A one-size-fits-all blockchain just won’t do

With manifold use cases and specific requirements for blockchains, businesses will have to choose the right variety rather than deploy a single ‘interoperable’ blockchain

Middle East and Africa to see fastest IP traffic growth to 2020

IP traffic in Middle East and Africa to grow 41% a year to 2020, according to Cisco Visual Networking Index

Finland’s prisons move to a cashless world

Inmates in Finland’s prisons will no longer need to use cash as a pre-paid card system is rolled out

Outgoing information commissioner claims good year for ICO

The ICO is to discuss with government the implications of the Brexit vote and its effect on data protection reform in the UK, says outgoing information commissioner Christopher Graham

BT to offer secure, private network connection into Oracle Cloud

Telco plans to roll out BT Connect service to Oracle Cloud customers during final quarter of 2016

Lauri Love suicide risk if extradited to US over hacking allegations

Westminster Magistrates’ Court hears evidence from medical experts that alleged hacker Lauri Love is at risk of suicide if extradited to the US

MongoDB offers cloud overflow scaling with Atlas database as service

MongoDB has announced its entry into cloud computing with a database as a service, dubbed Atlas, at its annual developer conference in New York City

Most European firms ill equipped for insider security breaches

Nearly a third of European firms do not use basic methods of breach detection, and fewer than one in five have any form of security analytics in place, a survey has revealed

Vodafone may pull jobs out of UK after Brexit

Vodafone says it may pull its headquarters out of the UK after the country voted for Brexit

Security Think Tank: Research biometrics thoroughly before deploying

How can organisations move to biometric authentication of users without running the risk of exposing sensitive biometric information?

Twitch makes cheering exchange rate clear: one penny per bit for streamers

 Twitch announced Monday that users would soon be able to “cheer” their favorite streamers — in the form of expendable emoji purchasable with real-world money. Details were rather scarce so I pressed them — and then, almost certainly unrelated to that, the company provided more details. (It’s a penny per bit.) Read More

Glu debuts new Dash game with Gordon Ramsay

 These days, if a celebrity launches their own game, it is likely with Glu Mobile. Known for their free-to-play mobile games, the publicly traded company lists more than 100 games, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Transformers, Guitar Hero and Deer Hunter. But since late 2014, the team has moved away from building known gaming titles to new personalized star-focused franchises. After topping… Read More

Banking IT community faces uncertain Brexit future

The financial services IT community faces a period of uncertainty as finance firms reassess plans following the EU referendum result

Post-Brexit price hikes hit cloud and datacentre community, as currency fluctuations bite

Cloud and datacentre analysts claim IT buyers are already feeling the pinch from the outcome of the EU referendum, but past performance suggests demand for colocation space will rise in the event of recession

Security Think Tank: A starter guide for biometrics in security

How can organisations move to biometric authentication of users without running the risk of exposing sensitive biometric information?

Malaysia approaches fintech with Islamic twist

A fintech Islamic finance platform that links leaders with businesses via banks in Malaysia will change the role of Islamic lenders

Australia’s NAB bank accused of “violating” customer through data sharing

Australian bank NAB is accused of violating a customer over industry data sharing

CW@50: Spreadsheets and ERP – 50 years of software coding business

Business software has been a rich field for IT professionals over the past five decades, and we are on the cusp of a new era of customers rolling their own for competitive advantage

Bet365 bets on Simplivity hyper-converged for test and dev

Bet365 follows up its move to object storage with efficiency gains that result from migration of test and dev work to Simplivity hyper-converged infrastructure from HDS SAN

Prison services colluded with Ofcom in test of mobile phone blockers

Documents reveal trials of mobile traffic interception technology in UK jails, which may have affected users beyond the prison walls

Greater focus on UK tech talent essential in face of Brexit

The UK is already suffering from an IT skills crisis, so how will leaving the European Union affect tech jobs now and in the future?

Intel considers sale of security business

Intel is reportedly considering the sale of its security business to generate capital as the company restructures

Solid state storage in the datacentre: More than a flash in the pan

As IT organisations transform their datacentres to meet the efficiency and agility demands of the digital enterprise, flash storage is increasingly viewed as a key element

Hospitals targeted using camouflaged old malware

Specialised devices running older versions of operating systems are becoming critical points of cyber attack vulnerability, warns TrapX Security

Singapore banks adopt voice biometrics for user authentication

Banks in Singapore are rolling out biometric technology to improve customer services by speeding up the authentication process

Engage early with police on cyber crime, business told

Businesses should approach law enforcement as early as possible about cyber crime, even before they are targeted, according to an expert panel

How data saves lives in Australia’s hospitals

Australia’s National Blood Authority saves A$10m as mobile and data innovations inject efficiency into the supply chain

Twitter forces password resets for accounts vulnerable to hackers

Twitter cross-checks leaked user data with its records, identifying and locking a number of accounts for extra protection

IT priorities 2016: Cloud initiatives drive IT spending

Cloud computing is expected to experience the biggest growth in spending among businesses planning IT investments in 2016

Datacentre operators warned of public cloud threat to long-term co-location success

Speakers at the 2016 DataCloud Europe conference urge co-location firms to act on public cloud threat or risk losing business

AutoLotto launches its mobile Powerball app

 Purchasing a lottery ticket is usually a simple thing. Maybe too simple. But holding onto tickets long enough to check the numbers and redeem any winners requires more effort than many would prefer. That’s where AutoLotto comes in. The startup has created a mobile app that lets users buy, play and redeem lottery tickets all on their smartphones. More than 166,000 users have signed up on… Read More

Local Government Ombudsman moves to cloud network service

Ombudsman service is on the way to realising 30% cost savings with 50% faster connectivity after procuring a cloud telephony service through G-Cloud

Ransomware is helping make the cyber threat real

The Scottish government is working to help businesses understand and manage the cyber security risk

UK IT community rocked but keeping calm in face of Brexit

The UK IT sector reacts with alarm, tempered by a calm pragmatism, to the British Referendum verdict to leave the European Union. Reporting by the Computer Weekly team

The Nintendo 64 turns 20 today

 It was on June 23, 1996 that the Nintendo 64 made its debut — in Japan, that is. We wouldn’t see it on this side of the Pacific for another three months. But today is its proper birthday, and 20 years is a significant enough anniversary that we should probably just take a moment to remember just how awesome this console was — and is. Read More

Oculus removes hardware DRM that locked games onto its headset

 An Oculus update posted today quietly removes a feature that blocked Oculus software from being played on other headsets — something that the community has been up in arms about for a month. The removal is essentially a mea culpa from Oculus, which over the last few weeks has faced hard questions from press and users about its strategy in locking down content to its own platform. Read More

Focus on diversity, not gender, says most influential woman in UK IT 2016

The winner of Computer Weekly’s most influential woman in UK IT award, Maggie Philbin, says the IT industry should focus on wider diversity as opposed to just gender equality

Most influential women in UK IT 2016: Rising Stars

Computer Weekly reveals the judges’ choice for the 2016 most influential women in UK IT Rising Stars. Special thanks to the Salesforce Foundation for extending its support to our 2016 Rising Stars

AWS clinches cloud deal with Colorado law enforcement agencies

US State of Colorado signs AWS cloud deal, paving way for law enforcers to make greater use of digital technologies during criminal investigations

Queen’s Birthday Honours list recognises more women in IT

The 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours list recognised a number of IT and digital entrepreneurs, and been hailed as the most diverse ever

NoSQL offerings from Microsoft and Oracle

Cloud and big data applications have led to a new wave of NoSQL data stores. We look at what Microsoft and Oracle have to offer

CIO interview: Why Europe matters to Ben Booth

Ben Booth has headed several European IT departments in his career, and he feels that remaining in the European Union (EU) is good for the UK and good for IT

Swarm launches Perks so you can get real-world rewards

 For the last year, the team at Foursquare has been working relentlessly to turn Swarm into something fun. In many respects, checking in on Swarm is playing a game, and now the company is ready to reward you for your gameplay. Today the company launched Swarm Perks and Swarm Challenges, both of which are meant to offer real-world rewards to users. Let’s start with Perks. Swarm Perks is… Read More

Singapore to block internet access for its public servants from 2017

From May 2017, most of Singapore’s public servants will not be able to access the internet from their workstations

New cyber security law in the offing for Singapore

Singapore government will table new Cyber Security Bill in 2017 to strengthen its online defences

UK social media habits are a corporate security risk, warns Intel Security

Companies should educate employees not to connect to strangers on social media to reduce the risk of phishing attacks, Intel Security has warned

Stockport council ditches HDS SAN for Nutanix hyper-converged

Stockport council shifts to hyper-converged server storage boxes from Nutanix, with its previous SAN reaching end of life and experiencing operational issues and scalability problems

Equinix embarks on big data push to inform new datacentre designs and builds

Colocation giant Equinix outlines its plans to use IoT and big data analytics to improve the design of its carrier neutral facilities

Why cloud disruption will shift the dynamics of IT budgets

Cloud computing is set to become one of the most disruptive forces of IT spending since the dawn of the digital age

Dell divests software business to free up funds for EMC deal

It has been less than three months since Dell sold off its services arm. Now its software business is being offloaded. We look at the implications

Rapid7 discloses remote code execution flaw in Swagger

Rapid7 researchers warn businesses of remote execution vulnerability in the Swagger programming tool

High-performing DevOps teams create better quality code, research suggests

The 2016 State of DevOps report makes the case for incorporating security checks into every stage of the software development cycle

Nordic CIO interview: Martin Althén, Husqvarna

The CIO at power tool maker Husqvarna tells Computer Weekly how he is repositioning the company through digitalisation

Computer Weekly announces the 50 most influential women in UK IT 2016

Computer Weekly announces its top 50 list of the most influential women in UK IT, including 2016 winner Maggie Philbin

Slither.io is snaking its way on to homescreens

 Slither.io is not new, but it is crazy popular. The game has been sitting at number one on the iOS gaming charts for some time. Slither.io has been available for just over three months now and, according to the most recent ranking, the game still holds the number one game, action game, and simulation game spots in the U.S. Apple App Store. It’s also the number six free app overall,… Read More

Facebook Live attacks Twitch with game streaming

 If people spend a lot of time doing something on the Internet, you can bet Facebook wants a piece. Its latest conquest attempt is the video game streaming business ruled by Twitch and YouTube. Today, Facebook announced its working with World Of Warcraft maker Blizzard to build social login and Facebook Live video streaming into their games, starting with its new blockbuster Overwatch.… Read More

Singapore to pioneer tropical datacentre

If successful, trial would prove that datacentres can function optimally at temperatures of up to 38°C and humidity of up to, or exceeding, 90%

UAE businesses struggle with security breach declaration

UAE firms find difficulty in providing facts on security breaches, while consumers demand to be informed of incidents

Lower average cost of Australian data breaches is not a sign of comfort

The average cost of a data breach to Australian organisations dropped in 2015, according to research

EU workers trust EU countries most with cloud data

Survey reveals European workers trust EU countries much more than the US with their work data in the cloud

Work in progress: How Jisc’s shared datacentre vision is shaking up the education sector

Computer Weekly gets a progress report from the Jisc shared services datacentre team in Slough about how the education sector is making use of the site

US takes on the critics of Prism in Irish court

The US says social media companies have to do mass surveillance in Europe, while the European Union says they can’t. The Irish court is to decide competing claims

From SQL to NoSQL – and back again

We take a look at the suppliers behind the emergence of databases that organise web-scale datasets and the like – and the most recent set of upstarts dubbed NewSQL

Amazon cloud crash forced Australian enterprises to take heads out of sand

Enterprises in Australia need to rethink their cloud backup strategies following the recent AWS outage in Sydney

Australian government entices UK tech startups

Australia is trying to entice UK technology firms to open operations in the country, with benefits including a stepping stone to Asia and a skilled workforce

Cyber security industry mostly welcomes report on TalkTalk breach

Most of the recommendations of a government committee inquiry into the TalkTalk breach have been welcomed, but pundits have expressed reservations about some, particularly proposed new fines

Angus Council signs up to Scottish Wide Area Network

Angus Council has become the latest local authority in Scotland to sign up to the Scottish Wide Area Network, or Swan, for enhanced public services delivery

Enterprises urged not to view security as a barrier to internet of things adoption

The Lower Colorado River Authority’s chief administrative officer urges enterprises to balance the risks of using the internet of things with the benefits connected devices can bring

OPNFV Project scales up network functions virtualisation ecosystem

At the OPNFV summit in Berlin, the OPNFV Project announces new R&D capabilities and a student internship programme

CESG issues challenge to information security professionals

CESG technical director Jonathan Lawrence tells The Cyber Security Summit that information security professionals need to deliver security controls that help business users achieve their goals securely

Nutanix adds storage for containers, physical servers and all-flash

Hyper-converged infrastructure maker Nutanix adds container support with persistent storage, offers block iSCSI storage for physical servers and allows all-flash across the product range

Hundreds of UK IT and back office roles at RBS cut

The Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting 900 IT and back office jobs as part of a reorganisation that involves offshoring roles

HTC exec: exclusives are a bad idea for VR

 Last week at E3, we had a chance to speak with some of the biggest names in VR, from Oculus to Sony — but that list that wouldn’t be complete without some input from HTC. The smartphone maker was, perhaps, something of a dark horse in the space, but its Vive headset has scored high rankings among industry stalwarts, positioning the Taiwanese for something of a renaissance at the… Read More

Tencent confirms deal to buy majority stake in Supercell from SoftBank for $8.6B

 It is finally confirmed: Tencent has announced that it has acquired a majority ownership of Supercell, the Finnish firm behind hit game Clash Of Clans, for around $8.6 billion. Read More

My Eye Spy brings every parents’ favorite car game to a phone near you

 I spy with my little eye… Something beginning with F! Is it Flowers? No. Fish finger sandwiches? No. A Fantastic Feast of Fun? Well, no, not quite, but almost. My Eye Spy launches today; it’s a new iOS app which brings every parents’ favorite child-distraction game to the iOS platform, making it possible to play with your friends, or random strangers on the internet. Read More

The Basslet wearable subwoofer delivers beats and basslines directly to your body

 I first tried on a prototype of the Basslet wearable subwoofer at SXSW 2016. Built by a Berlin startup called Lofelt and headed by CEO/cofounder Daniel Büttner and CTO/cofounder Gwydion ap Dafydd (ex-Ableton and Native Instruments leaders respectively) the Basslet has a strange appeal that I didn’t expect I would like and that I recognized as missing the minute I took it off. Read More

Act now to save the open internet, says Internet Governance Commission

The future of the internet is at risk from multiple scenarios, and quick action is needed to protect it, says the Internet Governance Commission

LogMeIn resets user passwords lifted from LinkedIn, Tumblr and MySpace hack data dumps

Remote device management supplier acts after discovering reused customer account credentials in data breach dumps from LinkedIn, Tumblr and MySpace

Government committee calls on TalkTalk to publish breach report

A government committee inquiry into the TalkTalk cyber breach calls for more fines and other measures to ensure greater protection of personal data

Nets and Coinify launch blockchain development lab in Denmark

Nordic payments technology firms work together on blockchain proof-of-concept developments

Brexit will make UK more vulnerable to cyber attack, say security pros

A third of security professionals are concerned that a Brexit vote will hamper cyber threat intelligence sharing with EU states

Millions of city-dwellers still lack broadband connections

A study by the Wireless Broadband Alliance has found that over half of the global urban population are unconnected, including many in some of the world’s wealthiest cities

StorageOS tackles shortcomings of container storage

As containers gain popularity for webscale apps, startup StorageOS launches in beta to provide persistent storage for containers at Dockercon developer event

TeenTech Awards set to name 2016 finalists

The 2016 round of the TeenTech Awards has announced its latest cohort of entries in a pitching session at the Royal Society London

UK consumers support fines for firms that lose personal data

Most UK consumers would like the government to take more action to ensure companies protect personal information

Three-quarters of tech firms do not have gender diverse senior management

Research by Tech London Advocates finds that only 23% of technology companies have gender diverse teams at senior management level

Contact CI’s Exotendon system brings touch to VR

 Sometimes the coolest demos at a convention are tucked away in the back corners, far from the bright lights and big booths industry stalwarts. One of the hidden gems of this year’s E3 arrives courtesy Contact CI. The small Cincinnati-based startup was showing of its developer kit for the first time at the event, featuring a complex glove designed to offer more lifelike VR… Read More

VR skateboarding at E3

 I’ve been skateboarding for longer than I care mention, and I still had to hold onto the damn railings. I’m going to blame it on the screwy sense of orientation one experiences in virtual reality, but it probably owes just as much to my fear of falling off a mechanical skateboard simulator in the middle of the crowded E3 show floor. The exhibit was created by D-Box to promote… Read More

Indie developers ditch controllers for real-life interactions

 If there’s one thing E3 was not short of, it was controllers. Thousands of the things! Xbox controllers, Dual Shock controllers, third party controllers, motion controllers. But at Indiecade, an independent games showcase at the show, developers devised a variety of ways to play with no controller at all, making digital games charmingly analog. Read More

Oculus co-founders Palmer Luckey and Nate Mitchell on the state of VR

 Before Oculus, most casual observers regarded virtual reality as somewhere between science fiction and novelty, fodder for cheesy 1990s films and overpriced, underperforming tech demos. Now it’s immediate and inevitable, and for those walking through the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center this week, entirely unavoidable. In the space of a few short years, the company has gone… Read More

The PlayStation 4 ‘Neo’ is real, but Sony won’t show it at E3

 In an interview with the Financial Times, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and global chief executive Andrew House confirmed that the PlayStation 4 ‘Neo’ is real. But don’t expect to see it next week at the E3 conference in Los Angeles. House has said Sony doesn’t plan to unveil it at E3. Read More

The gaming industry can become the next big target of cybercrime

 Video-game-related crime is almost as old as the industry itself. But while illegal copies and pirated versions of games were the previous dominant form of illicit activities, recent developments and trends in online gaming platforms have created new possibilities for cybercriminals to swindle huge amounts of money from an industry that is worth nearly $100 billion. And what’s worrisome… Read More

HTC launches a $1,200 business edition of the Vive VR Headset

 Sure, everything will be all fun and games next week at E3, but right now HTC’s talking business. The company’s well-received Vive headset is getting its very own “Business Edition,” the Vive BE, which is targeted at companies interested in harnessing virtual reality for commercial purposes. The hardware, it should be mentioned right off the top, is pretty much the same… Read More

Hays Recruitment service desk project is all gain and no pain

The firm was attracted by the many benefits of a cloud-based service desk, but chief among them was the low risk involved in implementation

Euro Championship network traffic spike highlights OTT boom

The BBC and EE both reported massive spikes in network traffic during the England versus Wales clash at Euro 2016

How MI5 and MI6 gather your personal data for surveillance

Publicly released documents shed light on the many databases and sources used by the intelligence services to gather bulk personal data about UK citizens

Nintendo talks mobile gaming, VR and its future at E3

 Nintendo has never been afraid to go against the grain of prevailing industry trends. In fact, the refusal to follow the pack has become a defining aspect of the gaming giant’s business strategy during the ascendance of chief console competitors Sony and Microsoft. So it comes as no surprise, really, that it did something markedly different at this year’s E3 show. But just how… Read More

NoSQL database technology finds use cases, but still minority sport

From managing water meter data, through Bitcoin and video data, to web publishing, NoSQL database technology is finding real use cases. But it's likely to be stuck at 10% of the market for some time

CW500 video: Robert Carolina, Royal Holloway, on trust and ethics

Robert Carolina, executive director of the Institute for Cyber Security Innovation, Royal Holloway, University of London, talks about the importance of trust and ethics in a digital world

Bluetooth 5 standard brings range, speed and capacity boost for IoT

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has announced the forthcoming Bluetooth 5 standard, promising significant improvements to support an accessible and interoperable internet of things

French Resistance uses satellite broadband for anniversary event

A satellite broadband service was used to connect veteran secret agents for an historic commemoration of the work of MI6 in Nazi-occupied France

11 of the coolest video game trailers from E3

 We’ve been focused on VR and non-traditional gaming here at E3 this year, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been walking around with our eyes closed. But you might not have been paying close attention, what with having a real job and everything, so I took the liberty of collecting the most interesting trailers from the show in one place. Read More

Razer’s VR headset is designed for developers

 The OSVR HDK2 was arguably Razer’s biggest E3 unveiling this year – but it was also kind of besides the point. Like Google’s Daydream announcement a few weeks back, this is a reference device, a way of showcasing hardware designed specifically to work with the company’s software. OSVR VR is Razer’s attempt to build a hardware ecosystem for virtual reality, away… Read More

Alienware is also working on one of those VR backpacks

 It’ll probably come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following gaming of late, but Alienware’s looking to join the likes of HP and MSI with the release of a VR backpack of its very own. The Dell-owned gaming PC maker wasn’t exactly trumpeting the device at E3, but it did show off a prototype of the proton pack, hung snugly from a mannequin in the company’s… Read More

Zeiss made a really premium Google Cardboard headset

 Google Cardboard’s biggest appeal has always been its accessibility. Heck, they send the headsets out with the newspaper. Zeiss is taking things in a different direction with the One Plus (not to be confused with the less spacey OnePlus), a $129 VR headset for smartphones that features a premium build and, naturally, the company’s high-end optics. The wearable features a tray… Read More

Heads up Twitch, Facebook just hired gamer Snoopeh for its e-sports division

 459,000 years. That’s how long Twitch users spent watching other people play video games last year, and Facebook wants a piece of the pie. It might sound weird, but e-sports are wildly popular, and Facebook is getting serious about owning those video views. A source tipped us off that Facebook has hired e-sports super-connector and former professional gamer Stephen… Read More