In the latest deliberations on the Data Use and Access Bill in the House of Lords, I set out two amendments to offer well overdue updating to the Computer Misuse Act (CMA) of 1990. In preparing for committee stage of the bill I remain incredibly grateful to everyone involved with the CyberUp campaign, their analysis…
The Data Bill: It’s time to cyber up Read More »
Two amendments to the Data (Access and Use) Bill that would have established a statutory legal defence for security professionals and ethical hackers to protect them from prosecution under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act (CMA) have failed to make it beyond a House of Lords committee hearing after being withdrawn. The 34-year-old CMA broadly defines…
Latest attempt to override UK’s outdated hacking law stalls Read More »
Despite being taken down and humiliated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) coordinated Operation Cronos in February 2024, an unknown individual(s) associated with, or claiming to represent, the LockBit ransomware gang has broken cover to announce the impending release of a new locker malware, LockBit 4.0. In screengrabs taken from the dark web that have…
LockBit ransomware gang teases February 2025 return Read More »
In 2024, Computer Weekly’s data and ethics coverage continued to focus on the various ethical issues associated with the development and deployment of data-driven systems, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). This included reports on the copyright issues associated with generative AI (GenAI) tools, the environmental impacts of AI, the invasive tracking tools in place across the…
Top 10 data and ethics stories of 2024 Read More »
A government review of a local council’s decision to block a US-based company from building a hyperscale datacentre in Iver, Buckinghamshire, has concluded the project should proceed. Buckinghamshire Council refused permission in November 2022 for US investment company Affinius Capital to proceed with its plans to redevelop an industrial estate in Court Lane, Iver, Buckinghamshire…
Government review of denied datacentre builds sees Iver project get green light Read More »
The Post Office has created a new role to bolster its tech leadership team amid an ongoing project to replace the Horizon system supplied by Fujitsu. This comes at a time when the organisation faces tough decisions over the move away from the controversial IT system used in all Post Office branches. Subpostmasters were blamed…
Post Office creates CTO role to support ‘extensive and complex’ plans Read More »
Throughout 2024, UK government and law enforcement rhetoric around technology largely focused on the role of automation in reducing cost while boosting efficiency and productivity. Since the ascent of the new Labour government in July, there has also been a renewed focus on law and order given its manifesto commitment to “take back our streets”.…
Top 10 police technology stories of 2024 Read More »
Misusing artificial intelligence (AI) can have some very clear and expensive consequences. Movie studio Lionsgate recently joined a long list of organisations discovering that quotations and citations from generative AI (GenAI) systems need to be verified like any other source; Microsoft is being sued by a German journalist after Bing Copilot suggested he had committed crimes…
Navigating the practicalities of AI regulation and legislation Read More »
Microsoft has taken issue with a newly formed cloud-focused lobbying body, known as the Open Cloud Coalition (OCC), describing the organisation is an “astroturf group” organised by Google. The OCC debuted on Tuesday 29 October, positioning itself as a group focused on making the public cloud a more transparent, open and competitive market for enterprise…
The RedLine and Meta infostealer malwares that have victimised millions of people worldwide have been taken down in a Dutch-led global law enforcement action uniting agencies from Australia, Europe, the UK and the US. Operation Magnus, which was supported by the National Crime Agency (NCA), saw three servers seized in the Netherlands, two malicious web…
RedLine, Meta malwares meet their demise at hands of Dutch cops Read More »
