UK

M&S Sparks scheme returns after cyber attack

Marks & Spencer has fully reinstated its Sparks loyalty programme following a damaging cyberattack that disrupted operations earlier this year. The retailer confirmed that online services are back and customers can access offers, discounts, and rewards again.

In April, a cyber breach forced M&S to suspend parts of its IT system and halt Sparks communications. Customers had raised concerns about missing benefits, prompting the company to promise a full recovery of its loyalty platform.

M&S has introduced new Sparks perks to thank users for their patience, including enhanced birthday rewards and complimentary coffees. Staff will also receive a temporary discount boost to 30 percent on selected items this weekend.

Marketing director Sharry Cramond praised staff efforts and customer support during the disruption, calling the recovery a team effort. Meanwhile, according to the UK National Crime Agency, four individuals suspected of involvement in cyber attacks against M&S and other retailers have been released on bail.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Police scan faces amid safety concerns at carnival

The Metropolitan Police will deploy live facial recognition (LFR) around this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, the first official use at Europe’s largest street festival, which draws roughly 2 million people during the August bank holiday.

Mobile LFR cameras will scan crowds within a three-mile radius to identify wanted individuals, including knife offenders, rapists, and robbers. The operation is supported by an additional £1 million in security funding and approximately 7,000 officers on duty each day.

Past trials in 2016 and 2017 flagged 102 innocent people, prompting civil liberties backlash and trial abandonment.

The Met acknowledges past issues but asserts that accuracy has improved; the National Physical Laboratory saw no statistically significant racial or gender bias. Still, false positives continue to occur, and privacy advocates remain wary.

The deployment reflects the UK’s wider adoption of biometric surveillance technologies. While officials argue LFR enhances public safety and helps preempt mass casualty events, critics warn it may deepen mistrust among minority communities unless transparency, oversight, and accuracy are further guaranteed. This move reignites debate on balancing crowd security and civil liberties in modern policing.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Isambard-AI launch brings Britain closer to AI breakthroughs

The UK’s most powerful AI supercomputer, Isambard-AI, has officially launched in Bristol. Developed with HPE and NVIDIA, the £225 million system marks a major step in national research capability.

It can compute in one second what the global population would take 80 years to process. Housed at the National Composites Centre, it aims to drive breakthroughs in healthcare, robotics, climate science and more.

Built by the University of Bristol’s Centre for Supercomputing, the machine is part of the UK Government’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) and was launched by Science Secretary Peter Kyle.

Alongside the Dawn supercomputer in Cambridge, Isambard-AI will deliver 23 AI ExaFLOPs — equal to the UK population working non-stop for 85,000 years. It is 100,000 times faster than an average laptop and supports drug discovery, personalised medicine and advanced data analysis.

Powered by 5,400 Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips and HPE’s Cray EX platform, it is among the greenest supercomputers globally, running on zero-carbon electricity and using direct liquid cooling to cut energy use by up to 90%.

Plans are underway to reuse its waste heat for nearby homes and businesses. Its sustainable design cuts emissions by 72% versus traditional builds.

The University of Bristol, chosen for its AI and HPC expertise, also offers a government-backed master’s through the Sparck AI scholarship. Vice-Chancellor Professor Evelyn Welch called the launch a milestone for British AI.

Researchers are already using Isambard-AI to analyse data from wearable cameras for assisted living support, and to scan MRI data to speed up cancer detection and treatment planning.

Other teams are modelling disease-related proteins and using AI to detect illness in dairy cattle by monitoring herd behaviour — showing the system’s broad real-world impact.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Policy gaps widen Europe’s 5G divide

Europe’s 5G deployment is moving at two speeds, with northern and southern countries leading and western and eastern ones falling behind. The disparity stems less from geography and more from policy gaps in spectrum allocation and subsidy execution.

While Europe saw an increase in 5G adoption overall, reaching 44.5% time spent on 5G, the deployment of 5G Standalone remains slow. Spain and the UK are notable exceptions, with proactive policy use and EU funding helping to close the rural-urban divide.

The analysis by Ookla suggests that effective regulation, not technology gaps, will determine how competitive Europe remains in 5G. As data traffic growth slows and operator revenues remain flat, strategic national policies will decide whether Europe keeps pace globally.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Afghan data breach prompts secret UK relocation

A serious data breach involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who sought relocation to the UK has come to light following a High Court ruling.

The incident occurred in February 2022 when a UK Special Forces HQ official mistakenly emailed a spreadsheet containing personal details to an unauthorised recipient.

Names, contact details and family information of those who feared Taliban reprisals due to their ties to British forces were exposed.

The breach only surfaced in August 2023 after some names appeared on Facebook, prompting fears the Taliban could gain access to the data.

The government created the Afghanistan Response Route in secret to mitigate the risk, separate from the Arap scheme. Around 20,000 were deemed eligible, with 16,000 already relocated to the UK by May 2025, though an estimated 80,000 remain at risk.

A government review concluded the leak was unlikely to trigger mass reprisals, though those affected still consider it a severe failure. The scheme has already cost £400 million, with a further £450 million expected, contributing to a total Afghan relocation bill of up to £6 billion.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Co-op CEO apologises after cyberattack hits 6.5 million members

Co-op CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq has confirmed that all 6.5 million members had their data stolen during a cyberattack in April.

‘I’m devastated that information was taken,’ Khoury-Haq told BBC Breakfast. ‘It hurt my members; they took their data, and it hurt our customers, whom I take personally.’

The stolen data included names, addresses, and contact details, but no financial or transaction information. Khoury-Haq said the incident felt ‘personal’ due to its impact on Co-op staff, adding that IT teams ‘fought off these criminals’ under immense pressure.

Although the hackers were removed from Co-op’s systems, the stolen information could not be recovered. The company monitored the breach and reported it to the authorities.

Co-op, which operates a membership profit-sharing model, is still working to restore its back-end systems. The financial impact has not been disclosed.

In response, Co-op is partnering with The Hacking Games — a cybersecurity recruitment initiative — to guide young talent towards legal tech careers. A pilot will launch in Co-op Academies Trust schools.

The breach was part of a wider wave of cyberattacks on UK retailers, including Marks & Spencer and Harrods. Four people aged 17 to 20 have been arrested concerning the incidents.

In a related case, Australian airline Qantas also confirmed a recent breach involving its frequent flyer programme. As with Co-op, financial data was not affected, but personal contact information was accessed.

Experts warn of increasingly sophisticated attacks on public and private institutions, calling for stronger digital defences and proactive cybersecurity strategies.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

AI chills UK job hiring, especially among tech and finance roles

Recent data reveals a sharp drop in UK job openings for roles at risk of automation, with postings in tech and financial sectors falling by approximately 38%, compared to less exposed fields.

The shift underscores how AI influences workforce planning, as employers reduce positions most vulnerable to machine replacement.

Graduate job seekers are bearing the brunt of this trend. Since the debut of tools like ChatGPT, entry-level roles have been withdrawn more swiftly, as firms opt to apply AI solutions over traditional hiring. However, this marks a significant change in early career pathways.

Although macroeconomic factors, such as rising wages and interest rate pressures, are also at play, the rapid pace of AI integration into hiring, particularly via proactive recruitment freezes, signals a fundamental transformation.

As AI tools become integral, firms across the UK are rethinking how, when, and who they recruit.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

AI technology drives sharp rise in synthetic abuse material

AI is increasingly being used to produce highly realistic synthetic abuse videos, raising alarm among regulators and industry bodies.

According to new data published by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), 1,286 individual AI-generated abuse videos were identified during the first half of 2025, compared to just two in the same period last year.

Instead of remaining crude or glitch-filled, such material now appears so lifelike that under UK law, it must be treated like authentic recordings.

More than 1,000 of the videos fell into Category A, the most serious classification involving depictions of extreme harm. The number of webpages hosting this type of content has also risen sharply.

Derek Ray-Hill, interim chief executive of the IWF, expressed concern that longer-form synthetic abuse films are now inevitable unless binding safeguards around AI development are introduced.

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips described the figures as ‘utterly horrific’ and confirmed two new laws are being introduced to address both those creating this material and those providing tools or guidance on how to do so.

IWF analysts say video quality has advanced significantly instead of remaining basic or easy to detect. What once involved clumsy manipulation is now alarmingly convincing, complicating efforts to monitor and remove such content.

The IWF encourages the public to report concerning material and share the exact web page where it is located.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

M&S still rebuilding after April cyber incident

Marks & Spencer has revealed that the major cyberattack it suffered in April stemmed from a sophisticated impersonation of a third-party user.

The breach began on 17 April and was detected two days later, sparking weeks of disruption and a crisis response effort described as ‘traumatic’ by Chairman Archie Norman.

The retailer estimates the incident will cost it £300 million in operating profit and says it remains in rebuild mode, although customer services are expected to normalise by month-end.

Norman confirmed M&S is working with UK and US authorities, including the National Crime Agency, the National Cyber Security Centre, and the FBI.

While the ransomware group DragonForce has claimed responsibility, Norman declined to comment on whether any ransom was paid. He said such matters were better left to law enforcement and not in the public interest to discuss further.

The company expects to recover some of its losses through insurance, although the process may take up to 18 months. Other UK retailers, including Co-op and Harrods, were also targeted in similar attacks around the same time, reportedly using impersonation tactics to bypass internal security systems.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!

Google partners with UK government on AI training

The UK government has struck a major partnership with Google Cloud aimed at modernising public services by eliminating agreing IT systems and equipping 100,000 civil servants with digital and AI skills by 2030.

Backed by DSIT, the initiative targets sectors like the NHS and local councils, seeking both operational efficiency and workforce transformation.

Replacing legacy contracts, some of which date back decades, could unlock as much as £45 billion in efficiency savings, say ministers. Google DeepMind will provide technical expertise to help departments adopt emerging AI solutions and accelerate public sector innovation.

Despite these promising aims, privacy campaigners warn that reliance on a US-based tech giant threatens national data sovereignty and may lead to long-term lock-in.

Foxglove’s Martha Dark described the deal as ‘dangerously naive’, with concerns around data access, accountability, public procurement processes and geopolitical risk.

As ministers pursue broader technological transformation, similar partnerships with Microsoft, OpenAI and Meta are underway, reflecting an industry-wide effort to bridge digital skills gaps and bring agile solutions into Whitehall.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!