IT for financial services

Prepare today for potentially high-impact OpenSSL bug

OpenSSL trailed a critical vulnerability patch last week, which will be only the second such flaw ever found in the open source encryption project. Unfortunately, the first was Heartbleed Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Container security: why so different?

Done well, container security can be a model for securing the enterprise, and businesses that focus their teams on solving it can help accelerate positive change in other areas Continue Reading

How has container security changed since 2020, and have we taken it too far?

While containers are now one of the most popular ways to deploy applications, it is fair to say that the adoption and implementation of security best practice to govern their use has not kept up Continue Reading

LinkedIn adds new features to safeguard user privacy, security

Social media platform is adding a number of features and systems designed to protect legitimate users from inauthentic profiles and activity Continue Reading

Santander calls for cooperation to tackle APP fraud

New report puts forward key recommendations that the banking sector, government and other industries could take to tackle authorised push payment fraud Continue Reading

Apple patches new iPhone zero-day

Apple’s latest patch fixes yet another zero-day, as security issues keep surfacing in its mobile products Continue Reading

UK finance regulator investigates big tech finance threats and benefits

The UK financial services regulator is gathering information about the benefits and targets of big tech firms offering financial services Continue Reading

Digital-first businesses more willing to accept some fraud

Companies founded in the past 20 years appear more willing to accept higher levels of fraudulent activity during the customer onboarding process, according to a report Continue Reading

Half of staff might quit after a cyber attack, report says

Findings from a survey of CISOs, IT leaders and staffers reveal how experiencing a cyber incident may take a larger-than-thought toll on employee retention Continue Reading

HSBC chooses Oracle Exadata [email protected] service to underpin digital

Bank selects Oracle’s [email protected] service to upgrade and migrate some of its database systems as part of its digital transformation Continue Reading

Ukrainian and UK IT sectors to deepen collaboration, partnerships

BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, and the IT Ukraine Association have signed an MoU to deepen collaboration between the UK and Ukrainian IT sectors, and champion new partnerships and growth opportunities Continue Reading

Cyber professional shortfall hits 3.4 million

Shortage of cyber security professionals continues to grow and shows no signs of abating, says report Continue Reading

NatWest data breach whistleblower demands bank pay data controller fee to ICO

Whistleblower calls for NatWest to pay the Information Commissioner’s Office annual data controller fee, as the personal details of 1,600 current and former NatWest customers remain under her bed Continue Reading

Lloyds Bank launches innovation sandbox

Banking group establishes a sandbox where fintechs can build and test applications for Lloyds Continue Reading

Treat cyber crime as a ‘strategic threat’, UK businesses told

The government’s new National Cyber Advisory Board aims to help elevate cyber discussion and spur action in the business community Continue Reading

Office 365 email encryption flaw could pose risk to user privacy

A vulnerability in Microsoft Office 365 Message Encryption could leave the contents of emails dangerously exposed, but with no fix coming it’s up to users to decide how at risk they are Continue Reading

Finance regulator cracks down on use of messaging apps

The Financial Conduct Authority is taking a closer look at how staff at banks are using WhatsApp in work Continue Reading

NCSC urges organisations to secure supply chains

NCSC’s latest guidance package centres supply chain security, helping medium to large organisations assess and mitigate cyber risks from suppliers Continue Reading

Santander and Google offer tech to help businesses smooth move to cloud

Dual Run service from Google will be built on top of Santander technology known as Gravity Continue Reading

SMEs in Europe ready to invest in real-time payment capabilities

Small and medium-sized enterprises are losing business because of the time it takes to receive payments, with many considering API-based services to address the problem Continue Reading

JPMorgan’s UK digital bank app outage locks customers out

App-based Chase Bank suffered tech outage that left customers unable to access its services Continue Reading

Developer wellbeing: A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload special with Capital One bank’s CTO, Brad Miller Continue Reading

Next phase of open banking already gathering pace

Open banking has had a major impact on the banking industry as finance forms harness data to provide better services, but the next phase of open finance promises even more Continue Reading

Interview: Rachel Hilliam, chair, Alliance for Data Science Professionals

Rachel Hilliam talks about the origins, mission and future plans for the Alliance for Data Science Professionals Continue Reading

Cost-of-living crisis could spur fintech adoption

The cost-of-living crisis could have a similar impact on fintech and digital banking as the Covid-19 pandemic did, inducing further innovation in the fintech sector Continue Reading

Robo investment platform adopts open banking-based payments

Nordic consumer investment fintech simplifies customer experience through open banking software from Mastercard-owned Aiia Continue Reading

Bank warns of spike in online cost-of-living scams

Fraudsters are exploiting the cost-of-living crisis by tricking people into sending money to help friends and relatives pay bills, TSB has warned Continue Reading

FCSA calls for government clampdown on cloned umbrella companies

One year has passed since the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association spoke out about the problem of umbrella company cloning, and it claims the authorities are not moving fast enough to tackle the issue Continue Reading

Copenhagen Fintech connects its members to the world

Copenhagen-based startup initiative is driving fintech developments across the Nordic region, with Mastercard its latest global partner Continue Reading

IR35 reforms to be scrapped in public and private sectors from April 2023, government confirms

The government has confirmed that the 2017 and 2021 roll-out of the IR35 reforms to the public and private sectors, respectively, will be repealed in April 2023 Continue Reading

Mini-Budget 2022: HMRC tells firms to update payroll software ahead of November NI tax cut

HMRC is urging employers to ensure their payroll software systems are updated now, before the reversal of the previous government’s National Insurance tax hike kicks in Continue Reading

American Express recruiting thousands of tech professionals

Amex will add 5,000 IT professionals to its workforce in 2022 as digital products and services become the staple of the finance sector Continue Reading

European Central Bank working on prototypes of digital Euro interfaces

European Central Bank’s digital Euro investigation phase is at the point of developing and testing systems that might interface with consumers Continue Reading

Thousands of customers affected in Revolut data breach

Digital challenger bank has warned its customers to be vigilant after their data was exposed in a cyber attack Continue Reading

How Lloyd’s of London is digitising

The centuries-old insurance market is transforming its complex IT estate through digital data. Continue Reading

A gold medal performance for networking

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the IT team behind the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham delivered a winning performance. We also look at how the centuries-old London insurance market is going digital, thanks to Lloyd’s of London. And we find out how low-cost high street stores succumbed to the inevitable and are going online. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Organisations failing to account for digital trust

The vast majority of businesses are well aware of the importance of digital trust, yet very few have a dedicated staff role responsible for it, report finds Continue Reading

Ex-CISA head Krebs: Disrupt ransomware support networks to win the war

Speaking at an event hosted by data protection specialist Rubrik, former CISA director Chris Krebs calls for the security community to work collectively to kick out the supports from under ransomware gangs Continue Reading

US to see huge increase in embedded finance transactions

Retailers and other non-financial businesses are increasingly offering their customers financial services, such as credit and payment options Continue Reading

DDoS attacks on UK financial sector surged during Ukraine war

A quarter of cyber security incidents reported to the Financial Conduct Authority in the first six months of 2022 involved DDoS, with a likely link to events in Ukraine Continue Reading

AI Sweden connects the dots to keep the country competitive

How and why a centre dedicated to accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence technology has been created in Sweden Continue Reading

JP Morgan acquires fintech for payments modernisation

JP Morgan acquires cloud-native payments technology as it modernises its IT infrastructure Continue Reading

Investment in UK fintech sees fall amid global turmoil

Investment in fintech drops, but because figures are distorted by last year’s records, it’s not as bad as it looks, says KPMG Continue Reading

The story behind Sibstar, the fintech app for people suffering with dementia

Creator of app and debit card designed to support people with dementia relates how the idea developed. Continue Reading

Source responsibly: Tech sector efforts to root out forced labour are failing

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we analyse the technology industry’s failure to extirpate forced labour and slavery from its supply chains. We find out how cyber security firm Okta is rebuilding customer trust after a major security incident. And we discover how Caterpillar is modernising its data management to offer better customer service. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Mistakenly transferred $504m to be returned to Citigroup

Judge rules that creditors should return $504m that was accidentally transferred to them by Citigroup Continue Reading

CISOs should spend on critical apps, cloud, zero-trust, in 2023

Faced with a global recession next year, security buyers should try to direct investment towards technology that protects customer-facing and revenue-generating workloads, say analysts Continue Reading

Lloyd’s of London is digitally transforming through the front door

Centuries-old financial services organisation is transforming its complex IT infrastructure through digital data Continue Reading

UK payments upgrade to add more than £3bn to GDP, but much more on offer

UK GDP will increase when its ageing payments infrastructure is replaced with the latest technology to enable real-time payments Continue Reading

Huge leap to contactless payments in past three years

Covid-19 pushes the use of contactless payments for face-to-face transactions to 90% of total Continue Reading

Interview: Sibstar, the fintech app for dementia sufferers

Creator of app and debit card designed to support people living with dementia tells Computer Weekly how the idea developed Continue Reading

BBVA to add 2,000 software engineers to workforce this year

Spanish bank BBVA is boosting its IT department while its traditional workforce reduces amid digital transformation Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Effective DevSecOps requires collaboration

Application security and effective DevSecOps can only be achieved through collaboration with the business – the ultimate goal is to make it safer to do business, which requires considering integrated risk management and identity and access management alongside cyber security and application security Continue Reading

IAM house Okta confirms 0ktapus/Scatter Swine attack

Following last week’s disclosureby Group-IB researchers of a major phishing campaign, Okta has warned its customers to be on their guard Continue Reading

Making her mark in financial technology

Archana Manjunatha’s career in financial technology took her to the trading floors in India, where she learned the ropes of futures and options trading and the back offices of some of the world’s largest banks Continue Reading

Adaptive RedAlert, Monster ransomwares go cross-platform

Kaspersky researchers have shared new intelligence on two emergent cyber criminal groups that have adapted their ransomwares to target different operating systems at the same time Continue Reading

CW Nordics: Norway struggles to keep up with demand for tech specialists

The growing importance of IT in all industries, along with a shortage in skills, make for an excellent high-tech job market for candidates in Norway. Read how recruiters are struggling to keep up with demand. Also read how the Danish government encourages research in strategic fields to attract tech companies. Continue Reading

Security pros fret about stress and promotion over cyber attacks

CIISec’s annual report on the state of the security profession reveals some home truths for security leaders Continue Reading

LockBit 3.0 cements dominance of ransomware ecosystem

Ransomware attacks were up 47% in July compared with the previous month, according to the latest threat data from NCC Group, with the LockBit family largely to blame Continue Reading

Most CISOs think they’ve been attacked by a nation state

Most organisations have made changes to their cyber strategies and policies following Russia’s invasion, and almost two-thirds suspect they have been directly targeted or impacted by a nation-state cyber attack Continue Reading

Kaspersky threat data added to Microsoft Sentinel service

Microsoft and Kaspersky have agreed a collaboration to integrate Kaspersky’s threat data feeds into Microsoft’s cloud-native SIEM/SOAR service Continue Reading

Lloyd’s to end insurance coverage for state cyber attacks

Lloyd’s of London has instructed its members to exclude nation state cyber attacks from insurance policies beginning in 2023, saying they pose unacceptable levels of risk Continue Reading

Cozy Bear targets MS 365 environments with new tactics

Cozy Bear, or APT29, is trying out new tricks as it seeks access to its targets’ Microsoft 365 environments Continue Reading

Growing MFA use spurs ‘pass-the-cookie’ attacks

The exploitation of stolen session cookies by cyber criminals is once again back on the agenda, thanks to the growing popularity of multifactor authentication tools Continue Reading

It takes a breach to force boards to take notice of cyber, says UK government

Too often, it takes a major incident for business leadership to pay attention to cyber issues, according to a government-commissioned study of victims Continue Reading

Contactless accounted for one-third of all payments made in the UK in 2021, research shows

Latest data from finance industry body reveals how the payments market is bouncing back after the pandemic Continue Reading

Why organisations need to harmonise their CIO and CISO roles

Unless properly managed, conflicting responsibilities between the chief information officer and the chief information security officer can cause project delays and budget overruns, says Netskope’s Mike Anderson Continue Reading

Increase in UK startups scaling to exit, but half still struggle

Despite more startups scaling to the point of exit than ever before, half are still stuck in low growth stages – particularly those working with emerging technologies Continue Reading

Microsoft fixes two-year-old MSDT vulnerability in August update

August’s Patch Tuesday drop fixes more than 120 CVEs, including another MSDT RCE zero-day that is being actively exploited. Continue Reading

‘Coopetition’ a growing trend among ransomware gangs

Sophos shares data from its new X-Ops unit at Black Hat in Las Vegas, revealing a growing number of ransomware victims being attacked by multiple gangs at the same time Continue Reading

UK has biggest card fraud problem in Europe

Social Market Foundation calls on the UK to get a grip on its huge problem with bank card fraud in Europe Continue Reading

Financial services regulator opens digital delivery centre in Leeds

The Financial Conduct Authority is increasing the number of tech experts in its workforce through a new digital delivery centre in Leeds Continue Reading

Spyware activity particularly impactful in July

After a quiet June, vulnerability exploitation ramped up in July, with intrusions linked to spyware seeing unusually high volumes of activity, according to a report Continue Reading

Financial Ombudsman Service mining for gold in cloud HR and finance

The Financial Ombudsman Service is reaping the benefits of the cloud-based human resources and finance system it implemented last year Continue Reading

More than 60% of world population will use digital wallets by 2026

Global take-up of digital wallets will accelerate over the next four years, driven by ‘super apps’ and QR code-based payments Continue Reading

Austrian data firm accused of selling malware, conducting cyber attacks

Microsoft has accused DSIRF, an Austrian data services firm, of involvement in a string of cyber attacks Continue Reading

Cyber criminals pivot away from macros as Microsoft changes bite

As Microsoft resumes blocking macros by default in its Office application suite, reversing a temporary reversal, analysis from Proofpoint suggests the action has had a remarkable effect Continue Reading

Teams in Grenoble work on 6G breakthrough technology

Even as 5G networks are being rolled out, new requirements are driving scientists, and engineers in Europe are back to the lab to start developing 6G Continue Reading

Consumers left out of pocket as security costs soar

As the average cost of a security incident reaches an all-time high of nearly $4.5m, an IBM Security study reveals how these costs are being passed on to ordinary people Continue Reading

Cyber security training ‘boring’ and largely ignored

Two-thirds of employees don’t bother to pay attention to cyber security training – and the fault does not lie with them Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Don’t rely on insurance alone

Cyber insurance is a useful addition to the cyber protection toolbox. However, it cannot be regarded as a replacement for the controls that should be in operation, says Turnkey Consulting’s Tom Venables Continue Reading

No More Ransom initiative helps 1.5 million people in six years

One and a half million people have now taken advantage of free ransomware decryption tools offered by a joint European project Continue Reading

Ducktail infostealer targets Facebook Business users

Newly uncovered Ducktail operation targets individuals with access to Facebook Business service and tries to steal their accounts Continue Reading

Latest Atlassian Confluence vulnerability raises concerns

CVE-2022-26138 is the second major vulnerability disclosure made for Atlassian’s Confluence collaboration platform in recent months Continue Reading

The Security Interviews: Why you need to protect abandoned digital assets

The war in Ukraine and subsequent boycott of Russia resulted in a swathe of digital infrastructure being abandoned, becoming a potential vulnerability for many organisations, says Cyberpion’s Ran Nahmias Continue Reading

Russia could become the world’s largest market for illegal IT

Russia could become the biggest market for illegal IT equipment as companies try to get round sanctions imposed on the country Continue Reading

Buy ‘plug-n-play’ malware for the price of a pint of beer

Three-quarters of malwares and almost 90% of exploits retail on the dark web for about £8.40 or less, according to a report Continue Reading

(ISC)² expands entry-level cyber programme after UK success

Flush with success from a UK certification programme, reaching 100k in the UK, (ISC)² now wants to provide free security certification to a million people worldwide Continue Reading

Transatlantic PET contest open for entries

A joint UK-US innovation prize challenge for developers of privacy-enhancing technologies has opened for entries Continue Reading

Cato aims to bust cyber myths as it extends network protections

Cato Networks is beefing up its platform’s security features with ransomware and data loss protections, and the firm’s security strategy lead Etay Maor is using the occasion – and his unique access to billions of data points from the firm’s network – to explode some cyber myths Continue Reading

Starling Bank withdraws application for licence in Ireland

App-based bank decides against completing its application for a banking licence in Ireland after concluding it did not offer enough value Continue Reading

European IT services see bumper quarter, but signs of slowing emerge

Spending on IT and BPO services in Europe saw significant growth in the past quarter, but there are signs of a slowdown Continue Reading

UK fintech outperforms global sector

Investment in UK fintech continues to increase, outpacing a flat global sector, according to Innovate Finance Continue Reading

Tracking the rise of homeworking across the UK

In this week’s Computer Weekly, new figures show that homeworking has more than doubled in the UK due to the pandemic – we look at the regional differences. The pressure is growing on cyber security teams – we analyse the expert advice on how to avoid staff burnout and lost talent. And we examine the important role that tech startups play in the rapid growth of Amazon Web Services. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

US cyber agency CISA to open London office

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has chosen London to host its first office outside America Continue Reading

Data and tech platforms helping finance regulator spot problems earlier

The UK financial services regulator is increasingly using data platforms to proactively regulate the finance sector Continue Reading

Is time running out for legacy payments technology used by banks?

 Continue Reading

Log4Shell on its way to becoming ‘endemic’

US government report concludes that, like Covid, Log4Shell will be with us for a long time to come Continue Reading

Global IT services market shows signs of slowing

Spending on IT and business process services could be set to reduce over the coming months as the latest ISG figures show early signs of decline Continue Reading

ICO wants to ‘empower people through information’

Information Commissioner’s Office sets out commitment to safeguard the information rights of the most vulnerable people in UK society Continue Reading