IT news in your industry sector

Apple to tap third party for physical security keys

Apple is launching a number of new security protections, including the addition of third-party-provided hardware security keys Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Europe: Finland prepares for drone technology take-off

Finland is preparing for a future where it could rely on flying drone technology. Read about its plans in this issue. Also find out how a PhD student in the Netherlands is helping to detect hidden messages on the internet by using steganography. Continue Reading

Finnish researchers lay the groundwork for flying drones

 Continue Reading

Clinicians who raised patient safety risks claim Berkshire NHS trust deleted email evidence

A tribunal hearing considering claims that an NHS trust destroyed email evidence and had put the safety of geriatric patients at risk, was cut short after clinicians faced “life-changing” costs Continue Reading

By

• Tommy Greene

Deutsche Bank powers new banking apps with Nvidia AI acceleration

The bank is looking at how AI acceleration can process financial texts, accelerate risk analysis and support its plans for the metaverse Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Survey: Most want green IT but many won’t get it soon

IT – and storage in particular – consume huge amounts of energy but sustainability targets are proving to be elusive, according to a survey commissioned by Pure Storage Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Google, MS, Oracle vulnerabilities make November ’22 a big month for patching

Vulnerabilities affecting the likes of Google, Microsoft and Oracle proved particularly troublesome in November Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: As cyber pros, we need to articulate our needs better

There is always a lot to learn about security, but one of the most important lessons may not relate to technology at all, says Petra Wenham Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

Post Office scandal – “cock-up or cook-up”?

The second phase of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal raised more questions over who did what, when and where, with shocking revelations at every turn Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Legacy IT magnifies cyber risk for Defra, says NAO

Some 30% of Defra’s applications are currently unsupported, magnifying cyber risk as the government department struggles to make progress on a digital transformation programme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Industrial IoT focus of next NCSC startup challenge

The NCSC for Startups programme is looking for innovative ideas to encrypt and secure the industrial internet of things Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

EU fails to protect human rights in surveillance tech transfers

Transfers of surveillance technology from the European Union to African governments are carried out without due regard for the human rights impacts, the European Ombudsman has found after a year-long investigation into the European Commission’s management of an aid fund Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Don’t become an unwitting tool in Russia’s cyber war

Researchers have turned up evidence that enterprise networks are being co-opted by Russian threat actors to launch attacks against targets in Ukraine. How can you avoid becoming an unwitting tool in a state-backed attack? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

AWS mutes trash talk at Re:Invent – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

The team chats through the AWS Re:Invent conference, as well as an initiative for getting young women into cyber security, and how SAP Build travelled from Vegas to SAP users in Birmingham Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Fake investment ads persist on Meta’s social networks

Online adverts for investment scams relating to property and crypto assets are still getting past measures designed to stop them Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DCMS to assess UK semiconductor industry

The ongoing global chip crisis, geopolitician tension with China and deal-blocking are the backdrop to this latest assessment Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Cohesity doubles down on cyber-defence failings via backup

Datahawk service and Data Security Alliance bring clean data restores, ransomware artefact detection, data vaulting and data audit for a clearer understanding of attack impact Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

audio

Audio is sound that is within the acoustic range of human hearing. Continue Reading

By

• Robert Sheldon

Civil servants want more digital skills training, survey finds

Civil servants are keen to learn more about how to use technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) to improve public services, yet only 5% have received AI training Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Post Office boosted its ‘coffers’ as Horizon system threw up unexplained shortfalls, inquiry told

The Post Office was ‘keen’ to make subpostmasters cover unexplained accounting shortfall as its business struggled, public inquiry hears Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Twitter ‘replacement’ Hive Social shuts off service in privacy alert

Hive Social, a recently established social media network, has temporarily closed its servers to address deep structural privacy issues identified by ethical hackers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MI6 chief’s hacked emails attacked MI5 and betrayed British spy operations in China

Former UK spy boss Richard Dearlove leaked names of MI6 secret agent recruiters in China to back an aggressive right-wing US campaign against tech company Huawei. His emails were hacked and then leaked – probably by Russian intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University
• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Meike Eijsberg

LastPass probes new cyber incident related to August attack

The August 2022 cyber attack on LastPass seems to have begat another incident, according to company CEO Karim Toubba Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Financial benefits of government’s shared services strategy remain unclear, says NAO

Cabinet Office needs to do more to avoid previous failings, as several barriers remain to a successful implementation of the strategy to deliver shared back-office services for government, according to National Audit Office report Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Electronic Trade Documents Bill: Why we need to seize the day with distributed ledger technologies

Lord Chris Holmes pens his views for Computer Weekly on how the Electronic Trade Documents Bill, which he calls ‘the most important law you’ve never heard of’, could be a game-changer for the potential of distributed ledger technologies such as blockchain Continue Reading

By

• Lord Chris Holmes

Ransomware: Is there hope beyond the overhyped?

Up-and-coming cyber concepts attack surface management and security mesh architectures seem to hold some promise in tackling ransomware, but they are a little way off maturity Continue Reading

By

• Paul Lewis, Nominet

Microsoft 365 banned in German schools over privacy concerns

German schools cannot legally use Microsoft Office 365 over lack of clarity about how data is collected, shared and used, as well as the potential for unlawful transfer of European citizens’ personal data to the US Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Subpostmaster federation deliberately kept public in dark over computer problems

The federation representing subpostmasters deliberately suppressed information about computer errors that could have saved its members from devastating life-changing events Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

South Staffs Water customer data leaked after ransomware attack

Personal data of water utility’s direct debit customers exposed on the dark web following a Clop ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Latest LockBit ransomware versions have wormable capabilities

Sophos researchers have reverse-engineered the Lockbit 3.0 ransomware, shedding new light on its evolving capabilities and firming up links with BlackMatter Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NIS regulations to be extended to cover MSPs

The UK government is moving ahead with plans to update the Network and Information Systems regulations to bring outsourcers and MSPs into scope Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

From capex to opex: Storage procurement options bloom

We look at the growing list of possibilities when it comes to paying for storage infrastructure, ranging from upfront purchases with upgrades to pure pay-as-you-go options Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Parity AI talks about auditing recruitment algorithms for bias

Algorithmic auditing firm Parity speaks to Computer Weekly about the process of auditing artificial intelligence for bias, following its partnership with AI-powered recruitment platform Beamery Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Scotland launches national digital platform for health and care

The online platform aims to give people access to their health and social care data, as well as provide staff with access to data to inform decisions about care Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Think technology, process, human risk to manage ransomware

Effective ransomware handling boils down to three core areas – technology, process and human risk Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Morris, Turnkey Consulting

MoD signs three-year deal with AWS to bolster defence sector’s digital skills

UK Ministry of Defence is joining forces with Amazon Web Services to boost the defence sector’s cloud capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

‘Legal but harmful’ clause dropped from Online Safety Bill

Online Safety Bill’s ‘legal but harmful’ provision will be dropped by the UK government in favour of public risk assessments, tools to help users control the content they consume, and new criminal offences around self-harm Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Government needs to do more for UK semiconductor industry, say MPs

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee report says the government is putting the UK chip industry at ‘significant risk’ by failing to support it sufficiently, and calls on Whitehall to publish its semiconductor strategy immediately Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

How gamifying cyber training can improve your defences

Security training is the cornerstone of any cyber defence strategy. With ever-escalating online threats, it is now more important than ever that this training is an engaging experience Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

How to stop data retention from killing the planet

In this week’s Computer Weekly, there’s a hidden environmental cost to the vast volumes of data being generated – we examine what can be done to address it. We talk to the CISO of consumer reviews site Trustpilot, about building trust in IT security. And we look at what IT leaders can do if they inherit a toxic team environment. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CIO interview: David Charnley, head of transformation and strategy, NatWest Group

Data is at the heart of the banking giant’s push to improve customer experience – and to enhance its environmental credentials Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Protecting children as they spend years in virtual worlds

To protect children online, we must now focus on pre-emptive and robust regulation around immersive technologies Continue Reading

By

• Patrick Cronin

Plexal inducts six into cyber leadership scheme

Tech innovation hub Plexal is expanding its Cyber Runway programme with a new Ignite strand dedicated to supporting high-potential security leaders Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Data management, backup becoming the CISO's responsibility

More and more CISOs are taking on responsibility for wider data management strategies, and this trend looks set to grow next year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Wales launches beta version of its own NHS app

NHS Wales has begun trialling the beta version of its patient-facing app ahead of plans for a full launch next year Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Fujitsu put pressure on UK government to sign off troubled Horizon project, public inquiry hears

Telegram from British Embassy in Tokyo to UK government reveals pressure on ministers to sign off controversial contract Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Meta faces UK lawsuit over surveillance business model

The High Court case against Meta could set a precedent for millions of UK users to object to their personal data being collected and processed for advertising purposes Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Indefinite storage: What it is and why you might need it

Indefinite storage addresses the issue that archived data may need to be kept well beyond the lifespan of the technology it was written for Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

XR and the real world: Feedback loops and spillovers

As the metaverse develops, the realism of advanced extended reality applications could allow users to take experiences, interests and strategies with them into the real world – creating spillovers from virtual to real worlds Continue Reading

By

• Martin Schwirn, Computer Weekly

CW Nordics: Icelandic datacentres point way to greener IT

Iceland may soon become even more attractive to firms wanting to minimise their carbon footprint while using high-performance computing services. Read more about it in this issue. Also find out how a robo investment company, Nord Investments, is harnessing open banking to make thing easier for its clients. Continue Reading

Your staff are the frontline in your ransomware fight

As part of a solid cyber defence plan, the CISO must make sure that the frontline within the organisation is prepared for an attack, says Theodore Wiggins of Airbus Protect Continue Reading

By

• Theodore Wiggins, Airbus Protect

UK police arrest 120 in largest-ever cyber fraud crackdown

The administrator and more than 100 users of the iSpoof.cc cyber fraud website have been arrested in a major counter-fraud operation led by the Metropolitan Police Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK tech sector given four-point plan to cut carbon emissions by more than 80 million tonnes

According to a report by Tech Nation, leasing renewably powered office space, switching to plant-based food when catering events and curbing business travel would significantly bring down the UK tech sector’s carbon emissions Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

AI accountability held back by ‘audit-washing’ practices

Algorithmic auditing will be useless in holding artificial intelligence accountable until there are common standards, approaches and goals that scrutinise systems at each stage of development and deployment, says think-tank Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

South Korea data adequacy pact brings £15m Brexit bonus

UK government finalises a data adequacy agreement with South Korea, saying it will unlock a post-Brexit business bonus of just under £15m Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How Photobox keeps site reliability in the picture

Photobox’s site reliability head discusses how the photo book and personalised gifts site manages a complex microservices architecture Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Netherlands wants watchdog to reduce bias in artificial intelligence

Dutch government will take swift action to prevent citizens getting into trouble due to the misuse of algorithms Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Government launches AI-focused green innovation programme

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy claims the programme will not only help the UK achieve its net-zero goals, but may also help bring down energy costs Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

Ducktail spins new tales to hijack Facebook Business accounts

The increasingly active Ducktail cyber crime operation is refining its operations, seeking new methods to compromise its victims’ Facebook Business accounts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IT services sector hiring slows to pre-pandemic levels

IT services firms have slowed their recruitment after a major acceleration in hiring during the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Killnet DDoS hacktivists target Royal Family and others

Russia-aligned hacktivists targeted multiple UK websites, including those of the Royal Family, in a new campaign of DDoS attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Businesses must embrace digital skills and innovate, says CBI president

Brian McBride, president of the Confederation of British Industry, says the UK is a ‘magnet for tech investment’ and calls on UK firms to step up and adapt, as tech adoption will help boost the economy Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

C-suite mystified by cyber security jargon

Malware, supply chain attack, zero-day, IoC, TTP and Mitre ATT&CK are just some of the everyday terms that security pros use that risk making the world of cyber incomprehensible to outsiders Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Kyiv is ready for anything

Kyiv City Council’s CIO and deputy CIO talk about the challenges of war. Continue Reading

Cloud storage: Key storage specifications

We look at the key specs in cloud storage, including availability – such as five nines – bandwidth, IOPS and latency, capacity and tiering functionality, egress charges and security Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Cyber criminals target World Cup Qatar 2022

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the FIFA World Cup opens in Qatar, we examine the cyber security threats from criminals targeting the event. We report from the Gartner Symposium on the latest predictions for enterprise software development. And we talk to the CIO of Kyiv City Council about managing IT in the shadow of war. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

EDF UK deploys Riverbed’s Alluvio Aternity to tackle IT issues

Monitoring software links into ServiceNow and PowerShell scripts are being used to automate remediation Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Genome lab puts Vast Data’s rapid I/O to work on patient data

French government-backed SeqOIA ditched its Lustre-based storage after it reached performance limits and files got corrupted. That got fixed by a Vast Data QLC flash-based array Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

NHS federated data platform must avoid repeating Care.data mistakes, says national data guardian

UK’s national data guardian agrees with the ambitions of the platform, but warns that the programme must avoid ‘common pitfalls around trust and transparency’ Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

AI adopted without due consideration for workers, MPs told

MPs have been warned that the rapid roll-out of artificial intelligence in workplaces has changed UK enterprises’ management practices so much that current employment law is no longer fit for purpose Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NHS trust that deleted up to 90,000 emails cleared of deliberately concealing evidence

A tribunal found in a high-profile case brought by whistleblower Chris Day that an NHS trust had not deliberately concealed evidence when a director deleted up to 90,000 emails before he was due to testify Continue Reading

By

• Tommy Greene

Ransomware, storage and backup: Impacts, limits and capabilities

We look at the impact of ransomware on storage and backup, how storage and data protection can best be used to combat ransomware, and how they fit in the fight against it Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

How to get structure from unstructured data

We look at how to gain structure from unstructured data, via AI/ML analytics to create new records, selecting object data via SQL and storing unstructured files in NoSQL formats Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Is Elon Musk’s Twitter safe, and should you stop using it?

With a litany of security and compliance issues exposed and in many cases caused by Elon Musk’s takeover of social media platform Twitter, some may be asking if it’s still safe or appropriate to use Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office scandal inquiry’s expert IT witness ‘troubled’ by his findings

Controversial Post Office Horizon system lacked the integrity required to trust accounting data and contained ‘joke’ coding akin to an ‘overly engineered mousetrap’, inquiry told Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CyberPeace Institute helps NGOs improve their security resilience

Adrien Ogée of the CyberPeace Institute talks about his work supporting NGOs and humanitarian organisations, and how the security community at large can help protect the world’s most vulnerable people Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scality Ring 9 brings Storage Accelerator enhanced flash tiers

Scality upgrade to Ring 9 of its object (and file) storage software sees enhancements to tiering, the introduction of Prometheus-based monitoring and hooks into VMware vCloud Director Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Brexit deregulation will make UK next Silicon Valley, vows Hunt

Chancellor vows to revolutionise how the IT industry is regulated to spur competition, investment and innovation in a technological ‘Big Bang’ Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Another Log4Shell warning after Iranian attack on US government

The breach of a US federal body by an Iranian threat actor exploiting the Adobe Log4j Log4Shell vulnerability has prompted a fresh flurry of patching Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scottish government to pilot digital identity platform in early 2023

Pilot of Scotland’s digital identity platform will be run in partnership with Disclosure Scotland, using secure sign-on and identity verification Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

NHS Digital confirms final settlement of £3.95m with HMRC following conclusion of IR35 investigation

The health service’s digital arm has paid HMRC £3.95m in unpaid tax to cover the cost of its IR35 compliance errors Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

HMRC will begin migration from Government Gateway to One Login in summer 2023

One Login for Government programme has the objective of simplifying access to central government, says HMRC chief technology and design officer Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Siu in court

Cristiano Ronaldo has chased his pearl-clutching condemnation of Manchester United’s unbridled marketing drive with the announcement of his own NFT collection. The preening Ozymandias of football ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

Team working on controversial Post Office Horizon EPOSS software was the ‘joke of the building’

Former members of the ICL team developing software for the Post Office Horizon EPOSS system were unqualified and engaged in poor software development practices, public inquiry told Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Global network fragmentation a source of increasing risk

Risk consultancy’s report says the weaponisation of cyber space and geopolitical clashes herald a breakdown of global networks into distinct regional or national architectures Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Ransomware defences: An extended to-do list

Strategies to extend ransomware protection beyond backups and intrusion detection must centre dark web monitoring, among other things Continue Reading

By

• Alex Holden

Post Office changed view of Horizon problems before roll-out, because of a ‘sunk cost fallacy’

Insider tells public inquiry that the Post Office continued to roll out the controversial Horizon system despite a ‘considerable’ number of errors, because it was too committed Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Commoditisation of NHS tech is a problem, says NHS Digital interim CEO

NHS Digital interim CEO Simon Bolton calls for a stronger mandate from the centre around the systems in use in the NHS, with no more than four to six electronic patient record systems used across the country Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

TikTok influencers are better than finance firms for money advice, say quarter of young adults

Young people are turning to TikTok-based influencers for advice on how to manage their finances and where to bank Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

APP fraud volumes expected to double by 2026, says report

Losses to authorised push payment fraud in the UK are expected to climb to over $1.5bn in the next four years. Meanwhile, the NAO accuses the Home Office of lagging on progress to tackle the issue Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS Scotland extends video consultation scheme

The Scottish Near Me video consultation platform can now be used in community settings such as libraries and health and care centres for GP appointments, hospital appointments, care homes, dietetics and mental health support Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

How to protect against ransomware attacks

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how to prepare for and protect against ransomware, and what to do if you’re hit by an attack. We gauge industry reaction to Ofcom’s plan to investigate the big three cloud providers. And we find out how travel giant TUI is implementing self-service analytics. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Inside Singapore’s public sector IT strategy

Adopting a platform approach with products that can scale across the board and building a strong engineering bench are some of the key aspects in Singapore’s public sector IT strategy Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Met Police removes nearly two-thirds of people from gangs matrix

Legal action by human rights group Liberty forces Met Police to overhaul its gangs violence matrix database Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Sadiq Khan launches Data for London Advisory Board

Board will look at how to join up and share data between public and private London organisations in an effort to build a stronger data economy and improve public services Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

CaixaBank robot answers the most customer questions

AI-based virtual assistant at Spanish bank is now used by over four million customers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The next decade in enterprise backup

Backup set to adapt to deliver more security, ransomware protection and flash-speed restores, and deal with the complexity of multi-, hybrid cloud and container-based operations Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Siemens aims to pioneer industrial metaverse usage

German engineering giant is exploring industrial metaverse use cases, and the Biosphere Foundation in Devon is proving out Siemens technology Continue Reading

By

• Marc Ambasna-Jones

Security Think Tank: Let’s be transparent about ransomware

Greater transparency regarding ransomware attacks, including details about attack methods used and what kinds of assets were compromised, would likely help the community prevent future attacks Continue Reading

By

• John Tolbert, KuppingerCole

Online scam victims lose an average of £1,000 each

New data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau shows victims of online fraud lose an average of £1,000 per person Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor