John Leonard

London

Research Editor at Computing

Research Director at Computing Also at [email protected]

Articles

IT Essentials: Authentication for the nation

1 week ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

Authentication is at the root of almost every type of cyberattack there is, but many of us remain blissfully overconfident about how our secure our credentials are under the protection of an email address and password1234. This week the government's latest cyber security breaches survey found that only 40% of businesses (35% of charities) have any two-factor authentication (2FA) in place to protect networks and applications with more than just a password.
IDC: Tariffs will raise tech prices and cause 'significant disruption' to supply chains

2 weeks ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

Analyst firm foresees a ‘much weaker outlook for short-term investment in new technology projects’ The US government's tariffs will directly increase technology prices and cause significant supply chain disruptions, particularly for devices, compute, storage and network hardware, according to analyst firm IDC.
US politicians’ sensitive data discovered online

4 weeks ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

From the same folks who brought you ‘Signalgate’ Phone numbers, emails and passwords belonging to top US officials has been found online by reporters for German newspaper Der Spiegel. Information belonging to national security advisor Mike Waltz, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and secretary of defence Pete Hegseth, was discovered in publicly available online data sources using basic search techniques.
Jaguar Land Rover hacked, 350 GB data leaked, report

1 month ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was reportedly hacked last week, with data including plans, source code and employee details stolen.
NCSC’s quantum safety deadlines too optimistic say industry insiders

1 month ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

‘I’d halve all those numbers’ The NCSC’s advisory deadline of 2035 for organisations to introduce quantum-safe algorithms is too late, according to some industry insiders.
A chipmaker’s challenge: building resilience in a fast-changing world

1 month ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

Michael Doherty, infrastructure head at semiconductor giant Renesas, on creating a tech stack to support a global strategy In recent years the semiconductor industry has experienced a series of seismic shocks, from the massive upswing in demand for GPUs to power GenAI, to sanctions, tariffs and trade wars, to the supply chain snarl-ups caused by Covid. The latter was a huge wake-up call, said Michael Doherty, senior director, head of global infrastructure at Japanese chipmaker Renesas.
Quantum computing is coming for your cryptography, warns NCSC

1 month ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

No need to panic just yet, but plans to move to quantum-safe alternatives should be in place by 2028 at the latest The UK’s cybersecurity agency National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is recommending that organisations start replacing existing asymmetric public key cryptosystems with post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to defend themselves against quantum computers, which in theory could crack those systems with ease. Asymmetric cryptography is used today to protect almost all online traffic.
‘Massive spike’ in phishing-as-a-service attacks in 2025, research

1 month ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

Phishing is by far the most common entry point for hackers, with 84% of businesses reporting having been targeted, according to a recent UK government report. That’s because crafting an email or SMS to persuade someone to click on a link that takes them to a bogus login site or to a malware download is much simpler and more cost-effective than any other method. And it’s an attack that’s been getting simpler still thanks to Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS).
IT Essentials: Small site owners brace for the OSA

1 month ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

Enforcement of key provisions of the Online Safety Act starts today Hard cases make bad law, as they say. But equally, badly worded law can make hard cases, potentially many thousands of them when it comes to the Online Safety Act. As of today, sites in scope should have completed a risk assessment to understand how children could encounter illegal content on their service.
NHS Trust IT head: ‘Our attack surface was much bigger than we thought’

1 month ago | computing.co.uk | John Leonard

‘We found an extra 5,000-10,000 devices that we knew nothing about’, said deputy director of ICT at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust Among the many unexpected items discovered to be connecting to The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust’s (PAHT) networks were PlayStations, coffee machines and passing electric vehicles. “We found an extra five to ten thousand devices that we knew nothing about”, said deputy director of ICT Jeffery Wood.