Technology: What Geeks are Talking about from Computer Weekly Magazine

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

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 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

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

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

CIO interview: Charlotta Nyström, Kemira
Finnish chemical industry group CIO sees networking with other CIOs as an essential part of her job

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

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

Fighting the ‘fortress mentality’ at DWP – my search for the truth about Universal Credit
IT programme manager and freedom of information campaigner John Slater reflects on his four-year battle to force DWP to release key documents about Universal Credit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

UK government SME procurement policy – where it worked and where it has failed
The government’s former SME champion outlines the difficulties of getting the civil service to buy in to Whitehall aspirations for buying from small businesses

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

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

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

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

Q&A: Dinsmore sees open source Apache Spark moving to new stage
Analytics vet Thomas Dinsmore says open source Apache Spark is entering a new phase of adoption, one in which hype gives way to clearer assessment. R’s ascent is also discussed.

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.

TechUK to spotlight cyber threat intelligence
The ability to sift through that data and spot trends and emerging threats is becoming a useful and important tool for security professionals, according to TechUK’s Talal Rajab

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

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-Exchange 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

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

Seven steps to becoming a digital business leader
Developing employees to embrace a digital-first approach can bring significant personal and organisational benefits

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

A look at the upcoming Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse
The Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse lets you scale compute and storage independently based on your performance needs, so you pay for query performance only when you need it.

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

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

A look inside the SAP IQ column-oriented database
The SAP IQ column-oriented database is designed for large data warehouses that require high scalability, rapid data loading and optimal query performance.

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

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

Examining the Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse
With both relational and columnar options, the Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse gives companies an efficient, scalable appliance they can deploy in-house or in the cloud.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Open source not best bet for all business analytics projects
Many enterprises today are building their business analytics programs around open source tools, but one software company took a different path.

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

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

Don’t think that Brexit will save you from the EU data protection rules
The EU General Data Protection Regulation will still apply to UK companies dealing with the EU, regardless of whether the UK remains in the union

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