UK government wants the AI to eat your homework

Education AI robot

The UK government has announced the launch of a new scheme that will encourage the building of new generative AI tools to help teachers when they’re planning lessons or marking homework.

This will involve the creation of a 'data store' for education data including the national curriculum, guidance for teachers, lesson plans and more. The £3m ($3.96m) data store will help tech companies build AI tools that teachers can trust to help in their work by making this data machine readable.

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Embracing the digital workplace: IT's new role in driving productivity

Office productivity time

Britain is plagued by sluggish productivity, with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reporting UK productivity growth as 'anaemic' for the past 15 years. And things are getting worse, not better.

In London -- the country's largest and richest regional economy -- output per hour worked has fallen by 2.7 percent between 2019 and 2022. But what is the root cause of this underwhelming growth?

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MSP market turns to providing security solutions

Businessman using cyber security text hologram 3D rendering

New research suggests that managed service providers (MSPs), which have historically expected to manage IT infrastructure for their customers, are increasingly expected to protect this infrastructure too.

The study from CyberSmart of 250 senior leaders at UK-based MSPs, finds that 65 percent of MSP customers now expect their provider to manage either their cybersecurity infrastructure or both their cybersecurity and IT infrastructure.

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Cracked screens, damaged sockets and delinquent dogs -- how Brits damage their tech

Cracked smartphone dog

As we've become more reliant on tech devices we use them in more places that ever before, which in turn means more opportunities for them to suffer mishaps.

A new report from Secure Data Recovery UK looks at the common ways that people damage or lose their tech and at some of the weirder ones too.

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UK tech execs not convinced about return on investment from AI

UK artificial intelligence

A new study from IT consultancy Zartis shows that UK tech executives are confident about the level of AI skills within their organizations, but aren't convinced about the return on investment from AI.

The report shows 85 percent rate their existing workforce's combined AI knowledge and expertise as 'skilled' while 51 percent rate it as 'highly skilled'. Despite this confidence, many of these executives have concerns about barriers that might prevent further AI adoption.

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Land of hope, glory and e-waste: Brits are set to become the biggest contributors to electronic waste this year, but why?  

ewaste

As technology evolves and becomes more accessible, providing new and exciting ways to make our lives easier, it’s easy to ignore the elephant in the room -- the huge amount of e-waste our appetite for consumption is causing. Ignorance has been bliss, but with research suggesting this year the UK could become the world’s biggest contributor to e-waste per head, transformative action is long overdue. 

While our drive to have the latest technology is natural, we need to consider what happens to old devices when we upgrade. 

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UK companies plan to increase AI spending

Artificial intelligence

According to a new report, UK companies are prioritizing AI, with larger expected budget increases than in the US and Germany, and 90 percent considering AI a critical topic.

The report, from analytics database company Exasol, finds UK organizations expect to prioritize AI implementation through larger data and analytics budget increases over the next two to three years in the retail (+48 percent) and healthcare sectors (+100 percent).

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Network security threats increase along with complexity

Networked computers

New research from Daisy Corporate Services in the UK shows that 69 percent of organizations have seen an uptick in network security threats over the last 18 months.

The survey, of 250 UK IT decision-makers, highlights that growing network complexity is making it more difficult and costly for organizations to secure and manage their networks.

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Lack of automation leaves businesses open to invoice fraud

Invoice payment accounts

New research from Ivalua finds that 31 percent of UK businesses have been the victim of invoice fraud in the past 12 months.

Of these, just 39 percent managed to stop the fraudulent transactions before the money was paid out.

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UK tech execs want more government oversight of AI

UK artificial intelligence

Research from IT consultancy Zartis shows 72 percent of UK tech executives want more AI regulation, and almost a third (29 percent) want 'a lot more'.

The study, carried out by Censuswide, surveyed 100 senior technology executives in the UK and finds around 80 percent claim global government coordination of AI regulation is important to their company and 41 percent say it’s very important.

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Account takeover attacks are among top security concerns

Security concept

A new study reveals that 60 percent of security leaders in the UK cite account takeover attacks as one of the top four most concerning cyber threats.

The survey from Abnormal Security shows 75 percent of UK survey participants report that their organization has been impacted by an account takeover attack at least once over the past year.

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UK financial sector under constant cyberattack

Piggy bank theft

The financial sector in the UK is under constant attack and that it is grappling to keep pace with ever-evolving cyber threats, according to a new report from security awareness training company KnowBe4.

The frequency of ransomware attacks on the financial sector in the UK doubled in 2023, showcasing an alarming escalation. Phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC) remain the top threats to organizations including financial institutions.

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Deepfakes are now the second most common security incident

Deep fake hoax and manipulation news titles on screen in hand 3d

Concern around deepfakes has been growing for some time and new research released by ISMS.online shows deepfakes now rank as the second most common information security incident for UK businesses and have been experienced by over a third of organizations.

The report, based on a survey of over 500 information security professionals across the UK, shows that nearly 32 percent of UK businesses have experienced a deepfake security incident in the last 12 months.

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Cyber anxiety on the rise in the UK

business fear

A new study reveals that 56 percent of UK adults are more worried over potential cyberattacks since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The study from Illumio surveyed 2,000 people to understand their attitudes towards cybersecurity and finds only 47 percent are confident in central government's capabilities to ward off digital threats effectively and just 35 percent have confidence in local government.

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It's time to get proactive on the UK's critical national infrastructure (CNI) security -- but where to start?

Risk dial

The critical national infrastructure that underpins the UK has undergone a tremendous amount of digital transformation in recent years. Areas like water treatment, energy and food production are still heavily reliant on operational technology (OT) systems that were often designed and implemented long before the digital revolution.

Digitizing these systems and connecting them to standard IT networks has allowed operators to boost efficiency and bring in practices like remote working and data collection that weren’t possible in an analogue environment.

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