Data protection regulations and compliance

Veeam survey finds ransomware blocks digital transformation

Annual report shows secular trend to the cloud and increased use of containers, but prevalence of ransomware attacks means digital transformation is hindered Continue Reading

Atempo plots course to containerised backup with S3 storage

Containerised modularised backup services will allow integration with third-party systems and backup storage unified onto S3 object storage for cost and analytics purposes Continue Reading

The Post Office IT scandal – cock-up or cover-up?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the second phase of the Post Office IT scandal inquiry revealed further shocking details at every turn – we review the latest evidence. We examine progress of the roll-out of fast broadband connectivity across the UK. And as the Online Safety Bill returns to Parliament, we look at the ongoing arguments about how to keep the internet safe. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Top 10 storage and backup customer stories of 2022

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 storage and backup customer stories of 2022 Continue Reading

Digital Ethics Summit: Who benefits from new technology?

Experts at the 2022 Digital Ethics Summit say expedited development cycles and obviously over-hyped PR material, in tandem with the public’s near-total exclusion from conversations around technology, is creating distrust towards the tech sector Continue Reading

NHS gets new guidance on public benefits of data sharing

NHS national data guardian Nicola Byrne has published new guidance on how health and social care bodies should approach the task of evaluating public benefit when using data for purposes beyond individual care Continue Reading

EU issues draft data adequacy decision in favour of US

The European Commission has concluded that the United States does ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the European Union and will now launch the process towards the adoption of an adequacy decision Continue Reading

Cloud-based fingerprint system for UK police nears completion

Police Digital Service announces that a new cloud-based fingerprint system developed under its Transforming Forensics programme is nearly complete, but data protection concerns around the use of US-based cloud providers remain Continue Reading

Cohesity doubles down on cyber-defence failings via backup

Datahawk service and Data Security Alliance bring clean data restores, ransomware artefact detection, data vaulting and data audit for a clearer understanding of attack impact Continue Reading

Panzura partners with AWS on ransomware counter-measures

Panzura might have slipped beneath the waves, but it’s come back reinvigorated, and now boasts integration with AWS with ransomware protection and Outposts hardware Continue Reading

Data management, backup becoming the CISO's responsibility

More and more CISOs are taking on responsibility for wider data management strategies, and this trend looks set to grow next year Continue Reading

Meta faces UK lawsuit over surveillance business model

The High Court case against Meta could set a precedent for millions of UK users to object to their personal data being collected and processed for advertising purposes Continue Reading

Your staff are the frontline in your ransomware fight

As part of a solid cyber defence plan, the CISO must make sure that the frontline within the organisation is prepared for an attack, says Theodore Wiggins of Airbus Protect Continue Reading

Ransomware, storage and backup: Impacts, limits and capabilities

We look at the impact of ransomware on storage and backup, how storage and data protection can best be used to combat ransomware, and how they fit in the fight against it Continue Reading

Met Police removes nearly two-thirds of people from gangs matrix

Legal action by human rights group Liberty forces Met Police to overhaul its gangs violence matrix database Continue Reading

The next decade in enterprise backup

Backup set to adapt to deliver more security, ransomware protection and flash-speed restores, and deal with the complexity of multi-, hybrid cloud and container-based operations Continue Reading

All means all when it comes to encryption

Nigel Thorpe, technical director at SecureAge, makes the case for encrypting everything all of the time when it comes to protecting data Continue Reading

Dropbox code compromised in phishing attack

Cloud storage service says malicious actors successfully accessed some of its code within GitHub, but insists customer data is secure Continue Reading

How to build consumer trust with a privacy-by-design approach

Undertaken with the right mindset and technology, privacy by design delivers value to consumers and builds trust for the long term Continue Reading

The risk of losing our EU data adequacy agreement is real

While some may welcome the government’s ambition to shake up the UK’s data protection regime, Westminster should be wary of drifting too far from the path charted by our US and European partners Continue Reading

ICO warns against using biometrics for ‘emotional analysis’

ICO warning highlights risk of ‘systemic bias’ and discrimination associated with organisations using biometric data and technologies for emotion analysis Continue Reading

ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware family becoming more dangerous

Researchers from Symantec share fresh insight into the ongoing development of the ransomware-as-a-service family known variously as ALPHV, BlackCat and Noberus 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

Data classification: What it is and why you need it

To be compliant, to ensure data is optimally protected, that it is available, that it can be analysed and that it is stored most cost-effectively – these are reasons why data classification is vital to organisations Continue Reading

Home Office selects CGI as strategic delivery partner

IT services supplier will act as strategic delivery partner for the Home Office’s plans to modernise and join up UK law enforcement’s digital capabilities Continue Reading

Hibs push for the backup premier league with Acronis

Hibernian FC signs Acronis to get top division data protection and make the most of ticketing information and match footage as it tries to gain more value from the data it holds 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

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

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

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

NHS trust cuts costs and refresh cycle with Wasabi cloud storage

Imperial College NHS Trust expects to saves 30% in storage costs and cut back on five-year refresh headaches in a move that has seen backup and archive data move to the Wasabi cloud Continue Reading

Ransomware and backup: Overcoming the challenges

Ransomware attacks that exfiltrate data don’t nullify the value of backups to restore from, but the challenges – such as not restoring corrupted data – require careful planning Continue Reading

Accountability in algorithmic injustice

Computer Weekly looks at the growing number of injustices involving algorithms and automated decision-making, and what can be done to hold governments and companies accountable for the failures of computer systems they deploy Continue Reading

ICO to cut back on fines for public sector data breaches

Information commissioner John Edwards sets out a revised approach to how the ICO handles data breaches in the public sector, saying fining victims risks punishing the public twice over Continue Reading

Backup maintenance: Five key points to consider

Effective backups need to ensure all data is protected, and to track media and software changes. We look at five key things to consider Continue Reading

Veritas aims at autonomous backup discovery and provisioning

Veritas bets on a backup platform that can discover all enterprise data – on-premise and in the cloud – and make its own decisions about the optimal place to store copies Continue Reading

What will the Data Reform Bill mean for UK businesses operating in the EU?

Following the government’s response to the Data Reform Bill consultation, Peter Galdies of DQM GRC looks at what might lie ahead for UK organisations working in the European Union Continue Reading

Government responds to Data Reform Bill consultation

Westminster claims its new data laws will boost British benefits, protect consumers, and seize the ‘benefits’ of Brexit Continue Reading

Podcast: SaaS data protection vulnerability and how to manage it

We talk to backup and data management supplier Cohesity about the added vulnerabilities of software-as-a-service data in a hybrid cloud environment and how best to manage multiple data sources Continue Reading

Health data strategy to exorcise ghosts of GPDPR

Government publishes a revised data in health strategy, with an emphasis firmly on preserving the integrity and privacy of patients’ confidential information Continue Reading

Cloud-to-cloud backup: When native cloud protection is not enough

There is a certain amount of protection built into cloud services, but it has its limits and full data protection requires that cloud data is secured with cloud-to-cloud backup Continue Reading

Kubernetes backup products and 10 key players

We look at 10 key players in Kubernetes backup, why they are needed, what they offer and why you need to watch out for duplication between application teams and the IT department Continue Reading

APAC buyer’s guide to backup and recovery software

In this buyer’s guide, learn more about the market for backup and recovery software and key data protection capabilities to look for Continue Reading

Rubrik charts data security path

Backup and recovery software provider Rubrik now sees itself as a cyber security company that helps organisations recover from ransomware and other data security threats Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch: Datacentres

Firms should keep their data storage setups under frequent review to ensure their goals are being met effectively. In this handbook, focused on datacentres in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at the shift towards colocation facilities, the projected change in spending patterns, nuclear power’s potential to reduce carbon emissions and the importance of infrastructure as code in edge datacentres Continue Reading

Europol gears up to collect big data on European citizens after MEPs vote to expand policing power

The European Parliament has voted to expand Europol’s role, legalising its processing of bulk datasets containing personal information and endorsing research into predictive policing technologies Continue Reading

Pro-competition data sharing will not include users’ personal info, says minister

UK government proposals to improve competition in digital markets by making tech giants share data with smaller firms will not include consumers’ personal information, says digital minister Continue Reading

GPDPR data scrape a ‘mistake’, says leading scientist

Giving evidence to the Science and Technology Committee, academic, physician and science writer Ben Goldacre has expressed serious misgivings about the on-hold GPDPR NHS data scrape Continue Reading

The limits and risks of backup as ransomware protection

Backups can provide a sound means of recovery from ransomware infection, but they are not 100% certain to foil attackers. We look at the limits and risks of depending on backups Continue Reading

‘Spy cops’ inquiry delves into police relationship with MI5

There was ‘no filter’ on the information that undercover police officers were collecting on activists throughout the 1970s, despite senior managers and officials involved in directing the surveillance questioning the appropriateness of the information gathering and sharing Continue Reading

Disaster recovery is an essential service for EDF with Phenix-IT

EDF has built disaster recovery tracking, planning and testing software on a six-month upgrade cycle based on governance, risk and compliance functionality in Mega’s Hopex platform Continue Reading

Podcast: War, geo-political risk, data storage and compliance

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, about impacts on compliance and data storage from instability in geo-political events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine Continue Reading

Russia-supporting cyber crime gang claims Coca-Cola as victim

Stormous cyber crime collective claims to have stolen 161GB of data from Coca-Cola, and says it plans to sell it off Continue Reading

Ransomware victims paying out when they don’t need to

Sophos’s annual State of Ransomware report shows dramatic increases in the impact of ransomware attacks, but also finds many organisations are paying ransoms when they don’t need to Continue Reading

Snapshots vs backup: Use both for optimum RPOs

We look at snapshots and backup, the key difference, their pros and cons and how best to use the two approaches in an integrated data protection strategy for optimal RPO Continue Reading

How Veeam helped grocery chain Franprix escape its backup hell

French supermarket chain had backup windows that ran well into the next working day and restoring deleted files could take days. It chose Veeam in a contest with Cohesity Continue Reading

Hammers sign Acronis as backup and security in one

West Ham United set to replace separate backup from Veeam and a variety of security products with Acronis Cyber Protect to have backup, data protection and file share on a single platform Continue Reading

Snapshots best practice: Five key things you need to know

We look at snapshots best practice, including the way they work, why they are not the same as backups, how to avoid heavy processing overheads and key user permissions tweaks Continue Reading

Backup types explained: Full, incremental, differential, synthetic

We look at backup – on-prem and cloud – and the key variants available, from full backup to synthetic full, via incremental, differential, incremental forever and reverse incremental Continue Reading

Ten years of the Raspberry Pi

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the Raspberry Pi reaches its 10th anniversary, we look back on how the low-cost computing device went from schools to supercomputers and even into space. Gartner offers tips on how to motivate IT staff in a hybrid working environment. And we meet the Dutch hackers helping to secure the internet. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Backup: N-able emerges from white box to aim at enterprise customers

It spent years integrated with Solarwinds and as a re-sold product, but now it plans to target enterprise customers with a backup product that aims at granular file protection and restore Continue Reading

Biden issues warning about Russian cyber attacks

President Biden has said that US companies running critical infrastructure should immediately harden their defences in anticipation of potential cyber attacks from Russia Continue Reading

How 2022’s most significant data privacy trends affect your organisation

Data privacy and protection are now core responsibilities for most, but as we all know by now, compliance is a moving target. Here, expert Alan Calder looks ahead at what to expect in the coming months Continue Reading

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Maintenance and continuous improvement

In the final article in this four-part guide to disaster recovery planning, we look at how and when to update, maintain, audit, review and continually improve the DR plan Continue Reading

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Assessing risk and business impact

In the first in a series on cloud-era disaster recovery, we provide a step-by-step guide to building firm foundations for the disaster recovery plan, with risk assessment and business impact analysis Continue Reading

Direct action is a risky business for Ukraine's volunteer hackers

Hackers have been responding to Ukraine’s call to create an IT army, but there are many reasons why taking direct action in a kinetic conflict is a bad idea Continue Reading

Define RPO and RTO tiers for storage and data protection strategy

We look at RPO and RTO in defining data protection and disaster recovery strategies and how to specify tiers that reflect the importance of different systems in your organisation Continue Reading

Backup heads to cloud as ransomware hits 76% and RTOs/RPOs fail

Veeam survey finds most can’t recover the data they want or do it in time, ransomware is now a ‘disaster’, use of the cloud is increasing, but the datacentre is still very important Continue Reading

Retrospect Backup refines anomaly detection in ransomware battle

StorCentric backup software brand allows customer fine-tuning of anomaly detection in struggle against ransomware, and adds immutable copies via object locking in Azure Continue Reading

Botched third-party configuration exposes Internet Society data to web

Personal data on members of The Internet Society was exposed after a supplier failed to secure its Azure storage Continue Reading

Porn sites will be legally required to verify users’ ages

Porn sites could be legally obliged to verify that their users are 18 or over under proposed online safety rules, in UK government’s second attempt to prevent children from accessing pornography online Continue Reading

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Staff training, incident and media management

In the third in a series on cloud-era disaster recovery, we set out the key components of DR staff awareness and training programmes, as well as incident management and dealing with the media Continue Reading

How open source is shaping data storage management

Open source data storage offers a great deal of flexibility, but unlocking its benefits will require strong technical resources to meet requirements such as stability, high availability and security Continue Reading

British Council data exposed by third-party cyber failure

The British Council entrusted confidential data on its students to a third-party and was let down Continue Reading

Data on children of armed forces personnel exposed in breach

Data on 4,142 children of serving armed forces personnel was exposed in a data breach at the Ministry of Defence Continue Reading

Cyber skills gap affecting data privacy practice, finds ISACA

Organisations are struggling to fill both legal and technical privacy roles, with potentially damaging consequences, according to a report Continue Reading

Cloud storage data residency: How to achieve compliance

There’s a conflict between cloud storage and the need to comply with local laws and regulations. We look at cloud data location, data residency, data sovereignty and data adequacy Continue Reading

Navigating PIPL: European businesses plot their next steps into China

How does China’s strict new Personal Information Protection Law impact European businesses? Continue Reading

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Setting strategy and developing plans

In the second in a series on cloud-era disaster recovery, we look at how to formulate a DR strategy and develop detailed DR plans for your organisation, while taking cloud services into account Continue Reading

Cloud-era disaster recovery planning: Assessing risk and business impact

In the first in a series on cloud-era disaster recovery, we provide a step-by-step guide to building firm foundations for the disaster recovery plan, with risk assessment and business impact analysis Continue Reading

Test police algorithms in court rather than legislate, Lords told

Police algorithms and their impacts should be tested and challenged in court, rather than controlled by new laws, says policing minister Continue Reading

Podcast: 2022 compliance preview – GDPR goes global

We talk to Mathieu Gorge, CEO of VigiTrust, about what’s looming in compliance, with regulations based on the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation plus the concept of cyber accountability Continue Reading

OVHCloud hit with customer class action over March 2021 datacentre fire

OVHCloud said it cannot comment at this time on the legal action, which is being embarked upon to compensate customers who claim to have lost data as a result of the public cloud firm’s datacentre fire in March 2021 Continue Reading

Top 10 cloud storage, DR and datacentre storage stories of 2021

Key articles from 2021 that demonstrate the growing importance of cloud storage and disaster recovery, but also the snags that lead to cloud repatriation and difficulties restoring from the cloud Continue Reading

Top 10 ransomware and backup stories of 2021

Key articles from 2021 that highlight the link between ransomware and snapshots and backup and their role in repelling attacks, plus effects of the pandemic on backup and recovery Continue Reading

Gig economy algorithmic management tools ‘unfair and opaque’

Report published by Worker Info Exchange warns of algorithmically enabled rights abuses in the gig economy, noting the insufficient transparency of employers and the lacklustre nature of legal redress Continue Reading

IT priorities 2022: Ransomware and cloud drive storage and backup

The pandemic and the move to the cloud has driven cloud storage as a key priority Continue Reading

The rules for a safer internet

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the government publishes the Online Safety Bill, we look at what the laws mean for internet services. A ransomware victim shares the insider story of the trauma of losing their corporate IT systems. And we ask, what happens when quantum computers get too powerful to verify their output? Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Unesco member states adopt AI ethics recommendation

The non-binding recommendation seeks to define a common set of values and principles to guide the development of ethical AI globally Continue Reading

Over 100 civil society groups call for changes to EU AI Act

Civil, human and digital rights organisations sign open letter calling on European policymakers to put fundamental rights at the heart of the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act Continue Reading

Cloud storage compliance pitfalls: Post-pandemic and post-Brexit

We look at the key areas of cloud storage compliance that can trip you up, with shared responsibility with cloud providers and data residency among the most important Continue Reading

CW APAC: Expert guide to storage management

The storage landscape is evolving at pace. In this handbook, focused on storage management in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at how firms are rising to the storage challenge, Lenovo’s viewpoint on the region’s market opportunities, how the Malaysian Highway Authority made itself more cyber secure and the advantages of Nexustorage’s latest offering Continue Reading

New law needed to rein in AI-powered workplace surveillance

MPs and peers call for new legislation to regulate the growing use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, which is being used to surveil workers’ performance and behaviour Continue Reading

Oversight of biometrics and surveillance should not go to ICO

Biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner Fraser Sampson has panned the UK government’s proposed plan to absorb the functions of those roles under the remit of the information commissioner Continue Reading

The ICO is right to push back against government meddling

Some criticisms of the ICO are justified, but the answer to that is not to give Whitehall more oversight over the data protection regulator, argues legal expert Edward Machin Continue Reading

Yoti develops age estimation algorithm for under-13s

Age estimation technology developed by Yoti is being pitched as a way of helping social media platforms and other online businesses protect younger internet users from harm Continue Reading

Gig economy workforce nearly trebles over five years

Over four million people in England and Wales now work for gig economy platforms at least once a week, marking a nearly threefold increase since 2016 Continue Reading

Immutable snapshots aim to neutralise ransomware

Snapshots – usually immutable anyway – get functionality to stop ransomware intruders moving or deleting snapshots, so customers know they have clean copies of data to restore from Continue Reading

Facebook self-imposes facial recognition moratorium

Facebook and Meta have committed to halting their use of facial recognition technology and deleting the biometric data of more than a billion people by the end of 2021, but will retain the underlying algorithms and software for potential use in future products Continue Reading

What the Budget means for UK technology

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look through the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget and Spending Review to find what it means for the UK tech sector. As COP26 starts, we assess the green credentials of the IT industry. And we hear one CTO’s experiences of learning the privacy lessons of GDPR. Read the issue now. Continue Reading