IT news in your industry sector

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

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• 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

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• 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

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• Lord Chris Holmes, House of Lords

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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber insurance: The good, the bad and the ugly

Most cyber insurance contracts are innately flawed because they exclude losses arising from state-backed cyber attacks, and this will make proper attribution even more important in the future, says Cisco Talos’ Martin Lee Continue Reading

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• Martin Lee

Volume of self-reported breaches to ICO jumps 30%

The number of self-reported breaches to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office soared by nearly 30% in the 12 months to 30 June 2022 Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

An encouraging new conversation around sustainable IT, says Nordic CIO

What started as a whisper a decade ago has become distinctly audible chatter among IT leaders sharing best practices on how to protect the environment Continue Reading

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• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

MoD recruits Immersive Labs to bolster cyber resilience

UK’s Ministry of Defence will run cyber drills and address its security talent gap with Immersive Labs’ CyberPro, Cyber Crisis Simulator and Application Security products Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Defra confirms final settlement of £86.5m with HMRC over ‘historic’ IR35 status assessment errors

The conclusion of HMRC’s long-running enquiry into errors made by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when assessing the IR35 status of its contractors has seen it pay a final settlement of £86.5m to the tax collection agency Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

17 West Midlands NHS trusts deploy digital pathology

Trusts hope digital pathology programme will transform cancer diagnosis in the region and reduce backlogs Continue Reading

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• Lis Evenstad

Security Think Tank: To stop ransomware, preparation is the best medicine

You can’t ‘stop’ ransomware, but you can do a lot to keep yourself from becoming ensnared when it strikes Continue Reading

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• Paul Watts, Information Security Forum

Scrutinising AI requires holistic, end-to-end system audits

Understanding the full impacts of artificial intelligence requires organisations to conduct end-to-end social and technical audits of their systems, but the process comes with a number of challenges Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Cyber criminals have World Cup Qatar 2022 in their sights

Volumes of malicious cyber activity around the upcoming FIFA World Cup are already starting to tick upwards and are likely to continue to do so Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Benelux: Heineken finds the right brew for digital

Heineken’s data management director has revealed some of the ways the company is using information technology to transform digitally. Also read how a PhD student in the Netherlands is detecting hidden messages on the internet by exploring the practice of steganography. Continue Reading

Dutch government finally allowed to use public cloud

 Continue Reading

The world's oldest cryptocurrency exchange prefers doing business in Luxembourg

One of the newest niches in fintech, cryptocurrency exchanges may fare very well in Luxembourg Continue Reading

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• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

ODI fuel poverty survey shows young adults most hard up

A fuel poverty data report and index from the Open Data Institute shows that young adults and people in multi-occupied accommodation are most at risk Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Anything can happen so IT teams need to be ready, says Kyiv City Council CIO

Kyiv City Council’s IT team has experienced challenges faced by no other tech department and is determined to use what it has learnt to take Ukraine forward when the war is over Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Microsoft serves smorgasbord of six zero-days

November’s Patch Tuesday fixes significantly fewer vulnerabilities of late, but includes six actively-exploited zero-days, three of them of critical severity Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fujitsu expert witness in subpostmaster trial ‘manoeuvred’ into role, public inquiry told

A former Fujitsu technology expert who defended the Horizon system’s robustness in court was unhappy after being ‘manoeuvred’ into acting as an expert witness, public inquiry hears Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Qualcomm, Renault go up a gear in electric vehicle partnership

Leading car manufacturer and mobile technologies firm announce plan to enter a strategic long-term cooperation, encompassing co-development of high-performance computing platforms based on Snapdragon Digital Chassis Solutions for next generation of software-defined vehicles Continue Reading

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• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Security Think Tank: Anti-ransomware strategies should be as easy as ABC

When developing and implementing ransomware protection strategies, the importance of paying thorough attention to security measures you might consider elementary cannot be understated Continue Reading

By

• Petra Wenham

NortonLifeLock, Avast debut new ‘Gen’ identity

The combined NortonLifeLock and Avast consumer cyber business, Gen, says it will serve over 500 million customers worldwide Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Six subpostmaster convictions referred for appeal in Scotland

Six former subpostmasters in Scotland will have appeals against criminal convictions heard after being referred by Scotland’s Criminal Cases Review Commission Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How Imec hopes to industrialise artificial intelligence

Pure research explores the fundamental questions of artificial intelligence, but applied research takes those ideas to industry, making it all worthwhile Continue Reading

By

• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

How the US-China chip war will affect IT leaders

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the US ramps up semiconductor sanctions on China, we examine the ramifications across the tech sector. Cyber criminals are turning to new forms of encryption – we talk to the Dutch researchers trying to catch them. And we look at what cloud providers need to do to improve customer experience. Read the issue now. Continue Reading