IT news in your industry sector

Vulnerabilities to fraud are increasing across the board

As the pandemic continues to affect how we work, socialise, shop and conduct business, so it has increased opportunities for digital fraud and cyber crime. Jason Lane-Sellers explores the latest LexisNexis Risk Solutions ‘Cybercrime report’ Continue Reading

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• Jason Lane-Sellers, EMEA director of market planning, LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Is the IT sector beset by fear-mongering?

The arms race between hackers and security teams has led to a plethora of new technologies, but it can be hard to differentiate between sensible cyber purchases and those that are promoted by exaggerating risk Continue Reading

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• Peter Ray Allison

Marks & Spencer upskills internal talent with data science education

Retailer is building up a data science capability that includes a Master’s degree-level apprenticeship as well as making data literacy a common currency up and down the organisation Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

A trial relying on computer evidence should start with a trial of the computer evidence

Learning from the Post Office Horizon scandal - the most widespread miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history Continue Reading

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• Stephen Castell

Scale-up vs scale-out: Horizontal vs vertical scaling for storage

We look at the differences between scale-up and scale-out in storage – or horizontal vs vertical scaling – and the key ways it can be carried out on-prem and in the cloud Continue Reading

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• Stephen Pritchard

Top 10 government and public sector IT stories of 2021

Technology is an increasingly important part of government policy in the UK – while the digital transformation of the public sector continued during 2021, albeit slowly in some places Continue Reading

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• Computer Weekly Staff

Top 10 financial services and fintech stories of 2021

Computer Weekly selects 10 key stories from the financial services IT sector over the past year Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Large organisations turning to digital currencies for stored value

Gartner predicts a major acceleration in the use of digital currencies over the next couple of years Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Oracle buys Cerner for nearly $30bn in major push into healthcare

Oracle has bought healthcare IT provider Cerner for $28.3bn, in a major push into healthcare. It is its largest acquisition since NetSuite for $9.3bn in 2016 Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

IT services spending recovery to get renewals boost in 2022

IT services and BPO deals worth $18.5bn globally up for renewal next year, adding fuel to already-expected high growth Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK tech startups raise almost £30bn in record year

The UK tech sector has achieved record growth in the past 12 months after the Covid pandemic paused investment Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What is Log4Shell - and why the panic?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we assess the risks from Log4Shell, a new web software vulnerability described as “catastrophic”. We look at SASE – secure access service edge – which is set to be one of the networking priorities for 2022. And some victims of the Post Office IT scandal are still waiting for proper compensation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Top 10 NHS IT stories of 2021

Technology has been central to the National Health Service response to the Covid-19 pandemic – we look back at the stories that made the headlines on 2021 Continue Reading

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• Computer Weekly Staff

Top 10 cloud storage, DR and datacentre storage stories of 2021

Key articles from 2021 that demonstrate the growing importance of cloud storage and disaster recovery, but also the snags that lead to cloud repatriation and difficulties restoring from the cloud Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Defra and MoJ hit with £120m IR35 tax bill despite using HMRC guidance

Government departments landed with tax bills totalling just over £120m over contractor IR35 status errors, despite receiving HMRC guidance and training Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Government must go further after agreeing to pay compensation for wrongly convicted subpostmasters

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Top 10 ransomware and backup stories of 2021

Key articles from 2021 that highlight the link between ransomware and snapshots and backup and their role in repelling attacks, plus effects of the pandemic on backup and recovery Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Security Think Tank: Reframing CISO-boardroom relations

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they’ve taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

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• Emma Bickerstaffe, Information Security Forum (ISF)

Tokopedia ups ante on observability capabilities

Indonesian e-commerce giant Tokopedia has consolidated its observability capabilities on a single cloud-based platform, enabling it to improve customer service and identify infrastructure issues Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CDEI research pinpoints barriers to trustworthy AI exploitation

Survey of UK business by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has disclosed the patchiness of artificial intelligence and data-driven technology adoption across different economic sectors Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

HSBC fined £64m for automated transaction monitoring failures

Bank hit by multimillion-pound fine for failures related to its transaction monitoring, which failed to spot potential money-laundering activity Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Barclays selects HPE GreenLake to host 100,000 workloads

Bank sees a need to provide more personalised digital experiences, and GreenLake is providing the IT infrastructure to help it get there Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Nationwide Building Society moves website to Azure cloud

Building society’s tech teams work with consultancy Contino to implement new website using the chaos engineering method Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Pressure on government to pay fair compensation to subpostmasters left out of current schemes

MPs demand that the subpostmasters who defeated the Post Office in court should be properly compensated for their losses and suffering Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Gig economy algorithmic management tools ‘unfair and opaque’

Report published by Worker Info Exchange warns of algorithmically enabled rights abuses in the gig economy, noting the insufficient transparency of employers and the lacklustre nature of legal redress Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Asda follows EG Group sibling in selection of Rise with SAP

Retailer is looking to improve the agility of its operations in the cloud with a move to Rise with SAP on Microsoft Azure, and to streamline its procurement with SAP Ariba Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

After Log4j, December Patch Tuesday piles on the pressure

December’s Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft contains several critical CVEs, but this month all attention is focused on the fall-out from Log4Shell, and burn-out is becoming a real issue Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Digital Ethics Summit: Innovation needs regulation to be ethical

Experts attending the 2021 Digital Ethics Summit spoke out against the idea that regulation will stifle technological innovation, arguing that setting clear rules will produce more ethical innovation Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

AIB signs up to z15-powered transformation

Irish bank has continued its investment in IBM z-series hardware and the Red Hat software portfolio to help it achieve its digital transformation goals Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK government to take ‘whole-of-society’ approach to cyber

Second iteration of the UK’s National Cyber Strategy broadens its focus to build a ‘whole-of-society’ security posture Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Which? tells banks to stop rushing branch closures

Consumer rights protector says banks should pause branch closures until they can ensure people have access to cash and services Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK advances research of autonomous robots in lab environments

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has been awarded new funding to develop the equipment alongside industry and academia Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Multibillion-dollar quantum opportunities if error rate recedes

Management consultant McKinsey discusses a potential $700bn opportunity in the pharma, finance, automotive and chemicals sectors Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Almost half of networks probed for Log4Shell weaknesses

Close to half of corporate networks have already been actively targeted by individuals seeking to exploit the critical Log4Shell Apache bug Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Joint committee publishes report on improving Online Safety Bill

MPs and peers release report on Online Safety Bill following five-month inquiry into the draft legislation and make a number of recommendations on how it can be improved to deal with harmful content and abuse on the internet Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Lords urge regulators to evolve as digital change accelerates

A cooperative approach with common objectives is needed to resolve potential conflicts between bodies in digital regulation as well as better oversight, according to a House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee report Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Government must go further after agreeing to pay compensation for wrongly convicted subpostmasters

The government has agreed to pay compensation to former subpostmasters wrongly convicted in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, but continues to refuse to pay a significant group of victims Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IT priorities 2022: Ransomware and cloud drive storage and backup

The pandemic and the move to the cloud has driven cloud storage as a key priority Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Oxford City Council services back online after weekend outage at SCC datacentre

Council has confirmed its services are back up and running after its datacentre hosting partner suffered a minor outage over the weekend Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Scottish government announces support for right to disconnect

The Scottish government is the first in the UK to publicly support a right to disconnect, which would give people the ability not engage in digitally enabled work-related activities outside of their contracted hours Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

What is Log4Shell, and why are we panicking about it?

It’s been described as a ‘design failure of catastrophic proportions’ that threatens the very fabric of the digital world. Find out what the Log4j2 Log4Shell panic is all about, and what you should do about it Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Having trouble overcoming the S/4HANA confidence gap?

As John Lennon and Yoko Ono didn't quite sing, "Give POC a chance!" If you’re one of the many SAP users who’s yet to migrate to S/4HANA, we understand your hesitation. It’s potentially a big ... Continue Reading

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• Bryan Betts, Freeform Dynamics

SMEs dominate list of 200 fastest growing tech companies

List of 200 fastest growing companies in the public sector is made up primarily of small and medium-sized enterprises, which collectively earned £936m from government contracts in the past fiscal year Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Julian Assange can be extradited to the US to face espionage and hacking charges, court rules

High Court overturns decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder after US government gives assurances over his treatment Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Singapore and UK sign digital trade deal

Described as the world’s most comprehensive digital agreement between two countries, the deal supports the UK’s bid to join Trans-Pacific Partnership to build trade connections with 11 Indo-Pacific markets Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Drone killer app saves Swedish lives

Drones could get life-saving equipment to heart attack victims ahead of emergency services staff, increasing survival rates Continue Reading

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

Channelling Nordic startup innovation towards global survival

Nordic startup innovation offers global organisations the green light towards sustainability Continue Reading

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• Matthew Staff

Edge storage: Four key points

Edge storage is driven by rapidly emerging edge computing and data gathering use cases. We look at why it makes sense to store data at the edge and the key challenges involved Continue Reading

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• Stephen Pritchard

Loan charge: Tax experts call on chancellor for simpler, more affordable policy settlement terms

A group of tax barristers and accounting experts are calling on Rishi Sunak to force HMRC to revise its loan charge settlement terms Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Retailers as tech firms: Next, The Very Group and others see power in the platform

Gap and Reiss are set to utilise Next’s end-to-end e-commerce service, Total Platform, in 2022, as more retailers carve out a future as part tech company Continue Reading

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• Ben Sillitoe

PAC scrutinises failure of large government IT modernisation projects

From unskilled senior government officials to over-reliance on outsourcers and contractors, the factors underpinning unsuccessful tech-driven transformation initiatives are investigated in a new report Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

CDEI publishes roadmap for UK AI assurance ecosystem

Publication from CDEI sets out the steps required to verify the effectiveness, trustworthiness and compliance of artificial intelligence systems Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Home Office slammed over police IT legacy replacement delays

Modernisation initiative has seen a significant increase in costs and several changes in scope, and measures introduced to address issues seem ineffective, says Public Accounts Committee report Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

What are the challenges associated with the MITRE ATT&CK framework?

Businesses sometimes struggle to use the MITRE ATT&CK framework effectively. Learn more about some of the challenges, and how to overcome them Continue Reading

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• Shannon Flynn, ReHack Magazine

How Estonia’s country-as-a-service scheme has attracted tens of thousands of foreign entrepreneurs

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Norway and IoT: A match made in heaven

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2021 another record-breaker for vulnerability disclosure

More than 50 CVEs were logged every day in 2021, more than at any time since records began, while ethical hackers continue to prove their value Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Most consumers expect banks to cover losses to scams

Consumers expect banks to cover losses to cyber crime, as the number of attacks grows Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CIO interview: Nicola Wadham, Financial Ombudsman Service

CIO Nicola Wadham brings Computer Weekly up to speed on the Financial Ombudsman Service’s IT challenges and successes Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Pure adds flagship FlashArray//XL with doubled throughput

High-end enterprise-targeted FlashArray//XL leverages latest Intel Ice Lake CPU, PCIe 4.0 and distributes SLC flash across drive modules to double throughput over existing arrays Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

UK privacy chief denies conflict of interest in new role

UK information commissioner will join a private law firm that represents technology companies she used to regulate, raising questions about conflicts of interest and drawing ‘revolving door’ criticisms Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Number of .uk domain suspensions at record low

Statistics from Nominet show how effective law enforcement action against cyber crime in the UK is paying off Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Loan charge: MPs call on financial secretary for new independent review into HMRC policy

In a seven-page letter to newly appointed Treasury minister Lucy Frazer, MPs highlight the legal flaws in HMRC's controversial loan charge policy and demand a new independent review Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK technology issues contributed to Afghanistan withdrawal chaos

Multiple problems including email management, collaboration restrictions and lack of technical expertise may have risked the lives of thousands of Afghans, according to whistleblower Raphael Marshall Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Zopa to focus on banking after closing peer-to-peer lending

Peer-to-peer lending pioneer Zopa to focus on its banking operation after the closure of its original business Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Labour reshuffle expands shadow ministerial team on digital, technology and innovation policy

New Shadow Cabinet includes three Labour spokespeople covering issues around digital, data, technology, science and innovation issues Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Government makes £116m pledge to help UK's green-tech firms innovate to fight climate change

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has outlined its commitment to helping UK green-tech businesses bring to market innovations that could help fight climate change Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Investigation mounted into Spar supermarket cyber attack

Possible supply chain cyber attack left more than 300 Spar supermarkets unable to process credit card payments Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Former TSB CEO joins money-sharing fintech

Paul Pester teams up with fintech heavyweights to target multibillion-pound money-sharing market Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Attackers leveraging the supply chain

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they have taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

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• Paddy Francis

Fintech boss fires 900 staff on one Zoom call

Better.com boss used a Zoom call to tell 900 people they no longer had a job Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Digital measures confirmed under UK procurement overhaul

A new platform and data standard will be introduced as part of a government move to bring simplicity and transparency to contracting Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

AI assistant Bürokratt to reduce bureaucracy in Estonian government

Estonia to launch a Siri-like digital assistant that will automate the completion of government service requests Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

MI6 will ‘open up’ to tech firms to innovate faster than adversaries, says chief Richard Moore

MI6 will use investment fund to back tech companies to develop long-term technologies that will help it to keep pace with China and Russia Continue Reading

APAC banks gear up on cloud, but challenges remain

Public cloud spending by financial institutions in the region is rising even as they grapple with legacy IT challenges and cost concerns Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Parents more equipped for home learning than teachers

Home learning was more easily embraced by parents than teachers, with parents saying they had the tech in place for remote schooling Continue Reading

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• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

IT Priorities 2022: Pandemic’s long tail for cyber buyers

Pandemic response has been top of mind for cyber leaders these past 18 months, and as Covid-19 turns two, the TechTarget/Computer Weekly IT Priorities 2022 study shows buyers are still focused on how Covid has upended the workplace Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

European finance firms increase open banking spend

Financial services firms are increasing investment in open banking capabilities, with improvements to payment initiation and onboarding capabilities expected Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Consumers say supermarkets among best at social engagement

Many types of business have improved their online interactions with consumers as a result of the pandemic, with consumers claiming supermarkets are among the most engaging Continue Reading

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• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Winter plan for health and social care gets £250m tech boost

Upgrades in screening to reduce waiting times and remote monitoring are among the initiatives to benefit from the budget allocation Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Cyber attacks and severe space weather among extreme risks faced by UK

An attack on the country’s critical infrastructure and severe space weather events could bring the UK to a halt, says Lords report Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Australia’s NSW to build A$40m digital twin

The spatial digital twin brings together government data sources to provide insights for urban planners and residents to support decision-making and see into the future Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

IR35: Government consultation on umbrella companies fuels regulation hopes

The government has embarked on a consultation to understand better how the umbrella market works, which is a move that has been cautiously welcomed by contracting market stakeholders Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Virgin Money adapts offices to fit flexible and collaborative working

Virgin Money is repurposing its offices to fit a future where staff will work from home and visit offices to collaborate Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Bank of Ireland fined €24.5m for business continuity failures

Bank of Ireland hit with multi-million euro fine by central bank following an investigation Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Serious violence duty in PCSC Bill would gut UK data rights

Proposed data gathering powers for UK police could override existing data protection rules, damage citizens’ trust in essential public services and further entrench discriminatory policing practices Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NUHS to tap edge supercomputing to crunch AI workloads

Singapore’s National University Health System will tap edge supercomputing resources to train AI models in a range of healthcare-related AI applications by mid-2022 Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

UK government publishes tech-enabled adult social care plan

Ten-year plan will see NHSX working on areas such as assistive technologies, and improved connectivity for care homes Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

United Airlines draws from AWS and diverse tech team to overcome Covid-19 business challenges

United Airlines used the AWS Re:Invent keynote to set out how it has overcome the challenges of Covid-19 by drawing on the capabilities of its diverse tech team to oversee its move to the public cloud Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Millions of credit card details for sale on dark web for as little as 75p

The credit card details of millions of people from across the world can be bought by criminals using the dark web for as little as $1 Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

COP26 reflections, tech sector reacts to Sunak on skills – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna reflect on datacentres and climate change, the tech sector’s reaction to government IT skills investment, and the Post Office scandal story Continue Reading

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

Security Think Tank: Think people, processes and systems

Security learning is a career-long process, so as 2021 draws to a close, participants in the Computer Weekly Security Think Tank sum up the most important cyber lessons they’ve taken away from the past 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Cate Pye, PA Consulting

Unesco member states adopt AI ethics recommendation

The non-binding recommendation seeks to define a common set of values and principles to guide the development of ethical AI globally Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Kaspersky introduces cyber policy for bionic devices

Cyber firm Kaspersky has become one of the first organisations in the world to develop and implement a security policy covering the use of bionic devices and other forms of human augmentation Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Wolverhampton to pilot app that rewards healthy behaviours

Tool is aimed at helping local residents eat better and exercise more Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

A ‘whole of society’ approach to cyber may be on the horizon

Nominet Cyber managing director David Carroll reflects on the NCSC’s latest annual review amid 2021’s fast-evolving threat landscape Continue Reading

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• David Carroll, Nominet Cyber

Cloud-based Redwood becomes latest challenger bank to make a profit

Cloud-based business bank becomes the latest of the new wave of challengers to achieve profit Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Swedish researchers are patiently developing a useful quantum computer

By 2028, the Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology in Sweden expects to have a useful quantum computer Continue Reading

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

Compliance, device management a challenge for NHS cyber teams

Information gleaned by asset visibility specialist Armis reveals that despite improvements, some daunting security challenges still dog the NHS Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK MSP set to use Nebulon cloud-defined storage IaaS

UK service provider Inca to use “cloud-defined storage” to support managed service provider offer in move which shunned hyper-converged infrastructure because of cited costly overheads Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor