Personal Computing: What Geeks are talking about in tech from Computer Weekly

Here is the latest Personal Computing News from Computer Weekly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 has 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

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

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

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

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

Australia’s digital transformation head Paul Shetler marks a first year
The man heading up Australia’s digital transformation talks to Computer weekly about the progress his department has made in its first year

People, not processes – a personal lament
Professionals should never forget the art of networking and relationship-building as their career progresses

Co-ordinate outsourced services with Siam
We look at the practical considerations of implementing an effective service integration and management strategy

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

Security Think Tank: How to keep on top of access control
In the modern business environment, what are the most common access control mistakes and how can these best be corrected?

Lack of cyber security awareness putting UK organisations at risk
UK organisations are putting their reputation, customer trust and competitive advantage at greater risk by failing to provide their staff with effective security training, a study reveals

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

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

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

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

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

‘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

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

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?

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

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) claims costs from a systems analyst who brought an employment tribunal raising allegations of bullying at the Legal Aid Agency

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

Security Think Tank: Human factor key to access control
In the modern business environment, what are the most common access control mistakes and how best are these corrected?

Artfinder deploys Neo4j graph database to personalise recommendations
Can a machine understand art? Not yet and maybe never, so the Artfinder art website took a different approach, using a Neo4j graph database instead

Majority of Britons support government surveillance for national security
A survey reveals that a majority of UK citizens support government surveillance for national security as Apple attempts to rally public support in its row with the FBI over encryption