IT news in your industry sector

Government puts Facebook under pressure to stop end-to-end encryption over child abuse risks

Facebook faces growing government pressure to abandon its plans to offer users end-to-end encryption to secure the privacy of their messages as the NSPCC raises concerns about child protection Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

London tech manifesto calls on next mayor to support tech industry

The London tech manifesto, put together by several tech organisations, calls on the city’s next mayor to support tech companies, increase digital skills investment and tackle the lack of diversity in the sector Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Finnish government strengthens country’s IT network security

Finland’s government has created a new national organisation to help public and private bodies improve network security Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Sutton Council trials in-home sensor tech

The council is deploying sensors in the homes of vulnerable people to be able to detect when they might need help Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Post Office’s full and final settlement with Horizon scandal victims in plain English

The legal settlement with subpostmaster victims of the Horizon scandal that the government and the Post Office say is “full and final” is anything but Continue Reading

By

• Alan Bates

Dutch accuse UK of ‘damaging confidence’ by disclosing details of EncroChat police collaboration

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service claims Britain has damaged confidence by disclosing details of an international investigation into the EncroChat encrypted phone network to the courts Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Uber ordered to reinstate six drivers fired by automated process

A default judgment handed down by Dutch court has ordered Uber to reinstate six drivers with compensation following unevidenced accusations of fraud and automated firing via algorithm Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Top 8 warehouse management systems to research

Efficient warehouses are key to customer satisfaction. Learn about some of the top warehouse management systems, including some of their benefits and drawbacks. Continue Reading

By

• Linda Rosencrance

Google launches multimillion-dollar cloud tech push to boost Covid-19 vaccine distribution

Tech giant Google is ploughing millions of dollars into initiatives to bolster the availability of Covid-19 vaccines and make it easier for people to access information about immunisation programmes Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Only government standing in the way of fair compensation for subpostmasters

The UK government is the only block to fair compensation for subpostmasters who were wrongly punished for accounting shortfalls Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

University of Hertfordshire is latest academic cyber attack victim

Multiple systems are offline at the University of Hertfordshire following a cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

In-sourcing IT in Wales has provided a positive change, says auditor

While savings have not been as great as expected, the decision to in-source IT in Welsh government has been a success, according to Audit Wales Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Microsoft is most impersonated brand in phishing attempts

Technology companies continue to be frequently spoofed by cyber criminals in their phishing attempts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ireland’s DPC launches probe into Facebook leak

The Irish Data Protection Commission has launched an ‘own volition’ inquiry into the leak of data from 500 million Facebook profiles Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CW Middle East: Qatari regulator launches platform to help combat money laundering

The Qatar Financial Markets Authority is using a digital platform to enable financial services professionals to assess their knowledge of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Also in this issue, read how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the IT spending patterns among enterprises in Saudi Arabia. Continue Reading

Overview of 4 types of warehouse management systems

Modern companies need to create efficient warehouses, and understanding which type of warehouse system to choose is key to that. Here's a look at four types and how they can help. Continue Reading

By

• Linda Rosencrance

The tracks of National Rail’s tears

To the meme generation he was simply known as the Airplane Mode Prince, but it seems nobody has taken the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh quite as hard as National Rail. Users of the website woke ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

Tesco reports online sales surge, advances digital platform

Retailer announces 77% boost to e-commerce sales, details on Clubcard app uptake and advances in its IT remediation plan Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Qatar regulator launches platform to monitor human understanding of financial crime

 Continue Reading

Cloud archiving: A perfect use case, but beware costs and egress issues

The advantages of cloud archiving are ease of use and being well-suited to potential latency issues, but IT teams need to be aware of costs and issues around moving data from and between clouds Continue Reading

By

• Maxwell Cooter

Why Microsoft’s $19bn acquisition of Nuance makes sense

Microsoft regularly demos real-time speech-to-text transcription and has just spent $19bn on bolstering its voice capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

AET gets Ctera to smooth hybrid cloud access to big files

Remote locations with unreliable WAN connections needed to share large files, which was a real headache until US engineering firm got Ctera edge filers with Azure cloud as a tier Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Europe provides growth for TCS despite year floored by pandemic

Tata Consultancy Services grows its continental European business despite economic slowdown brought by Covid-19 restrictions Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Vaccine passports cannot be taken lightly

What are the security issues and challenges presented by vaccine passports, and how should they be designed and used with ethics and privacy in mind? Continue Reading

By

• Richard Hunt, Turnkey Consulting

Security Think Tank: Vaccine passports must be secure by design

What are the security issues and challenges presented by vaccine passports, and how should they be designed and used with ethics and privacy in mind? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

MP told to ditch official email over hacking fears

MP Tom Tugendhat claims the intelligence services advised him to switch to the Gmail service due to concerns his parliamentary email could be hacked Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Covid-19 left people feeling vulnerable to cyber crime

Around 15 million people in the UK experienced cybercrime in the past 12 months, with a cumulative 64 million hours wasted dealing with the fallout Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

End of the road for Post Office IT system that destroyed lives

The Post Office has revealed the end to its controversial Horizon IT system which, through its errors and the Post Office's denial of them, caused huge suffering for hundreds of subpostmasters Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Civil Service Data Challenge aims to improve use of data

Business and government have partnered to launch a Dragon’s Den-style competition to encourage civil servants to come up with ideas on how to improve the use of data Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

EncroChat lawyers raise questions over use of PII secrecy orders on UK decryption capabilities

Lawyers claim that public interest immunity certificates may have been used to withhold information on UK intelligence agencies’ ability to decrypt encrypted communications Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Microsoft enters the Dragon’s den with Nuance acquisition

The $19bn acquisition of Nuance firmly plants Microsoft at the forefront of voice recognition. The stage is set to combine voice with artificial intelligence Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The evolution of RPA

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our latest buyer’s guide looks at the future of robotic process automation (RPA). Google’s legal victory against Oracle over the use of Java APIs has huge significance for software developers. And we find out how expectations of IT have grown as firms prepare for the post-Covid workplace. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

How the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium sequenced Sars-Cov-2

Consortium of universities and other institutions has harnessed datasets, analytics and cloud computing to sequence Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in a blisteringly short time Continue Reading

By

• SA Mathieson

Another 27 Danish banks get access to open banking APIs

Nordic banks gain access to open banking capabilities from Nordic API Gateway, with an agreement through their shared IT service provider Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ctera KubeFiler to bring Kubernetes storage to its cloud gateways

KubeFiler uses the container storage interface to allow Kubernetes to access persistent storage as if it were from a local NAS device, and while keeping existing access profiles Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

University students adapt to remote learning but question value for money

New research outlines students’ fears around the impact of long-term remote education and lecturers’ skills to operate online Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Loan Charge Group MPs demand IR35 shake-up to stop contractors becoming ‘zero-rights employees’

Inquiry by Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group calls on government to tweak IR35 legislation during passage of next Finance Bill Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Datacentre Editor

CIO interview: Nitin Chaturvedi, chief digital and technology officer, KFC Global

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the digital element of KFC’s business becoming increasingly important, says the fast food retailer’s chief digital and technology officer Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

NCSC: Using your pet’s name as a password is very stupid

If your email password is still Rex, Rover or Mr Fluffles, it’s probably best to change it, the NCSC has said Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tech industry sees surge in remote working job postings

Pandemic drives an increase in demand for “work anywhere” jobs and hybrid skills, research says Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

IR35 reforms: MPs call on government to clean up UK’s ‘wild west’ contracting labour supply chain

A 200-strong group of MPs is calling for urgent action from the government to protect contractors from the dubious practices of non-compliant umbrella companies and badly behaved employment agencies just days after private sector IR35 reforms came into force Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Post Office Horizon contract extension is part of project to bring Fujitsu work in-house

The Post Office is to move work done by Fujitsu in-house when its outsourcing contract ends, and is already recruiting IT experts Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HMRC signs reworked, three-year public cloud deal with AWS worth £94m

HMRC has ripped up and replaced its deal with AWS several months after signing it to tap into cost-savings on Amazon cloud services via the One Government Value Agreement Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Future working models at big banks begin to fall into place

Banks traditionally lead the way in technology adoption, but what can businesses take from their post-Covid-19 remote-working strategies? Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CIO interview: Gary Delooze, CIO, Nationwide

Building society’s CIO talks about building a technology strategy, working with the rest of the business and the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

IBM Cloud for Financial Services goes on general release

IBM Cloud’s push to provide sector-specific public cloud services to financial services firms enters a new phase Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Inside Microsoft’s industry cloud strategy

Microsoft dives deeper into its industry cloud strategy and what it means for enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Deliveroo riders strike over pay and work conditions

Riders across the country are demanding fair pay, safety protections and basic workers’ rights pay on Deliveroo’s first day of trading as a public company Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Facebook ducks calls to apologise over huge data leak

Facebook gives its side of the story as data on millions of its users leaks, but is yet to apologise for security lapses that put half a billion people at risk of compromise Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

A billion extra contactless payments in year since limit increase

Visa said there was an extra one billion contactless payments made by its customers last year Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Digital Markets Unit starts work on codes of conduct for tech giants

Digital markets regulator officially launched to ensure tech giants such as Facebook and Google cannot exploit their market dominance to crowd out competition and stifle innovation online Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Post Office gives controversial Fujitsu contract another year

The Post Office's controversial contract with Fujitsu has been extended another year to help the organisation manage its exit Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Irish employees’ ‘right to disconnect’ enshrined in code of practice

A code of practice giving employees the ‘right to disconnect’ from work and not engage in electronic communications outside of their normal hours has come into effect in Ireland Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Demands for changes to ‘barmy’ rules on digital evidence have government’s ear

The government is listening to calls for changes in how digital evidence is considered in court, as Post Office IT scandal spells out current rule's inadequacy Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Where now for storage? Hitachi, IBM and Pure Storage

Part II: Storage supplier strategy in the cloud era: Hitachi, IBM and Pure Storage. We snapshot the big six hardware makers, as they take things to the cloud and as-a-service models Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Facebook data leak could be outside scope of GDPR

Regulators may be unable to do much about leaked data on 533 million Facebook users, as it seems to have been stolen before GDPR came into force Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CDDO will assess delivery of government digital projects

Government Digital Service boss Tom Read and the government’s Central Digital and Data Office executive director Joanna Davinson reveal next steps for digital, data and technology in government Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Where now for storage? Dell EMC, NetApp and HPE

Part I: Storage supplier strategy in the cloud era: Dell EMC, NetApp and HPE. We snapshot the big six hardware makers, as they take things to the cloud and as-a-service models Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

GDS seeks director for identity assurance programme

The new leader will be focused on efforts to deliver a single digital identity system for online public services Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

EncroChat hearings delayed as lawyers seek disclosure on police hacking

Court hearings precipitated by police cracking the EncroChat secure mobile phone network have been delayed after defence lawyers request further disclosures on police decryption capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Lose-lose US sanctions apply brakes to Huawei’s 2020 growth

Bans on Huawei products in infrastructures around the world begin to affect its bottom line, but comms technology provider shows growth and reaffirms commitment to creating greater value for customers and society in the face of adversity Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

DCMS publishes report on opening data access to stoke economic growth

Research from Frontier Economics with economist Diane Coyle describes how the government could prime data sharing to stimulate economic growth Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Commerzbank picks Google for cloud migration

German bank expands its work with Google Cloud and plans to move 85% of applications to its platform Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS is apparently closing security skills gap

By the end of 2020, there were more than twice as many in-house security professionals at NHS trusts as there were two years before Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Evolving threats, tech, leaves CNI exposed

In light of increasing cyber attacks on critical national infrastructure, what are the immediate risks to industrial control systems and other operational technology, and what steps can be taken to address them? Continue Reading

By

• Tim Parker

Asda bags ex-Marks and Spencer CIO

Carl Dawson, who has been CIO at department store M&S for six years, is leaving the retailer to become CIO at Asda Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Privacy campaigners hail legal victory over Hancock and Palantir

Civil liberties organisation OpenDemocracy says it has scored a legal victory over health secretary Matt Hancock regarding the involvement of Palantir in the NHS Covid-19 data store Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Ransomware attack on London schools highlights warnings

Ransomware attack on Harris Federation comes just days after a fresh NCSC alert for the education sector Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IR35 reforms: Slow government progress on umbrella regulation exposes IT contractors to tax risks

With thousands of IT contractors set to start working through unregulated umbrella companies for the first time when the IR35 reforms take hold in the private sector, concerns are growing about the danger this could pose to their income and tax affairs in years to come Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

The ticking timebomb of IR35

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal that IT contractors are seeking a multimillion-pound payout after confusion over the forthcoming IR35 tax reforms. Many firms are building data lakes to improve their analytics – we examine the storage implications. And we talk to the CIO at the London School of Economics. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

The Security Interviews: How to secure an F1 team in a pandemic

A multi-year digital transformation programme paid off for F1 team Williams Racing when the 2020 season was abruptly postponed thanks to Covid-19. Learn how the team’s CIO has been supporting remote working and protecting data Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Data warehouse storage: Has cloud made on-premise obsolete?

There once was no alternative to building a data warehouse on-premise, but with cloud providers targeting analytics, building data warehouses on-site is looking obsolete Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Big Tech eclipses telecoms and arms giants as biggest lobbying spenders

Facebook and Amazon are spending more on lobbying and campaign contributions than any other companies in the US, including those in the arms and telecommunications sectors that have traditionally been the highest political spenders Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

How far has open banking come in Europe?

Open banking is a relatively new concept, having come into effect in Europe only in the last couple of years. So what is the state of play? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

TSB Smart Agent integrated into mobile banking app

TSB has integrated a smart agent, developed to relieve pressure on its contact centres during the Covid-19 pandemic, into its mobile app Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Backup survey: UK councils’ downtimes five times longer than average

Backup product supplier Veeam’s freedom of information request finds councils’ average downtime is seven hours and that backup and disaster recovery testing is not done frequently Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

UK courts face evidence ‘black hole’ over police EncroChat mass hacking

French investigators have refused to disclose how they downloaded millions of messages from a supposedly secure cryptophone network used by organised criminals – leaving UK courts to grapple with a forensic ‘black hole’ of evidence Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Ecolabels and data sanitisation key to recycling and reusing IT assets

Ecolabels on hardware and data sanitisation of devices are key to recycling and reusing old IT equipment respectively, helping enterprises avoid unnecessary asset destruction and contributing to increasingly high levels of electronic waste globally Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

CW Innovation Awards: How DBS is transforming credit processes

DBS Bank’s credit architecture programme has digitised and reimagined credit processes through a unified platform that has improved the productivity and efficiency of its credit teams Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CW Innovation Awards: Sime Darby ups ante in service management

Sime Darby Industrial’s inService Suite has returned more than 100,000 hours to the company in a digitisation initiative that has improved efficiency and customer engagement Continue Reading

By

• Edwin Yapp

CW Innovation Awards: SIA taps blockchain for loyalty app

Singapore Airlines, winner of the transportation category in this year’s CW Innovation Awards APAC, expands its blockchain-based digital wallet into a broader digital lifestyle platform Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Surveillance expert ‘unfairly’ refused job at intelligence regulator after MI5 intervened

The Home Office unfairly refused Eric Kind, a specialist in criminal justice and UK surveillance law, clearance for a job at an intelligence watchdog after MI5 claimed he was “insufficiently deferential” Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Sarah Wilkinson resigns as NHS Digital CEO

After four years at the helm of NHS Digital, CEO Sarah Wilkinson will leave in the summer of 2021, and the organisation is looking for an interim replacement Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Backup appliances the hot topic for Pas-de-Calais fire brigade

With requirements for strict, long-duration backup and archiving, French fire brigade set out to replace optical media with a StorageCraft appliance and disaster-proof storage Continue Reading

By

• Pierre Berlemont
• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Retailer FatFace pays $2m ransom to Conti cyber criminals

Retailer FatFace paid out a $2m ransom to restore its data following a January 2021 cyber attack by the Conti ransomware syndicate Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor
• Valéry Rieß-Marchive, Rédacteur en chef

Zombified Gov.uk Verify is officially dead - so what's next?

The UK government has finally admitted in public for the first time that its flagship digital identity programme, Gov.uk Verify, is dead. This will be no surprise to anyone following the project, ... Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

NHS Shared Business Services launches £1bn digital hardware framework

Framework consists of 19 suppliers, and offers user IT hardware products and services to the NHS and public sector organisations Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cyber security complacency puts UK at risk, says NCSC head

National Cyber Security Centre CEO Lindy Cameron, in her maiden speech in the role, warns of challenges ahead for the UK and sets out the future agenda for cyber Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DWP completes in-house VME replacement project

The department has taken an in-house approach to swapping its virtual machine environment (VME), getting rid of legacy infrastructure and replacing 11 key benefits systems Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

TUC warns of gaps in British law over use of AI at work

The TUC has published a report warning of AI-powered discrimination against working people enabled by gaps in existing British employment law Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Deliveroo faces pushback from investors and riders ahead of IPO

Two of the UK’s largest fund managers have said they will not buy shares in Deliveroo because of concerns over workers’ rights Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NHS Wales shapes up ambitious plans for digital patient-facing app

Computer Weekly looks at NHS Wales’ project to create a patient-facing app and a collaborative ecosystem for technology suppliers and NHS providers to deliver joined-up care Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Government faces judicial review into plans for Post Office Horizon inquiry

Subpostmasters that suffered great hardship at the hands of the Post Office are applying for a judicial review of a government inquiry into the scandal, which they see as a "whitewash" Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Liverpool announces test and development area for drone technology

Project aims to stimulate investment opportunities, employment and skills for the region Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Interview: Paul Douglas, Scottish Water

Building an enterprise architecture involves balancing near- and mid-term goals with longer-term business objective, cost and technical challenges, says Paul Douglas, lead enterprise architect at Scottish Water Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

NHS to digitise the ‘red book’ by 2023

Every child born from April 2023 will have a digital ‘red book’, or personal child health record, Matt Hancock has promised Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

The 3-2-1 backup rule: Has cloud made it obsolete?

The 3-2-1 backup rule was made for small-scale use in the pre-cloud era when tape still ruled. Is it relevant in the 2020s, or can we repurpose its fundamental principles? Continue Reading

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• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Ex-Post Office CEO Paula Vennells walked away from IT scandal with over £400,000 in pay and bonuses

Former Post Office chief was paid over £400,000 when she left despite the organisation being involved in what would become the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IWM uses StorCycle to free capacity for all-flash SAN upgrade

Imperial War Museums set to embark on unstructured data archiving project that will archive cold data to tape and free up capacity for a move to IntelliFlash all-flash SAN Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Oil giant Shell hit through Accellion FTA breach

Energy firm discloses cyber attack through Accellion File Transfer Appliance Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor