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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.

Ex-NSA grandee says Trump's staff cuts will 'devastate' America's national security

Video Would 'destroy a pipeline of top talent essential for hunting' Chinese spies in US networks, Congress told

Public Sector05 Mar 2025 | 16

It begins: Pentagon to give AI agents a role in decision making, ops planning

Updated Former allies, take note. This is a WOPR

AI + ML05 Mar 2025 | 19

China's Silk Typhoon, tied to US Treasury break-in, now hammers IT and govt targets

Updated They're good at zero-day exploits, too

Public Sector05 Mar 2025 | 7

Apple drags UK government to court over 'backdoor' order

Updated A first-of-its-kind legal challenge set to be heard this month, per reports

Security05 Mar 2025 | 70

Please fasten your seatbelts. A third of US air traffic control systems are 'unsustainable'

And the FAA's modernization efforts are going so badly they won't exit turbulence any time soon

Public Sector05 Mar 2025 | 89

Microsoft: So what if it costs 4X as much to run Windows Server in AWS, Alibaba, and Google?

That's competition, that's protecting our IP, Redmond's lawyers tell UK monopoly cops

PaaS + IaaS04 Mar 2025 | 41

So … Russia no longer a cyber threat to America?

Comment Mixed messages from Pentagon, CISA as Trump gets pally with Putin and Kremlin strikes US critical networks

Public Sector04 Mar 2025 | 193

America's National Science Foundation workers fired in bulk by Trump now reinstated

Judge slams 'significant chaos' that's become Uncle Sam's standard operating procedure

Science04 Mar 2025 | 77

US stocks slip as Trump pulls trigger on Canada, Mexico, China tariffs

With friends like these...

Public Sector03 Mar 2025 | 103

FBI officially fingers North Korea for $1.5B Bybit crypto-burglary

Federal agents, open up ... your browsers and see if you recognize any of these wallets

Cyber-crime27 Feb 2025 | 24

30-year-old NHS supply chain system hit by 35 major alerts in 11 months

Updated Thousands of order lines not picked, causing delays to hospital deliveries

Applications27 Feb 2025 | 29

FAA confirms it's testing Starlink, maybe for tasks Elon says Verizon is doing badly

Plus: Musk's biz empire reportedly pulled in $6B-plus from Uncle Sam last year

Networks27 Feb 2025 | 32

Incoming deputy boss of Homeland Security says America's top cyber-agency needs to be reined in

Plus: New figurehead of DOGE emerges and they aren't called Elon

Public Sector26 Feb 2025 | 37

Xi know what you did last summer: China was all up in Republicans' email, says book

Of course, Microsoft is in the mix, isn't it

Cyber-crime25 Feb 2025 | 30

Mega council officers had no idea what they were buying ahead of Oracle fiasco

Lack of skills left Birmingham officials unable to challenge suppliers and with a system incapable of managing finances

Databases25 Feb 2025 | 116

US Dept of Housing screens sabotaged to show deepfake of Trump sucking Elon's toes

'Appropriate action will be taken,' we're told – as federal HR email sparks uproar, ax falls on CISA staff

Public Sector24 Feb 2025 | 134

The software UK techies need to protect themselves now Apple's ADP won’t

No matter how deep you are in Apple's 'ecosystem,’ there are ways to stay encrypted in Blighty

Security24 Feb 2025 | 124

Trump administration threatens tariffs for any nation that dares to tax Big Tech

Digital services taxes, network build levies, touted as violations of US sovereignty

Public Sector24 Feb 2025 | 138

As China embraces Big Tech again, Alibaba plans vast spend to push for artificial general intelligence

Asia in Brief Plus: Samsung exec jailed for selling DRAM secrets; ASUS launches sweetly scented mouse; Toyota’s smart city nears opening; and more

AI + ML23 Feb 2025 | 2

National Science Foundation staff axed by Trump fear for US scientific future

Feature An inside tale: Probation extended, tenure revoked, a scramble to merge research portfolios, and more

Science21 Feb 2025 | 140

Popular

How Google tracks Android device users before they've even opened an app

No warning, no opt-out, and critic claims ... no consent

Please fasten your seatbelts. A third of US air traffic control systems are 'unsustainable'

And the FAA's modernization efforts are going so badly they won't exit turbulence any time soon

Apple drags UK government to court over 'backdoor' order

Updated A first-of-its-kind legal challenge set to be heard this month, per reports

Cloudflare's bot bouncer blocks weirdo browsers

Not on Firefox or a Chrome derivative? You shall not pass

SpaceX loses a Falcon 9 booster and scrubs a Starship

Reusable first stage of workhorse tips over after landing

Firefox 136 finally brings the features that fans wanted

Vertical tabs, native Arm64 Linux version, and AMD GPU-accelerated video playback

VMware splats guest-to-hypervisor escape bugs already exploited in wild

The heap overflow zero-day in the memory unsafe code by Miss Creant

Microsoft: So what if it costs 4X as much to run Windows Server in AWS, Alibaba, and Google?

That's competition, that's protecting our IP, Redmond's lawyers tell UK monopoly cops

Windows 365 Disaster Recovery Plus promises Cloud PC comebacks in 30 minutes

Presumably hosted by AWS?

It's bad enough we have to turn on cams for meetings, now the person staring at you may be an AI deepfake

Says the biz trying to sell us stuff to catch that, admittedly

MORE
STORIES

DXC paid 50% more than original contract value for disastrous public sector Oracle project

Updated Systems integrator secured 'variation' just before mega SAP migration put on hold

Databases20 Feb 2025 | 43

Trump’s DoD CISO pick previously faced security clearance suspension

Hey, at least Katie Arrington brings a solid resume

Public Sector19 Feb 2025 | 14

Trump teases 25% semiconductor tariffs that will go ‘substantially higher’

Envisions phased introduction dependent on manufacturing commitments

Public Sector19 Feb 2025 | 177

DeepSeek disappears from South Korean app stores over privacy concerns

Nation also orders thousands of GPUs to advance local AI smarts

Public Sector18 Feb 2025 | 8

Fujitsu worries US tariffs will see its clients slow digital spend

Asia In Brief PLUS: Pacific islands targeted by Chinese APT; China’s new rocket soars; DeepSeek puts Korea in a pickle; and more

Public Sector16 Feb 2025 | 1

UK's new thinking on AI: Unless it's causing serious bother, you can crack on

Comment Plus: Keep calm and plug Anthropic's Claude into public services

AI + ML15 Feb 2025 | 80

Critical PostgreSQL bug tied to zero-day attack on US Treasury

High-complexity bug unearthed by infoseccers, as Rapid7 probes exploit further

Research14 Feb 2025 | 21

Chinese spies suspected of 'moonlighting' as tawdry ransomware crooks

Some employees steal sticky notes, others 'borrow' malicious code

Ransomware in Focus14 Feb 2025 | 11

Cisco says it’s already dug in to protect itself – and customers – if trade war breaks out

Also reckons it can dodge DOGE

Networks13 Feb 2025 | 4

Larry Ellison wants to put all America's data, including DNA, in one big Oracle system for AI to study

From the billionaire who said real-time surveillance is good for keeping us in check

AI + ML12 Feb 2025 | 69

Trump’s cyber chief pick has little experience in The Cyber

GOP lawyer Sean Cairncross will be learning on the fly, as we also say hi to new intelligence boss Tulsi Gabbard

Public Sector12 Feb 2025 | 54

EU plans to 'mobilize' €200B to invest in AI to catch up with US and China

Captain's Log, Stardate 3529.7 – oh yeah, Commish also withdrawing law that would help folks sue over AI harms

AI + ML12 Feb 2025 | 15

UK government insiders say AI datacenters may be a pricey white elephant

Economy-boosting bit barn? Not in my back yard, some locals expected to say

On-Prem12 Feb 2025 | 119

Microsoft wants to quit building Army VR goggles, hand contract to Anduril

Will the Pentagon get Luckey with a new IVAS vendor?

Public Sector12 Feb 2025 | 10

Probe finds US Coast Guard has left maritime cybersecurity adrift

Numerous systemic vulnerabilities could scuttle $5.4T industry

Public Sector11 Feb 2025 | 13

Legacy systems running UK's collector are taxing – in more ways than one

Updated Costs for fixing them and keeping them working up by 390%, NAO report reveals

Public Sector10 Feb 2025 | 67

UK armed forces fast-tracking cyber warriors to defend digital front lines

High starting salaries promised after public sector infosec pay criticized

Security10 Feb 2025 | 29

Judge says US Treasury ‘more vulnerable to hacking’ since Trump let the DOGE out

Order requires destruction of departmental data accessed by Musky men

Public Sector10 Feb 2025 | 56

India's banking on the bank.in domain cleaning up its financial services sector

With over 2,000 banks in operation, a domain only they can use has potential to make life harder for fraudsters

Security10 Feb 2025 | 16

Does DOGE have what it takes to actually tackle billions in US govt IT spending?

Comment (updated) Tesla’s DIY ERP legend meets the messy reality of entrenched federal contracts

Public Sector08 Feb 2025 | 274

Amazon, Google asked to explain why they were serving ads on sites hosting CSAM

Updated And US government adverts at that, say senators

Personal Tech08 Feb 2025 | 42

Trump's Dept of Transport hits brakes on Biden’s EV charger build-out

Funding freeze while Feds review priorities

Science07 Feb 2025 | 64

Musk's move fast and break things mantra won't work in US.gov

Opinion 248-year-old democracy is not a tech startup

Public Sector07 Feb 2025 | 264

DOGE geek with Treasury payment system access now quits amid racist tweet claims

Final update We did Nazi see that coming

Public Sector07 Feb 2025 | 222

Federal judge tightens DOGE leash over critical Treasury payment system access

Final update Lawsuit: 'Scale of intrusion into individuals' privacy is massive and unprecedented'

Public Sector06 Feb 2025 | 28

Dems want answers on national security risks posed by hiring freeze, DOGE probes

Updated Are cybersecurity roles included? Are Elon's enforcers vetted? Inquiring minds want to know

Security06 Feb 2025 | 35

Veterans Affairs reboots Oracle health records project for $330M

Concerns around unfixed problems remain after system resulted in harm to some 150 patients

Databases06 Feb 2025 | 12

Democrats demand to know WTF is up with that DOGE server on OPM's network

Are you trying to make this easy for China and Russia?

Public Sector06 Feb 2025 | 153

Robocallers who phoned the FCC pretending to be from the FCC land telco in trouble

Don't laugh: The $4.5m fine proposed for carrier Telnyx shows how the Trump administration will run its comms regulator

Networks06 Feb 2025 | 30

DOGE latest: Citrix supremo has 'read-only' access to US Treasury payment system

CEO of Cloud Software a 'special government employee' probing for Team Elon

Public Sector05 Feb 2025 | 26

Trump admin seeks to reclassify federal CIOs, opening door to political appointees

Fall in line with executive policy or you're gone, acting OPM chief insists

CxO05 Feb 2025 | 48

Boeing, Boeing, burned: Over half a billion dollars by Starliner in 2024

More Catastrophic Capsule than Calamity Capsule for Boeing's beancounters

Public Sector05 Feb 2025 | 31

DeepSeek rated too dodgy down under: Banned from Australian government devices

As American big tech companies lashed for their slow efforts to prevent harms

AI + ML05 Feb 2025 | 10

China sticks antitrust probe into Google amid retaliation for Trump import tariffs

Updated Plus, Middle Kingdom announces levies and export controls of its own

Software04 Feb 2025 | 14

FBI's secret UFO hunters fear Trump's January 6 purge will send them into orbit

Maybe Musk just wants the alien space tech that definitely doesn't exist?

Public Sector04 Feb 2025 | 53

UK govt must learn fast and let failing projects die young

Tackle longstanding issues around productivity, cyber resilience and public sector culture, advises spending watchdog

Public Sector04 Feb 2025 | 11

Musk’s DOGE ship gets ‘full’ access to Treasury payment system, sinks USAID

Who better to trust trillions of dollars, SSNs and other sensitive info with than Elon

Public Sector03 Feb 2025 | 275

Trump scrubs all mention of DEI, gender, climate change from federal websites

Meanwhile, the Internet Archive races to save what it can – again

Public Sector03 Feb 2025 | 124

2 officers bailed as anti-corruption unit probes data payouts to N Irish cops

Investigating compensation to police whose sensitive info was leaked in 2023

Security03 Feb 2025 | 19

Motorola appeal over £200M price cap for Airwave service rejected

Profiteering from emergency services comms network in Britain? Not anymore, says CMA

Networks03 Feb 2025 | 19

UK biz dept overspent by £208M prepping to pay workers hurt in Post Office IT scandal

Updated Auditor offers qualified opinion as financial fallout from historic miscarriage of justice remains unclear

Public Sector03 Feb 2025 | 46

Privacy Commissioner warns the ‘John Smiths’ of the world can acquire ‘digital doppelgangers’

Australian government staff mixed medical info for folk who share names and birthdays

Public Sector03 Feb 2025 | 44

As Trump slugs Canada, Mexico and China with tariffs, industry groups hope trade war weapon isn’t pointed at their feet

Updated Tech lobby isn't at the negotiating table, fears unintended consequences

Public Sector03 Feb 2025 | 141

Singapore says Nvidia's astounding local sales don't mean it's the source of DeepSeek's GPUs

Asia In Brief PLUS: Chinese bus lanes put Tesla in a tangle; India drops electronics tariffs; Samsung worries about soft demand

AI + ML03 Feb 2025 | 15

Trump’s tariffs, cuts may well put tech in a chokehold, say analysts

Forrester's take on President's economic agenda offers little optimism for the industry

On-Prem31 Jan 2025 | 231

What better place to inject OpenAI's o1 than Los Alamos national lab, right?

Tackling disease, tick. High-energy physics, tick. Nuke security, also tick

HPC30 Jan 2025 | 8

Trump admin's purge of US cyber advisory boards was 'foolish,' says ex-Navy admiral

interview ‘No one was kicked off the NTSB in the middle of investigating a crash’

Security30 Jan 2025 | 116

White House asks millions of govt workers if they would be so kind as to fork right off

Unions fear federal staff purge and RTO will spark chaos for Americans

Public Sector29 Jan 2025 | 106

Spending watchdog blasts UK govt over sloth-like progress to shore up IT defenses

Think government cybersecurity is bad? Guess again. It’s alarmingly so

Public Sector29 Jan 2025 | 13

The curious story of Uncle Sam's HR dept, a hastily set up email server, and fears of another cyber disaster

Lawsuit challenges effort to create federal-wide centralized inbox expected to be used for mass firings

CSO29 Jan 2025 | 57

You probably have more CIO experience than the incoming White House CIO

From AI startup CISO to running federal IT - sure, why not?

Public Sector28 Jan 2025 | 30

OpenAI cozies up to Uncle Sam with ChatGPT government edition

Pay no attention to the DeepSeek behind the headlines

AI + ML28 Jan 2025 | 8

Why does the UK keep getting beaten up by IT suppliers?

Tech and commercial functions need to get in shape for the challenges ahead

Public Sector28 Jan 2025 | 78

US freezes foreign aid, halting cybersecurity defense and policy funds for allies

Updated Uncle Sam will 'no longer blindly dole out money,' State Dept says

Public Sector27 Jan 2025 | 86

Court rules FISA Section 702 surveillance of US resident was unconstitutional

'Public interest alone does not justify warrantless querying' says judge

Security24 Jan 2025 | 19

Beijing picking up some of the bill for iPhones sold in China

What? Why? Xi wants people spending, so has extended a subsidy scheme to phones, tabs, and smartwatches

Personal Tech23 Jan 2025 | 7

Trump 'waved a white flag to Chinese hackers' as Homeland Security axed cyber advisory boards

And: America 'has never been less secure,' retired rear admiral tells Congress

Security22 Jan 2025 | 94

Trump nukes 60 years of anti-discrimination rules for federal contractors

The (good old) boys are back in town

Offbeat22 Jan 2025 | 317

Infosec was literally the last item in Trump's policy plan, yet major changes are likely on his watch

Feature Everyone agrees defense matters. How to do it is up for debate

CSO22 Jan 2025 | 20

UK tax collector's phone service 'deliberately' bad to push users online, say MPs

Cut off nearly 44k peeps who had been waiting 70 minutes for advice on unavoidable chore

Public Sector22 Jan 2025 | 82

Trump hits undo on Biden AI safety order, EV mandate, emissions standards, and more

Also, prepare for paused wind projects and the Gulf of America from Trump 2.0 – and that's just day 1

Public Sector21 Jan 2025 | 147

UK aims to fix government IT with help from AI Humphrey

Ring a bell? Suite of tools named after Yes Minister's master of manipulation

Public Sector21 Jan 2025 | 76

This is how Elon's Department of Government Efficiency will work – overwriting the US Digital Service

Tycoon's auditors to probe Uncle Sam's IT with full access to unclassified data

Public Sector21 Jan 2025 | 171

China ever-so slightly softens stance on possible US TikTok sale

Updated President Trump allows vid app to keep running for 75 days while he reviews security concerns and develops a policy

Public Sector21 Jan 2025 | 10

Hackers game out infowar against China with the US Navy

Taipei invites infosec bods to come and play on its home turf

Public Sector20 Jan 2025 | 5

How to leave the submarine cable cutters all at sea – go Swedish

Opinion Clear rules and guaranteed consequences concentrate the mind wonderfully. Just ask a Russian

Networks20 Jan 2025 | 111

Ransomware attack forces Brit high school to shut doors

Students have work to complete at home in the meantime

Cyber-crime20 Jan 2025 | 103

Donald Trump proposes US govt acquire half of TikTok, which thanks him and restores service

The same Florida Man who wanted to ban the app in the first place

Public Sector20 Jan 2025 | 124

CISA: Wow, that election had a lot of foreign trolling. Trump's Homeland Sec pick: And that's none of your concern

Cyber agency too 'far off mission,' says incoming boss Kristi Noem

Public Sector18 Jan 2025 | 81

FCC to telcos: By law you must secure your networks from foreign spies. Get on it

Plus: Uncle Sam is cross with this one Chinese biz over Salt Typhoon mega-snooping

CSO17 Jan 2025 | 29

Biden signs sweeping cybersecurity order, just in time for Trump to gut it

Analysis Ransomware, AI, secure software, digital IDs – there's something for everyone in the presidential directive

Public Sector17 Jan 2025 | 40

Medusa ransomware group claims attack on UK's Gateshead Council

Pastes allegedly stolen documents on leak site with £600K demand

Cyber-crime17 Jan 2025 | 13

Brit government contractor CloudKubed enters administration

Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions supplier in hands of FRP Advisory

Public Sector17 Jan 2025 | 10

GoDaddy slapped with wet lettuce for years of lax security and 'several major breaches'

Watchdog alleged it had no SIEM or MFA, orders rapid adoption of basic infosec tools

CSO15 Jan 2025 | 13

Oh, Deere! FTC sues tractor maker, alleging decades of monopolized repairs

Updated Incoming Trump-picked watchdog boss dissents, calls suit 'hasty' and 'deeply imprudent,' so will it stick?

Public Sector15 Jan 2025 | 36

China's Salt Typhoon spies spotted on US govt networks before telcos, CISA boss says

We are only seeing 'the tip of the iceberg,' Easterly warns

Security15 Jan 2025 | 11

Four plead guilty in US government tech procurement fraud case

Scheme involving bribes, bid rigging and insider info may have cost US taxpayers $1.3M

Public Sector15 Jan 2025 | 7

The bell tolls for TikTok as lifelines to avoid January 19 US ban vanish

Comment SCOTUS unlikely to save it, no time to find a buyer. So, hi, Xiaohongshu!

Personal Tech14 Jan 2025 | 78

FBI wipes Chinese PlugX malware from thousands of Windows PCs in America

Hey, Xi: Zài jiàn!

Cyber-crime14 Jan 2025 | 31

Biden opens federal land to power-hungry AI datacenters

Watt's the problem? Not enough energy to win the arms race?

The Future of the Datacenter - 2025 and Beyond14 Jan 2025 | 6

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