UK government can save £2 billion through digital transformation
A new report has revealed that the UK government could save £2 billion by 2020 if it took the appropriate actions needed to shift its citizens to digital services and away from outdated technology and legacy contracts.
Independent charity the Institute for Government argued these points in its latest report titled Making a Success of Digital Government, in which it noted how the government has yet to see a significant return when it comes to the savings that could be generated by a transition to digital services.
Flash storage adoption is on the rise in UK
A new survey carried out by data management company NetApp reveals the trends in flash storage adoption throughout various industries in the UK.
The legal industry is currently leading the way, with (50 percent) of respondents having already adopted it. This is followed by finance and manufacturing (both at 46 percent), education (42 percent) and IT and telecommunications (40 percent).
Children are at risk from online predators as UK government fails to implement sexual grooming laws
The UK government has failed to implement promised laws that would help to protect vulnerable children from online predators in England and Wales. Back in 2014, the then-Prime Minister David Cameron said he would introduce a new criminal offense of sexual communication with a child, effectively ensnaring paedolphiles.
The law would help to reduce the problem of "grooming", the practice of luring in a child and gaining their trust with a view to later abusing that trust. Cameron's announcement more than 18 months ago was welcomed as it eliminated a legal loophole, but now children's charities are unhappy that laws that could prevent sex abuse have not been written onto the statute.
Few UK banks offer two factor authentication
According to new research from the consumers' association Which?, a number of major UK banks have failed to protect their customers online by not adopting two-factor security, which greatly protects against online banking fraud.
The association tested the customer-side security of 11 banks, revealing that over half had failed to implement two-factor ID checks on customers when they logged into their accounts. Lloyds Banking Group, Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Santander and TSB were the banks which scored the lowest on the tests conducted by Which?.
UK economy loses almost £11 billion to cyber crime each year
The UK economy lost £10.9 billion as a result of online fraud and cyber crime last year, according to new research, which works out at about £210 for every person aged over 16 in the country.
The figures come from a survey by Get Safe Online and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and reveal that 68 percent of people in the UK have been targeted in some way by cyber crime.
How large can GDPR fines get in UK?
When GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) comes into force in 2018, businesses not adhering to cybersecurity best practices risk either €20 million in fines or four percent of their annual global turnover, whichever is bigger.
The media has been buzzing about this a lot lately, but how much is four percent really, at least among UK organizations? According to PCI Security Standards Council -- that could be up to £122 billion. Here’s how PCI SSC came to that conclusion.
UK bans Apple Watch from cabinet meetings
In an attempt to block foreign hackers from compromising the devices of British politicians to access sensitive information, Apple Watches have been banned from use during official cabinet meetings.
The UK's prime minister Theresa May has informed elected ministers that just as mobile phones are not allowed, high-end smartwatches will no longer be permitted as they pose a security risk. An inside source informed The Telegraph that "The Russians are trying to hack everything".
Why Britain's unicorns don't live up to Silicon Valley hype
The United States may well be starting to lose its dominance on the global stage, but it’s hard to deny that its native Silicon Valley has been the envy of global governments for decades. Even China, which generally looks upon American culture with disdain, has been stealthily building clusters of Silicon somethings, if not valleys.
Here, research and development funding has swelled by an average of 64 percent year on year for the past half-decade – all with the hope of creating the same west-coast sweet spot somewhere to the east. Yet, so far, no country can claim to have replicated the prized unicorn farm of the US.
Some UK businesses don't know what ransomware is
More than one in ten (11 percent) of all UK organizations have never even heard of ransomware, Trend Micro claims. Another 20 percent don't know how the malware works. Yet, more than four fifths, or 82 percent to be exact, consider malware a threat.
This general lack of knowledge about ransomware best reflects in how the organizations in question think ransomware originates. A third (33 percent) of them know it comes from malicious email attachments. However, a quarter (24 percent) believe ransomware infections come from clicking a link in an email, and 14 percent think it happens if you simply browse the web.
UK IT contractor rates up nearly 10 percent
In the last 12 months, the average IT contractor day rates have jumped 9.11 percent, and have hit £431, according to a new report by Experis. The Tech Cities Job Watch Survey says the UK’s Gig economy is picking up pace, with an almost double year-on-year growth in permanent salaries, up by 4.61 percent.
The "freelance dream", which includes higher pay and flexible hours is becoming a reality for a larger number of people, as now 15 percent of the UK workforce works solo. There is now more demand for solo workers, than there is for permanent workers -- 2.23 percent against 1.95 percent.
Security, disaster recovery are top IT priorities for UK businesses
UK businesses’ number one technology priority is security, according to a new survey by EACS. The IT solutions and managed services provider polled CIOs, IT directors and IT managers, and released the results in a whitepaper entitled Business & Technology Priorities 2016 survey.
Among the top priorities for them are better efficiency, operating results, increased productivity and cutting costs. The study also found one interesting thing -- all IT decision makers agree that no company can be 100 percent safe. That is why disaster recovery is in second place on the list of tech priorities.
GCHQ plans Great British Firewall to protect web users
The UK's cyber intelligence agency GCHQ is planning what has been labelled a 'Great British Firewall' to protect individuals and companies against cyber attacks.
The idea emerged in a speech delivered by the head of GCHQ's national cybersecurity centre, Ciaran Martin, at the Billington Cyber Security Summit in Washington DC.
Three will continue with ad-blocking plan in 2017
UK carrier Three is committed to its plan to offer ad-blocking for customers using its network at some point in 2017, despite opposition from the EU.
In May, the carrrier first revealed its plan to block mobile ads for its customers for the entirety of one day in June. Three is of the belief that its users should not be forced to use their mobile data to display ads which are irrelevant to them and often invade their privacy.
EE rolls out 4G LTE Cat 9 in UK
UK carrier EE has launched a new layer of extra capacity for its 4G network to help high-end smartphones use their full potential, which will make smartphones "faster on EE than any other UK network".
EE has also said that it will make Cat 9 devices faster. Cat 9, or Category 9 4G, is capable of supporting 450Mbps download speeds, and devices such as HTC M10 or the Samsung Galaxy S7 are capable of achieving these speeds.
Working in the UK from an office abroad
Portugal, Barbados, Thailand. Where do your retirement dreams take place? And how would you feel if you could get halfway to that sun-kissed lifestyle while still working? With modern technology that dream lifestyle could be closer than you think.
If you live and/or work in London or any other large UK city, commuter gloom is a way of life. Crammed carriages are the norm and ticket prices are universally grudged -- and only ever seem to increase regardless of the service offered. Take a Brighton to London railway season ticket; depending on whether you’re happy to be restricted to Thameslink services or not, you’ll pay around £4-5K per year. That’s a lot of money -- just to get to the office.
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