IT news in your industry sector

Cyber security accelerator launches in Greater Manchester

Accelerator will add to Manchester’s growing cyber security ecosystem, which already includes several tech unicorns, arms companies and the offices of GCHQ Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Older customers prefer phone calls to chatbots

Businesses are increasingly adopting customer-facing digital technologies, but the older generation are not so keen to embrace tech Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

South Staffs Water is victim of botched Clop attack

South Staffordshire Water moves to reassure customers that their supplies remain safe after its attackers screw up their initial assault Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Why organisations need to harmonise their CIO and CISO roles

Unless properly managed, conflicting responsibilities between the chief information officer and the chief information security officer can cause project delays and budget overruns, says Netskope’s Mike Anderson Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

DWP looks to hire new CDIO

Department is on the hunt for a chief digital and information officer to lead on its digital agenda, offering up to £200,000 pa for the role Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Lawyers and journalists sue CIA and Mike Pompeo over Assange surveillance claims

CIA and its former director sued over allegations that they authorised unlawful spying on US citizens when they visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Continue Reading

How clean data helps Southern Water identify vulnerable customers

Escalating prices means households around the country are having to tighten spending, with many struggling to pay their bills. Water4All, a consortium led by Southern Water, is using data to identify low-income and vulnerable households so they can be better supported Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Lightbits offers NVMe-over-TCP at 5x less than NVMe-over-FC et al

Lightbits builds NVMe-overTCP SAN clusters for Linux servers with Intel cards that accelerate network processing to give millions of IOPS with storage for public and private clouds Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Royal Mint turns to Circular Computing for remanufactured Lenovo laptops

BSI Kitemark for laptops supplied by Circular Computing intended to certify remanufactured products that are ‘as good as’ brand new devices Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Heineken puts employees in charge of their own careers with new HR system

 Continue Reading

Department of Health investigates bias in medical devices and algorithms

The government has launched a review to look at the problem of discrimination in medical devices and decision-making software Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK Amazon workers stage series of wildcat strikes over pay offers

Amazon warehouse workers across the UK have organised a series of spontaneous strike actions after the e-commerce giant’s management offered them pay rises between 35p and 50p Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Online Safety Bill ‘not fit for purpose’, say tech experts

IT specialists lack confidence that legislation compelling tech firms to tackle online harms will work as intended, with only a small minority believing ‘harmful but legal’ content can be effectively and proportionately policed by internet platforms Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Cisco averts cyber disaster after successful phishing attack

A potentially serious cyber attack on Cisco’s systems that began after a threat actor successfully exploited an employee’s carelessly secured credentials was thwarted without major damage Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS may take a month to recover from supply chain attack

Ransomware attack victim Advanced warns its NHS customers they could be waiting until early September to fully recover their operations Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Online retail sales see year-on-year drop of 2.3% in July 2022

Despite another year-on-year drop in online retail sales in July, the fall is smaller than those seen in previous months of 2022 as online sales decline slows Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Nokia on track to modernise Western Australia rail communications

Leading comms tech provider to upgrade Public Transport Authority of Western Australia’s railway communications system with private wireless and mission-critical IP/MPLS covering 250km of railway track and tunnels in project including designing, building and maintenance Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Increase in UK startups scaling to exit, but half still struggle

Despite more startups scaling to the point of exit than ever before, half are still stuck in low growth stages – particularly those working with emerging technologies Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Microsoft fixes two-year-old MSDT vulnerability in August update

August’s Patch Tuesday drop fixes more than 120 CVEs, including another MSDT RCE zero-day that is being actively exploited. Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Waterstones’ supply chain disrupted in Blue Yonder implementation

Bookseller Waterstones is recovering from the effects of a Blue Yonder implementation that has seen authors and readers up in arms Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

‘Coopetition’ a growing trend among ransomware gangs

Sophos shares data from its new X-Ops unit at Black Hat in Las Vegas, revealing a growing number of ransomware victims being attacked by multiple gangs at the same time Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK to surveil convicted migrants with facial recognition

A Home Office scheme to biometrically scan the faces of convicted migrants who have already carried out punishments has come under fire from privacy and human rights groups for being discriminatory Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

HS2 sets aside £9.5m to cover cost of IR35 non-compliance

HS2 has become the latest public sector entity to have fallen foul of the IR35 rules, with its accounts confirming that it is anticipating a tax bill of £9.5m for failing to assess the status of contractors provided to it by a third party Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

NHS recovering key services after attack on supplier

Incident at software provider Advanced took out multiple NHS services before the weekend, including the 111 advice service Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NAO guide for senior government leaders flags barriers to better data use

A National Audit Office guide for government chiefs on improving data use points to difficulties in achieving data sharing benefits and laments variability in cross-government data quality Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

CIO interview: Stephen Booth, CIO, Coventry University

After more than 20 years at the university, the CIO is still taking on new responsibilities – including his team becoming a commercial entity and acquiring its own software Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Reliance on PSN may have exacerbated cyber attack impact

As it seeks a new supplier to reinvigorate the migration away from the Public Services Network, the Cabinet Office says relying on the legacy network may be putting public sector bodies at heightened risk in cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: How storage AIOps is revolutionising hybrid cloud ops

We talk to Tintri about storage and AIOps, which is the application of AI and machine learning-based software to monitor storage infrastructure to be able to detect patterns and predict failure, the need to upgrade, and so on Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

UK has biggest card fraud problem in Europe

Social Market Foundation calls on the UK to get a grip on its huge problem with bank card fraud in Europe Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

SBRC to administer NCSC training across Scotland

The Scottish Business Resilience Centre has been awarded a £500,000 contract to extend cyber resilience training across more than 250 at-risk organisations Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Financial services regulator opens digital delivery centre in Leeds

The Financial Conduct Authority is increasing the number of tech experts in its workforce through a new digital delivery centre in Leeds Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Spyware activity particularly impactful in July

After a quiet June, vulnerability exploitation ramped up in July, with intrusions linked to spyware seeing unusually high volumes of activity, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Financial Ombudsman Service mining for gold in cloud HR and finance

The Financial Ombudsman Service is reaping the benefits of the cloud-based human resources and finance system it implemented last year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Reimagining ethical digital technology

With ever-increasing digitisation leading to greater dependence on a range of digital technologies, enterprises need to urgently look at how they can incorporate ethical and social considerations into the tech they develop Continue Reading

By

• Simon Rogerson

New EU due diligence law needs amending to stop tech sector abuse

European corporate due diligence directive seeking to transform how companies approach their human rights and environmental risk is welcome, but without further changes, it will fail to effectively curb tech firms’ harmful practices, claims international non-profit Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

More than 60% of world population will use digital wallets by 2026

Global take-up of digital wallets will accelerate over the next four years, driven by ‘super apps’ and QR code-based payments Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Finnish AI Region drives digital growth in small businesses

Helsinki-based SMEs are being offered support and resources to help them get the best out of artificial intelligence technology to improve their operations and create services to sell Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

IT Sustainability Think Tank: How collaboration and partnerships enable a circular economy

It takes a village to build a credible and robust IT sustainability strategy, so who should enterprise leaders be collaborating with to make their organisation’s green IT goals a reality? Continue Reading

By

• Katy Medlock

DrayTek patches SOHO router bug that left thousands exposed

Network hardware supplier has fixed an unauthenticated RCE vulnerability in multiple routers in its Vigor line, after being alerted by Trellix researchers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK safety tech sector sees strong revenue and employment growth

Safety tech is now one of the fastest-growing sectors in the UK tech industry, with jumps in revenue, investment and employment Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Retail’s IT talent search intensifies

Retailers from different sectors are on the hunt to fill similar IT job roles, but are all finding different ways to source the sought-after talent. Continue Reading

Post Office attacked subpostmasters who questioned Horizon, say victims

When the Post Office’s lie about the Horizon system failed to silence subpostmaster critics, the organisation took more extreme measures, say victims of the scandal. Continue Reading

How to create a datacentre capacity plan

In this week’s Computer Weekly, planning datacentre capacity is a growing challenge – we ask the experts for the latest best practice. Victims of the Post Office IT scandal explain why they think they were targeted for speaking out. And we look at the digital skills gap in retail and find out how employers can source talent. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Mapping out the rise in checkout-free shopping

There has been a boom in the number of checkout-free stores globally, but will that growth continue and which retailers are interested? Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

Estonia is building AI Gov Stack

Data scientists in Baltic nation are creating a repository of software code that provides building blocks for digital services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IPA revises review of HMRC’s £300m datacentre migration

Infrastructure and Project Authority’s annual report ranks HMRC’s £300m datacentre migration as “unachievable”, but – ahead of publication – it appears the organisation has had a change of heart Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

Luxembourg taps into innovation for better government tech

With a diverse population and a digital inclusion and open innovation strategy, Luxembourg has developed a way of using technology to improve government services Continue Reading

By

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

Green IT, nominate top tech women – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna discuss the CW IT sustainability think-tank, the launch of the Most Influential Women in UK Technology 2022 list, and Lambeth Council in the cloud Continue Reading

By

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

Austrian data firm accused of selling malware, conducting cyber attacks

Microsoft has accused DSIRF, an Austrian data services firm, of involvement in a string of cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How TCS is supporting Australia’s electricity market settlement

Tata Consultancy Services worked with the Australian Energy Market Operator to build a new system that speeds up electricity market settlement Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Withers

Artificial intelligence to reduce waiting list for neurology appointments

The Walton Centre is working with Tata Consultancy Services to apply digital technology to its operation, starting with a time-saving AI chatbot Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

H0lyGh0st ransomware gang faces challenges, but still a threat

Digital Shadows reports on the recently identified H0lyGh0st ransomware outfit, a new threat actor operating out of North Korea that faces some clear challenges, but is nevertheless still a live threat Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC startups scheme turns focus to operational technology, SME security

NCSC for Startups initiative turns its focus to supporting innovation around securing operational technology and addressing the challenges facing small businesses Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Home Office selects CGI as strategic delivery partner

IT services supplier will act as strategic delivery partner for the Home Office’s plans to modernise and join up UK law enforcement’s digital capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Cyber criminals pivot away from macros as Microsoft changes bite

As Microsoft resumes blocking macros by default in its Office application suite, reversing a temporary reversal, analysis from Proofpoint suggests the action has had a remarkable effect Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hibs push for the backup premier league with Acronis

Hibernian FC signs Acronis to get top division data protection and make the most of ticketing information and match footage as it tries to gain more value from the data it holds Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Teams in Grenoble work on 6G breakthrough technology

Even as 5G networks are being rolled out, new requirements are driving scientists, and engineers in Europe are back to the lab to start developing 6G Continue Reading

By

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

The verdict is Pure as Scottish prosecutor upgrades high-end storage

Scotland’s prosecution service saw disk drives in the dock every week with EMC legacy storage. Now it’s got Pure all-flash and has turned over an (Evergreen) new leaf Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Ocado revenue drops despite distribution centre successes

Ocado has spent the past six months rolling out new customer fulfilment centres and signing partners for its smart platform, but the cost-of-living crisis still sees revenue taking a hit Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government slammed for slow response to IR35-related consultation on zero-rights employees

The government has taken four years to publish its response to a three-month consultation on whether employment status and tax laws should be more closely aligned, and concluded that now is not the right time to make any changes Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

Consumers left out of pocket as security costs soar

As the average cost of a security incident reaches an all-time high of nearly $4.5m, an IBM Security study reveals how these costs are being passed on to ordinary people Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Retail software firm PrestaShop warns users about SQL injection attacks

Open source e-commerce platform PrestaShop warns thousands of small retailers that their customers’ credit card details may be at risk of compromise Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber security training ‘boring’ and largely ignored

Two-thirds of employees don’t bother to pay attention to cyber security training – and the fault does not lie with them Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Don’t rely on insurance alone

Cyber insurance is a useful addition to the cyber protection toolbox. However, it cannot be regarded as a replacement for the controls that should be in operation, says Turnkey Consulting’s Tom Venables Continue Reading

By

• Tom Venables, Turnkey Consulting

Secret court asked to quash a decade of MI5 surveillance warrants following ‘systemic breaches’

The culture at MI5 was to ‘prioritise’ missions ‘over everything else’, including compliance with safeguards designed to protect the public, the UK’s most secret court heard yesterday Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin and Tommy Greene

No More Ransom initiative helps 1.5 million people in six years

One and a half million people have now taken advantage of free ransomware decryption tools offered by a joint European project Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office attacked subpostmasters who questioned Horizon, say victims

When the Post Office’s lie about the Horizon system failed to silence subpostmaster critics, it took more extreme measures, say victims of the scandal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Meta publishes first-ever human rights report

Meta details its approach to protecting and promoting human rights, but civil society groups say the company has failed to grapple with the human rights risks associated with its own business model Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Ducktail infostealer targets Facebook Business users

Newly uncovered Ducktail operation targets individuals with access to Facebook Business service and tries to steal their accounts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Lambeth maps future with cloud applications

With its funding dramatically cut, Lambeth Council has turned to cloud delivery of its business applications to have a simpler technology stack and be nimbler in delivering services to its 330,000 population Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Six more subpostmaster convictions overturned in Horizon scandal

More former subpostmasters have their wrongful convictions for theft and fraud overturned in the Court of Appeal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Home Office ‘unlawfully’ approved MI5 bulk surveillance warrants

MI5 provided ‘false information’ to the Home Office to secure bulk surveillance warrants, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal heard Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin and Tommy Greene

NCSC seeks community input for Cyber Advisor service

The NCSC is proposing to establish a new Cyber Advisor service to train up experts in security guidance, and is inviting interested parties to come forward Continue Reading

Umbrella IT contractors could get back-dated holiday pay windfall following Supreme Court ruling

Umbrella industry stakeholders weigh-up the financial implications of a Supreme Court ruling, which could pave the way for IT contractors to submit back-dated claims for holiday pay Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Latest Atlassian Confluence vulnerability raises concerns

CVE-2022-26138 is the second major vulnerability disclosure made for Atlassian’s Confluence collaboration platform in recent months Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CDO interview: Brandon Hootman, director of digital data, Caterpillar

Manufacturing giant is modernising its data management and turning to digital to steal a march on its competitors Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

The Security Interviews: Why you need to protect abandoned digital assets

The war in Ukraine and subsequent boycott of Russia resulted in a swathe of digital infrastructure being abandoned, becoming a potential vulnerability for many organisations, says Cyberpion’s Ran Nahmias Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

CDO interview: Ian Rabagliati, product and experience director, Eurotunnel

The Channel Tunnel operator is coming to terms with the realities of post-Covid European travel, and focusing on customer experience to bring it closer to its passengers Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Russia could become the world’s largest market for illegal IT

Russia could become the biggest market for illegal IT equipment as companies try to get round sanctions imposed on the country Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly correspondent

UK heatwave linked to ongoing IT systems issues at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Guy's & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said it is working ‘around the clock’ to restore the IT systems affected by the extreme temperatures seen in the UK this week Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

LinkedIn most impersonated brand in phishing attacks

Social network LinkedIn, along with Microsoft and DHL, are just some of the brands that are most frequently imitated by cyber criminals conducting phishing attacks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GCHQ experts back scanning of encrypted phone messages to fight child abuse

Ian Levy, technical director of the NCSC, and Crispin Robinson, technical director of GCHQ, back client-side scanning software on mobile phones to detect child abuse Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Buy ‘plug-n-play’ malware for the price of a pint of beer

Three-quarters of malwares and almost 90% of exploits retail on the dark web for about £8.40 or less, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SSEN partners with Icebreaker One to break energy data silos

Better access to, and sharing of, energy data will help direct the installation of new electric vehicle charging points, as well as help network operators to better understand the electricity grid’s capacity for the introduction of more renewables Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Digital drives workplace trends in the Nordics

Workplaces are rapidly changing in Nordic countries, driven by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

UK government introduces data reforms legislation to Parliament

Proposed changes to UK’s data protection regime include new grounds for data processing, significant powers for the secretary of state to direct the regime’s application, and fewer restrictions on law enforcement’s use of data Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Data and Tech Aid pledges 10,000 first aid kits to Ukrainian civilians

Data and Tech Aid, a recently founded fundraising body, is pledging 10,000 medical kits to treat civilian Ukrainian casualties of the war Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Victorian multilingual chatbot to provide Covid-19 support

The AskVic WhatsApp chatbot will provide culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia’s state of Victoria, with Covid-19 information and support Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

(ISC)² expands entry-level cyber programme after UK success

Flush with success from a UK certification programme, reaching 100k in the UK, (ISC)² now wants to provide free security certification to a million people worldwide Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Transatlantic PET contest open for entries

A joint UK-US innovation prize challenge for developers of privacy-enhancing technologies has opened for entries Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cato aims to bust cyber myths as it extends network protections

Cato Networks is beefing up its platform’s security features with ransomware and data loss protections, and the firm’s security strategy lead Etay Maor is using the occasion – and his unique access to billions of data points from the firm’s network – to explode some cyber myths Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Estonia calls on tech experts to develop its Siri-like civil servant

Estonian government opens up applications to tech experts across the world, offering them the chance to work on a world first for digital government services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Why digital identity is central to the future of retail

GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post Ian Lowe, director of industry solutions for EMEA at Okta, discussed the role that identity will play in a digital-first retail future. Even before the ... Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Starling Bank withdraws application for licence in Ireland

App-based bank decides against completing its application for a banking licence in Ireland after concluding it did not offer enough value Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Barnet Council to bring work outsourced to Capita back in-house by 2026

London borough is bringing swathes of outsourced services back in-house next year, with more to follow by 2026 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Vodafone upgrades global network with SDN for flexible scalability

Software-defined networking stack deployed on both IP and optical global internet network controllers Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Advanced Research and Invention Agency gets CEO and chairman

The government has named a CEO for the agency it set up to get more out of science and technology, after its original appointment couldn’t take the role Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Russia’s Cozy Bear abusing Dropbox, Google Drive to target victims

Russian APT known as Cozy Bear has become adept at quickly incorporating popular cloud storage services into its attack chain to avoid detection Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

European IT services see bumper quarter, but signs of slowing emerge

Spending on IT and BPO services in Europe saw significant growth in the past quarter, but there are signs of a slowdown Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK fintech outperforms global sector

Investment in UK fintech continues to increase, outpacing a flat global sector, according to Innovate Finance Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA