Global cyber attack hits UK firms as WPP reports hack June 27, 2017 A massive cyber attack which has hit a number of institutions in Ukraine appears to be spreading across Europe. Several firms, banks and government offices in Ukraine began to report attacks earlier today caused by ransomware named “Petya”. London-based advertising giant WPP has reported problems with its IT systems caused by a “suspected cyber attack”, [...]
Russia World Cup 2018: Clouds still hanging over Fifa and its tournament host with just over a year to go June 15, 2017 The Confederations Cup is normally a moment for football fans’ excitement to begin in earnest. Kicking off in Russia on Saturday, the competition marks a year until the country stages the next World Cup and offers a chance both for supporters to gauge the quality of potential contenders and for governing body Fifa to test [...]
The best universities in the world: The nine top in the UK according to the QS 2018 World University Rankings June 8, 2017 Nine universities in the UK have been named among the top 50 best in the world according to a new ranking – but cuts to funding and the potential impact of Brexit have seen institutions lose ground to other countries. Cambridge, Oxford, University College London and Imperial made the top 10 of the annual QS [...]
Was Trump wrong to hire son-in-law Jared Kushner? June 1, 2017 With recent allegations about a ‘backchannel’ with Russia, was Trump wrong to hire son-in-law Jared Kushner? Sarah Kendzior, journalist and scholar of authoritarian states, says YES. Donald Trump is attempting to build a dynastic kleptocracy through abuse of executive power. Autocrats are typically paranoid and insular, relying on family and installing them in the government, [...]
The new space race: Private companies are getting into the business of space travel – and it could produce the world’s first trillionaire May 30, 2017 Five-minutes’ drive from Kennedy Space Center, among the marshes and pine trees of Merritt Island Wildlife Reserve, lies Shuttles Restaurant & Bar. On the back wall is a massive photograph of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, soaring into space on the back of an orange fuel tank. Bolted to its side are two white rockets, spouting [...]
Home secretary: Almost all NHS systems hit in global ransomware attack have now recovered May 13, 2017 NHS IT systems have almost entirely recovered from the disruption caused by a global cyber attack, according to home secretary Amber Rudd. Speaking after chairing a meeting of Cobra, the crisis response committee, she said 97 per cent of Britain’s health service trusts are now “working as normal”. She said 48 of 248, around one [...]
Peter Dubens firm Oakley Capital snaps up software firm Plesk in $105m deal May 2, 2017 Oakley Capital, the Aim-quoted firm that listed Time Out magazine, today announced it has completed a $105m (£81m) deal to buy software platform firm Plesk. Started in 1999, Plesk was launched in the US after being designed in Russia. It was bought by Washington-based firm Parallels in 2003. Today’s deal sees Oakley Capital carve out [...]
Fintech patents jump in “arms race” between banks and startups: These are the 10 countries filing the most April 18, 2017 The number of patents being filed for financial technology have jumped amid an “arms race” between fintech startups and banks, new figures reveal. Global fintech patents have grown by 49 per cent in the past five years, reaching 9,545 in 2016 according to official global filings. “The surge in patents reflects both the proliferation of [...]
Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft respond to Amber Rudd: Tech firms’ letter in full March 30, 2017 The tech giants that met home secretary Amber Rudd today for a meeting discussing how to tackle extremist content online have promised to work closely with the government. They have agreed to set up an industry board to tackle removing terrorist content online, but notably amiss from their comments in the wake of the meeting [...]
Brexit will force Ireland to reconsider its own EU membership March 22, 2017 Despite the fact that Theresa May said she would trigger Article 50 before the end of March many months ago, the reality of it happening a week today will be a final wake-up call to governments across Europe – and no more so than in Dublin. The pressure for Ireland to reconsider its future in [...]