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Biting the hand that feeds IT — Enterprise Technology News and Analysis
From The Register at 2022-09-30 06:01:14 (unread)
Digital Ocean won't let new customers create resources in four DCs, won't say why
Can't even spin up the compute necessary to reply
Digital Ocean has cloud capacity issues and won't say what the problem is.…
From The Register at 2022-09-30 04:03:06 (unread)
Stop us if you've heard this one before: Exchange Server zero-day being actively exploited
Remember this next time Microsoft talks about how seriously it takes security
Security researchers have warned a zero-day flaw in Microsoft’s Exchange server is being actively exploited.…
From The Register at 2022-09-30 01:58:11 (unread)
Ex-eBay execs jailed for cyberstalking web critics
Still to come: Civil RICO lawsuit against eBay and former top brass
Two now-former eBay executives who pleaded guilty to cyberstalking charges this year have been sent down and fined tens of thousands of dollars.…
From The Register at 2022-09-30 01:11:14 (unread)
OK, Google: Why are you still pointing women at fake abortion clinics?
And no, the tiny fine print in search results doesn't cut it
Google is still effectively directing women seeking abortions to antiabortion centers that masquerade as legit abortion clinics.…
From The Register at 2022-09-30 00:03:55 (unread)
How CIA betrayed informants with shoddy front websites built for covert comms
Top tip, don't give your secret login box the HTML form type 'password'
For almost a decade, the US Central Intelligence Agency communicated with informants abroad using a network of websites with hidden communications capabilities.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 22:27:11 (unread)
Pentagon is far too tight with its security bug bounties
But overpriced, useless fighter jets? That's something we can get behind
Discovering and reporting critical security flaws that could allow foreign spies to steal sensitive US government data or launch cyberattacks via the Department of Defense's IT systems doesn't carry a high reward.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 21:26:15 (unread)
Scientists, why not simply invent a working fusion plant using $50m from Uncle Sam
You even have until the end of the 2030s to get it done
The US Department of Energy has announced plans to award up to $50 million in funds to private businesses to develop a working fusion pilot plant (FPP) by the 2030s. …
From The Register at 2022-09-29 21:01:10
Atlassian smartens up security, licensing admin tools
And bundles its best bits at bargain price in case someone wants you to work their way for a while
Atlassian is plugging away at its version of the future of work with an eye on the needs of the admins who tend its software.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 20:30:07
Reverse DNS queries may reveal too much, computer scientists argue
When you combine it with DHCP, that spells TRACK ME
Computer scientists at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have found the interplay between the internet and local networks can be analyzed to reveal private data and facilitate tracking.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 20:06:21
We gave the cloud gaming service two years to live. It managed three
Google on Thursday said it will shut down Stadia, its cloud-based game streaming service, because few people use it.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 19:30:07
Intel accidentally leaked its 34-core Raptor Lake chip. What do the dies tell us?
Where we're going, we don't need efficiency cores. But we may need 1.21 jiggawatts
Analysis At this week's launch of Intel's 13th-gen Core series, it appears staff accidentally left out on display a wafer of previously undisclosed 34-core Raptor Lake processor dies.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 18:30:12
Wind, solar fulfill 10% of global electricity demand for first time
Curb your enthusiasm – coal-fired power went up too
In a global first, wind and solar energy combined to generate more than 10 percent of the world's electricity in 2021 – though coal-fired power plant generation and emissions jumped to new highs in the same period, too.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 18:30:12
Wind, solar fulfil 10% of global energy demand for first time
Curb your enthusiasm – coal-fired power went up too
In a global first, wind and solar energy combined to generate more than 10 percent of the world's electricity in 2021 yet coal-fired power plant emissions jumped to new highs in the same period too.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 17:30:11
Google challenges US ISPs with 100Gbps fiber broadband
An internet advertiser as your service provider – what could go wrong?
Google is planning to offer much faster broadband speeds in the US areas where it operates its fiber networks, all the way to 100Gbps.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 16:51:38
IBM's 'bare metal' LinuxONE push: Did somebody say OpenShift?
Plus RHEL has fresh release goodies out too
Red Hat has released betas of RHEL 8.7 and 9.1 while its parent company IBM is offering Linux mainframe instances in the cloud, although only in some regions.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 15:30:14
Upcoming Outlook for Windows app opens to more testers
Office Insider? You might want to check refreshed email client
Microsoft has a preview out for its "Unified" Outlook for Windows app for all users on its Office Insider program, and said it will be available for those on the Windows Insider program in the near future.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 14:45:11
Japan taps industry to build safer, more secure nuclear energy future
Project with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries marks shift in policy since Fukushima disaster over a decade ago
Japan is about to change course on energy policy following the Fukushima disaster in 2011 with a focus on developing safer nuclear reactors.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 14:00:09
Covert malware targets VMware for hypervisor-level espionage
VMware, Mandiant track back operators, finding ties to China
Emerging covert malware families that target VMware environments could allow criminals to gain persistent administrative access to the hypervisor, transfer files, and execute arbitrary commands between virtual machines, according to VMware and Mandiant, which discovered the software nasty earlier this year.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 13:30:12
Apple exec sues over 'ageist' removal of $800k stock bonus
IP director claims he was skipped over for merit-based retention bonus because of the retention part
A 67-year-old director in Apple's Intellectual Property Enforcement unit is suing the company for age discrimination, alleging Apple unfairly took away a special bonus it uses to "retain key employees" in lead positions because of his age.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 12:41:23
AWS, Microsoft and Google own 72% of Euro customer cloud spending
Democratizing IT? The next biggest 3 in region are also US headquartered giants
Six US titans are ruling the European cloud market, with AWS, Microsoft, and Google alone accounting for almost three-quarters of customers'spending in the region.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 11:28:07
Arm founder says the UK has no chance of tech sovereignty
Government fritters away homegrown technologies and has no strategy to lessen reliance on other countries
Arm and Acorn co-founder Hermann Hauser says the UK has "no chance in hell" of being technologically self-reliant, stressing the need for European countries to have their own access to critical technologies so they are not quite so dependent on the US.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 10:43:15
Quantum computer to be available from colo datacenter
Putting it there means service can accommodate 'unique hosting requirements'
Quantum startup Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) claims it is set to deploy a quantum system in Cyxtera's Reading datacenter in the UK, with a view to making it available for customers to access.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 09:43:00
Cockroach Labs CTO: Google became too comfortable, I wasn't being challenged
Peter Mattis on starting a multibillion-dollar company as serverless database hits GA
Interview Cockroach Labs released the serverless version of its eponymous database for general availability last week. The Register took the opportunity to catch up with CTO Peter Mattis – a Google veteran who is also behind open source image editing software GIMP.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 08:34:11
Europe just might make it easier for people to sue for damage caused by AI tech
Imagine the lawyer infomercials – Did a computer hurt you? Call (30) 555 1234...
The European Commission put forward rules on Wednesday aimed at making it easier for Europeans to sue companies for damage caused by AI technologies going awry.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 08:03:08
UK, US, slip down World Digital Competitiveness Ranking
Denmark takes top spot, Croatia improves fastest, Hong Kong flops
Denmark has topped the International Institute for Management Development's seventh annual World Digital Competitiveness Ranking – an assessment of 63 nations' "capacity and readiness to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government and wider society."…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 07:28:06
This rope-laying, ever-growing robot may one day explore your blood vessels
You wouldn't make this the butt of any jokes, right?
Video Inspired by plants and fungi, scientists have devised a method to help so-called soft robots travel along tricky pathways by growing as they move.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 06:58:04
Tencent has its Meta moment as CEO Pony Ma outlines 'immersive convergence'
Video confs to add multi-sensory interaction and by 2040 maybe even brain/machine interfaces
Chinese gaming and web giant Tencent has shared its vision of the techno-future, predicting "immersive convergence" is the coming thing.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 05:31:08
Indian authorities probe Singapore gaming payments outfit Coda
Claims kids unwittingly click up huge bills in games, only for their cash to fly offshore
India's foreign exchange regulator, the Directorate of Enforcement, has investigated Singapore-based Coda Payments in connection with an ongoing operation related to the country's Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 03:45:10
IETF, Internet Society worry UN's ITU election could spell danger for open internet
Russia, China believe in more national control, maybe baked into standards. Resistance is fierce
Every four years, the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union (ITU) stages a Plenipotentiary Conference at which member states decide how the organization will steer the development of communications technologies.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 01:15:17
OpenAI opens doors to DALL-E after the horse has bolted to Midjourney, etc
Ironic that an ML lab with a ton of accelerators is such a slowpoke
OpenAI on Wednesday made DALL-E, its cloud service for generating images from text prompts, available to the public without any waitlist. But the crowd that had gathered outside its gate may have moved on.…
From The Register at 2022-09-29 00:34:30
Microsoft to kill off old access rules in Exchange Online
Awoooogah – this is your one-year warning to switch over, enterprises
Microsoft next month will start phasing out Client Access Rules (CARs) in Exchange Online – and will do away with this means for controlling access altogether within a year.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 22:22:54
Matrix chat encryption sunk by five now-patched holes
You take the green pill, you'll spend six hours in a 'don't roll your own crypto' debate
Four security researchers have identified five cryptographic vulnerabilities in code libraries that can be exploited to undermine Matrix encrypted chat clients. This includes impersonating users and sending messages as them.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 21:20:09
The web's cruising at 13 million new and nefarious domain names a month
Or so Akamai is dying to tell us
Akamai reckons that, in the first half of 2022 alone, it flagged nearly 79 million newly observed domains (NODs) as malicious.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 20:14:46
AMD's Ryzen V3000 goes head to head with Intel's embedded chips on power, oomph
House of Zen just needs to convince machine makers to use them
AMD put Intel’s low-power Xeon-D and industrial Core-series processors in its sights on Tuesday with the launch of its Ryzen Embedded V3000 CPUs.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 18:42:03
Cloudflare's invisible CAPTCHA works by probing browsers with JavaScript
Beta-grade widget respects your privacy, we're promised
Cloudflare has begun a public beta test of a CAPTCHA alternative that runs quietly in the background to automatically determine if the webpage visitor is an actual human. Its goal is to allow netizens to avoid having to complete those tedious prove-you're-not-a-bot tests on websites.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 18:00:07
Want to sneak a RAT into Windows? Buy Quantum Builder on the dark web
Beware what could be hiding in those LNK shortcuts
A tool sold on the dark web that allows cybercriminals to build malicious shortcuts for delivering malware is being used in a campaign pushing a longtime .NET keylogger and remote access trojan (RAT) named Agent Tesla.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 17:30:07
Hacked Fast Company sends 'obscene and racist' alerts via Apple News
Someone going by 'Thrax' claims responsibility for 'incredibly easy' breach
Apple News shut down Fast Company's news channel after "an incredibly offensive alert" was sent to subscribers following a hack of the business publication on Tuesday evening.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 17:01:06
Oracle's Netsuite tests automation, warehouse management waters
Analyst says challenges remain in attracting partners to roll out products
Oracle's Netsuite has kicked off its Las Vegas conference with a smorgasbord of news aimed at accounts payable, warehouse management, and people management.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 16:30:13
Uncle Sam to unmask anonymous writers using AI
Along with revealing authors, IARPA also wants bot to disguise scribes
The US intelligence community has launched a program to develop artificial intelligence that can determine authorship of anonymous writing while also disguising an author's identity by subtly altering their words.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 16:00:28
Microsoft among software titans under spotlight for restrictive licensing
US campaign group forms as customers complain of lock-in, unclear terms, problems using wares in cloud
Campaign group the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing (CFSL) has launched in the US to tackle the "restrictive terms" and anticompetitive business practices that "lock-in" customers and "impedes" a move to the cloud.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 15:30:07
Those screws on the Apple Watch Ultra are a red herring
Thinking about shelling out $800? If you break it you're 'screwed'
The Apple Watch Ultra was announced this month with a ruggedized design, new button(!), and a focus on outdoorsy types, but now that the repairability fans at iFixit have their hands on it, they're only concerned about one thing – screws.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 15:00:10
Late but lustrous, a fresh remix of Ubuntu emerges
UbuntuDDE 22.04 is colorful, and with slightly less Chinese flavor than Ubuntu Kylin
The team behind the unofficial Ubuntu remix with the Deepin desktop has rolled out an updated version based on the current Ubuntu long-term support release.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 14:30:12
Chipmakers still shoveling cash into new fabs as demand slows
Worldwide investment set to grow 9% to new high of $99b
Investment in semiconductor fab equipment is set to grow 9 percent to a new global high of $99 billion by the end of 2022 as the industry continues to boost capacity despite the worsening global economic outlook.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 14:00:11
Ever suspected bankers could just use WhatsApp comms? $1.8b says you're right
Thought shadow IT and BYOD at your office was bad? Try enforcing workplace device policies on hedge fund traders
Ever given a colleague a quick Signal call so you can sidestep a monitored workplace app? Well, we'd hope you're not in a highly regulated industry like staff at eleven of the world's most powerful financial firms, who yesterday were fined nearly $2 billion for off-channel comms.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 13:30:12
How one Ukrainian software maker planned for survival as invaders approached
Set priorities, expect confusion, keep emergency instructions simple – that's just for starters
At the start of the year, when it looked likely that Russia would invade Ukraine, Kyiv-based MacPaw began making a plan for operating during wartime.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 12:34:05
Russia's Facebook-like VK removed from Apple App Store
Apps still available on Google Play, digital ministry says it's investigating
Russian social media provider VK Company Ltd has confirmed its apps were removed from Apple's App Store.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 11:28:06
Post-Brexit 'science superpower' UK still hasn't appointed a science minister
And if and when it does, role lacks Cabinet position, complain Lords
The UK's position in science and innovation is under threat from a lack of government focus and financial investment according to a House of Lords committee.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 10:41:06
Intel has a secret club in the cloud for devs to try out new chips – and you ain't in it
Beta trial for select, chosen customers – gee, so generous and open
Intel has announced the Intel Developer Cloud, a platform intended to make it easier for commercial customers to get early access to yet-to-be-released technologies.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 09:30:10
Is it time to retire C and C++ for Rust in new programs?
Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Azure CTO, thinks so
Column We all know that the Rust language has become much more popular. By Slashdata's count, Rust users have nearly tripled in the past 24 months.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 08:24:06
Here's how crooks will use deepfakes to scam your biz
Need deepfake tools? GitHub's got 'em
All of the materials and tools needed to make deepfake videos – from source code to publicly available images and account authentication bypass services – are readily available and up for sale on the public internet and underground forums. …
From The Register at 2022-09-28 07:58:08
India reportedly asks smartphone makers to add local satnav silicon
Manufacturers allegedly told to connect to NavIC by 2023, which did not make them happy at all
India's Ministry of Electronics and IT has clarified that, while the world's second-most populous nation does want smartphone makers to include hardware to connect to its Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) satnav system, it is in no rush to make it happen.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 07:33:12
Save the whales – with, uh, artificial intelligence?
When a Klingon Bird-of-Prey just won't cut it
Bright yellow buoys running AI software have been deployed in an attempt to deter cargo ships from running over nearby whales.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 07:03:10
IBM updates desktop mainframe emulator
For just $5,500 and the cost of a quad-core x86 box, z/OS 16 for test and dev on the desktop can be yours
IBM has updated its mainframe emulators to bring them into line with its recently released Z16 machines and operating system.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 06:24:08
Ford buys into Middle Kingdom market with China EV subsidiary
As Intel expands its collaboration with Chinese car-maker Geely
US automotive giant Ford Motor Company has announced the launch of a subsidiary that will focus on developing smart electric vehicles and driver assist technology for the Chinese market. …
From The Register at 2022-09-28 05:28:14
China's central bank declares victory over online lenders, Bitcoin speculators
Just in time for the Party Congress, whatever the reality of the situation
The People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, has trumpeted its success suppressing Bitcoin and online lending.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 04:35:31
Australia asks FBI to help find attacker who stole data from millions of users
Apparent perp claims to have deleted swiped info as carrier Optus struggles to get its story straight
+Comment Australian authorities have asked the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist with investigations into the data breach at local telco Optus.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 02:09:19
AMD was right to use chiplets, Intel's Gelsinger all but says
Even Gordon Moore saw it coming, admits CEO
While some have given up on Moore’s Law, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger clearly hasn’t. “For decades now, I’ve been in the debate: is Moore’s Law dead? And the answer is no,” he said, during his keynote at the Intel Innovation event this week.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 01:35:37
Sophos fixes critical firewall hole exploited by miscreants
Code-injection bug in your network security... mmm, yum yum
A critical code-injection vulnerability in Sophos Firewall has been fixed — but not before miscreants found and exploited the bug.…
From The Register at 2022-09-28 00:18:28
Hurricane Ian blows NASA Artemis Moon launch into October or November
Fun fact: The mission is named after the Latin word for 'delayed'
NASA's Moon-ward Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will not be blasting off from Earth until late October at the earliest, after the vehicle was rolled back to its hangar to shelter from an incoming hurricane.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 22:18:37
Nope, still no Intel Sapphire Rapids Xeon processors for you right now
Unless you're a US government boffin or can get a seat in Dev Cloud
Intel’s ever-delayed Sapphire Rapids Xeon Scalable processors are now available ... in the chipmaker’s Dev Cloud. Anyone looking to actually pick up Intel’s next-gen datacenter silicon is, however, still out of luck, as it looks increasingly likely the chips won’t begin volume shipments until early next year.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 21:26:05
Teardown shows Apple iPhone 14 Pro is not pro-repair
Who cares if they are authentic parts! Come to the iStore instead if you know what's good for you
Apple's iPhone 14 can be repaired more easily than its predecessors, but its Pro model retains the architectural inaccessibility of older iPhones and resists replacement parts, even authentic Cupertino kit.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 20:45:06
Inflation, recession, pah! IT budgets set to rise in 2023
Turns out all it took was a business-disrupting global pandemic
Despite recession fears, most companies are planning to increase IT budgets next year.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 20:00:06
SAS puts ML and analytics suite on Azure Marketplace
50-year-old software project provides a button the boss can click
Analytics stalwart SAS is making its cloud-based Viya platform available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace in the hopes users will be tempted by a clickable, pay-as-you-go option for its ML, data management, and analytics tools.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 19:15:08
Samsung sued for gobbling up too much personal info that miscreants then stole
If you're gonna force everyone to register an account, at least protect that data, lawsuit argues
A lawsuit has accused Samsung of failing to address a cyber-intrusion in early 2022, leading to the theft of US customers' personally identifiable information (PII) in a second attack months later in July.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 19:15:08
Samsung facing class action over two customer data leaks
Not only did the company fail to protect their data, the suit alleges, it also forced users to register
A class action lawsuit has accused Samsung of failing to address a data breach in early 2022, leading to the theft of US customers' personally identifiable information (PII) in a second attack earlier this month.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 18:30:12
Cisco asks shareholders to vote against global tax transparency
Amazon's already said no to country-by-country breakdown
Cisco has urged its shareholders to vote against a proposal asking for the company to publish a tax transparency report that breaks down where it pays its taxes on a country-by-country basis.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 18:00:12
Oracle fined $23 million by the SEC for corruption
India, Tukey and UAE subsidaries set up slush funds to bribe 'foreign officials', says Commission
Oracle has paid $23 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission over corruption charges that subsidiaries in Turkey, United Arab Emirates and India used “slush funds” to bribe foreign officials to win business.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 17:20:09
Intel's 13th-gen CPUs are hot, hungry, loaded with cores
X86 giant's 24-core i9 doubles as a space heater
Intel doubled down on "more power is better" with the launch of its 13th-gen Core processors at its Innovation event this week. With a 253W thermal design power (TDP) for its latest i9 and i7 desktop processors, water cooling might as well be a requirement.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 16:30:09
NAND flash prices could drop up to 20% in Q4
TrendForce: Hope for cheaper consumer SSDs intensifies
Most manufacturers of NAND flash can expect to see their products cross into loss territory before the end of this year, according to researchers at TrendForce.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 16:00:07
Meta busts first Chinese campaign targeting US midterms
Russian cybercriminals were also caught targeting Europe with anti-Ukraine messages
Meta says it has disrupted a misinformation network targeting US politics ahead of the 2022 midterm elections and one that sought to influence public opinion in Europe about the conflict in Ukraine.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 15:30:06
Removing an obsolete AMD fix makes Linux kernel 6 quicker
Performance-killing workaround rediscovered after 20 years
An ancient fix for power management issues on AMD systems has been reducing Linux's performance since 2002. Now it's gone.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 15:00:12
Microsoft boosts phishing protection in Windows 11 22H2
Security tool warns admins and users when a password is used on an untrusted site or stored locally
In the latest version of Windows 11, Microsoft is introducing a feature in its Microsoft Defender SmartScreen tool designed to keep passwords safer.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 14:30:06
Soaring costs, inflation nurturing generation of 'quiet quitters' among under-30s
My friends say I should act my wage. What's my wage again?
Young professionals are railing against drops in living standards and stagnant wages by becoming "quiet quitters" unless a pay rise or promotion is possible.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 14:00:12
Saudi Arabia turns to HPE for AMD-powered Cray supercomputer
The Beast of the Middle East: up to 20 times faster than predecessor, that's 884,736 CPU cores across the system
HPE has won a project to build a supercomputer in Saudi Arabia that is expected to be the most powerful in the Middle East, used for advancing research in fields such as food, water, energy and the environment.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 13:30:09
Arm hires former Splunk CFO Jason Child ahead of IPO
Adds new heads to boardroom too but still not word on destination of flotation
Chip designer Arm has made a flurry of boardroom appointments ahead of its IPO later this year, including hiring a new Chief Financial Officer with experience taking companies public.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 12:32:07
What's Microsoft been up to? A quick tour of Windows 11 22H2's security features
Some requirements to be aware of
In brief As it rolled out a laundry list of features in the latest version of Windows 11, namely version 22H2, this month, Microsoft has also detailed some of the added security mechanisms.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 12:32:07
Microsoft bets on hardware/software duo for Win11 security
But you'll need to buy lots of new hardware to get the benefit
Analysis As it rolled out the laundry list of new features in Windows 11, version 22H2 this week, Microsoft also unveiled the configuration baseline that systems will have to meet to take advantage of the latest security capabilities.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 11:28:08
Grab – Asia's Uber – knows customers and drivers so well it can vet them for loans
Understands income streams, seasonality of sales, how hard drivers work, and safety records
Southeast Asia's Uber-clone turned superapp, Grab, collects so much data about its customers and drivers that it can rate their suitability for a loan – and is already a significant lender to its drivers.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 10:47:35
Consolidation looms for UK broadband providers
Too many small fish in the pond mean the bigger ones are about to enjoy a feeding frenzy
Resesarch on UK gigabit broadband investment toasts alternative network providers' efforts to build infrastructure, but warns that the number of them has now become unsustainable and a period of consolidation looms.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 09:29:06
Salesforce set to hire thousands in India after hitting brakes on US recruitment
Headcount in subcontinent quadruples in 3 years thanks to CFO's 'measured approach' to recruitment
Salesforce is set to hire 2,500 staff in India – bringing the number in the subcontinent to 10,000 – weeks after it slowed hiring in the US.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 08:40:10
Is it a bird? Is it Microsoft Office? No, it's Onlyoffice: Version 7.2 released
The other open-source productivity suite gets a version bump
The latest point-release of Onlyoffice, a free Microsoft Office-compatible suite, is here with multiple small improvements and better support for Asian and African writing systems.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 07:58:10
China's infosec researchers obeyed Beijing and stopped reporting vulns ... or did they?
Report finds increase in anonymous vuln reports
The number of vulnerability reports provided by Chinese information security researchers has fallen sharply, according to research by think tank The Atlantic Council, which also found a strangely commensurate increase in bug reports from unknown sources.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 06:30:10
European carriers again call for Big Tech to fund network builds
Argue tough economy means everyone needs to pay for the internet's growth – especially those who use it most
The European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) has again called for big technology companies – and especially video streamers – to pay for their share of internet infrastructure.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 04:45:09
Microsoft China turns 30, gives nation the gift of jobs and export promotion
Including assistance for the kind of companies the US is keen to contain
Microsoft has celebrated the 30th anniversary of its operations in China with promises to hire more locals and encourage exports.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 02:46:09
Scientists overjoyed after DART smashes into asteroid Dimorphos, contact lost
Task failed successfully
Video A spacecraft smashed head-on into a 170-metre-wide asteroid named Dimorphos on Monday in a first-of-its-kind experiment demonstrating how we could one day potentially divert a hazardous object on a collision course with Earth.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 02:07:13
City isn't keen on 5,000 erratic, traffic-jam-causing GM robo-cars on its streets
'Cruise AV automated driving system is still under development' is putting it politely after vehicles block roads
Analysis Two San Francisco transit agencies have asked the US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to check the safety of General Motors' Cruise self-driving cars.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 01:03:44
Ukraine fears 'massive' Russian cyberattacks on power, infrastructure
Will those be before or after the nuke strikes Putin keeps banging on about?
Russia plans to conduct "massive cyberattacks" on Ukraine and its allies' critical infrastructure and energy sector, according to Kyiv.…
From The Register at 2022-09-27 00:15:00
LinkedIn study suggests it's not your best pals who will help get you that next job
Yeah, and about how it got that data on 20 million people for that research...
A study of 20 million LinkedIn users over five years has raised a few eyebrows as it involved quietly analyzing people's connection suggestions to see how that would reflect in their career paths.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 21:49:13
TikTok faces $29m fine for 'failing to protect UK kids' privacy'
We're pulling in billions, let me check down the back of the sofa
TikTok faces a £27 million fine ($29 million ... for the moment, at least) following a British government investigation that found the Chinese media giant may have breached UK data protection laws and failed to protect children's privacy.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 20:53:30
NSA super-leaker Edward Snowden granted Russian citizenship
He always wanted to fight in the military – are his draft papers on the way?
Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor and self-described whistleblower, has been granted Russian citizenship.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 19:56:57
Intel's planned Italian facility now tied up in election politics
Government may foot up to 40% of the bill for a fab that runs on time
As Intel looks to expand its rebooted foundry empire, the x86 giant's next chip plant may be an advanced packaging facility in the northern Italy.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 19:20:07
California to phase out gas furnaces, water heaters by 2030
It'll reduce emissions a bunch, but stress the grid even more
First it came for internal combustion engines, and now the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is proposing a phase out of natural gas water heaters and furnaces – another first among US states.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 18:00:11
Interpol seeks Do Kwon, man blamed for $40b crypto implosion
Founder of firm at center of fraud claims he's 'not running' right now. Ditched the Fitbit, have you?
Korean prosecutors say they have obtained an international wanted persons notice from Interpol to help them find Terraform Labs crypto exec Kwon Do-hyung, aka Do Kwon.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 17:00:11
SQL Server admins warned about Fargo ransomware
From small town in North Dakota with a crime problem to file-scrambling nasty
Organizations are being warned about a wave of attacks targeting Microsoft SQL Server with ransomware known as Fargo, which encrypts files and threatens victims that their data may be published online if they do not pay up.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 16:00:10
Missile-launching quadcopter could be headed to Ukraine
BAE Systems, Malloy Aeronautics team on UK's Brimstone II precision missile work
A UK-designed missile being used extensively by Ukrainian forces is getting a new delivery method: A giant quadcopter drone able to carry 300kg (661 lbs) while maintaining a range of 30km (18 miles). …
From The Register at 2022-09-26 15:00:13
Oracle extends share options plans, no bumper payday for execs... yet
Not all investors happy that suits get more time to earn significant stock-option awards
Not all execs are created equal and those of the Oracle variety remain among the highest paid due to an extension to performance-based stock options that gives them more time to achieve corporate goals.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 14:00:09
US Department of Energy has $42m to make datacenter cooling more efficient
Nice sentiment considering power-hungry components, but it's not a lot of cash in DC terms
The US Department of Energy is stumping up $42 million in funding for projects to reduce the amount of energy used for cooling in datacenters as part of the government's overarching goal of reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 13:28:12
NASA battens down another Artemis launch window as hurricane approaches
Agency watching forecast before making decision to rollback the SLS, but not doing so would be risky
Rocket fans will have to stow the popcorn once again because NASA's rescheduled launch of Artemis I this week has been stood down.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 12:32:10
US to relax restrictions for tech companies in Iran
With censorship looming, US wants to bring internet, communications companies into fray
The US Treasury announced last Friday it was issuing a General License that provides some exemptions to Iran sanctions for internet and communication services in an effort to damper censorship.…
From The Register at 2022-09-26 11:27:12
Serious surfer? How to browse like a pro on Firefox
Mozilla may seem like it has forgotten, but this is the most customizable browser going
There are tons of choices in web browsers, and we're not going to try to persuade you that any particular one is the best. However, Chrome's ever-climbing market share suggests that a lot of people don't know how to get the best out of their browser, because there are still quite a few things you can't readily achieve in Chrome that are straightforward in Firefox and its relatives.…