Tuesday, 21st October 2025

The Register
Updated: 23:41 Mon, Oct 20 2025. (Last checked: 28 mins ago)

Suspected Salt Typhoon snoops lurking in European telco's network - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 22:36:42 GMT)

It's Typhoon season…year round

China's Salt Typhoon gang appears to have successfully attacked a European telecommunications firm, according to security researchers at Darktrace.…


Nexperia drama intensifies as Dutch chipmaker denies ousted CEO's claims of Chinese split - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 21:44:08 GMT)

The government in the Netherlands has taken control of the company

Nexperia, a Dutch chipmaker that's found itself at the center of a geopolitical crisis, has denied claims by its former CEO that its Chinese division is now operating as an independent entity.…


Aid groups use AI-generated ‘poverty porn’ to juice fundraising efforts - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 20:51:20 GMT)

Researchers accuse tech firms of profiting from exploitative AI imagery

The starving child whose picture broke your heart when you saw it on a charity website may not be real. Global health researchers say that stock image companies like Adobe are profiting from AI-generated "poverty porn" that non-profits are using to drum up donations.…


Windows 11 tiptoes further into dark mode with new dialogs - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 20:23:05 GMT)

Some portions of the OS are still stuck on light

Windows 11 launched way back in October 2021 and has become Microsoft’s must-have OS thanks to the impending end-of-life for Windows 10. After all that time, there are still significant portions of the OS that don’t do dark mode. However, Redmond is making significant progress, bringing a couple of key dialog boxes into compliance.…


Today is when the Amazon brain drain finally sent AWS down the spout - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 19:55:56 GMT)

When your best engineers log off for good, don’t be surprised when the cloud forgets how DNS works

column "It's always DNS" is a long-standing sysadmin saw, and with good reason: a disproportionate number of outages are at their heart DNS issues. And so today, as AWS is still repairing its downed cloud as this article goes to press, it becomes clear that the culprit is once again DNS. But if you or I know this, AWS certainly does.…


Xubuntu downloads section injection threatens users with crypto infection - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 19:19:17 GMT)

Attempted exploit was a feeble effort to target Windows users

Someone managed to insert a compromised file into the downloads section of the website for Xubuntu, the official Ubuntu flavor with the Xfce desktop environment. The malware was designed to steal cryptocurrency, but so far, there are no reports of actual theft.…


Nvidia still needs Taiwan even as TSMC ramps Blackwell production in Arizona - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 17:51:14 GMT)

AI arms dealer relies on Taiwanese advanced packaging plants for top-specced GPUs

US manufacturing of Nvidia GPUs is underway and CEO Jensen Huang is celebrating the first Blackwell wafer to come out of TSMC's Arizona chip factory. However, to be part of a complete product, those chips may need to visit Taiwan.…


China blames US for cyber break-in, claims America is world's biggest bit burglar - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 17:27:39 GMT)

'US is … the greatest source of chaos in cyberspace'

China has blamed the US for a "major cyberattack" against its National Time Service Center, alleging it could have disrupted the country's communications, financial, and transportation networks, and even caused power outages.…


AWS outage exposes Achilles heel: central control plane - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:01:08 GMT)

Too many services depend not just on one cloud provider, but on one location

Analysis Amazon's US-EAST-1 region outage caused widespread chaos, taking websites and services offline even in Europe and raising some difficult questions. After all, cloud operations are supposed to have some built-in resiliency, right?…


In '90s Microsoft, you either shipped code or shipped out - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:38:05 GMT)

Hiring and firing at the Windows giant more The Bachelor than Survivor

Microsoft has made headlines for mass layoffs in recent times, but former company engineer Dave Plummer has explained how things were done a quarter of a century ago – and what it was like living through the tech giant's notorious stack ranking system.…


UK rethinks offshoring ban for £8M online procurement system - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 13:56:37 GMT)

Cabinet Office signals it might let supplier ship work abroad after 'unforeseeable' event

The UK government has signaled its intention to allow a supplier providing maintenance to its online procurement platform to subcontract offshore, having previously said that this was off-limits due to security concerns.…


Windows 11 update knocks out USB mice, keyboards in recovery mode - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 13:21:14 GMT)

October security patch leaves users unable to fix their PCs

Microsoft has confirmed a bug that disables USB mice and keyboards in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) after installing security update KB5066835, released October 14.…


Like Apollo before them, ESA astronauts hone lunar landing skills in helicopters - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:50:08 GMT)

Now try a jet engine in a bedstead before strapping into a Starship

European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts have completed a helicopter training course to prepare them for upcoming lunar landings.…


Benioff backs off: Salesforce chief says sorry for Trump troop talk - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:21:45 GMT)

Tech billionaire apologizes after endorsing plan to deploy National Guard in San Francisco

Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff has apologized for backing President Donald Trump's proposals to send the National Guard to San Francisco, where the company is based and holds its annual conference.…


Lloyds Banking Group claims Microsoft Copilot saves staff 46 minutes a day - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 11:10:38 GMT)

That's 46 minutes in which more work can be done, not an extended lunch

Lloyds Banking Group claims employees save 46 minutes daily using Microsoft 365 Copilot, based on a survey of 1,000 users among nearly 30,000 deployed licenses.…


The real insight behind measuring Copilot usage is Microsoft's desperation - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:15:07 GMT)

Citizen! You are falling short in your AI usage targets! Strive harder for the revolution!

Opinion The quantum theory of management includes an analogy for the physical law of the observer effect, where observing a system changes its state. When you make a metric a target, it is not useful as a metric. Instead of reflecting whatever underlying behavior it was intended to measure, the metric becomes a measure of how well the benchmark is being gamed.…


Major AWS outage across US-East region breaks half the internet - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 09:49:24 GMT)

Amazon reports DNS issues hitting DynamoDB, leaving services from Roblox to McDonald's struggling

A major outage is affecting Amazon Web Services (AWS), with even Amazon's own web page reported to be offline and dozens of other online services and websites affected, including disruption in the UK.…


A simple AI prompt saved a developer from this job interview scam - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 08:47:00 GMT)

Plus: Ransomware posing as Teams installer, Cisco 0-day exploit to drop rootkit, and European cops bust SIM-box service

INFOSEC IN BRIEF Engineer David Dodda says he was just "30 seconds away" from running malware on his own computer after nearly falling victim to a North Korea-type job interview scam with a "legitimate" blockchain company. …


Tribunal wonders if Microsoft has found a legal hero after pivot to copyright gambit - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 08:00:14 GMT)

ValueLicensing dispute probes whether Office counts as a creative work

The long-running legal battle between ValueLicensing and Microsoft over the resale of software licenses has taken another turn following Microsoft's attempt to make the case about copyright.…


UK calls up Armed Forces veterans for digital ID soft launch - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 07:15:10 GMT)

Once more into the, er, breach?

The UK's Armed Forces veterans are being tasked with one last mission – proving the government can successfully roll out a digital ID card scheme.…


Company that made power systems for servers didn’t know why its own machines ran out of juice - (pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 06:34:09 GMT)

Oh … you mean we shouldn’t press that button?

Who, Me? Each new Monday ushers in a week during which you might shine or flatline. The Register celebrates the times you end up doing the latter with a new instalment of Who, Me? It's the column in which you admit to making mistakes and execute cunning escapes.…


Ruby Central tries to make peace after 'hostile takeover' - (pubDate>Sat, 18 Oct 2025 11:15:13 GMT)

Taps Ruby core to oversee RubyGems, Bundler

Ruby Central, the non-profit that recently seized some Ruby open source tools from maintainers, is transferring the repository ownership of RubyGems and Bundler to the Ruby core team. The move appears to be an attempt to mollify the Ruby community following a divisive power grab, but it does not restore the control of those tools to the maintainers who previously oversaw them.…


Meta convinces Blue Owl to cut $30B check for its Hyperion AI super cluster - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:08:53 GMT)

Cleverly concocked deal keeps debt off Social Media empire's books

Facebook parent Meta has managed to convince private equity firm Blue Owl Capital to finance its 2.2 gigawatt Hyperion datacenter project in Richland Parish, Louisiana.…


Amazon spills plan to nuke Washington...with X-Energy mini-reactors - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 18:58:19 GMT)

Now they just need to get regulatory approval

Despite technological and regulatory hurdles, Amazon remains convinced that small modular reactors (SMRs) are the answer to the cloud titan's power woes.…


American Airlines subsidiary Envoy caught in Clop's Oracle EBS raid - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:32:06 GMT)

Not a good week for Big Red

Envoy Air, an American Airlines subsidiary, has confirmed that it was among the dozens of organizations compromised via Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) security flaws, following claims by Clop extortionists that its parent company was one of its victims.…


Thou shalt not let AI run amok: Vatican wants global rules - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:01:10 GMT)

'AI is a tool', Pope tells attendees

Recently, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff warned investors to avoid the "false prophets" of AI. Now, the Pope has brought real theological weight to the bot debate, hosting a Vatican seminar that called for global AI regulation and fair distribution of the technology's benefits.…


Hyperscalers try to beat the heat with larger racks, more air flow - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 16:32:48 GMT)

Most datacenters to ditch 19-inch standard for 21-inch OCP kit by 2030

Datacenters are set to standardize on the larger, 21-inch rack format by 2030, according to Omdia, as hyperscalers and server makers fully embrace it, leaving enterprises to the existing 19-inch standard.…


Chamber of Commerce sues over Trump's $100K H-1B paywall - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 16:03:08 GMT)

US biz lobby claims president overstepped his authority with proclamation demanding hefty visa fee

The US Chamber of Commerce (CoC) has filed a suit accusing President Trump of exceeding his authority by seeking to slap a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications.…


Have I Been Pwned logs 17.6M victims in Prosper breach - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:30:15 GMT)

P2P lending platform says it could not verify the claims at present

Data breach tracker HaveIBeenPwned claims the victim count of peer-to-peer lender Prosper's September cyberattack stands at 17.6 million.…


Turns out the end of Windows 10 is good for something: The PC refresh cycle - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 14:16:17 GMT)

Operating system's D-day resuscitates flatlining computer sector

It transpires that Windows 11 is indeed good for at least one thing – driving PC upgrades, according to the latest figures from Gartner.…


Labor unions sue Trump administration over social media surveillance - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:07:52 GMT)

Sharing views POTUS doesn't like? Say goodbye to that visa, First Amendment be damned

Updated Lawyers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are helping three US labor unions sue the Trump administration over a social media surveillance program that threatens to punish those who publicly express views that are not harmonious with the government's position.…


Carmakers fear chip crunch as Dutch sanctions hit Nexperia - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 12:36:06 GMT)

Beijing blocks exports after Netherlands imposes special measures on Chinese-owned chipmaker

Major car, van, truck and bus manufacturers are warning that the Dutch government placing semiconductor biz Nexperia under special administrative measures could result in a shortage of automotive chips.…


Microsoft parks Landsat and Sentinel satellite data in Azure's orbit - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 11:25:14 GMT)

NASA's Earth-watching archives find new home in Redmond's cloud, complete with Copilot hype

Microsoft has made NASA's Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset available on Azure via the Windows giant's Planetary Computer platform.…


SAP users still wrestling with business case for S/4HANA - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 11:16:09 GMT)

A decade later, ERP giant struggles to convince legacy customers to upgrade

More than a decade after SAP's S/4HANA in-memory ERP system debuted, 95 percent of legacy users say building a positive case to migrate requires a big effort or is genuinely challenging.…


Boris Johnson confesses: He's fallen for ChatGPT - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:54:57 GMT)

As OpenAI allows chatbot to spout erotic content, former British prime minister makes true feelings known

After a string of marriages and innumerable affairs, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has come clean about his new squeeze.…


Literal crossed wires sent cops after innocent neighbors in child abuse case - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 09:51:43 GMT)

Eight-year telco blunder had a profound impact on three wrongly accused in Wales

Details have emerged of a troubling case in which a basic engineering mistake wrecked a digital evidence investigation and led to wrongful accusations.…


MIT boffins double precision of atomic clocks by taming quantum noise - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 08:45:15 GMT)

'Global phase spectroscopy' makes ultraprecise optical timekeepers even more precise

Researchers at MIT say they have discovered a way to double the precision of optical atomic clocks by quieting the quantum noise that clouds their ticking.…


Britain's AI gold rush hits a wall – not enough electricity - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 08:00:04 GMT)

Energy secretary Miliband promises renewable utopia for green and pleasant land... filled with datacenters

Energy is essential for delivering the UK governments' AI ambitions, but Britain faces a critical question: how can it supply enough power for rapidly expanding datacenters without causing blackouts or inflating consumer bills?…


AI boffins teach office supplies to predict your next move - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 07:15:11 GMT)

What the world's been waiting for: a stapler with wheels to help humans afflicted by RSI

It was only a matter of time. Having invaded the software world, AI has now fixed its sights on once-benign household objects and desk fodder.…


'Fax virus' panicked a manager and sparked job-killing Reply-All incident - (pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 06:30:10 GMT)

The 1990s called with a reminder that in the time before ransomware, infosec panics could be quite quaint

On Call By Friday it's only natural to look back upon the working week with a certain nostalgia, an emotion The Register celebrates each week in On Call – the reader-contributed column that shares your tales of tech support trauma.…


Anthropic brings mad Skills to Claude - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 23:55:06 GMT)

Teaching an old bot new tricks

Paying Anthropic customers can now teach their Claude new tricks, which the company calls Skills.…


TSMC hurrying to bring advanced chip tech to Arizona fab - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 23:25:05 GMT)

CEO C.C. Wei cites strong demand for AI products. Intel may also be a factor

TSMC is accelerating the rollout of advanced process nodes at its Arizona fabs to meet growing demand for American-made AI products.…


AI makes phishing 4.5x more effective, Microsoft says - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:53:50 GMT)

And potentially 50 times more profitable

People receiving an AI phishing email are 4.5 times more likely to click on the malicious link or file, according to Microsoft.…


Decomposed dinosaurs make Texas a top destination for AI bit barns - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 20:45:28 GMT)

Datacenter hopefuls looking to cash in on AI craze are setting up shop in Lone Star State in search of cheap power

Everything is bigger in Texas and that includes the GPU bit barns at the heart of the AI boom.…


Vulnerability scores, huh, what are they good for? Almost nothing - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 19:45:12 GMT)

CVE and CVSS systems suffer from misaligned incentives and inconsistency

Aram Hovespyan, co-founder and CEO of security biz Codific, says that the rating systems for identifying security vulnerabilities and assessing threat risk need to be overhauled.…


Nork scammers work the blockchain to steal crypto from job hunters - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 19:24:18 GMT)

If someone sends you a coding test, be wary of downloading it

If you're a software developer looking for a job, North Korean scammers have an offer for you that's off the chain, the blockchain that is. These gangs have recently adopted a technique called EtherHiding, hiding malware inside blockchain smart contracts to sneak past detection and ultimately swipe victims' crypto and credentials, according to Google's Threat Intelligence team.…


Feeling lonely? Microsoft Copilot can now listen to your every word, watch your screen - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 16:50:56 GMT)

We've seen this before and it was called Cortana or Clippy

As if pulling support for Windows 10 was not punishment enough for long-suffering customers, Microsoft has decided to shove Copilot down everyone's throats with a new voice activation feature and even more control over your PC. Soon, a Copilot box may even replace the search box on your taskbar.…


Salesforce's Benioff warns of AI 'false prophets' while promising true profits by 2030 - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 16:46:08 GMT)

CRM messiah preaches data discipline while rivals chase LLM miracles

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has warned investors to beware "false prophets" peddling AI salvation, as the CRM giant bets on its "agentic enterprise" vision to drive annual revenue past $60 billion by 2030.…


Chinese cyberspies snoop on Russian IT biz in rare east-on-east attack - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 16:27:21 GMT)

Who needs enemies when you have friends like Xi?

China's cyberspies quietly broke into a Russian IT service provider in what researchers say is a rare example of Beijing turning its digital gaze on Moscow.…


Oracle goes all-in on AI, customers still figuring out how they'll use it - (pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 2025 15:11:05 GMT)

It's all agents and LLMs in Vegas, and even legacy users can partake

As Oracle pounds the market with AI announcements across cloud infrastructure, applications, and data analytics, experts have warned that users' path to adoption remains uncertain.…

Google
Search the internet
Search bishopston.com
Search bishopston.net
Search bishopston.org