tarzey

Embedded SIMs key to unlocking internet of things

GSMA’s eUICC Embedded SIM Specification will help M2M communications and the IoT become mainstream, say analysts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK ranks third in right to be forgotten requests to Google

The UK has made the third-highest number of requests for links to be removed from Google's search results Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cybercrime fighters to target kingpins, says top EU cyber cop

International cybercrime fighters are to focus on the relatively small number of top malware producers, says Europe's top cyber cop Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Symantec splits storage and security

Symantec is splitting its storage and security business, following just days after HP announced its split Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Fear and loathing could hold back UK internet of things, says KPMG report

More than two-thirds of UK consumers fear growing number of interconnected devices make it too easy for things to go wrong Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Starbucks uses cloud to manage innovation and disruptive technologies

Starbucks coffee chain innovates IT strategies to hone its competitive edge using cloud services, says IT director Robert Teagle Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Housing associations launch shared internet service from BT

BT promises housing association tenants lower internet costs through new scheme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tim Berners-Lee: Data sharing needs accountability

The question of how much data an individual should share was a key theme of Tim Berners-Lee's keynote at IP Expo Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Malware being used to steal cash from ATMs

Criminals are using malware to steal cash from ATMs without debit and credit cards Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The challenges facing HP as it splits in two

HP is splitting its business in two - but it is a reaction to the changing way that businesses and consumers buy IT Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Timberland focuses on online customer experience

After internationalising its e-commerce offering across Europe, Timberland's next priority is refining its online experience Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

L’Oreal aligns technology with the business to work faster

L’Oreal’s digital technology is working with the business and marketing departments to become innovative and agile Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Engineering company rolls out talent management software across 17 countries

Meggitt is deploying cloud-based HR technology as it seeks to integrate 60 diverse business units into a multinational operation Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Mothercare uses mobile to engage with customers, not just to sell

Mothercare is continuing to use mobile to improve customer service and engage with users Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Barclays concludes first round of fintech accelerator

Barclays has finished the first round of its financial services technology (fintech) startup accelerator, following a demo day Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

The future of digital government in the UK

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the last political party conferences before the election come to an end, we examine the future of digital government in the UK, featuring interviews with Whitehall’s digital chief Mike Bracken and Labour’s policy leader Chi Onwurah. Also, we look at the growth of the open-source cloud computing platform Openstack, and find out what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a data breach. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Google could face $100m lawsuit over nude celebrity pictures

Lawyers of celebrities whose private pictures were published by hackers are threatening to sue Google Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: Ben Hine, technology director, UKTV

UKTV director Ben Hine says every piece of the company's technology has been replaced over the last four years Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

DDN launches scale-out NAS GS7K GPFS product bundle

DataDirect Networks launches the GS7K, a pre-configured GPFS scale-out NAS/parallel file system storage product Continue Reading

Oracle OpenWorld 2014: Lloyd's Register goes mobile with Oracle

Lloyd’s Register Group tells delegates at the Oracle OpenWorld 2014 conference how it developed a mobile working application for clients and staff Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

European firms far from ready for new data rules, study shows

As European authorities aim to ratify revised data protection rules by 2015, many firms have a lot to do to comply Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Vtesse bought by Interoute in major fibre expansion

Acquisition adds 7,000km of fibre infrastructure to Interoute’s European network Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft readies Windows 10 Technical Preview

Microsoft is today releasing a preview of Windows 10, the next version of the Windows desktop operating system Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Oracle Openworld 2014

Every September, San Francisco plays host to Oracle’s user conference, where customers, users and developers descend on the city to learn the latest on the supplier’s products and services. Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Cyber Essentials for public sector IT suppliers: pros and cons

What are the pros and cons of the Cyber Essentials Scheme certification mandated for public sector IT suppliers? Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Oracle OpenWorld 2014: Toms expands global e-commerce

Footwear retailer Toms relaunches e-commerce websites with Oracle platform to grow and improve customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Nationwide roll-out of Universal Credit to start in early 2015

Controversial welfare reform programme to be accelerated nationwide for single people only, using much-criticised IT systems Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Almost three-quarters of big companies to increase outsourcing

Investments in outsourced services will increase at almost three-quarters of global businesses Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Case study: Deutsche Post DHL develops software contract templates to reduce costs

Deutsche Post DHL has created contract templates to manage software costs. Computer Weekly speaks to the people leading the initiative Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

BlackBerry Passport: A first look

BlackBerry has changed the rules for phablets, with a an almost square device, promising 25 hours of battery life are highly readable screen Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Visa loses mobility director to Apple

Mary Carol Harris, former director of mobile for Visa Europe, has left the firm to take up a position at Apple Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Q&A: MarkLogic CEO Gary Bloom talks strategy

Gary Bloom, CEO of NoSQL database supplier MarkLogic, talks to Computer Weekly about strategy Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Bash bug could be bigger threat than Heartbleed

A bug in the Bash command prompt software used by many Unix computers could be a greater threat than Heartbleed. Continue Reading

BlackBerry Passport delivers a real keyboard and high-res screen to business

BlackBerry has introduced its Passport smartphone featuring a 4.5in hi-res screen, a qwerty keyboard and 13MP camera Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The digital CIO: Why embrace digital innovation?

Having the right digital strategy can make or break an organisation Continue Reading

By

• Peter Thornton

Lloyds creates online appointment booking in attempt to save branches

Lloyds Bank has introduced a system which allows customers to book in-branch appointments online Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Accommodation booking site picks Dell cloud to fix downtime issues

Eviivo, a UK-based online accommodation booking website, has placed its business-critical systems on a Dell cloud platform Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

Avon Rubber implements Sage ERP X3

Avon Rubber’s history stretches back to 1885, when it began manufacturing rubber-based products, today the manufacturer has been working with UK software supplier Sage for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool Continue Reading

Google to build giant '40-football pitch' datacentre in the Netherlands

Google will invest €600m to build a giant, 120-megawatt datacentre in the Netherlands Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

UKtech50 2014 - help us choose the 50 most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly is launching the fifth annual UKtech50, our definitive list of the movers and shakers in UK IT - tell us your nominations Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Conficker infections an indictment of IT security, says CWG

Conficker worm infections reflect the “sad state of affairs of IT security”, says the Conficker Working Group Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Home Depot under fire for data breach notification

US retailer Home Depot criticised for delays in telling customers their payment card details may have been compromised Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

SAP acquires Concur to build cloud-based expense management

SAP has agreed to acquire online travel and expense management SaaS provider Concur Technologies for $8bn Continue Reading

Larry Ellison: Of plane, sails and zen

After 35 years at the helm, Larry Ellison has stepped down as Oracle's CEO Continue Reading

Asia dominates as outsourcing location and India remains unrivalled

India is still the best place for businesses to outsource services and is unrivalled in its scale and availability of skills Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Interview: Government digital chief Mike Bracken on the next five years

The Government Digital Service celebrates its third anniversary soon, but has plenty more challenges ahead to change Whitehall thinking Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Customer loyalty biggest challenge for banks

Banks have cited customer loyalty as their main concern, according to a survey by financial services firm Temenos Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government digital chief signals move away from 'tower model' approach to IT outsourcing

Government digital chief Mike Bracken has signalled a move away from the “tower model” approach to IT outsourcing Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Risk management key to cyber strategy, says BP

Cyber attacks constitute a group-level risk that is managed as part of BP’s standard set of risk management processes, says group chief Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Muji takes on cloud platform to increase sales

Retailer Muji is using a cloud-based platform from IT services firm Infosys to help it understand customers and target sales Continue Reading

GDS unveils 'Gov.UK Verify' public services identity assurance scheme

The Government Digital Service (GDS) debuts a system to prove users’ identities when using public services online, branded as 'Gov.UK Verify' Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Cambridge villagers trial low-cost broadband roll-out method

Virgin Media is trialling a low-cost 'narrow-trenching' method for supplying superfast 1Gbps broadband in the village of Papworth, in Cambridgeshire Continue Reading

Government seeks £110,000 director for Parliamentary Digital Service

Parliament is recruiting a digital director for the revamped Parliamentary Digital Service in a role offering a salary of £110,000 a year Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

TechUK tasks future government with making the UK a digital leader

TechUK has launched a digital manifesto detailing how the next government must turn the UK in a digital leader Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

TfL contactless payments go live

TfL’s contactless card payment scheme goes live today, enabling customers to pay for London transport on contactless bank cards Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

CIO interview: Stephen Hale, head of digital, Department of Health

“I want to make digital less of a novelty,” says the Department of Health’s head of digital Stephen Hale Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Salesforce issues advice on avoiding Dyreza attack

Salesforce has issued a set of guidelines on tightening security after a number of its customers were targeted by the Dyreza email virus Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The IT challenges facing an independent Scotland

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as Scotland goes to the polls to vote on independence, we assess the IT challenges the country would face. We look at the products available in the fast-growing market for object storage. And we ask if it will be worth migrating to future version of Windows given the rise in mobile usage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Clarks shoes steps into digital

Shoe manufacturer Clarks is replacing its legacy e-commerce sites with a global cloud-based system next month Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

WikiLeaks reveals Australian police are using surveillance software

Australia's New South Wales police are using spyware that has been linked to repressive states, according to leaked documents Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Claims against Post Office IT system approach completion

Investigation into sub-postmaster claims against the Post Office over problems with its Horizon accounting system coming to an end Continue Reading

Retailers need to adopt ‘fail fast’ attitude to technology

Retailers experimenting with digital technologies must take a “fail fast” approach so they can deliver new innovations quickly Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Boots to roll out real-time stock visibility in coming weeks

Health and beauty retailer, Alliance Boots, is about to roll out real-time stock visibility to its stores and customers using SAP Hana Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

The digital CIO: ‘Fear of Google’ and the ethics of digital business

Could the big digital players be using their dominance by exerting unfair competition? Continue Reading

By

• Brinley Platts and Peter Thornton

John Lewis sales reflect omni-channel growth

John Lewis and Waitrose have attributed an increase in sales and customers to their growing omni-channel offerings Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Google denies breach after hackers leak millions of user logins

Google denies claims cyber criminals stole users' data and downplays the threat after a hacker purportedly leaked 4.9 million Gmail logins Continue Reading

UK retailers must invest more in digital technologies

The UK’s biggest retailers are ‘under-investing’ in in-store digital technologies Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Fresh questions raised over Post Office IT system's role in fraud cases

A leaked report has revealed more details about the role of the Horizon accounting system in sub-postmaster fraud cases Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tobacco giant outsources IT to Wipro

Philip Morris International has outsourced IT infrastructure management to Indian services firm Wipro in a five-year deal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

BP spends £2m developing apps to train business leaders

BP is scrapping online courses in favour of apps and portals that can deliver bite-sized information and training when it's needed Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Ransomware on the rise, warns cyber threat report

The first half of 2014 saw an increase in online attacks that lock up user data and hold it for ransom, reports F-Secure Labs Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

EasyJet sheds 'scrum' image with hybrid IT

EasyJet’s reservation system could not provision for allocated seating, so the airline added a feature on Azure Continue Reading

By

• Archana Venkatraman, Datacentre Editor

'Bungled' Army 2020 IT recruitment contract loses £70m of savings

Mismanaged IT contracts lead to further setbacks in Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Army recruitment drive Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Nude celebrity hack forces changes at Apple and 4Chan

Apple and image-sharing site 4Chan take security measures after celebrity iCloud accounts were compromised and photos leaked Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Barclays bank launches biometric authentication

Barclays bank plans to launch biometric readers that read users' finger veins to authenticate customers Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government's digital strategy could cut red tape

Governments can harness digital technology to make public services more efficient and generate significant cost savings Continue Reading

By

• Lisa Kelly

Ordnance Survey to release open data on green spaces

The Ordnance Survey is to release information and statistics on green space in England and Wales as open data Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Baldwin, Freelance editor and journalist

Morgan Motor Company swaps Sage for integrated IFS

Morgan Motor Company is replacing its Sage 500 accounting system with IFS Applications Continue Reading

Aberdeen to get city-wide gigabit network

Aberdeen will this month become Scotland’s first city to be fully covered by a high speed fibre network Continue Reading

Locking Russia out of Swift "unlikely and complicated", says analyst

A senior analyst at Celent has said cutting off Russia from Swift is unlikely to be effective Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Online fashion retailer Asos seeks CIO

Asos.com is looking to appoint a CIO following the departure of Pete Marsdon after two years in the role Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Apple and FBI launch iCloud hack investigation

Apple and FBI investigate the breach of Apple’s iCloud causing fresh business concerns over cloud security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Watermelon SLAs – making sense of green and red alerts

Often IT SLAs don’t reflect the real service and service experience of users. They also aren’t focused enough on the business results Continue Reading

By

• Barclay Rae