ICO fines Police Scotland over data-sharing debacle in gross misconduct case
Blue-on-blue internal investigation lands force £66k fine
Security11 Mar 2026 | 9
Public Sector
Your Public Sector Pulse: Where Policy Meets Tech Innovation
There’s so much happening at The Register in our coverage of government tech, we've created a dedicated section for the public sector, which offers you a front-row seat to the intersection of governance and technology. From e-governance initiatives and cybersecurity protocols to digital transformation in public services, however fast (or slow) it happens, we bring you analyses, updates, and insights that matter.
Swiss e-voting pilot can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them
Officials suspend Basel-Stadt trial and launch probe
Public Sector11 Mar 2026 | 54
EU legal eagle says banks should refund cybercrime victims first, argue later
Analysis Advocate General urges rethink of PSD2 to speed compensation after scams
Security11 Mar 2026 | 4
Watchdog clears £142M Post Office subsidy for Horizon fallout and IR35 bill
CMA advisers say extra support justified as remediation costs and tax liability mount
Software11 Mar 2026 | 13
Whitehall can't cost digital ID until it decides how to build it
Consultation launched, People's Panel planned, yet still no price tag attached
Public Sector11 Mar 2026 | 42
Governments across Asia order work from home, thanks to Iran war
Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines are all trying to conserve fuel
Public Sector11 Mar 2026 | 21
Linux PC vendor System76 tries to talk Colorado down over OS age checks
Don't celebrate yet – more states are considering them
OSes10 Mar 2026 | 78
Palantir’s lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff
As Department of Agriculture employees return to the office, it needs ‘real-time analytics to optimize employee seat assignments’
Public Sector10 Mar 2026 | 30
Dutch cops warn 100 alleged scammers: Turn yourselves in or we tell Grandma
Two-week deadline to fraudsters to fess up or have their faces plastered across every screen in the country
Security09 Mar 2026 | 20
UK government's Shared Services Strategy is entering the danger zone
Opinion Gargantuan ERP and HR overhaul has committed around £1.7B and affects nearly half a million public workers
Databases09 Mar 2026 | 9
Royal Navy races to arm ships against drone threat
Britain's Ministry of Defence wants a counter-drone system designed, contracted, and delivered within weeks
Edge + IoT09 Mar 2026 | 105
Brits fear AI will strip the human touch from public services
'There's a naive techno-utopianism in Whitehall'
AI + ML07 Mar 2026 | 51
UK peers warn weakening AI copyright law could hammer creative industries
House of Lords committee says ministers must not trade a £124B sector for promises of future tech growth
AI + ML06 Mar 2026 | 10
UK Treasury not sure about ditching Oracle to join £1.7 billion shared services program it is funding
Updated It promised £1.15B… but finance ministry yet to show 'formal commitment' to adopt Workday SaaS, watchdog says
Databases06 Mar 2026 | 14
UK mobilizes lawyers to keep report on Gatwick 'drone' chaos under wraps
Exclusive Seven-year Freedom of Information battle heads to tribunal
Edge + IoT06 Mar 2026 | 48
China’s rubber-stamp parliament rubber stamps tech independence plan
Call to do better with chips and put AI everywhere is more than rhetoric because China’s scientists are sprinting ahead
Systems06 Mar 2026 | 8
Document Foundation urges EU to ditch Excel lock-in for cybersecurity law consultation
UPDATED LibreOffice steward pleased says Commish saw the light, no longer requires Excel feedback form
Public Sector05 Mar 2026 | 43
MoJ puts Prisoner Telephony Service replacement on hold yet again
Project dialed back, BT asked to keep current system for another 54 months
Networks05 Mar 2026 | 17
UK still doodling digital pound while Brussels frets over payment sovereignty
Geopolitical tensions turn up the pressure for European legislators
Software05 Mar 2026 | 59
UK digital ID brief quietly moves to new minister after resignation
James Frith takes reins from Josh Simons, who quit even though he was cleared over journalist vetting scandal
Public Sector04 Mar 2026 | 22
Popular
Swiss e-voting pilot can't count 2,048 ballots after USB keys fail to decrypt them
Officials suspend Basel-Stadt trial and launch probe
Critical Microsoft Excel bug weaponizes Copilot Agent for zero-click information disclosure attack
Could steal sensitive personal and financial data
Microsoft Authenticator to nuke Entra creds on rooted and jailbroken phones
Warning, lockout, then wipe if your device trips detection
Fake job applications pack malware that kills endpoint detection before stealing data
Russian-speaking attackers lure HR staff into downloading ISO files that disable defenses
Musk admits Starship V3 launch date has slipped as Super Heavy booster rolls into place
Launch predictions continue to be optimistic as 2027 and Artemis III near
Linux PC vendor System76 tries to talk Colorado down over OS age checks
Don't celebrate yet – more states are considering them
DR-DOS rises again – rebuilt from scratch, not open source
Project claims legal clarity and zero legacy code, but offers binaries only
Ericsson blames vendor vishing slip-up for breach exposing thousands of records
Crooks used simple phone scam to compromise vendor account, spilling personal and financial data belonging to more than 15,000 people
Polish cops bust alleged teen DDoS kit sellers – youngest just 12
Kids profited from tools used to attack popular websites, say officials
Crooks compromise WordPress sites to push infostealers via fake CAPTCHA prompts
Rapid7 says crims broke into more than 250 sites globally, including a US Senate candidate’s campaign page
STORIES
Cloud inquiry chair quits UK competition watchdog over glacial pace of reform
Kip Meeks walked a year early with the overseer of tech markets yet to take action against AWS and Microsoft
PaaS + IaaS04 Mar 2026 | 9
Lawmakers take pick to ICE's warrantless location tracking purchases
After DHS’s $2.3M PenLink contract gets ‘shady’ label
Public Sector03 Mar 2026 | 7
Bank of England says it can run £431M settlement system without Accenture
Deputy governor tells MPs central bank now has in-house skills and IP to maintain revamped RTGS
Public Sector03 Mar 2026 | 21
OpenAI’s Altman says Pentagon set ‘scary precedent’ binning Anthropic
Signs a deal with Washington anyway, says he’s kept control of killer robots by allowing only cloudy AI, with guardrails
AI + ML02 Mar 2026 | 35
South Korea’s tax office apologizes for leaking seed phrase to seized crypto
Went from triumph at having busted tax dodgers to embarrassment at losing the proceeds
Cyber-crime02 Mar 2026 | 5
Trump orders purge of 'woke' Anthropic from government
updated Without a single 'You're Fired' joke
Public Sector27 Feb 2026 | 140
Microsoft HoloLens finds second home in the military after failing battlefield tests
Let’s hope air cargo checks don’t trigger the same headaches
Public Sector27 Feb 2026 | 12
Sopra Steria sues UK government over £958M Capita outsourcing award
French firm claims DWP failed to identify rival's bid was 'abnormally low' and alleges govt breached procurement rules
Public Sector27 Feb 2026 | 39
UK copper fired after faking keyboard taps using photo frame
Typing 8x more than your peers? You better have the work to show for it
Offbeat27 Feb 2026 | 76
China’s ‘The US hacks itself to make us look bad’ theorists return with a crypto conspiracy
Apparently Uncle Sam busted Binance to shore up the dollar, balance the budget, and achieve world domination
Legal27 Feb 2026 | 20
Anthropic to Pentagon: Autonomous weapons could hurt US troops and civilians
AI upstart won’t remove Claude’s guardrails to stay onside with Dept. of War
Public Sector27 Feb 2026 | 54
GCHQ dangles up to £130K for a CISO to fight the world's most capable adversaries
No pressure
Public Sector26 Feb 2026 | 21
Britain's creaking courts to use Copilot for transcriptions
Ministry of Justice wowed by Ontario's paperless system, announces £12M for AI unit
AI + ML26 Feb 2026 | 46
All your bots are belong to US if you don't play ball, DoD tells Anthropic
AI firm drops key safety pledge as Pentagon dispute drags on
Public Sector25 Feb 2026 | 41
Ex-L3Harris exec jailed 7 years for selling exploits to Russia
Former Trenchant manager profited millions from cyber tools reserved for the US
Cyber-crime25 Feb 2026 | 8
Brit dual nationals grounded by border digitization drive
Overhauling immigration system a 'significant change for millions of travelers,' government admits
Public Sector25 Feb 2026 | 109
DVSA drives up online theory test contract value to £700M with no explanation
Agency that can't keep bots out of its booking system more than doubles size of services agreement
Public Sector25 Feb 2026 | 25
The fix inches closer: Iowa moves farm right-to-repair bill forward
Manufacturers like John Deere have resisted broader access to proprietary repair software
Public Sector24 Feb 2026 | 15
UK data watchdog fines Reddit £14.47M for letting kids slip past the gate
Social media giant retorts it doesn't want to collect 'private' data, and plans to appeal
Security24 Feb 2026 | 26
West Midlands Police earn red card over Copilot's imaginary football match
Parliament committee finds AI BS helped shape a real-world decision
Public Sector24 Feb 2026 | 21
Euro allies aiming to rapidly build low-cost air defense weapons
We like our surface-to-air weapons affordable
Security24 Feb 2026 | 31
Ex-Amazon UK boss lined up to chair Britain's competition watchdog
Business Secretary praises Doug Gurr's pro-growth agenda
Public Sector23 Feb 2026 | 19
UK council faces data breach claim after mishandling trans complaints
Confidential complainant details passed to local politician following debate
Security22 Feb 2026 | 58
Government upgrades drones, deploys joystick tweakers to catch illegal dumpers
Electronic eyes are watching from above, ready to catch dumpers of smashed up couches in the act
Offbeat21 Feb 2026 | 86
Quebec vehicles agency spent C$245M over budget on SAP ERP it wasn't sure it needed
Probe says SAAQ misled government and botched rollout caused province-wide disruption
Databases20 Feb 2026 | 19
Founder ditches AWS for Euro stack, finds sovereignty isn't plug-and-play
Attempt to go 'Made in EU' offers big tech escapees a reality check where lower cloud bills come with higher effort
PaaS + IaaS20 Feb 2026 | 77
CISA gives federal agencies three days to patch actively exploited Dell bug
Hardcoded credential flaw in RecoverPoint already abused in espionage campaign
Patches20 Feb 2026 | 5
HMRC spares 661 from Making Tax Digital as rollout nears
About half of exemption requests approved as 780,000 prepare for quarterly reporting in April
Public Sector20 Feb 2026 | 30
Spending watchdog tells National Science Foundation CIO to up game on tech procurement
Wants SLAs, revamped contracts for cloud ops
Public Sector19 Feb 2026 |
DOGE bites taxman
IRS lost 40% of IT staff, 80% of tech leaders in 'efficiency' shakeup
Public Sector19 Feb 2026 | 39
AI chatbots waffle on GOV.UK queries, then get facts wrong when told to zip it
Study of 11 LLMs shows they rarely refuse to answer, even when they probably should
Public Sector19 Feb 2026 | 32
Poland bans camera-packing cars made in China from military bases
Dell, however, is welcome to help build a local-language LLM
Security19 Feb 2026 | 55
Cabinet Office probes digital ID minister over think tank's journalist investigation
Starmer orders inquiry after Labour Together commissioned dossier on reporters
Public Sector18 Feb 2026 | 8
You can jailbreak an F-35 just like an iPhone, says Dutch defense chief
No worries if the US doesn't want to be friends with Europe anymore
Software18 Feb 2026 | 162
Indian conglomerate Adani plans very slow $100 billion AI datacenter build
PM Modi tells citizens AI will lift them up, not take their jobs
Public Sector18 Feb 2026 | 3
European Parliament bars lawmakers from using AI tools
Who knows where that helpful email summary is being generated?
AI + ML17 Feb 2026 | 12
£111M later, frictionless post-Brexit border dream 'brought to early closure'
With no staff, no funding, and the contract closed, it looks a lot like limbo
Public Sector17 Feb 2026 | 54
All the world's a stage – except this deputy federal CIO job
$200K role promises authority, mission, and 'zero patience for theater'
Public Sector17 Feb 2026 | 5
UK.gov launches cyber 'lockdown' campaign as 80% of orgs still leave door open
Digital burglaries remain routine, and data shows most corps still don't stick to basic infosec standards
Security17 Feb 2026 | 63
Capita taps Microsoft Copilot to dig it out from UK pensions backlog
Outsourcer tells MPs AI is prioritizing cases as thousands of civil servants face delays
Public Sector17 Feb 2026 | 35
MoD ticks shopping list as PM considers weapons budget boost
Top brass splash cash on acoustic targeting, hypersonic missiles…and Red Hat
Offbeat17 Feb 2026 | 22
Keir Starmer declares 'months' timeline for social media age clampdown in UK
Stricter rules for VPNs and AI chatbots also in the offing amid child safety push
Personal Tech16 Feb 2026 | 159
DVSA seeks £95K digital chief to steer test booking system out of the ditch
Agency looks to cut waiting times and curb bot-driven slot reselling as it doubles down on IT overhaul
Public Sector16 Feb 2026 | 18
US appears open to reversing some China tech bans
Asia In Brief PLUS: India demands two-hour deepfake takedowns; Singapore embraces AI; Japanese robot wolf gets cuddly; And more
Public Sector16 Feb 2026 | 8
Trump's Genesis Mission gets its first set of 26 sure-to-succeed objectives
DoE bets AI can speed fusion, unlock decades of nuclear data, and probe fundamental physics
Public Sector13 Feb 2026 | 43
Oracle suits up for Air Force Cloud One program with $88M contract
Big Red joins AWS on a multi-cloud defense platform
Public Sector12 Feb 2026 | 5
Feeling brave? Ministry of Defence seeks £300K digital boss to manage £4.6B spend
Whoever gets it will steer UK department's IT, AI strategy, and megabucks vendor deals
Public Sector12 Feb 2026 | 7
The UK government isn't spending much taxpayer cash on X
Department for Education dropped £27,118. The rest, little to nothing
Public Sector12 Feb 2026 | 66
Brussels drafts blueprint to spot and swat rogue drones
Action Plan calls for EU-wide drills, industry forums, and expanded identification requirements
Public Sector11 Feb 2026 | 8
Doctors told to give Palantir's NHS data platform the cold shoulder
200,000-strong union says spy-tech firm's ICE work undermines patient trust
Public Sector11 Feb 2026 | 49
Legacy systems blamed as ministers promise no repeat of Afghan breach
UK government grilled over progress made to prevent a second life-threatening leak
Security11 Feb 2026 | 17
British Army splashes $86M on AI gear to speed up the battlefield kill chain
Troops fitted with new comms kit as part of Project ASGARD
Public Sector10 Feb 2026 | 38
Dutch data watchdog snitches on itself after getting caught in Ivanti zero-day attacks
Staff data belonging to the regulator and judiciary's governing body accessed
Cyber-crime09 Feb 2026 | 1
Europe's sovereign cloud spend set to triple as geopolitics bite
Updated Gartner predicts strong uptake driven by concerns over reliance on foreign providers
PaaS + IaaS09 Feb 2026 | 9
Brussels eyes crowbar for Meta's WhatsApp AI lockout
Euro watchdog says Zuckercorp blocked rival assistants, weighs emergency action to force 'em back in
AI + ML09 Feb 2026 | 19
European Commission probes intrusion into staff mobile management backend
Officials explore issue affecting infrastructure after CERT-EU detected suspicious activity
Cyber-crime09 Feb 2026 | 3
Matrix is quietly becoming the chat layer for governments chasing digital sovereignty
FOSDEM 2026 One-to-one and group messaging, encrypted VoIP calls, video conferencing – the open protocol handles them all
Networks09 Feb 2026 | 25
Let there be light! DARPA seeking physics-defying photonic computers to supercharge AI
There’s about $35M up for grabs if your circuits can beat today’s limits
Public Sector06 Feb 2026 | 16
DWP considers chatbot work coaches as AI-fueled job losses loom
AI-pocalypse Benefits system trials automation amid growing interest in universal basic income
Public Sector06 Feb 2026 | 37
UK council digs deeper into capital assets to keep Oracle project afloat
West Sussex plans to triple use of property sales as ERP budget blows past original estimates
Databases06 Feb 2026 | 53
SpaceX wants to fill Earth orbit with a million datacenter satellites
The FCC is taking public comments - now’s your chance to tell them this plan is bonkers
Public Sector05 Feb 2026 | 109
UK's 'world-first' deepfake detection framework unlikely to stop the fakes, says expert
Home Office enlists Microsoft to set industry standards as AI-generated forgeries surge from 500K to 8M in two years
AI + ML05 Feb 2026 | 6
Cloud sovereignty is no longer just a public sector concern
Interview Businesses still chase the cheapest option, but politics and licensing shocks are changing priorities, says OpenNebula Systems
PaaS + IaaS05 Feb 2026 | 2
UK justice system unplugs from ancient datacenters after five-year slog
37 court applications shifted off failing kit, though some are camping in a temporary hosting facility
On-Prem05 Feb 2026 | 37
Estonia hedges its bets on US tech while going all-in on Microsoft
Riigi IT preps European escape plan as it herds civil servants into Redmond's cloud
Public Sector04 Feb 2026 | 22
UK watchdog to rule on £142M Post Office subsidy over Horizon scandal and IR35
CMA's Subsidy Advice Unit reviewing state aid linked to redress and off-payroll tax costs
Public Sector04 Feb 2026 | 31
EU's fishy digital certificate system leaves exporters floundering
Catch platform sinks under weight of bugs, missing species, and postal code gaffes while containers pile up at ports
Software04 Feb 2026 | 25
Universal £7,500 payout offered to PSNI staff over major data breach
Affected police officers squeezed mental health services, relocated over safety fears
Security04 Feb 2026 | 3
'The EU runs on Microsoft' – and Uncle Sam could turn it off, claims MEP
Open Source Policy Summit 2026 Open source gains urgency as Europe reassesses reliance on US tech
Software04 Feb 2026 | 153
'Lethal' and 'magical' Palantir tech is in demand by Pentagon, China, Middle East, CEO says
Less popular in Canada and Northern Europe
Public Sector03 Feb 2026 | 19
Next-gen nuclear reactors safe enough to skip full environmental reviews, says Trump admin
DoE trims NEPA paperwork for advanced reactors
Public Sector03 Feb 2026 | 77
Palantir declares itself the guardian of Americans' rights
Opinion CEO Alex Karp meets criticism with soaring revenues and a sermon
Applications03 Feb 2026 | 78
UK names Barnsley as first Tech Town to see whether AI can fix... well, anything
AI-pocalypse South Yorkshire becomes ground zero for nationwide experiment with £500K seed funding
AI + ML03 Feb 2026 | 88
British military to get legal OK to swat drones near bases
Armed Forces Bill would let troops take action against unmanned threats around defense sites
Public Sector03 Feb 2026 | 56
South Korea enlists AI to spot pump and dump schemes on social media, or in Spam
Main stock exchange targets shares, government agency looks for crypto crooks
Public Sector03 Feb 2026 | 3
Capgemini to sell the biz that works for US government amid criticism of ICE contract
'The nature and scope of this work has raised questions' says CEO, who swears he couldn't spot it sooner
Public Sector02 Feb 2026 | 43
India dangles 20-year tax holiday for clouds that serve offshore users
Asia In Brief PLUS: NTT offshores to Vietnam; Japan adds AI interface to space data; Samsung cashes in on memory boom
Public Sector02 Feb 2026 | 3
Sword of Damocles hangs over UK military’s Ajax as minister says back it or scrap it
Armored vehicle trials halted after troops report noise and vibration symptoms
Public Sector01 Feb 2026 | 94
Feeling taxed by layoffs, IRS turns to AI helpers
Fewer humans, more bots - just in time for filing season
Public Sector30 Jan 2026 | 9
NS&I's IT car crash considers cutting legacy links to stop the bleeding
£1.3B over budget and four years late, bank searches for a way to not to bust new timetable and funding pot
Public Sector30 Jan 2026 | 58
Biting the hand that feeds IT
