Thursday 31 March 2016

CIO interview: Retail’s past a poor guide to future, says Paul Coby of John Lewis

Paul Coby, IT director at John Lewis, believes retailers will need to move with changing customer patterns and demands to survive the omni-channel shift

How to transition to a cloud-based analytics environment

Accenture Digital consultants say businesses can be more agile by way of cloud-based analytics

FBI to apply iPhone security bypass in second case

The FBI is to help unlock an iPhone in an Arkansas murder case, deepening fears that the method used to break into the San Bernardino gunman’s phone will be applied more widely

Businesses should help shape graduates, says Hitachi Data Systems COO

Lynn Collier, COO of Hitachi Data Systems, wants businesses to collaborate with educational institutions to ensure young people gain the right skills

Adwind at centre of cyber attack on Singapore bank

Kaspersky Lab has revealed that the Adwind malware-as-a-service platform was at the centre of an attack on a Singapore bank

Build out networks and mobile to rebalance UK economy, says O2

In a major report, mobile operator O2 suggests that access to better digital infrastructure could boost the UK economy by £1.5bn outside of London and the South East

DDoS attacks on universities normally performed by “disgruntled” students or employees

The majority of distributed denial of service attacks on universities are made by students or employees, says the head of infrastructure services at the University of London

MedStar says it is recovering from suspected ransomware attack

US hospital group MedStar says it is restoring its IT systems after reportedly being hit by a stealthy new strain of server-targeted ransomware

New London mayor urged to take ‘drastic action’ on capital broadband

A YouGov poll for the Foundation for Information Society Policy finds widespread disillusionment among Londoners when it comes to broadband provision in the capital

Fintech axe to fall on a third of banking jobs over next 10 years

More than a third of jobs at European banks will disappear over the next decade as the adoption of fintech-based services grows

Wednesday 30 March 2016

Cyber criminals use Microsoft PowerShell in ransomware attacks

A newly discovered family of ransomware, dubbed PowerWare, uses Microsoft PowerShell to target organisations through macro-enabled documents

San Francisco data analytics early-stage firms point to third-wave BI

California start-up and early-stage data analytics companies are positing technologies that point beyond second-generation business intelligence, such as Qlik and Tableau

New Chelmsford housing estate has FTTP built in

Developers Countryside and L&Q deploy full fibre broadband services on their Beaulieu residential development in Chelmsford, Essex

Security researchers warn of server-attacking ransomware

New strain of ransomware said to be distributed by compromising servers and using them to move through networks to encrypt and hold multiple data sets to ransom

British-Swedish research team breaks spectrum efficiency record

Engineers at the University of Bristol and the University of Lund show how a multiple antenna system can offer a 12-fold increase in mobile spectrum efficiency

Wearable technology creates opportunities for retailers

Wearable technology allows taxis to offer commuters a ride when it is raining, and restaurants' to tailor their dishes to customers' weight-loss plans.

Security should be driven by business, says Corvid’s Andrew Nanson

Information security should be business-driven and investments assessed for their effectiveness and business value, according to Corvid CTO

EE still generating most broadband complaints, but volumes fall

The overall volume of complaints about broadband services dropped during the last three months of 2015, says Ofcom

Centrica deploys large scale Hortonworks cluster to boost business

Utility company Centrica is looking at how to grow the business by harvesting data lakes

CW@50: Fertile British breeding grounds for information security innovation

Computer Weekly is marking its 50th anniversary this year with a series of articles celebrating 50 years of British technology innovation. In this article, we look at the evolution of information security threats and some of the British innovation to counter those threats

Hackers to probe engine control units amid emissions scandal

ICCT hires computer whizz-kids to find out who else besides Volkswagen uses ‘defeat devices’ in cars

Zerto adds file level recovery to Virtual Replication

Cross-hypervisor, storage-agnostic Zerto Virtual Replication version 4.5 allows customers to recover files to any point in time, such as prior to deletion, virus or corruption

Tuesday 29 March 2016

The dawn of managed services in the Middle East

Managed services are on the up in the Middle East, with enterprises looking at ways to support critical infrastructures while they invest in new technologies

St Andrews University uses IoT to monitor seal populations

The Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews is connecting harbour seals to the internet of things to try to learn why their populations are declining

Sweden’s central bank puts brake on cash-free society

Sweden has been on a fast track to become the world’s first cashless society, but now its central bank is stamping on the brakes

Hunters: a rare but essential breed of enterprise cyber defenders

They wait, they watch, they search the outer reaches of networks and the darkest corners of the web, setting traps, crafting tools, collecting evidence and going in pursuit: they are the hunters

OSNexus unlocks Ceph object storage in QuantaStor v4

Software-defined storage maker OSNexus adds Ceph-based object storage to its QuantaStor product, adding it to block and file storage from ZFS, Gluster and Ceph

University of Reading deploys IPv6 on Malaysian campus

The University of Reading has recently built a campus in Malaysia, allowing a new network design deploying IPv6 from the outset

Why are telcos so readily adopting open standards for NFV?

Communications services providers are lining up to make their future virtualised networks as open as possible. What’s the attraction?

DNB to close 59 branches in Norway as online banking dominates

Norwegian bank DNB is closing branches and cutting jobs as more customers move to digital channels

Apple vows to raise security as FBI breaks into iPhone

Apple says it will help law enforcement with investigations, but will increase the security of its products after the FBI broke into an iPhone

Thailand to strengthen broadband backbone

Thailand's government is investing heavily in communications infrastructure to make the country’s broadband fit for the digital age

FBI investigating cyber attack on US hospital group Medstar

US hospital group Medstar Health appears to be the latest target of ransomware as it suspends IT system to halt malware infection

Fibre altnet B4RN may get code powers to build out network

Ofcom has started a consultation to give community-backed fibre-to-the-premises altnet B4RN new powers to roll out its network on a wider scale

Sunday 27 March 2016

Brussels attacks prompt renewed EU focus on airline passenger data

The controversial plans to collect passenger name records for airline travellers in the EU are under focus after the terrorist atrocities in Brussels

Urban broadband speeds three times higher than rural

Ofcom releases statistics on average broadband speeds in the UK and finds the gap in experience between town and country dwellers remains as wide as ever

Government warned of smart meter security threat back in 2012

The government was warned four years ago that its plans for a nationwide smart meter roll-out represented a “potentially significant” security and privacy threat, Computer Weekly has learned

BT says geography biggest barrier to finding apprentices

Telecoms provider BT says that skilled young people for apprenticeships are readily available, but that it struggles to find them outside of London

KPMG accelerates transfer of UK IT jobs to India

KPMG is moving more jobs to India, with UK contractor roles the most affected

Santander launches voice-controlled banking

Santander has made technology available that enables its customers to control its mobile banking app and access information using their voices

T-Systems targets Amazon cloud customers

Deutsche Telekom's IT services division plans to take business from Amazon with a cheaper public cloud that guarantees users' data stays in Germany

Friday 25 March 2016

Tech firms urge further improvements to snoopers’ charter

Major US tech firms have told the UK’s Investigatory Powers Public Bill Committee that their main concerns have yet to be addressed, and have urged further amendments

BMW Group signs HPC and hosting deal with hydro-powered Swedish datacentre operator

BMW Group inks deal with green datacentre operator in Sweden

Phishing attack at US retailer underlines need for proactive security

Security experts say a phishing attack on US retailer Sprouts Farmers Market shows the need to educate employees and correctly configure IT systems

Metcalfe’s law of connections will drive digital business value

Robert Metcalfe, the co-inventor of Ethernet, proposed that the value of network cards increases as the number of networked devices grows

Businesses urged to update Apple software to dodge zero-day attacks

Security experts are urging Apple Mac, iPhone and iPad users to update their operating systems to avoid data-stealing attacks that exploit a new zero-day vulnerability

CIO interview: Martin Uudelepp, Fonus Group

The interim CIO of Swedish family law and funeral group Fonus tells Computer Weekly about his role as a “chaos pilot”

Cloud, compliance and data protection top storage priorities for 2016

The results are in for Computer Weekly’s IT priorities survey 2016, with storage and backup for virtual servers a key task while flash storage has plateaued

Thursday 24 March 2016

US hospital claims to have fought off a ransomware attack

A hospital in Kentucky claims to have regained control of its IT systems five days after cyber criminals hit it with a ransomware attack

Ofcom makes it easier for users to switch mobile networks

Telecoms regulator Ofcom launches a consultation on how to make the process of switching mobile network easier for consumers

Canadian Elizabeth Denham set for the UK's next information commissioner

Canadian privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham is to become the UK's next information commissioner as government pushes ahead with the snoopers' charter

UK tech industry welcomes government’s new anti-crime strategy

Only a modern strategy that incorporates technological advances and the greater use of data analytics can improve UK crime prevention, says TechUK

Government launches consultation on 10Mbps broadband obligation

DCMS begins the consultation process to implement a nationwide universal service obligation for broadband of 10Mbps

GDS preps guidance for third-party suppliers to deliver 'government as a platform'

Government Digital Service (GDS) chief insists "pragmatic extensions" to outsourcing contracts implies nothing permanent in push for "government as a platform" (GaaP)

Danish utility NRGi goes offshore for IT platform transformation

Danish utilty NRGi has outsourced its IT to Indian services supplier Wipro as it attempts to transform its operations amid increased competition

Internet of things developers to get new spectrum licences

Ofcom will launch a new licence product to more adequately address and accommodate IoT use cases later in 2016

Google ups ante in cloud infrastructure services with global datacentre expansion plans

Google is set to expand global datacentre footprint, as competition in the cloud infrastructure services market heats up

Chinese man admits conspiring to hack US military secrets

A Chinese national working in Canada has pleaded guilty to helping hackers in China access US military secrets from defence contractors, including fighter jet blueprints

Welsh secretary calls for taller mobile masts

The Welsh secretary Alun Cairns has called on the devolved government to consider allowing mobile operators to build taller masts

Tuesday 22 March 2016

Only 42% of infosec pros use threat intelligence, survey shows

Cyber threat intelligence sharing is a necessity, says Intel's McAfee Labs – but less than half of infosec pros use it, despite the benefits, a survey reveals

Three quarters of firms believe tech skills gap could be solved by apprenticeships

Around three quarters of firms think the tech skills shortage could be solved by employing apprentices

Cyber security budgets not rising in line with threats, say security pros

While it is good news that businesses are increasing investment, it is clear that spending on security is still not at a level that matches the changing threat landscape, says IISP

How Orange France engaged influencers to launch its IoT service

Orange France engaged influencer marketing specialist Traackr to successfully launch its Homelive internet of things (IoT) service

CW@50: From Captain Kirk to 5G – 50 years of mobile

As Computer Weekly prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our first edition in 1966, we look back at 50 years of British innovation and development in mobile networking

Ofcom forces BT Openreach to cut wholesale leased line prices

Ofcom forces BT Openreach to cut its wholesale prices for leased lines and imposes stricter services standards

Investigatory Powers Bill: What it means for UK tech startups

The proposed Investigatory Powers Bill could prove damaging for innovative high-tech companies, writes Tirath Bansal, founder and CEO of internet startup myorb.com

Intel's former chief Andy Grove dies, aged 79

Andy Grove, Intel’s former chairman who helped the company make the change from memory chips to processors, passes away at the age of 79

Monday 21 March 2016

CW500: Peter Connor from Home Retail Group on digital transformation

We look at the people, process and cultural challenges for your business brought about by digital transformation

CW500: Chris Boyd from Telefonica on digital transformation

We look at the people, process and cultural challenges for your business brought about by digital transformation

South Dublin County Council declares Amazon datacentre planning application "invalid"

Amazon appears to have fallen foul of Irish council’s planning regulations, potentially delaying its latest datacentre building project

National Cyber Security Centre to be UK authority on information security

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is to be the UK's one-stop authority on infosec, based in London and led by GCHQ's Ciaran Martin

Southend Council to connect key sites with dark fibre network

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council selects CityFibre to supply a 50km dark fibre network across 120 public sector sites in the town

Juggling a diverse user infrastructure

CISOs are facing an increasingly fluid workplace and control of modern IT systems needs to reflect this dynamism

Gigaclear hits 10,000 Oxfordshire properties with ultrafast broadband

Home FTTP broadband network builder Gigaclear’s commercial roll-out in Oxforshire approaches a major milestone with the connection of its 10,000th property

Britain to pay billions for monster internet surveillance network

New questions raised about Britain’s snoopers charter after Denmark abandons its own UK-style surveillance programme for a second time

Sunday 20 March 2016

Germany-Finland subsea cable tipped to fuel European datacentre market growth

The deployment of a European subsea data cable could put Finland on the map for datacentre investors

Internet of things needs more innovative business models

At a government event on IoT policy, speakers call for more innovative business models and joined up thinking to enable the IoT to live up to its potential

Nationwide unifies business and public Wi-Fi in 700 branches

Nationwide Building Society rolls out a unified Wi-Fi network across both its public and enterprise properties

Leaked documents foretold problems with Australia's national broadband strategy

External and internal documents suggest Australia's national broadband network (NBN) roll-out is likely to waste A$29bn

Computer Weekly at 50: Celebrating 50 years of British technology innovation

To celebrate the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the first issue of Computer Weekly, we launch a major editorial programme on British IT history

New UK law will criminalise failure to hack on demand

MPs have been given only two weeks to read 1200 pages of documents which disclose new powers to require technology companies to install secret surveillance capabilities in software, computer equipment or networks.

Saturday 19 March 2016

UK workers more diligent about cyber security at home

UK employees expect an IT safety net to protect them at work and are more willing to take responsibility for security at home, a survey commissioned by Citrix has revealed

Australian girls believe online harassment is endemic

There are clear signals that online threats against women and attempts to invade their privacy are becoming societal norms in Australia

Eurocrats clash over EU-US Privacy Shield data protection deal

There remains significant disagreement in Brussels over the EU-US Privacy Shield arrangement intended to replace Safe Harbour

Cyber crime is driving UK fraud losses, totalling £755m in 2015

Payment card fraud accounted for 75% of UK fraud losses in 2015, most of which was remote purchase fraud using card details stolen though data hacks and malware, says FFA UK

What does the IT sector think of the UK potentially leaving the EU?

The referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union is fast approaching and the country’s IT sector is taking sides

UK outsourcing sector wants to remain in a reformed EU

A survey of UK outsourcing companies reveals that three quarters of all respondents want to remain in a reformed European Union (EU)

Friday 18 March 2016

Danish taxi drivers protest against Uber at startup event

Taxi drivers in Denmark protest about the inclusion of Uber at Nordic Startup Conference in Copenhagen

FBI issues warning about car hacking

US security service calls on consumers and vehicle manufacturers to take steps to reduce the increasing risk of car hacking and to report incidents

Most students say cyber security is a growing threat

Some 70% of higher education students say they are aware that cyber crime and attacks are a threat, but less than half think security is their responsibility

TechUK calls for closer ties between cloud and communications providers

Technology association TechUK outlines measures to encourage greater adoption of cloud computing in the UK - starting with greater connectivity

CIO interview: Mogens Kristensen, Sydbank

Danish bank’s IT head explains the advantages of sharing some IT systems with other banks

Everyone should be a chief customer officer, says PetsPyjamas CEO

CEO of pet-friendly product company PetsPyjamas says the idea of the chief customer officer is redundant

CIO interview: Charlotta Nyström, Kemira

Finnish chemical industry group CIO sees networking with other CIOs as an essential part of her job

Dropbox invests in building out on-premise storage as user numbers soar

Cloud-based file share and sync service reveals details of its hybrid cloud strategy, which has seen it invest large sums in building its own on-premise infrastructure

Growing need for IT training in the Middle East needs careful planning

IT training is becoming increasingly important in the Middle East – but organisations must look beyond suppliers' accreditation schemes

Sophos raises five concerns about snoopers’ charter

As the draft Investigatory Powers Bill takes another step to becoming law, Sophos raises five key concerns that remain even after its revision

Thursday 17 March 2016

Budget: Osborne pledges £10m for ONS data science hub

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne endorses findings of Charles Bean report on upgrading government statistics and pledges £10m to new data science hub for the Office of National Statistics

Which IT services suppliers are European businesses most satisfied with?

TCS has won top spot for European customer satisfaction for the third year running, according to Whitelane Research

Private mobile network powers Ocado’s robotic warehouse

Online supermarket Ocado rethinks 4G mobile technology to power a network of 1,000 robot workers operating in the grocer's 'hive' warehouse

AWS at 10: How the cloud giant shook up enterprise IT

A decade on from the launch of its first cloud service, the UK managing director of Amazon Web Services reflects on its first 10 years in business

Apple emerges as Google Cloud Platform user – report

Report suggests Apple has joined Spotify in signing up to use Google’s cloud infrastructure services

Cyber security is becoming a Dutch export

IT security is about to rival cheese, tulips, windmills and flood defences as an export from the Netherlands

Most Britons adopting IoT devices cannot secure them

Two-thirds of UK consumers are concerned about the security of IoT devices – but nearly 75% cannot take steps to secure them, a survey reveals

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Apple iCloud and Gmail hacker set to plead guilty, say US authorities

A US hacker faces up to five years in jail and fines of up to $250,000 after admitting he accessed more than 100 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts illegally

Salford Council puts gigabit fibre into public housing

Salford Council in Greater Manchester is to deploy fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband across its council housing portfolio

Crypto ransomware lurks in ads on popular websites

Security researchers warn that the major ransomware malvertising campaign that hit popular websites at the weekend may not be over yet

JD Williams uses analytics to move from mail order to omni-channel

JD Williams’ head of web analytics explains how the firm is using data to provide a personalised experience for customers

Teens interested in tech, but few seek career in engineering

Most teens show an interest in technology, but do not want careers in engineering due to industry misconceptions

Huawei and Samsung trial connected city lighting

Networking suppliers both announce internet of things lighting solutions for smart cities

Atom Bank to offer artificial intelligence-based customer support

Digital bank is integrating AI into its mobile banking app for customers to access support

Rolls-Royce cloud HR project will pay for itself in two years

HR IT director Mark Judd explains how engineering and aerospace firm swapped ageing ERP and spreadsheets for a company-wide core HR system

Fintechs want to take one-third of traditional banks’ business

Banks know they could lose large chunks of business to fintech firms, but if the challengers have their way, it will be more than expected

Budget 2016: Osborne commits to timescale for 5G planning

In a technology-light Budget, chancellor George Osborne made new commitments to future 5G mobile networks

Cyber security study reveals lack of boardroom governance across UK industries

While 81% of UK boards have increased cyber security scrutiny after the TalkTalk breach, only 53% have data breach management plans in place, a survey has revealed

Retail banking will be fully automated by 2020, say bankers

Financial services employees believe the future of customer retail banking will be automated as the need for digital technology increases

Tuesday 15 March 2016

CW@50: 1966 - Computer Weekly goes to bat for the British computer industry

Launched in 1966 as part of a modernising wave to change British society, Computer Weekly battled for the nation’s industry against the US, and saw IT as an entry ticket to the Common Market

Automated financial advice service causes RBS job losses

RBS announces job cuts as it invests in automated services designed to give online financial advice

CW@50: The heyday of British computing - how the Brits ruled IT

We examine how the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s became an age of great innovation for the British computer industry

IT decision makers admit they need to do more to protect data

More than a quarter of IT decision makers at UK organisations admit they need to do more to protect data, a survey reveals

IAM is the future for managing data security

Why is identity and access management is taking centre stage in companies’ access policies

Retailers are in the “dial up” stage of omni-channel

A Retail Business Technology Expo panel likened the current omni-channel movement to the dial-up stage of internet connectivity

Monday 14 March 2016

Pure aims at unstructured data with Flashblade flash system

Pure Storage charts new waters with all-flash storage array that aims at unstructured and big data analytics workloads with a scale-out modular architecture

Impact of Investigatory Powers Bill is unclear, say most Britons

Open-Xchange privacy survey shows many Britons are unsure and concerned by controversial bill on the eve of of it moving a step closer to becoming law

CIO Interview: Janne Suuriniemi, Finland’s National Police Board

Finland’s National Police Board CIO overhauls a major IT transformation in mid-flight. He tells Computer Weekly about the challenges and his answers to them

IoT “plug and pray” all over again, says security consultant

The increasing interconnectedness of IoT systems and services creates vulnerabilities that are making ‘cascade failure’ almost inevitable, says security consultant David Alexander

UK government and EU Parliament step up big data analytics policy push

UK and EU policy makers are urging governments to raise their data analytics game to promote a digital economy

Sunday 13 March 2016

Management overhead frustrates organisations' digital ambitions, says Capita study

Many UK business are in no position to roll out Windows 10 and are concerned about supporting diverse IT estates with their existing infrastructure

EMC adds DSSD D5 and VMAX all-flash arrays to enterprise portfolio

DSSD D5 brings array-based PCIe flash to market for EMC. VMAX hybrid arrays upgrade controller software to create two all-flash arrays, the 450F and 850F

Microsoft’s underwater datacentre: The pros and cons of running subsea facilities

Underwater datacentres can help providers save on land costs and cooling, but at what cost to the environment?

BCS calls for criminalisation of reckless data disclosure

The BCS believes criminalising reckless disclosure would reassure the public in how data is managed under planned surveillance laws

Saturday 12 March 2016

Segment and segregate to defend data from cyber attack in 2016, urges F-Secure

Attackers will focus on critical data in 2016, mainly with the motive of cyber extortion, according to the latest threat report from F-Secure

Equinix taps into Open Compute Project to build open source datacentre ecosystem

Technology produced by Facebook-backed Open Compute Project gets snapped up by datacentre operator Equinix

Retailers not prioritising mobile are choosing to ignore their customers, says PayPal

PayPal’s director of mobile commerce warns retailers that mobile payments should be a top priority to provide the experience customers want

RSA 2016: Data compliance beyond the firewall

Vigitrust's Mathieu Gorge reports from the RSA 2016 conference, where a key discussion was storage and compliance in an age where data doesn't necessarily live in the firewall

Startup trials autonomous delivery robots in Greenwich

Estonian robotics startup Starship Technologies secures permission to trial self-driving delivery robots in Greenwich, south-east London

Indian suppliers are mopping up Nordic business

Indian IT suppliers are blazing a trail in the Nordic region with large deals and major local investments

Openreach to build FTTP networks for free on new housing estates

Openreach announces a major expansion of fibre broadband and will provide free FTTP networks to housing developments with more than 250 properties

Friday 11 March 2016

451 Research warns of software-defined infrastructure skills gaps

Analyst house 451 Research warns CIOs against the dangers of failing to pair software-defined technology investment with staff training

The Christie speeds up SPC charts to improve clinical processes

Cancer specialist NHS trust implements statistical process control chart creation tool in data visualisation software Tableau to improve processes and save money

$1bn cyber bank heist thwarted by spelling error

Cyber thieves made 30 requests for the New York Federal Reserve to transfer nearly $1bn from the Bangladesh central bank’s account, but a typo and the volume of requests alerted banking officials

Payments regulator makes progress in introducing competition

UK payments regulator has slashed the time it takes for finance firms to join and use real-time payments system

PCIe SSD roundup 2016: Some stall while others progress

The PCIe SSD market is still important, but PCIE flash drive makers are split between those that continue to develop their products and those for whom product evolution has stalled

RTÉ leans on satellite broadband to cover Irish general election

Irish TV network RTÉ turned to satellite ISP Europasat to support its coverage of the country’s general election

Europe’s CIOs examine impact of new data protection regulation

Belgian IT leader group Beltug is joining other organisations across Europe in preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Ofcom data breach highlights insider threat

That a former employee of communications regulator Ofcom stole data should act as a warning about the insider threat in every organisation, say experts

Technology and new finance firms will test banking industry

UK bankers now think fintech is a bigger issue than regulatory change, according to a study

Ex-Cabinet Office rep claims ‘simple’ tender rewrite could open up G-Cloud to Europe

Former Cabinet Office Crown representative says a simple rework of the G-Cloud tender could open up the procurement hub to public-sector buyers across the EU

Predictive maintenance brings efficiency to Trenitalia

New management system will help railway company reduce costs by applying predictive maintenance and data analytics to essential parts

Falling oil prices and disjointed data protection threaten Middle East datacentres

A fixation on datacentre ownership and mistrust of third-party services could impede enterprise IT in the Middle East

Third of knowledge workers expect their jobs to be computerised in five years

Knowledge workers realise their jobs will either change dramatically or disappear as the result of new technology, according to research

Innovate UK and UKTI lead Asean smart city mission

Smart city technology developers are heading to Malaysia and Singapore on a government-led trade mission

Thursday 10 March 2016

Challenger bank buys digital gaming specialist

Challenger bank Atom buys gaming expertise business Grasp to develop its online customer interfaces

Mobile payments fund Tanzanian ambulance taxi service

NGOs in Tanzania use M-Pesa mobile payments to fund a life-saving ambulance taxi service in rural Tanzania

The problem with passwords: how to make it easier for employees to stay secure

An organisation’s IT security can be compromised if staff do not follow a strict policy of using strong passwords to access internal systems

RSAC16: Microsoft’s Windows PowerShell fully weaponised, security expert warns

Security expert Ed Skoudis says the PowerShell Empire open-source security tool is as much use to attackers as it is to defenders

Ransomware migrates to Apple Mac computers

Apple Mac users and security professionals must be more vigilant with the discovery of what is believed to be the first Mac OS X ransomware in the wild

Satellite data links to bring European air traffic management up to date

The European Space Agency awards Inmarsat a contract to develop a satellite-based data link communications system for air traffic management

DHL Asia-Pacific Innovation Centre incubates future logistics technology

DHL's innovation centre in Singapore is trying out the future logistics technologies it plans to introduce across its Asian business

Gartner warns IT leaders about the perils of using private platform as a service

Industry watcher Gartner warns IT leaders pursuing a private platform-as-a-service (PaaS) strategy to build cloud apps could be in for disappointment

Security Think Tank: Many breaches down to poor access controls

In the modern business environment, what are the most common access control mistakes – and how best are these corrected?

Broadband will reach 40% of Vietnam households by 2020, claims government

The Vietnamese government announces plans to increase access to broadband networks for its citizens, proposing a figure of 40% in four years

Virgin supplies Ethernet connectivity to Met Office supercomputer

The Met Office has awarded the contract to provide Ethernet connectivity for its next-generation supercomputer to Virgin Media Business

RWE chief executive points to SAP billing system as cause of npower losses

Npower has announced a radical restructuring plan, shedding 2,400 jobs on the back of losses of €137m. Its parent company’s CEO identified an SAP billing system as the source of the UK unit’s woes

Half of IT professionals struggle with enterprise patching

Many businesses struggle with the volume of software security updates and believe IT teams do not understand the difference between applying a patch and remediating a vulnerability, a survey has revealed

IT outsourcing consultancy Alsbridge enters overlooked Australia

IT outsourcing consultancy sets up operations in Australia, which it says has been overlooked for outsourcing services

Lack of security knowledge limiting business initiatives, survey shows

Security concerns are limiting the adoption of cloud and mobility throughout organisations, according to the first Dell Data Security Survey

Stemettes raise awareness of International Women’s Day with weekend hackathon

Social organisation Stemettes ran a two-day hackathon to encourage girls into technology careers

Hilton hotel chain powers robot concierge with IBM Watson

The Hilton Worldwide hospitality channel is trialling a robot concierge named Connie, backed by IBM's cognitive computing programme Watson

Wednesday 9 March 2016

CityFibre opens network to public sector supplier Updata

Urban fibre infrastructure supplier CityFibre signs a national agreement to allow Updata to offer services over its ultrafast network

BT CEO hints at change of direction on FTTP broadband

BT boss Gavin Patterson tells a conference he is working to enable Openreach to accelerate deployment of FTTP

Hyperscale computing boosts server revenue

The likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft have bolstered server sales as they build increasingly powerful scale-out datacentres

Sunday 6 March 2016

Combine data mining and simulation to maximise process improvement

Data mining and computer simulation can be used together to better model and improve industrial processes, city development and other complex systems

UK insurance industry prioritises big data in 2016

The UK insurance industry is making a priority of big data to make more personalised customer offers in 2016, research from Teradata reveals

Businesses covering up cyber attacks, says IoD

The Institute of Directors warns that businesses are actively covering up when they have been the victim of a cyber attack

CSA outlines CIOs’ top 12 cloud security concerns

Cloud Security Alliance’s research team uncovers the “dirty dozen” off-premise threats

RSAC16: Security industry needs to do more, says Intel Security Group head

Chris Young calls on security industry to pay more attention to cyber threat intelligence sharing and encouraging people to become information security professionals

European Commission releases legal details of EU-US Privacy Shield

EC claims the publication of legal texts and written assurances marks the start of the new-look data-sharing agreement coming into force

Saturday 5 March 2016

Striving for a balanced mobile world: the Connected Women of MWC

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSMA’s Connected Women initiative began a new drive to connect more women in the developing world. Computer Weekly meets programme director Claire Sibthorpe

Bet365 donates Erlang libraries to GitHub

The open-source initiative will help to drive adoption of the Erlang functional programming language among enterprise developers

Miserden has most miserly broadband speed, report claims

Speed tests carried out by Cable.co.uk have located the slowest average broadband speeds in the UK, in the village of Miserden in Gloucestershire

Legal spears fly at Privacy Shield

Police Scotland is investigating the implications of the end of Safe Harbour. Service providers must comply with UK law, regardless of where they are based

'Complacent' Home Office failed to take responsibility for e-Borders problems

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticises the Home Office for allowing the e-Borders programme to run eight years late and £500m over budget

Australia’s corporate giants recruit digitally-minded outsiders to drive transformation

Big Australian businesses are turning to digital professionals from outside rather than promoting from within

BBC reporter demonstrates mobile phone hack to steal from producer's bank account

A reporter on the BBC Radio Four You and Yours programme has managed to hack a NatWest online bank account and extract cash

MasterCard named as VocaLink suitor

MasterCard is reportedly in talks with the banks that own payments provider VocaLink over a £1bn takeover

Facebook to overhaul UK corporation tax-paying regime – report

Social networking giant plans to book larger deals with British firms via its UK arm, paving the way for it to pay more corporation tax

Reinstating Moore’s Law: a next-generation transistor for mobile technology

Research into a new generation of transistors could end a decade of stagnation in computing speed and deliver a step-change in processing power, says the National Physical Laboratory’s Mark Stewart

Meg Whitman uses Q1 results to argue the case against Dell/EMC

HPE posts its first financial results following the split of the business

Friday 4 March 2016

Security Think Tank: Access control is key to protecting against cyber attacks

In the modern business environment, what are the most common access control mistakes and how can these best be corrected?

RSAC16: Cyber criminals are hiding in plain sight, says RSA report

Cyber criminals are using social media as a communication and sales channel, not just for reconnaissance and phishing, an RSA study has revealed

Virtualisation and the cloud aid disaster recovery in Spain

As virtualisation and cloud services take hold, Spanish organisations can take advantage of less costly and more flexible responses to the threat of unplanned outages

Equinix and Interxion set out 2016 global datacentre expansion plans

Colocation rivals outline their investment intentions and priorities for the year ahead

MasterCard uses artificial intelligence to help UK sales team

Financial services firm is deploying AI software created by one of the IT startups it supports in a global programme

World’s biggest banks complete joint blockchain trials

Forty major global banks have jointly run tests of the use of blockchain in wholesale banking

RSAC16: UK government to change tack on cyber security

The UK government is thinking about becoming more interventionist to ensure the next five years yield a better return on investment in cyber security, according to CESG cyber security head

US researchers begin solar-powered datacentre research project

Massachusetts-based project aims to uncover how best to integrate datacentres and smart grids

Civil engineering firm goes follow-the-sun with Azure cloud and Talon

Robert Bird deploys Talon Storage CloudFAST with Microsoft Azure cloud storage on the back end to enable 24-hour working between offices on three continents

Ministry of Justice chases IT department whistleblower for tribunal costs

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is claiming costs from a system analyst who brought an employment tribunal raising allegations of bullying at the Legal Aid Agency

Thursday 3 March 2016

Security Think Tank: Top five access control mistakes

In the modern business environment, what are the most common access control mistakes and what is the best way to correct them?

Ofcom badly wrong on Openreach separation, MPs told

The decision not to separate BT and Openreach has not solved any regulatory issues and will not address the problems at the heart of broadband roll-out, a Select Committee hears

IoT adoption held back by lack of business case, software and skills

The internet of things is at the top of Gartner’s Hype Cycle, but many organisations cannot build a business case to invest in IoT projects

Telecoms firms launch Stem mentoring scheme for girls

BT joins Ericsson, O2 and Vodafone to create a mentoring scheme encouraging girls into science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) careers

Security Think Tank: Policies and procedures vital for successful access control

In the modern business environment, what are the most common access control mistakes and what is the best way to correct them?

Finland’s Kone chooses IBM for IoT push

Lift manufacturer is using IBM Watson as part of its internet of things strategy after a multi-year agreement with the IT giant

Virtualisation rolls on, but still less than 50% of workloads are virtualised

Survey finds server virtualisation is top way to upgrade datacentres, while public and private cloud storage gains serious momentum

Virtual insanity: Is 2016 the year users go big on VR?

At Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona, virtual reality appeared to emerge as a technology that is at long last hot to trot – but is it still a lot of virtual hype?

RSAC16: Microsoft’s chief legal officer Brad Smith champions encryption

Information security requires a comprehensive approach including strong encryption, says Microsoft chief legal officer Brad Smith

Swedish outdoor powertool maker outsources to HCL

Husqvarna has expanded an existing IT outsourcing agreement with Indian IT services firm

Drown attack sinks SSL security

Researchers publish paper outlining how an attacker could crack the TLS security protocol to gain access to millions of secure websites

AWS cuts cloud data transfer fees for academic and research user groups

Cloud services giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) rolls out discounts in bid to lower the cost barrier to making scientific discoveries

Lifting of Iran sanctions brings hope to regional IT industry

Nuclear deal could mean new era for IT suppliers, distributors and channel partners in the Middle East, but caution is urged

RSAC16: RSA’s Amit Yoran comes out in support of strong encryption

A policy of weakened encryption would harm US economic interests and undermine those trying to defend digital environments, according to RSA president Amit Yoran

Wednesday 2 March 2016

RSAC16: US works on data access agreement with UK

The US is negotiating with the UK to establish a new framework that will permit UK authorities to access electronic communications directly from US companies

Legacy systems stand in the way of customisation for banks

Banks are hindered by legacy systems that prevent them from delivering a personalised customer experience

Datacentre heat reuse: Why aren’t more operators doing it?

With the datacentre industry’s sustainability habits coming under increasingly close scrutiny, we find out why operators are not rushing to reuse their waste heat

Buckinghamshire Council frees transport data to create smart suburbs

Local authority has partnered with IoT platform developer InterDigital to establish a county-wide smart transport model

Record UK cash withdrawals, but is it just a stay of execution?

The amount of cash withdrawn from UK ATMs last year was up on the previous year despite the arrival of technology-enabled alternatives

Cern uses AppDynamics to improve application performance

The home of the Large Hadron Collider has deployed AppDynamics’ APM tool to improve the speed and efficiency of application monitoring

Australia’s fintech community will target China

The Australian government is injecting money into the country’s financial technology community to help firms break into lucrative Asian markets

RSAC16: Cyber attackers still after low-hanging fruit, dark web study shows

Tracking a cyber adversary that is recruiting and the skills they desire can improve the overall maturity of an organisation’s security programme, according to Digital Shadows

Cyber security professionals in Singapore could get 20% pay rise

E-commerce and cyber security professionals in Singapore could gain 10 to 20% pay rises if they move companies, due to increased demand of niche IT skills

Tuesday 1 March 2016

New York judge blocks FBI iPhone warrant

Judge rules that Apple does not have to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of a suspected drug trafficker

Data sovereignty issues drive up cost of cloud for European CIOs

Addressing data sovereignty concerns means European CIOs are forced to pay more for cloud services than their US counterparts

Security Think Tank: Password management tops list of access control issues

In the modern business environment, what are the most common access control mistakes and how best are these corrected?

DDoS attack threat cannot be ignored

Criminal activity has become the top motivation for distributed denial of service attacks as the average attack become strong enough to down most businesses – so taking no action is not an option

CIO interview: Anders Candell, Stora Enso

CIO at Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer shares advice for shouldering a new CIO position and guiding the business towards innovative technology

The business processes behind services management

We take a look at the essential steps an organisation must take to multi-source or bring in-house IT services

Mobile Infrastructure Project was a failure, admits Vaizey

At a Westminster Hall debate, digital economy minister Ed Vaizey conceded the £150m Mobile Infrastructure Project to address "not-spots" was largely unsuccessful

Global finance regulator to examine fintech risks

Global financial system stability group FSB will take a closer look at financial technology companies