Singapore models entire country in 3D with smart map

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Here is the latest Personal Tech News from Computer Weekly.

Singapore models entire country in 3D with smart map
Singapore authorities are creating 3D maps of the entire country to help organisations in the public and private sector make better planning decisions.

European law enforcement seeking smart ways to fight cyber crime
Cyber crime continues to increase in volume and sophistication, but European law enforcement is fighting back, using collaboration and industry partnerships to compensate for a lack of resources

There is life in Finland’s IT sector despite Nokia and Microsoft layoffs
Regional development organisations in Finland describe how despite massive job cuts Nokia and Microsoft have provided the foundations for IT industry development.

400 security events a second monitored on Olympics network
IT records as well as sporting records were set at the recent Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

Trend Micro confirms rise of ransomware and whaling
Ransomware is confirmed as a pervasive threat and whaling emerges as a strong trend, according to the latest security report by Trend Micro

Apache Spark grows in popularity as Hadoop-based data lakes fill up
Apache Spark is growing in popularity and finding real-time use across Europe, including in online betting and on railways, and with Hadoop

Microsoft and Lenovo deepen strategic ties
Microsoft announces another cross-licensing deal that will see its software pre-installed on millions of Android devices

Aviva partners with Silicon Valley accelerator to kick-start innovation
Insurance firm Aviva is partnering with Silicon Valley startup accelerator Plug and Play to gain access to new innovations

Cyber criminals target holiday-related P2P media platforms
Cyber criminals capitalise on the popularity of holiday-related media sites to spread malware

Australian census website failure spreads skepticism
The public post-mortem of the Australian census website meltdown continues as the IT industry gives its opinions

Bangkok Hospital recognised for its use of electronic records
Private hospital in Thailand is recognised for its effective use of IT by a global accreditation body

How Middle East CIOs can steer business strategy
The perception of the role of CIO at organisations in the Middle East is gradually shifting from back-end support to business enabler

DWP digital experts brought in to help assess plans for Government Digital Service
The new GDS chief Kevin Cunnington has turned to his former DWP colleagues to help as he prepares his plans for the team

Tools of the trade to drill into behavioural data
Data science toolkits enable organisations to extract, manipulate and interpret data to boost their business intelligence

Mixed reaction to Anderson review of bulk surveillance powers
While the Anderson review’s recommendation of a technical advisory panel has been welcomed, human rights groups say the opportunity to move to more targeted surveillance has been missed

No alternative to bulk surveillance powers, says Anderson report
The government welcomes a review of the controversial Investigatory Powers Bill that found there is no viable alternative to the bulk data collection powers proposed by the bill

Volvo joins forces with Uber for autonomous vehicle pilot
Self-driving Volvo cars will take to the streets of Pittsburgh as part of a test of autonomous technology spearheaded by ride-sharing firm Uber

Expect ransomware arrests soon, says bitcoin tracking firm Chainalysis
Law enforcement organisations are set to ramp up arrests of cyber criminals behind ransomware attacks, according to financial technology startup Chainalysis

Intel sees 5G networks as opportunity to sell more server chips
Intel focuses on the back-end infrastructure behind upcoming 5G networks as it sees an opportunity for its processors and other datacentre technology

Police arrest woman in connection with Sage data breach
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of fraud in connection with a data breach at accounting software firm Sage

Number of students taking computing A-level rises but ICT popularity falls
Government describes rise in computing student numbers as encouraging, but boys still dominate tech subjects

Isaca holds first online infosec career fair
Information professionals’ organisation Isaca is to hold an online career fair to give cyber security job seekers direct access to employer organisations

Australian 2016 census sabotage puts a question mark on private cloud
Industry experts question why the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ website for the 2016 census, which recently underwent a DDoS attack, was not run on public cloud

Intel Developer Forum: Silicon Photonics boosts datacentre connectivity
Microsoft Azure datacentres increase connectivity to 100Gbps thanks to Silicon Photonics interconnect

Cisco confirms 5,500 lay-offs amid restructuring
Networking giant has confirmed it will cut more than 5,500 jobs in an effort to trim the fat in low-growth business areas and enhance its performance elsewhere

Three years left to prep UK’s mobile network infrastructure for 5G
The UK’s mobile networking infrastructure needs a radical overhaul to get ready for the first 5G mobile networks, says O2 CTO Brendan O’Reilly

BT and Nokia to work together on 5G research
BT and Nokia plan to work together on customer use cases, proof of concept trials, technology standards and equipment to support 5G

Nearly two-thirds of IT leaders expect a serious data breach
Many organisations need to update IT systems to ensure business operations are both truly agile and secure, a report has revealed

Mobile phone sales drop as smartphone buyers bide their time
Slowing smartphone shipments contributed to an overall decline in mobile phone sales during the second three months of 2016, according to Gartner

Interview: Delivering the facts about Stem careers
Edwina Dunn, chair of the Your Life campaign, says the tech industry must work harder to make students aware of Stem careers if it hopes to recruit more young people

Intel Developer Forum: Out of the server room and onto smart devices
Augmented reality and building intelligence into IoT endpoints were among the highlights at Intel’s annual conference

Cyber attack recovery 300% dearer due to skills shortage
The improvement of specialist security expertise is one of the top three drivers for an additional investment in IT security, but many struggle to find people with the skills they need, a report reveals

Cisco to cut one-fifth of its global workforce
Company reportedly plans to cut up to 14,000 jobs as it shifts focus from networking hardware to software and cloud-based systems

Ford promises to mass-produce an autonomous car by 2021
The world’s first high-volume, fully autonomous vehicle will operate in a ride-hailing or sharing service by 2021, says Ford

HPE boosts MSA and StoreVirtual with sub-$10,000 flash storage options
HPE launches new StoreVirtual 3200 entry-level array that can cost as little as $6,000, plus the SME-focused MSA 2042 array which has 800GB of flash embedded

Case study: Improving food safety and traceability
We look at how Transparency-One is using a Neo4j graph database to deliver traceability across the global food supply chain

UK data scientist roles grow by 32% in first half of 2016
There has been a big rise in the number of data scientist positions in the UK and Europe in the first half of 2016

PoS malware attacks highlights need for security standards in hotel industry
Ongoing data breaches through point of sale malware highlights the need for security standards and central support for franchisees in the hotel industry, say security experts

No appetite among ISPs to become broadband USO provider, says Ofcom
Ofcom’s summary of responses to its consultation over the proposed broadband universal service obligation reveals that many service providers do not want to take on the job

Google takes on FaceTime and Skype with Duo
Google is betting on simplicity, cross-platform functionality and privacy concerns to attract smartphone uses to its Duo video-calling app

Cerber ransomware service reaps $195,000 profit in a month
Franchises such as Cerber are making highly profitable ransomware available to a broader range of cyber criminals, according to a report by security firm Check Point

TfL’s 24-hour tube API retains app compatiblity
TfL extends its open data API to support London’s 24-hour tube service, with TfL saying the API won’t break existing apps

Financial sector faces era of cyber mega heists
Banks and other financial institutions are threatened by a new breed of elite cyber criminals running professional operations that will use any means to achieve their goals, says Barclays security chief

Cloudian makes HyperStore object storage available from AWS
System available with storage tiers on-site and in the Amazon cloud monitored and billed from the AWS interface

Disaster Tech Lab brings emergency internet to refugee camps
Voluntary organisation Disaster Test Lab deploys ruggedised Cradlepoint technology to provide mobile connectivity to 18 refugee camps in Greece

Robot Wars: Team Storm uses modern IT to breathe new life into legacy machines
Robot Wars’ Team Storm is applying the principles of DevOps, IoT and real-time data analytics in advancing the design of its machine, while setting out to inspire a new generation to get into robotics

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