IT news in your industry sector

IR35 private sector reforms: HMRC reminds firms to use ‘reasonable care’ when applying new tax rules

As the countdown to the IR35 reforms being rolled out to the private sector continues apace, HM Revenue and Customs issues compliance guidance for firms in-scope of the new rules Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

How Covid-19 has hit IT salaries and job prospects

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our salary survey reveals the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on IT professionals’ wages and job security. A potentially deadly cyber attack on a US water plant highlights the risks to critical infrastructure. And we find out how NHS Scotland is using tech to support its vaccine roll-out. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Digital investments will add £232bn to UK economy by 2040

The UK economy could grow by £232bn over the next two decades if investments in digital technologies continue Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Post Office to offer digital ID services to customers

Post Office partnership with Yoti is intended to expand customer choice as to how people prove their identity when accessing services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC recognises UK’s top cyber schools

National Cyber Security Centre CyberFirst Schools initiative has handed out 14 gold, silver and bronze awards recognising excellence in cyber security teaching Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government to impose new digital identity system across all Gov.uk services

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove writes to Whitehall departments mandating the use of a new digital identity system that will allow citizens to be tracked across the Gov.uk website Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

University benefited from early virtual desktop investments when pandemic struck

Edinburgh Napier University was able to react quickly to some of the main challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK border surveillance regime highly privatised, says Privacy International

Research from Privacy International raises concerns about the deep involvement of technology companies in the development and deployment of various technologies throughout the UK’s border regime, along with the lack of scrutiny they receive Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

The government’s ‘blue skies’ funding agency lacks purpose, MPs find

The £800m research and development funding agency announced in December 2019, lacks a clear purpose so far, according to the Science and Technology Committee Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Effective IT recovery in small/midsize businesses, 10 years on? Maybe tomorrow...

Disaster recovery is important for every business, large or small. But how can small businesses with limited resources protect themselves? Especially as a ‘disaster’ doesn’t have to be caused by a ... Continue Reading

By

• Tony Lock, Freeform Dynamics

Hacked Finnish therapy business collapses

Vastaamo, the Finnish psychotherapy centre whose patients were blackmailed by a cyber criminal gang, has filed for bankruptcy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Goldman Sachs reopens UK digital savings account

US banking giant resumes online account for UK savers after temporarily withdrawing it in response to high demand Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government launches digital identity trust framework

The government’s draft framework, which aims to set out rules for the use of digital identities, will be tested with industries, services, users and organisations ahead of a final version being published Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Nordic states launch joint drone development initiative

Nordic Drone Initiative backed by 16 public and privately owned organisations in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark to probe the efficient use of airspace for drones Continue Reading

Nationwide Building Society kicks off search for tech apprentices

Nationwide is working with local organisations to boost tech skills Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Benelux: Is reluctance to report cyber crimes in the Netherlands helping the criminals get away?

According to an academic study in the Netherlands, only one in seven Dutch people report a cyber crime to the police when it happens - feeling it is better to sort the problem out themselves because they don’t think the police will do anything. This is storing up trouble as cyber crime is an increasing problem in the country. Also in this issue, read why Dutch bank ABN Amro is selling its head office. Continue Reading

Dating app users warned to watch out for scammers

A vast amount of money was lost to romance scammers last year, and with millions of people isolated in lockdown the problem is getting worse, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

HelloKitty almost certainly behind CD Projekt ransomware attack

Theories that the cyber attack on a high-profile gaming studio was orchestrated by players who are disappointed in a videogame are likely wide of the mark, according to analysis Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Société Générale adopts work-from-home policy

French bank formalises remote working policy after discussions with labour unions Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

TCS to recruit 1,500 UK tech professionals this year

Indian IT service provider Tata Consultancy Services commits to recruiting UK IT professionals Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tech sector calls for renewed cooperation in global digital tax talks

Industry groups want renewed multilateral negotiations between countries about taxation of the digital economy in the wake of Joe Biden’s election as US president Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Century-old insurer uses low code as digital demands increase

Lloyds of London insurance and reinsurance broker Miller breaks from the past by adopting low-code software development platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Oracle claims major win in Australian public sector

Australian Data Centres will deploy Oracle’s Dedicated Region Cloud@Customer to host cloud services for the federal government Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Facebook sued for data-sharing practices with third parties

Data protection claim filed in London against social media giant for its alleged failure to give at least one million users in England and Wales meaningful control over their personal data Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Government launches review of use of health data for research

The review, which will be led by Ben Goldacre, will look at home-efficient and safe use of health data for research and analysis Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

IR35 private sector reforms: Deloitte confirms post-April 2021 ban on PSCs

Consultancy giant confirms that contractors will only be able to engage with it via a third-party umbrella or employment agency after April 2021, as part of its IR35 compliance strategy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

IBM refreshes entry-level FlashSystem arrays with a little NVMe

Big Blue refreshes three entry-level systems – the 5200, 5035 and 5015 – with the flagship of them gaining all-NVMe flash storage capability and cluster scaling to 10s of PB Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Experian to close more than two million Gov.uk Verify accounts

Gov.uk Verify’s largest identity provider is closing down its accounts, telling users to re-register with one of the two remaining providers by the end of March 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cyberpunk 2077 developer refuses to pay up after ransomware attack

Polish video game developer CD Projekt has released details of a ransomware attack on its systems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

‘Batman Begins’ cyber attack is a warning to CNI providers

A thwarted cyber attack in a Florida town that could have resulted in the poisoning of the water supply is a timely reminder of the vulnerability of critical services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS reports fewer phishing emails in 2020

The NHSmail email service saw a steady decline in suspected phishing emails during the course of 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russia’s Sber launches international AI contest for children

Children from across the world invited to take part in artificial intelligence competition launched by Russian bank-turned-tech business Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Kozlov

Big data platform to speed up DNA analysis

Belgium’s Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre has developed a big data platform that can analyse DNA data up to 16 times faster than current techniques Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Audi fine-tunes its digital performance to boost online car sales

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the digital chief at Audi UK discusses how the carmaker is tackling the slump in new car sales. One of the largest global malware botnets has been taken down, but how much of a blow will it be for cyber criminals? And we hear how one county council made huge savings on its SAP installation. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Interview: Robert Opp, chief digital officer, United Nations Development Programme

Chief digital officer of the United Nations Development Programme talks about the relationship between digital technologies and sustainability, and how it can be used for a more environmentally-friendly and inclusive future Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NHSX backs mobile app to detect kidney disease

The app, which is being funded by the AI in Health and Care Award programme, turns a smartphone camera into a clinical-grade tool to help detect kidney disease Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

North-West England ‘perfect’ growth area for tech startups

Industry groups mapping the UK’s technology landscape say the North-West of England is a hotspot for growing tech firms, which benefit from increasing investment and geographic proximity to academic and business support networks Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Data of thousands of Dutch citizens leaked from government Covid-19 systems

Weak access controls and outdated systems blamed for leaking of the personal details of thousands of Dutch citizens tested for Covid-19 Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

EncroChat: Appeal court finds ‘digital phone tapping’ admissible in criminal trials

Appeal Court decides EncroChat-encrypted phone records can be used in criminal trials. Critics say the decision means phone tapping no longer has a ‘clear meaning in the digital age’ Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Mayor of London launches digital inclusion initiative

Taskforce focused on increasing digital inclusion in London will promote digital skills and increase access to devices and connectivity Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government R&D funding fails to maximise ‘catapult’ potential

Barriers in the UK’s research and development funding system mean technology and innovation centres, also known as catapults, are prevented from maximising their potential economic impact Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Financial regulatory body bombarded with malicious emails

New disclosures reveal the FCA’s systems bounced almost a quarter of a million malicious emails in a three-month period Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security firm Stormshield loses source code in cyber attack

Source code from two products developed by French cyber security firm was compromised in a December 2020 incident Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UKRI should speed up Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund approval processes, says NAO

Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s lengthy approval process leads to delays in funding projects and could be a deterrent, according to the National Audit Office Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Five key points about unstructured data storage on-prem and cloud

We look at unstructured data, the myriad forms of data it comprises and the key storage options available, which include NAS and object storage on-prem and in the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Revolut rewrites policy to include permanent remote working

Challenger finance firm Revolut is redesigning its office spaces and introducing permanent remote working policies Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Woodland Trust hit by cyber attack in December

Conservation charity is investigating what it describes as a ‘sophisticated’ cyber attack but has waited nearly two months to inform its members Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Boeing outsources to Dell affecting 600 IT jobs

US aircraft manufacturer contracts hundreds of IT roles to Dell as it accelerates outsourcing plans Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

SolarWinds chases multiple leads in breach investigation

Investigators at SolarWinds are exploring multiple theories as to how the company’s systems were compromised Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CCS goes live with £800m NHS IT framework

Digital Capability for Health framework covers development and IT management services for health and social care organisations Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Fraud and cyber crime still vastly under-reported

The scale of digitally enabled crime in the UK is dramatically under-reported, new statistics indicate Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Let’s build on the innovation shown by UK tech during pandemic

The UK’s technology sector has innovated and shown leadership through the Covid-19 crisis, particularly with developments in AI. It is now time to maintain and build on that progress, so the UK remains a global force in tech innovation Continue Reading

By

• Bev White, Nash Squared

CDEI: Local government data use must keep up Covid momentum

The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation says momentum in local authority data use during the Covid-19 pandemic is in danger of being dissipated without central government investment and support for data skills development Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

CIO interview: David Walmsley, chief digital and omni-channel officer, Pandora

The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic could have been a disaster for the jeweller, but due to its digital transformation programme, it was ready to carry on serving its customers online Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Has Covid-19 made bank branch closures easier to sell?

Big banks continue to close branches and invest more in technology as the Covid-19 pandemic makes a case for digital banking Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Healthcare and life sciences dominate 2021 DataIQ 100 list

NHS England’s managing director of data and analytics, Ming Tang, joins data leaders from pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and GSK in the top 10 of this year’s DataIQ 100 list Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Venture capital trusts lobby for relaxed state aid rules

Venture Capital Trust Association chair speaks to Computer Weekly about how the UK’s exit from the EU means state aid rules can be rewritten to allow for the expansion of funding mechanisms used by tech startups Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Google grows cloud sales as parent’s profits top $40bn

Alphabet announces massive overall profits and increased Google cloud sales Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

‘Classic’ Cerber ransomware targets health sector in high volumes

Cerber ransomware-as-a-service seems to have re-emerged as one of the most critical cyber threats facing healthcare organisations, reports VMware Carbon Black Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SolarWinds patches two critical CVEs in Orion platform

New vulnerabilities disclosed as SolarWinds reels from December 2020 Solorigate/Sunburst attack – but do not appear to have been exploited yet Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: Deryck Mitchelson, director of digital, NHS Scotland

We speak to NHS Scotland’s head of digital about the IT to help ease the pressure on the health service, which has intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Ten startups graduate from virtual reality-focused accelerator

Startups focusing on building new immersive technology products have completed Digital Catapult’s Augmentor accelerator programme Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Nordic region provides autonomous vehicle test bed

Nordic region has the suppliers, environment and appetite for pioneering the development of autonomous vehicles Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Nordic countries dominate European online banking take-up

Nordics dominate online banking take-up in Europe, but the UK is not far behind Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Chelsea and Westminster NHS launches diabetes app

Together with supplier Sensyne Health, clinicians at the trust have designed a diabetes app that allows patients to manage their condition at home Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Liverpool City Council upgrades to cloud-based contact centre

An 8x8 integrated cloud PaaS contact centre with voice, team chat and meetings support is helping to drive the council’s digital agenda Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Ford makes Google preferred cloud partner for next-generation connected car push

The Ford Motor Company has gone public with details of the next phase of its ongoing connected car push, which involves a newly struck six-year tech collaboration with Google Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

IT scandal exposes legal rule that made it easy for Post Office to prosecute the innocent

Lawyers call for changes to digital evidence rule that made it easier for the Post Office to ‘bamboozle courts’ and make subpostmasters pay a heavy price for its IT failings Continue Reading

Business intelligence helps ambulance service’s pandemic response

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how one ambulance service is using business intelligence tools to join up datasets to improve its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our latest buyer’s guide examines video conferencing and collaboration. And we look at the benefits of real-time streaming data analytics. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Financial services giants form EU-focused coalition to boost sector’s public cloud adoption pace

A dozen or so European financial institutions have joined forces to stimulate the pace of public cloud adoption in the sector Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Business and HR leaders face COVID-19 vaccine dilemmas

COVID-19 vaccines open up a Pandora's Box of issues for companies learning how to deal with the return to offices and other workplaces. Here's why technology is critical. Continue Reading

By

• Scot Marcotte

Serco confirms Babuk ransomware attack

Outsourcing firm was hit by the ransomware last week but insists most of its operations are running as normal Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NHS Digital completes NHSmail migration to the cloud

NHS Digital’s Chris Parsons shares how the organisation managed to migrate more than 2.1 million NHSmail accounts to the cloud during a global pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Chris Parsons

West Midlands refreshes digital strategy

Combined authority’s 2021-2026 digital roadmap aims to address the digital divide and make the West Midlands the most digitally connected region in the country Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Netbackup 9 adds flexibility with hyper-converged backup options

Veritas’s enterprise backup flagship is available in hyper-converged infrastructure and has embraced containerisation, for better hardware and application scalability Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

UKRI suspends services after ransomware attack

UK Research and Innovation was hit by an undisclosed strain of ransomware at the end of January Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IR35 private sector reforms: Zurich Insurance under fire over contractor blanket ban

Zurich Insurance is the latest high-profile financial services company to declare contractors can only continue to engage with it via umbrella setups from April 2021, ahead of the IR35 rules coming into force Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

‘Victory for free speech and openness’ after tribunal confirms no territorial restrictions to FOIA

Freedom of information tribunal rules that investigative journalists and others can use the Freedom of Information Act if they live outside the UK or are not British citizens Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

SBRC picks Check Point to support cyber helpline

The Scottish Business Resilience Centre has enlisted Check Point as the first security supplier to join its incident response partnership programme Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Biometrics ethics group addresses public-private use of facial recognition

Home Office’s Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group releases briefing note on the use of live facial recognition in public–private collaborations following a year-long investigation Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Revealed: Brits who fuelled ‘vicious’ conspiracy theory by Trump supporters

Trump supporters have apologised and paid millions in damages to the family of murdered Democratic Party staffer Seth Rich for promoting false allegations that Rich – not Russian agents – stole emails from the Democratic National Committee Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University

Commerzbank announces big job cuts and branch closures

German bank is closing hundreds of branches and cutting thousands of jobs as it reshapes for the digital age Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Manufacturing particularly at risk of Solorigate-linked breaches

Every fifth victim of the SolarWinds Solorigate/Sunburst attack was a manufacturing organisation, say researchers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Rethinking IT recruitment

IT job applications tend to look for skills in particular technologies, but for some tech roles, life skills and worldly experience are equally important Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Five key questions about Kubernetes backup answered

We look at when to back up containers, what to protect, the main methods of backup for Kubernetes and the main Kubernetes backup products available in the market Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

JP Morgan Chase hires for UK digital bank launch

US banking giant hires in the UK in preparation for digital consumer bank launch Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Contactless payment limit could rise to £100 as FCA seeks industry views

UK financial services regulator is considering raising the contactless card payment limit to £100 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nakivo to use AWS Object Lock as anti-ransomware tool

Backup software maker leverages AWS Object Lock’s ability to create immutable WORM repositories as a means of helping organisations protect against malicious deletion or corruption Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Yorkshire Building Society migrating application development to improve customer satisfaction

Yorkshire Building Society is moving to new application development platform to support the creation of customer-friendly online services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS Scotland uses ServiceNow to power vaccination and contact-tracing

ServiceNow is at the heart of NHS Scotland’s digital response to the coronavirus, supporting the mass vaccination programme Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Grindr complaint results in €9.6m GDPR fine

Norway’s data protection authority plans to apply a fine totalling 10% of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr’s revenues over its data sharing practices Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

After a push at the start, Mencap’s automation journey is gathering pace

UK charity was helped out by a bank at the start of an automation investigation that is now a project sweeping across the organisation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HMRC IT PAC rebuke, neurodiversity in focus – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna discuss the recent Public Accounts Committee report into HMRC IT, neurodiversity, and Gaurav Dhillon as a Silicon Valley CEO Continue Reading

By

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

Conservatives broke data law to racially profile millions

The Conservative Party acted illegally in collecting data that inferred voters’ ethnicity and religious background, a Select Committee has heard Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

North Korean state attacks legitimate security researchers

Threat researchers specialising in vulnerability research and development appear to be being targeted by a North Korean state-backed group Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Customers turn to cash as IT issue hits card payments at major supermarkets

IT problem at payment processing company has forced shoppers to resort to cash in Morrisons and Co-op stores Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust launches digital service for HIV patients

Klick service triages patients according to their clinical needs and allows them to review results, manage appointments and complete health assessments Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cyber fraud a national security issue, says Rusi report

A report from the Rusi think tank calls for fresh approaches to how we think about fighting fraud Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Salad as a service: How tech could revolutionise farming

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how new technologies are supporting the rise of vertical farming, and could revolutionise food supply chains. We examine one of the biggest trends in the cloud – serverless computing. And Brexit has not yet ended the debate about UK-EU data protection. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Salad as a service: Retailers’ interest in vertical farming grows

Retailers are waking up to the potential of vertical farming, with technology-enabled agriculture a core part of supply chain bosses’ and food buyers’ plans. Continue Reading