IT news in your industry sector

From Aberdeen to Brighton: Investing in the UK’s digital future

More investment in the UK’s broadband infrastructure is critical to ensure the UK’s future success in technology in a post-Brexit world Continue Reading

By

• Russ Shaw, Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates

CIO interview: Ian Cohen, global CIO, Addison Lee

Addison Lee’s global CIO is building a business strategy and ensuring the transport company has a flexible platform for growth Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Dutch bank ING sees financial boost from employee performance management rethink

ING claims business has improved after replacing ‘scattered and fragmented’ IT systems to change the way it manages employee performance Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

NHS organisations in south-east England choose BT for HSCN

BT will provide broadband services over the Health and Social Care Network to 24 NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in the south-east of England Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Security Think Tank: Follow good practice to reduce risk of software vulnerabilities

What is the most practical and cost effective way for organisations to identify and remediate high-risk software vulnerabilities? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Majority of UK firms not insured for data breaches

Many UK firms are not insured against information security breaches and data loss, and would have to spend £1m on average to recover from a breach, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Department for Transport invests £10m in digital journey planner

Digital transport planning system will allow local authorities and utility companies to share and record data on roadworks to reduce disruption and delays for drivers Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Security Serious Week to feature flash mob event

“Flash mob” event will create a human collage, highlighting cyber security advice Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Met Police begins move to Microsoft Azure as cloud-first push gathers pace

The Metropolitan Police has enlisted the help of G-Cloud supplier New Signature to support its cloud-first ambitions, as it pushes ahead with plans to migrate applications and its on-premise server capacity to Azure Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK partners with African countries to boost innovation

UK government has launched partnerships in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria to help startups grow and boost technology innovation in the region Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Fraudulent money transfers are top aim of business email compromise

Business email compromise is increasingly popular with cyber criminals to steal money and information as well as spread malware, security researchers find Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Blockchain gains foothold in Australia

A number of blockchain projects are under way in Australia, but questions remain about whether the technology is wanted Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Cobalt cyber heist group mounts new campaign

Security researchers discover new campaign using two malicious links to double the chances of infection, which is believed to be linked to a notorious cyber crime group Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nearly half of NHS staff rely on instant messaging at work

43% of NHS staff use apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for work purposes, and most NHS trusts have no policy discouraging the use of instant messaging, according to supplier CommonTime Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Accountant dumps Dell SAN for StorMagic hyper-converged

Accounting firm ditches traditional SAN hardware for software-defined hyper-converged storage from StorMagic and avoids tens of thousands of dollars in capex costs Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Local councils should have a digital leader at board level, says TechUK

Industry body calls on local councillors to have a digital-first mindset, drive transformation and ensure local authorities have digital leadership in place Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Machine identity management crisis looming

Managing machine identities is looming as the next big security challenge, a study reveals, with few organisations capable of protecting them as they increasingly form the basis of online communications Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fourth man jailed for iCloud celebrity hacking

The final hacker charged with leaking nude images of female celebrities in 2014 has been jailed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Improving security is top driver for ISO 27001

Organisations are implementing the ISO 27001 standard in recognition of the fact that cyber attacks are increasingly inevitable and that it is best to be well-prepared to fend off attacks and mitigate their effect Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cloudian’s $94m new funds to target 100PB-scale operations

CEO Michael Tso says funding in engineering efforts aims to make sure Cloudian can meet the challenge of object storage deployments growing to hundreds of petabytes Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

DCMS has £95m for full-fibre in final round of LFFN scheme

The government has announced the third and final round of the Local Full Fibre Network Challenge Fund, with £95m remaining to invest in local ultrafast broadband projects Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security teams and C-suite exec views not aligned

There are key differences and potential challenges when it comes to security teams and C-suite executives communicating and aligning about cyber threats, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cunnington’s role as head of function for DDaT needs changing, says IfG report

Kevin Cunnington’s role as the head of function for digital, data and technology (DDaT) should be to sit on the Civil Service Board, spread standards and provide targets for digital transformation, the think tank says Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

IT leaders at a crossroads as they grapple with digital technology

CIOs have the opportunity to influence their company strategy as digital technology reshapes business. A survey of CIOs across 70 countries charts a path for IT leaders through emerging technologies Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Heineken and Oracle create chatbot helper for polo events

Beer brand Heineken has enlisted the help of Oracle to create a chatbot to assist people attending the annual Heineken Urban Polo events ahead of expansion in 2019 Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Home Office launches EU nationals registration system pilot

EU citizens working at NHS trusts in the north-west of England – and students and staff at Liverpool’s universities – will be able to apply online for settled status in the UK post-Brexit, as part of private beta pilot Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Cyber attackers switching to covert tactics

Cyber criminals are moving away from mass, high-profile attacks to ones that are stealthy and more subtle – as well as attacks targeting systems typically used in critical infrastructure, researchers say Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Debenhams rolls out Doddle click-and-collect service in all its stores

Debenhams and parcel collection and return firm Doddle are working together to roll out Doddle’s click-and-collect services to all of the retailer’s stores Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Information security risk – keeping it simple

Organisations should start with risk management to understand information security risks and communicate them better internally Continue Reading

By

• Richard Diston

Brussels loans Nokia €500m to fund European 5G research

European Investment Bank is loaning Nokia half a billion euros to accelerate 5G mobile network R&D Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Challenge to anti-GDPR immigration exemption in DPA to go ahead

Two human rights groups are challenging a controversial clause in new UK data protection legislation that they say is in conflict with the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and undermines the General Data Protection Regulation Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Arsenal puts Acronis in defence for analytics cloud backup

Football club is increasingly driven by video and data analysis and opts for cloud backup software-as-a-service and quick restore to any location to replace ad-hoc staff solutions Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Sharp rise in business email compromise

Cyber attackers are expanding their attack methods to steal money and to gain access to corporate and employee data, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hancock appoints chief technology adviser

Hadley Beeman will service as Matt Hancock’s chief technology adviser at the Department for Health and Social Care Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Amnesty International backs campaign to ban killer robots

Human rights organisation calls for legally binding international agreement to ban the development and use of autonomous weapons that operate without humans Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Finland government to review public procurement laws

Finland's government is putting its procurement laws under the spotlight after a major IT fraud Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

UK universities targeted by Iranian hackers

UK universities are among those targeted by a cyber threat group associated with the Iranian government Continue Reading

Gov.uk Verify chief to leave Government Digital Service

Nic Harrison is returning to the Department for Work and Pensions, with no replacement as leader of the identity assurance programme yet in place Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Corbyn suggests tech tax to fund BBC

Labour leader says big technology companies and ISPs should contribute to a fund for public interest journalism Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Dubai Health Authority launches artificial intelligence strategy

Healthcare organisation is rolling out next-generation technology in its health facilities to improve patient care Continue Reading

By

• Edward Banda

North Koreans add Mac OS to cryptocurrency-stealing malware attacks

A North Korean hacking group is targeting cryptocurrency exchanges using Trojanised cryptocurrency trading software designed for both Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s Mac OS, say researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Google Cloud Platform enables faster mobile notifications for World Cup fans

Onefootball exclusively used the Boost platform, which has now been officially launched, to offer faster mobile notifications for World Cup viewers Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Cryptographic agility is key to post-quantum security

Although post-quantum security is not an issue for all organisations today, an expert believes that those needing to ensure data is secure for decades to come should aim to achieve cryptographic agility above all else Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

No Deal Brexit papers warn of stark future for UK tech

The government has published the first of its No Deal Brexit contingency planning notices, containing sobering messages for the UK technology industry Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Apache Struts users urged to update due to new security flaw

Another security flaw has been discovered in the Apache Struts, which was at the heart of the massive Equifax data breach in 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Danish government in ambitious datacentre push

Denmark offers many natural benefits for organisations looking to build datacentres in Europe, and a soon-to-be-completed connection to the US will make it even more attractive Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

CW Nordics: Sweden eyes geo-fencing to protect against terror attacks

Sweden is developing an integrated IT/geo-fencing system to protect the country’s towns and cities against attacks by terrorists using vehicles as “killing machines”. Also read about Microsoft building two more datacentres in Norway to support its cloud computing services in Europe, and find out why investigators have closed the Nokia extortion probe without finding a motive or making an arrest. Continue Reading

Councils at risk from unsupported Windows Server and SQL Server

Some local authorities are using unsupported server software, while others are not paying for extended support Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Greater Manchester hails cloud as key to delivery of devolved health and social care in region

Having taken back control from the government for running its own health and social care budgets, The Greater Manchester Health and Social Care (GMHSC) Partnership is now in the throes of establishing what role cloud will play in its work Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

European cloud adopters still lack basic security

Despite outpacing the rest of the world, the majority of organisations adopting cloud in Europe, the Middle East and Africa lack basic security, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Language barrier won’t hold back chatbots in the Netherlands

The use of chatbots by Dutch organisations is on the up, with KLM's chatbot a pioneering example Continue Reading

By

• Tijs Hofmans

Investigators close Nokia extortion probe without finding a motive or making an arrest

 Continue Reading

Swedish state-private partnership will use advanced IT to secure cities

 Continue Reading

Barclays appointment will step up use of AI in investment bank

Ex-Goldman Sachs expert will focus on improving Barclays’ trading services and making internal systems more efficient Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nearly a third of organisations still not GDPR ready

As the UK and other states implement the EU’s GDPR, many organisations admit they are still not fully compliant, but most claim to be able to respond to data subject access requests Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

JP Morgan fintech strategy widens retail trading

Bank’s digital You Invest service opens up trading opportunities to millions of customers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Superdrug denies data breach

Superdrug has warned online customers it believes may have had personal details exposed, but claims its systems were not compromised, in what could be the first GDPR-related extortion attempt Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NHS Digital plans for £450m GP IT framework

A framework for GP IT systems and services will replace the GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) contract and aims to make procurement easier for suppliers and primary care providers Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

The risk of upgrading to S/4 Hana

S/4 Hana has been touted as the evolution of SAP's long-standing ERP suite, but with just six years to upgrade, how can businesses avoid an expensive SAP flop? Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Windfarm benefit fund helps pay for full-fibre broadband

A number of communities in the Highlands are using benefit funds established by a local windfarm provider to pay for full-fibre broadband services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Online crime costs more than $1m a minute

More than $1m is lost to cyber crime every minute, a report reveals, underlining the increasing and significant threats businesses face online Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Government departments are exploring new tech, according to GDS report

A GDS-commissioned report has found artificial intelligence and blockchain are the most popular among emerging technologies in government, but projects are often done in silos and departments risk “reinventing the wheel” Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Retail and finance top cyber targets

Retail and finance remain the top cyber attack targets, but the second quarter also saw a spike in attacks against the manufacturing industry and an increase in remote desktop attacks, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK cryptocurrency exchange enlists Rackspace for Microsoft Azure cloud move

London Block Exchange taps up Rackspace to assist with two-month Microsoft Azure migration as it sets about shoring up its platform against demand spikes Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Estonia targets UK tech talent

Estonian businesses are trying to close the country’s IT skills gap by targeting UK IT professionals as part of a recruitment campaign Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government sets out vision for better use of rail data

The government and the rail industry have developed a joint action plan to remove barriers to better data use by improving access to data, developing better standards, increasing skills and encouraging collaboration. Continue Reading

Microsoft announces free election cyber defence tools

Microsoft has revealed it recently disrupted domains associated with a Russian cyber attack group believed to be targeting US political groups ahead of the midterm elections Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: Celia Pronto, chief customer and digital officer, Casual Dining Group

Casual Dining Group’s chief customer and digital officer, Celia Pronto, is overhauling technology, consolidating IT and improving collaboration across its 300 restaurants Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

NHS trusts lose nearly 10,000 patient records a year

Report calls for NHS trusts to work to abolish handwritten notes in hospitals to prevent loss of personal documents and to introduce a patient identity protocol Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Job losses caused by artificial intelligence will dwarf those of Victorian revolution

The disruption to the jobs market caused by artificial intelligence will be far greater than that caused by industrialisation in Victorian times Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Planned Australian law raises tech firms’ security concerns

A digital industry group representing some of the world’s largest tech firms is opposed to proposed Australian laws aimed at compelling them to help security agencies and police Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fibre cable break takes Gatwick flight information screens offline

A broken fibre-optic cable has taken Gatwick Airport’s flight information screens offline, with airport staff forced to use whiteboards to provide information to passengers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Superfast broadband brings £9bn extra turnover for UK SMEs

Local businesses in areas covered by the government’s superfast broadband roll-out are making more money than ever before, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Home Office preps for migration of police IT systems to AWS cloud

Digital Marketplace tender document reveals the Home Office is on the hunt for an IT supplier to support its work in migrating core police IT systems from an on-premise datacentre to the AWS cloud Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Cyber Security Challenge UK to scale up

Cybersecurity Challenge UK plans to scale up its events and its role in coordinating UK industry efforts to attract talented people to the cyber security profession Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

National Archives races to create electronic archive of EU law before Brexit

The National Archives faces challenges converting the EU's enormous library of laws into a publicly accessible UK archive ahead of Brexit. The Archives’ digital director, John Sheridan, explains how Continue Reading

By

• Wendy M Grossman

Apple confirms teen hacker took no customer data

Teenage “fan” who broke into Apple’s mainframe from his home in Melbourne is believed to have downloaded 90GB of secure files, but no customer data Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Trump sparks speculation after repealing cyber attack restraints

The US president has sparked speculation about US policy on launching cyber attacks by repealing Obama-era restraints, underlining the need for international rules on cyber warfare Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

New broadband network builder British Fibre Networks starts roll-out

Recently established full-fibre broadband network builder BFN has ambitions to connect new-build homes to ultrafast services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Global infosec spending to top $114bn in 2018, says Gartner

The need for improved detection, response and privacy is driving the demand for security products and services in response to security risks, business needs and industry changes, Gartner reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

HMRC goes live with first phase of customs IT system

HMRC’s Customs Declaration Service is now live, and a small group of importers can use the system to make ‘certain types of supplementary declarations’ Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

CEO Robbins puts multi-cloud at the heart of Cisco’s business

Placing the supplier at the heart of the enterprise transition to multi-cloud environments seems to be paying off for Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Inside DevOps, containers and enterprise security

Global corporates are waking up to containers and orchestrated containerisation for software development that is fast and safe. Computer Weekly looks at the best approach to ensure security is not compromised along the way Continue Reading

By

• Christian Annesley

Is IBM relevant to today’s mainstream?

When IT vendors talk about the market, they tend to focus on how they would like the world to be rather than how it actually is. This often means they fail to connect as well as they could with the ... Continue Reading

By

• Dale Vile, Freeform Dynamics

Lidl dumps €500m SAP project

Discount supermarket chain Lidl has spent millions on a SAP Hana system, and found it will need to spend even more to make it work Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Google Chrome flaw puts privacy at risk

Imperva security researcher urges Google Chrome users to update to the latest version after discovering a vulnerability that could be exploited to uncover private data Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW ANZ: Gearing up for 5G

The potential benefits of 5G are certainly promising in Australia, which is seen as a test bed for 5G services with the country’s dense cities and wide open spaces. Indeed, telcos in Australia have used the recent Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in southeast Queensland to test their coming 5G networks. In this edition of CW ANZ, we look at how Australia is ushering in 5G services and the industries that will get the most out of the technology. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW ASEAN: Preparing for 5G

As telcos gear up to roll out the first 5G networks, enterprises are keen to see how they can take advantage of faster 5G connectivity to support a broad range of applications, from the internet-of-things to high-fidelity remote applications. In this edition of CW ASEAN, we look at how telcos and enterprises are readying themselves for 5G and the opportunities presented by the new technology. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Scotland's Improvement Service signs up to pilot digital identity platform

The Improvement Service will pilot the Yoti digital identity platform, test the use of blockchain applications and take a cloud first approach with its myaccount citizen portal Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Apple faces strong competition from Amazon

As Apple is set to become the first trillion dollar company, a strong rival is only just behind – and it's not Google or Samsung. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

IR35 tech compliance will take private sector 'over a year' to achieve, warns accounting trade body

The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) cautions HM Revenue & Customs against rushing out IR35 reforms to the private sector, claiming it will take most businesses at least one tax year to ready their software systems for the move Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

AI provides immediate diagnosis for serious eye conditions, research finds

Artificial intelligence could diagnose eye conditions within seconds, and with the same accuracy as human experts, research finds Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

ICS security at risk in key verticals, report shows

The security of industrial control systems (ICS) is at risk in key verticals due to under staffing, under investment and human error, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

O2 tests Li-Fi transmission technology to enhance home networks

Mobile operator O2 is testing the application of Li-Fi technology, using LED light bulbs to transmit data packets, to enhance consumer wireless networks Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Intel releases fix for latest chip security flaws

Businesses and consumers are advised to download security updates from Intel for new security flaws that could allow attackers to access protected data, but some cloud providers could see a performance impact Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Alibaba eyes retail sector with new cloud offerings

Chinese cloud supplier says retailers will be able to use its machine learning platform to understand consumer preferences, among a slew of services it is making available globally for the first time Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Businesses urged to patch Microsoft flaw allowing MFA bypass

Security researchers are urging enterprises to update their software after the discovery of a vulnerability that could undermine the security provided by multifactor authentication Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Sustainability and the smartphone: How to give your old device a second life

Find out what happens to your smartphone after you’re finished with it and why you should commit to the circular economy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Outsource security operations, not control

What critical security controls can be outsourced and how do organisations, SMEs in particular, maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

NHS Digital staff at risk of redundancy as part of restructure

More than 600 NHS Digital employees have been told they may have to reapply for their jobs, as redundancies loom in the first wave of the organisation’s restructure Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad