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The Metropolitan Police Service in London required easily accessible email for extra police officers during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. To avoid costly capital expenditure on its existing infrastructure, the Met wanted to quickly provision these users and then remove the service when no longer...

Like many of us this summer, I will be heading off on holiday soon. When I get back I will probably be posting many of my snaps on to a social platform to store and to share with friends - again, I'm sure many of you will be doing the same. While I always try to keep a copy of all my photos and videos...

As UK citizens increasingly carry out their lives online — from maintaining social networks to making purchases to running businesses — unfortunately, many are also falling victim to cybercrime. And, it comes at a great cost. In fact, one recent report estimated that the total cost of cybercrime...

We’ve recently blogged on two topics currently close to UK Government’s heart: firstly, Annemarie Duffy wrote about how internal IT within Microsoft is embracing opportunities presented by cloud, and by the Consumerisation of IT (CoIT). Then Nick Umney posted the first in his “ Why...

Microsoft is perhaps unique, in that it is both consumer and enterprise technology provider, as well as being a major enterprise technology consumer. This unique perspective brings great value to the organisation - not least in its ability to comprehensively test out and use new product developments...

Love it or hate it, it's that time of year again when the world goes all lovey-dubby. Valentine's Day is upon us and it's a time for reminding that special someone in your life how much you love them. Some would say a love for tech (or in this case software), can almost rival love for another human being...

Happy Safe Internet Day! It's a subject we take very seriously and it forms a central element to our business best practises. As well as it being a core responsibility for our company, many of us are parents and care deeply about online safety for our children. The tools Microsoft produce provide excellent...

We’ve been attending UK GovCamp , an ‘unconference’ that aims to bring together public sector professionals to discuss best practice use of technology. The event lasts 2 days, read our day one wrap-up post to see what happened yesterday. As with yesterday and in the true ‘unconferencing’...

In the UK there are still 8.4 million people who have yet to use the Internet and 5% of schoolchildren do not have access to a PC at home to assist with their education and learning. As initiatives go, ones which provide computers for as little as £99, are winners. That is exactly what the Get...

Earlier this month, Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group announced the BlueHat Prize , an incentive for researchers to develop original ideas to help protect customers, computers, and devices. The top three winners* in the BlueHat Prize competition will earn a total approximate retail...

Cloud computing requires a significant investment in secure, environmentally friendly datacentre facilities. Precisely how much of an investment becomes clear when you watch a video such as this explanation of Microsoft’s cloud datacentre infrastructure from Global Foundation Services : Global...

Microsoft and CESG have worked together on a collaborative project to produce a best practice framework for configuring Windows 7 for its use within UK Government, taking account of the increased threat and risk that a government department faces. This guidance is called the Government Assurance Pack...

Microsoft experts are hitting the road across the UK in the coming months to deliver half-day briefings on a range of topics including licensing, our software roadmap and security. Topics that our customers ask to be kept up-to-date and informed about. These briefings are packed with information,...

"Know your network better than the attacker " is one of the nuggets of advice from an excellent white paper, ‘ Cybersecurity for Open Government ’, produced by Microsoft Cybersecurity experts. Although aimed primarily at the requirements of the USA Federal Government, the interconnected cyberworld...

All public sector organisations take security seriously. Protecting sensitive information and ensuring access only for authorised users are important safeguards. However, effective security and identity management can create cumbersome overheads for public sector organisations to manage. Our next...

Just reading the news headlines in recent weeks reminds you that the challenge of keeping online information secure and accessible only by those authorised to view it remains at the forefront of building citizen confidence in doing more business online. One of the presenters at the Microsoft Public...

Recent reviews by the Cabinet Office ( Data Handling Procedures in Government - June 2008 ) and the Information Commissioner ( Data Sharing Review – July 2008 ) are a clear indication of how seriously Government takes the challenges of information security. We are holding a Microsoft Security Symposium...

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee’s report – A Surveillance Society – has rekindled the debate about how much data Government needs to retain on UK citizens. According to the Information Commissioner in a report from 2006 there are 4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK – one for every 14 people...

InfoSecurity Europe 2008 takes place at Olympia in London from Tuesday April 22 to Thursday April 24 th . If you are planning on going, you'll find Microsoft in our dedicated area – the Pillar Room. This will be clearly signposted in all the bumph ( technical term! ) you will be handed when you walk...

Microsoft UK’s Chief Security Adviser, Ed Gibson, is running his 2 nd Public Sector Law Enforcement Conference from April 2-4, 2008 at our offices in Reading. I can genuinely say that this conference is back by popular demand as the first law enforcement conference in autumn 2007 was a ‘sell-out’ with...

A Happy New Year to all of you. I am starting the blog entries for this year with a reminder that you can still register to attend the Microsoft MOD Security Summit in London on January 22-23, 2008. You can find out more about this event here from a previous blog. We welcome participants from both central...

25 million personal records lost by HMRC; 7600 driver records lost by the DVA of Northern Ireland; 3 million UK learner driver records go missing in Iowa. In certain areas of government it probably feels like Groundhog Day, where you keep reliving the same day over and over again. Much has been written...

It is not so many years ago that the words Microsoft and security were seen as a contradiction in terms by many IT professionals. How times have changed. Initiated in 2002, the Microsoft Trustworthy Computing programme has been instrumental in putting security at the core of all of Microsoft’s software...

In a report recently produced by Nick Coleman, the former head of IBM Security Services for EMEA, for the Cabinet Office on the Government‘s information assurance strategy he makes the somewhat stark assessment that “ adequate mechanisms are not yet in place to support (connecting to more environments...