IT news in your industry sector

Political awareness needed to ethically handle migration data, panel claims

Understanding the political, social and economic relationships between different groups in society is needed to ensure location data is not used in ways that further endanger already vulnerable people on the move Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Use of spyware apps linked to domestic abuse soars in lockdown

The rise in domestic violence during the pandemic has been linked to increase use of stalkerware apps by abusers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Coronavirus: Bahrain sees fintech take-up surge amid Covid-19 crisis

 Continue Reading

Over 15 billion credentials for sale on dark web

Research by Digital Shadows reveals the scale of the security threat facing consumers as it uncovers 15 billion usernames and passwords stolen in more than 100,000 different data breaches Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Decision points in storage for artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data

Artificial intelligence and machine learning storage is not one-size-fits-all. Analytics work differs, and has varied storage requirements for capacity, latency, throughput and IOPS. We look at key decision points Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Interview: Mayank Prakash, global consumer CIO, and Daljit Rehal, CDO, Centrica

Two of energy giant Centrica’s tech bosses talk to Computer Weekly about the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown and the importance of company culture, innovation and using technology to make life easier for customers Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Security funding soars despite Covid-19 slump, but problems lie ahead

The overall cyber security funding ecosystem in the UK is healthier than ever despite Covid-19, but the figures mask stark and concerning disparities in where the money is going Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office scandal victims have days to raise thousands of pounds or perpetrators go scot-free

Victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal need to raise thousands of pounds in a week or those responsible for their suffering will avoid scrutiny Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CCPA enforcement has begun: Here’s what to expect

The US’s California Consumer Privacy Act came into force in January this year, but enforcement against technology companies did not begin until this month Continue Reading

By

• Omer Tene, IAPP

Auditing for algorithmic discrimination

Despite the abundance of decision-making algorithms with social impacts, many companies are not conducting specific audits for bias and discrimination that can help mitigate their potentially negative consequences Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Banks need to think like Google and not just follow it

Banks are recruiting senior thinkers from within the IT sector as digital transformations mature Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Women in tech, loan charge woes and automation – The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload Podcast

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Clare McDonald, Caroline Donnelly and Brian McKenna discuss the publication of the long list for the 2020 Most Influential Women in UK Technology, the latest developments in the IR35 private sector reforms, and the impact of AI-driven automation on journalists and other knowledge workers Continue Reading

By

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

MSP Xchanging attacked in ransomware incident

Specialist managed services provider is restoring customer access to systems after an unspecified ransomware incident Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fujifilm software allows S3 access to LTO tape libraries

Fujifilm Software Defined Tape allows tape libraries to act as an S3-based object storage archive accessible as a tier of storage on-premise or in the cloud Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

The privacy challenges of easing lockdown

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as pubs in the UK re-open after lockdown, we examine the privacy issues around collecting customer data for contact tracing. We look at how interconnected devices are revolutionising the manufacturing and engineering sectors. And we assess GDPR progress two years after its introduction. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

It’s time to party! Yet another government digital identity scheme is on the way

On 14 March 2021, we will mark the tenth anniversary of the official approval for the development of a single government-wide digital identity system. Save the date in your diaries. Intended to ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Avinor creates contactless airport check-in for Norway

Norwegian airport operator introduces touchless travel check-in to limit the potential spread of Covid-19 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ferry port implements terminal operation system remotely

UK ferry port takes advantage of suppliers remote-working capability to complete IT project during lockdown Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

North Korea behind spate of Magecart attacks

The Magecart credit card skimmer found on the website of retailer Claire’s Accessories was likely put there by the Lazarus or Hidden Cobra North Korean APT group, reports Sansec Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

CIO interview: David Allison, global head of IT, First Quantum Minerals

For his first global CIO role, the IT chief had to tackle unusual challenges such as reliable networking and IT use in inhospitable mining environments in developing countries Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

How Infor Nexus is helping to digitalise Asia’s supply chain

Infor’s Nexus unit has been supporting digitalisation efforts in Asia’s supply chain industry before the Covid-19 pandemic, which has accelerated adoption of cloud-based offerings in the region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Green tech needed for post-Covid economic recovery

Green technology investments could help society recover from the coronavirus – and prepare it for the long-term negative social and economic outcomes of climate change Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

GDS 'under duress' - is there a row going on down near Whitechapel?

The Government Digital Service (GDS) has taken its fair share of criticism in recent years – including from Computer Weekly - and much of it justified. But there’s little doubt the team at GDS HQ ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Is digital art coming of age under Covid?

Israeli startup Niio is advancing a digital art platform comparable with Spotify. Is the digital medium for high art coming of age in these Covid times? Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

DWP publishes digital delivery results and cost of IT blunders

DWP released a number of updates of its digital transformation work including several initiatives relating to the Covid-19 outbreak, and reported more than £10m sunk in failed IT projects Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Government to fund diagnostic health tech projects

Six health projects across the UK, using technologies to detect chronic and terminal illnesses, will be given £13m in funding by the government, while £3m will come from Cancer Research UK Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Why a shared channel experience will meet user needs at DWP Digital

The Department for Work and Pensions outlines the approach it is taking to developing user-focused digital services Continue Reading

By

• Cheryl Stevens, DWP Digital

CIO interview: Nick Burton, chief information and digital officer, Avon International

The international beauty brand faced a major problem when the UK went into lockdown – how could its door-to-door sales model adapt to a socially distanced world? Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Loan charge MPs denied House of Commons vote on Finance Bill policy amendments

Despite securing the support of 50 named MPs, an amendment to the forthcoming Finance Bill that could have seen thousands of people fall out of scope of the Loan Charge policy has been denied Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Cops take out encrypted comms to disrupt organised crime

The UK’s National Crime Agency, alongside other law enforcement agencies in France and the Netherlands, have busted illicit arms and drugs rings after disabling an encrypted comms platform Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Locked-down teens flock to NCSC CyberFirst training scheme

A record number of 14 to 17-year-olds have signed up to the National Cyber Security Centre’s CyberFirst summer school Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Police secrecy over ‘IMSI-catcher’ mass surveillance of mobile phones

Following a tribunal ruling, constabularies in England and Wales can refuse to confirm or deny whether they use mass surveillance devices, known as IMSI-catchers to monitor people’s location, phone calls and text messages Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Civil and family courts to get video platform for remote hearings

Video platform that has been used in magistrates’ and crown courts during the coronavirus pandemic will be extended to civil and family courts Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

CMA calls on government to revamp regulations for tech giants

Competition regulator says current laws are not fit for purpose and wants a new, ‘pro-competition regulatory regime’ that the likes of Google and Facebook must abide by Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

CIO interview: Richard Gifford, CIO, Wincanton

Transforming legacy systems, making use of real-time data and exploring emerging technologies are high on the agenda for the logistics giant’s IT team Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Société Générale acquires fintech challenger bank

French bank acquires Shine to expand its services to small businesses and entrepreneurs Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Equity in STEM education more important than ever, says Parliamentary group

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM suggests recommendations for increasing equity in education after stating coronavirus makes diversity increasingly important Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Qumulo hybrid cloud NAS provides special effects for Cinesite

Hybrid cloud scale-out NAS from Qumulo used to offload Active Directory lookups and other workloads to the AWS cloud that had suffered in peak times when on Isilon Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Black Lives Matter, but do bots know that?

The volume of content generated each day necessitates automated moderation to curate everything as it is published, ensuring offensive and objectionable material is blocked. But this only works if systems are adequately configured and reviewed Continue Reading

By

• Peter Ray Allison

UK government announces Office for Talent

The Office for Talent is part of a research and development roadmap, which includes an innovation programme to accelerate innovation in government Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

FCA estimates about 2.6 million Brits have bought cryptocurrency

UK financial services regulator says there has been a significant increase in ownership of cryptocurrencies in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lenovo, top-of-the-world Chinese supercomputer supplier, sweeps all markets

Supercomputers are not just about computing power, they are a symbol of political ambition. Chinese supercomputer supplier Lenovo is now the dominant supplier across the world Continue Reading

By

• Kevin Cahill

FakeSpy Android malware targets Royal Mail app users

The FakeSpy malware was first identified in October 2017 but is now significantly more powerful and dangerous Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Australia to invest a record A$1.35bn in cyber security

The Australian government is making its largest ever investment in cyber security over the next decade to identify cyber threats, disrupt foreign cyber criminals and build new capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

HMRC and Treasury accused of ‘direct interference’ in independent loan charge review

Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group report pours scorn on claims that December 2019 review of government’s disguised renumeration policy was conducted independently Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Government expands Future Fund eligibility criteria

The Future Fund will now be accessible to startups that have previously taken part in accelerator programmes, but early-stage firms continue to struggle Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Digital art, datacentre futures and diversity – The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload Podcast

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Clare McDonald, Caroline Donnelly and Brian McKenna discuss digital art, Covid-19’s likely lasting impact on the datacentre industry, and the lack of progress in diversity in IT Continue Reading

By

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

BNP Paribas uses biometrics to increase contactless payment limit

French bank BNP Paribas is enabling customers to make higher value contactless payments through fingerprint-recognition technology Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Genomics England taps up AWS and Lifebit to create cloud-based Covid-19 research environment

Genomics England is looking to open up collaboration on Covid-19 genome datasets with researchers across the globe with new cloud-based research environment, which will be based on AWS and Lifebit’s technologies Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Unlocking value in the railway network’s data

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the rail industry is working to improve its use of data to deliver better services to passengers. Is flash the saviour of the storage universe? Our buyer’s guide assesses the choices for IT managers. And we examine the failure of the government’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

MPs urged to back Finance Bill amendments to loan charge policy

Loan Charge Action Group urges its members to ask their MPs to support an amendment to the controversial loan charge policy that could see more people fall outside its scope Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Lawyers learn of fresh US allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from press reports

The US has filed an updated indictment against Julian Assange alleging that he conspired with hacking groups to obtain information for WikiLeaks. Defence and prosecution lawyers learned about it from press reports Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Qumulo Shift opens up scale-out NAS to AWS S3 in the cloud

Qumulo Shift will automatically convert file data on its NAS arrays to S3 object storage format in the AWS cloud. The functionality will be free to customers from July Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

MPs to examine fairness of private prosecutions in light of Post Office IT scandal

Parliamentary Justice Committee to hold short inquiry into the rules and regulations surrounding private organisations’ ability to initiate criminal proceedings Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lords urge government to take immediate action on online harms

Select committee calls for tech giants to be held responsible for the harm done to individuals, wider society and democratic processes through online misinformation Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Airports deploy thermal cameras to control Covid-19, science suggests it’s merely ‘safety theatre’

UK airports are rolling out thermal surveillance cameras to identify people who may have coronavirus, but science says the technology is ineffective at detecting and preventing the spread of the disease Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Laura Middag Alvarez

UKCloud signs MoU with CCS to provide public sector with discounted cloud pricing

Public sector-focused IaaS firm UKCloud has become the latest supplier to sign a discounted pricing deal with the UK government Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CBI: Government must take steps to drive SME business innovation

The coronavirus pandemic has shown how much can be achieved in a short period with a strong partnership between government and industry – and this needs to continue Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Standard Chartered embarks on virtual internship programme

Bank offers 300 candidates virtual placements on internship programme Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHSX seeks evolution of digital transformation capabilities

New approaches and team structures could be tested as a result of learnings from the work around Covid-19 Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Pub ‘check-in’ apps provoke fresh privacy concerns

With pubs and restaurants required to collect customer data for contact tracing when they reopen, data privacy risks will be heightened Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Former Post Office CEO and Fujitsu play the blame game in Horizon IT scandal

Post Office and Fujitsu blame each other for many of the failings in the Horizon IT scandal that wrecked lives Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CBI: UK needs an immigration and training rethink

For the UK to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, vast swathes of the population will need retraining – and overseas IT specialists will also be needed Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Nebulon emerges with software-defined storage, but from the cloud

Startup to offer on-site storage with local I/O and some controller functionality in the cloud, combining software-defined and cloud to bring “fleet management at scale” Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

CBI: Digital economy needs joined-up regulations and gigabit broadband

The coronavirus pandemic has shown the need for fast, reliable networking across the UK. The CBI is urging the government to do more Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Peer-to-peer lender Zopa gets full banking licence

Peer-to-peer lending pioneer works towards creating the ‘Netflix of banking’ Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HMRC yet to begin building UK border IT system

The UK government has still not built its Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) IT system, despite the end of the Brexit transition period looming, while the Port of Dover’s head of EU exit proposes just licensing the French IT system instead Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Kia Motors partners with Google Cloud to bring motorists AI-based paperless car manuals

South Korean car manufacturer partners Google Cloud managed service provider Megazone to bring artificial intelligence-based app to market Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Amazon’s carbon emissions surge during 2019

Amazon’s carbon footprint continues to grow, jumping 15% in one year, with the company maintaining it will take some time for its green investments to yield measurable results Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Firm that investigated controversial Post Office IT system to support criminal conviction appeals

Second Sight is working with law firm in appeals by subpostmasters against criminal convictions in Horizon IT scandal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IT services giant gives staff time out to volunteer for police clients

IT services company CGI responds to Met Police call by offering its staff the opportunity to take 11 days paid leave to volunteer their time Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Advertisers revolt over Facebook’s inaction on hate speech

Several companies plan to pull their adverts from Facebook in protest at its unwillingness to deal with hateful content on its platforms Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

SoftIron aims at data too valuable for commodity storage

UK array maker hopes to be the storage provider of choice for those that really value their data, with highly optimised Ceph-powered hardware aimed at HPC users and enterprises Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

How the Chelsea Flower Show blossomed as an online-only event

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the digital team at the Royal Horticultural Society about delivering the first online-only Chelsea Flower Show after the physical event was cancelled due to coronavirus. With all the talk about the consumer uses of 5G, we look at how next-generation mobile technology could benefit enterprise IT. And we examine the best practice in managing SAP systems during lockdown. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Government to publish digital strategy this autumn

Strategy will set out how to increase tech-led economic growth and productivity after the Covid-19 pandemic, says digital secretary Oliver Dowden Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Immigrants’ rights campaigners take Home Office to court over visa algorithm

Campaigners claim built-in algorithmic bias makes processing of visa applications ‘discriminatory’ Continue Reading

By

• Laura Middag Alvarez

East Coast Main Line to get £350m digital signalling boost

Government accelerates the roll-out of electronic signalling, pumping £350m into a digital signalling system on the East Coast Mainline Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Care Quality Commission to discuss concerns over Paula Vennells’ NHS role

Healthcare regulator will be discussing concerns about former NHS boss chairing an NHS trust at an upcoming meeting Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cloud flash storage: SSD options from AWS, Azure and GCP

We look at the flash storage options available from the big three cloud providers – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform – that can help narrow the gap between on-site and cloud workloads Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Online shopping fraud hits £16m during lockdown

A quarter of victims were aged between 18 and 26, says Action Fraud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Post Office Horizon scandal victims keep pressure on government’s doorstep

Subpostmasters fighting for justice in IT scandal are pressuring government on numerous fronts, as momentum is regained after reduced activity due to Covid-19 lockdown Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Eurostar to roll out facial recognition for ‘passport-free’ travel to Europe

Facial recognition will make passports on the Eurotunnel an option rather than a necessity, but privacy campaigners have questioned whether gathering biometric data on passengers is necessary Continue Reading

By

• Laura Middag Alvarez

Technology firms come under scrutiny for ties to law enforcement

Three major technology companies have committed to not selling facial-recognition tech to law enforcement, but remain silent on how other technologies can be used to fuel racial injustice and discriminatory policing Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

AI bias and privacy issues require more than clever tech

The new AI Barometer report from the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has assessed the threats and opportunities of artificial intelligence in the UK Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Facebook allows US users to disable political ads

Users of the social media platform will soon be able to opt out of seeing politically motivated posts Continue Reading

By

• Laura Middag Alvarez

US pulls out of talks with Europe for global digital tax

Despite the US’s resistance to an international digital services tax, the UK and other European countries plan to continue pushing for a global solution to taxing technology giants Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

Why not collaborate on an international contact-tracing app? (Well, we know why the UK won't...)

To the surprise of nobody, the government has reversed its plans for the NHS contact-tracing app, switching from its initial centralised model to the decentralised version supported by Google and ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Data protection watchdog calls for controls on police mobile phone stop-and-searches

Information commissioner wants new safeguards on the use of police powers to download sensitive personal data from the mobile phones of suspects and crime victims Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

EU-backed bid to build data preservation cloud for European research community gathers pace

The Archiver project, which aims to create a hybrid cloud-based data preservation environment for scientific researchers across Europe, has named the ICT suppliers in the running to deliver on its vision Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Survey finds 30% of people let down by public-sector tech during pandemic

ThoughtWorks research highlights problems around remote schooling, local government and GP services Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Nordic business is leading open banking charge in Europe

Nordic region has the right ingredients to prove open banking can benefit consumers, businesses and the economy Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Kent and Medway CCG deploys digital Covid-19 dashboard

Dashboard gives NHS staff information on ventilator bed usage, available personal protective equipment and the number of staff infected by Covid-19 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

US buildings firm saves big on HDDs with Nasuni cloud NAS

APi Group dumps first-generation file sharing for Nasuni, which allowed it to save ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’ with standard hardware deployments and cutting local storage Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Datacentre investment boost as Norway’s government reinstates tax relief

Government reinstates datacentre energy tax relief for cryptocurrency mining organisations after investments in the country’s datacentres drops Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

NTT Data and LeapThought eye Singapore’s construction sector

Japan’s NTT Data and New Zealand’s LeapThought have come together to support the digitalisation efforts of Singapore’s construction industry Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Cosmetics company Avon offline after cyber attack

Representatives left unable to place orders after company’s back-end systems went offline over a week ago Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Amnesty identifies most privacy-invasive Covid-19 contact-tracing apps

Bahrain’s ‘BeAware Bahrain’, Kuwait’s ‘Shlonik’ and Norway’s ‘Smittestopp’ are the most privacy-invasive contact-tracing apps, reveals Amnesty International study Continue Reading

By

• Laura Middag Alvarez

Select committee chair demands sharper teeth for review of Post Office IT scandal

Call for government review of Post Office Horizon scandal to have the power to force individuals to give evidence under oath Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS Digital seeks suppliers for Covid-19 testing service

The NHS Digital tender aims to find a partner to handle the development, delivery and running of the coronavirus testing service Continue Reading

Government publishes geospatial data strategy to capitalise on location data

National Geospatial Strategy will develop the country’s location data framework over the next five years Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications