Updated: 18:00 Fri, Dec 26 2025. (Last checked: 13 mins ago) |
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From AI to analog, cybersecurity tabletop exercises look a little different this year - (pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 17:01:13 GMT)Practice makes perfectIt's the most wonderful time of the year … for corporate security bosses to run tabletop exercises, simulating a hypothetical cyberattack or other emergency, running through incident processes, and practicing responses to ensure preparedness if when a digital disaster occurs.… |
From video games to cyber defense: If you don't think like a hacker, you won't win - (pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 15:11:09 GMT)In supercharged AI race, defenders need to keep upinterview According to Remedio CEO Tal Kollender, the only way to beat the bad guys hacking into corporate networks is to "think like a hacker," and because not everyone is a teenage hacker turned cybersecurity startup chief executive, she built an AI to do this.… |
Coming Wi-Fi 8 will bring reliability rather than greater speed - (pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 13:12:07 GMT)Smarter access-point handoffs, better scheduling, fewer stallsWi-Fi 8 will be a step change in connectivity, if Intel can be believed, and will be able to adapt intelligently to local conditions to deliver a reliable service without the slowdowns users often experience when the network is congested.… |
'PromptQuest' is the worst game of 2025. You play it when trying to make chatbots work - (pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 11:07:10 GMT)Everything you hated about text adventure games is now being sold as a productivity toolOpinion When Microsoft recently decided to open source the seminal text adventure game Zork, I contemplated revisiting it during the festive season... until I realized I've spent much of 2025 experiencing the worst of such games when using AI chatbots.… |
IT team forced to camp in the office for days after Y2K bug found in boss's side project - (pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:30:13 GMT)The lack of trust that leads to outsourcing can be expensiveOn Call Y2K December 26th is a holiday across much of the Reg-reading world, but it's also a Friday – the day on which we present a fresh instalment of On Call, the reader-contributed column that recounts your tales of tech support encounters and exasperation.… |
Humanoid robots are still novelty acts, but investment is surging to make them real tomorrow - (pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2025 13:00:06 GMT)Investment and interest have outpaced technology and societyBy the time the humanoid robots arrived at the Humanoids Summit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, on December 11, the registration line had already extended downstairs to the lobby.… |
AMD Strix Halo vs Nvidia DGX Spark: Which AI workstation comes out on top? - (pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2025 11:51:14 GMT)Two tiny boxes, 128 GB apiece – but very different strengthsHands On Most GenAI models are trained and run in massive datacenter clusters, but the ability to build, test, and prototype AI systems locally is no less relevant today.… |
You don't need Linux to run free and open source software - (pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:37:10 GMT)Alternative apps to empower older versions of macOS or WindowsPart 2 There's a wealth of highly usable free software for the big proprietary desktop OSes. You can escape paying subscriptions and switch to free software without changing your OS.… |
Salesforce’s ChatGPT integration is really about stopping customers from leaking their own data - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 21:56:22 GMT)Execs say DIY OpenAI connections risked pushing CRM data past the ‘trust boundary’Salesforce users running Agentforce with ChatGPT Enterprise or Edu can now update CRM data directly from the bot, a move aimed at curbing home-built integrations that risk spilling data outside the company's controls.… |
AI faces closing time at the cash buffet - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 19:23:06 GMT)Will businesses continue to invest in something that's shown so little return?opinion It is the season of overindulgence, and no one has overindulged like the tech industry: this year, it has burned through roughly $1.5 trillion in AI, a level of spending usually reserved for wartime.… |
Pen testers accused of 'blackmail' after reporting Eurostar chatbot flaws - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 18:22:31 GMT)AI goes off the rails … because of shoddy guardrailsResearchers at Pen Test Partners found four flaws in Eurostar's public AI chatbot that, among other security issues, could allow an attacker to inject malicious HTML content or trick the bot into leaking system prompts. Their thank you from the company: being accused of "blackmail."… |
Garmin autopilot lands small aircraft without human assistance - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 15:21:48 GMT)ATC: 'I don't know if you can hear me but cleared to land'In what looks to be the first successful use of Garmin's Autoland product outside of testing, the FAA has confirmed a small plane made a safe emergency landing completely guided by automation at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Colorado.… |
US shuts down phisherfolk’s $14.6M password-hoarding platform - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 15:07:43 GMT)Crooks used platform to scoop up and store banking credentials for big-money theftsThe US says it has shut down a platform used by cybercriminals to break into Americans' bank accounts.… |
Waymo pings updates to San Francisco fleet to prevent power outage chaos 2.0 - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 14:48:20 GMT)Meanwhile, new outages, linked to storms, are pelting the areaWaymo says it is rolling out updates to its US fleet to counter future disruption caused by power outages like the one that hit San Francisco last week.… |
Sight of Clippy, Internet Explorer scares baby - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 14:24:21 GMT)Reg reader introduces newborn to Microsoft ugly sweater. Child not amusedMicrosoft's latest line of festive knitwear has been frightening babies, if the experience of the winner of The Register's 2025 Christmas competition is anything to go by.… |
One real reason AI isn't delivering: Meatbags in manglement - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 13:42:12 GMT)Stuck in pilot purgatory? Confused about returns? You're not aloneFeature Every company today is doing AI. From boardrooms to marketing campaigns, companies proudly showcase new generative AI pilots and chatbot integrations. Enterprise investments in GenAI are growing to about $30-40 billion, yet research indicates 95 percent of organizations report zero measurable returns on these efforts.… |
North American air defense troops ready for 70th year of Santa tracking - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 12:30:07 GMT)A newspaper misprint began a Christmas Eve tradition joining holiday cheer with military technologySeventy years ago, a child phoned the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) looking for Santa Claus – and found him, or at least some kindly military personnel who were willing to play along by helping the youngster to track Santa's location as he zipped around the globe.… |
NASA tries Curiosity rover's Mastcam to work out where MAVEN might be - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:32:11 GMT)Time running out for savin' MAVEN as stricken spacecraft still silent as Mars solar conjunction nearsNASA's MAVEN spacecraft is continuing to evade attempts by engineers to make contact as the solar conjunction nears, halting contact with any Mars missions until January 16, 2026.… |
Keeping Windows and macOS alive past their sell-by date - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 09:30:13 GMT)Practical steps to make an aging operating system usable into 2026Part 1 You can switch to running mostly FOSS without switching to Linux. First, though, give your OS a bit of TLC. We'll come back to what to do next in part two.… |
Microsoft wants to replace its entire C and C++ codebase, perhaps by 2030 - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 03:39:45 GMT)Plans move to Rust, with help from AIMicrosoft wants to develop tech that could translate its codebase to Rust, and is hiring people to make it happen.… |
AWS adds hybrid cloud storage support for Nutanix’s AHV hypervisor - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 02:35:44 GMT)VMware's main challenger already embraces multiple storage optionsAmazon Web Services has given Nutanix a lovely Christmas present: Support for its AHV hypervisor in hybrid cloud storage rigs.… |
US punishes China’s ‘dominance’ of legacy chips with zero percent tariffs - (pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2025 01:02:20 GMT)President Trump previously threatened 100 percent tariffs, administration now plans something else starting in 2027World War Fee The United States will impose tariffs on semiconductors imported from China, starting in 2027.… |
ServiceNow opens $7.7B ticket titled 'Buy security company, make it Armis' - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 22:17:00 GMT)Customers will be able to see vulnerabilities, prioritize risks, and close them with automated workflows.After over a week of speculation, ServiceNow announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy cybersecurity heavyweight Armis in a $7.75 billion deal that will see the workflow giant incorporate a real-time security intelligence feed into its products.… |
21K Nissan customers' data stolen in Red Hat raid - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:23:38 GMT)Automaker's third security snafu in three yearsThousands of Nissan customers are learning that some of their personal data was leaked after unauthorized access to a Red Hat-managed server, according to the Japanese automaker.… |
Starlink satellite fails, polluting orbit with debris and falling toward Earth - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:58:29 GMT)Spacecraft set to burn up in a few weeks, but it could have been worseAs if to underscore the need to avoid the Kessler Syndrome, a scenario in which cascading debris can make some orbits difficult to use, a Starlink satellite vented propellant and released debris following an onboard "anomaly" late last week.… |
Microsoft rushes an out-of-band update for Message Queuing bug - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:37:15 GMT)Redmond gets in early for the twelve whoopsies of ChristmasMicrosoft has hustled out an out-of-band update to address a Message Queuing issue introduced by the December 2025 update.… |
Windows is testing a new, wider Run dialog box. Here’s how to try it - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 16:23:32 GMT)You’ll need to be using a Windows Insider build to see itThe Windows 11 Run dialog box is one of the oldest pieces of user interface still in use. It works just fine, but it has an aesthetic that harkens back to earlier versions of Microsoft’s operating system. Now, that’s set to change.… |
Memory is running out, and so are excuses for software bloat - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 14:05:12 GMT)Maybe the answer to soaring RAM prices is to use less of itOpinion Register readers of a certain age will recall the events of the 1970s, where a shortage of fuel due to various international disagreements resulted in queues, conflicts, and rising costs. One result was a drive toward greater efficiencies. Perhaps it's time to apply those lessons to the current memory shortage.… |
Like a Virgin Airways bot, planning for the very first time - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 13:21:16 GMT)Airline deploys AI travel agent and it hasn't been a disasterNon-human travel agents are here. Virgin Atlantic earlier this month installed an AI travel agent on its website, calling the web-bound chatbot "the future of travel planning." … |
UNIX V4 tape successfully recovered: First ever version of UNIX written in C is running again - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 12:08:09 GMT)Crucial early evolutionary step found, imaged, and ... amazingly ... worksComputer History Museum software curator Al Kossow has successfully retrieved the contents of the over-half-a-century old tape found at the University of Utah last month.… |
Oracle's new AI-enhanced support portal leaves users fuming - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:48:11 GMT)The company that bet the farm on AI said to have made things worse with AIOracle's new AI-powered support portal is frustrating customers and support engineers who are struggling to find the basics, such as old tickets, links to database patch programs and release schedules for current databases.… |
Pizza restaurant signage caught serving raw Windows - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 09:25:11 GMT)Menu.exe not foundBork!Bork!Bork! The bork desk has temporarily reopened during the festive period. The tech world might be having a nap on the sofa after one mince pie too many, but bork never sleeps.… |
Uber and Lyft rolling Baidu robotaxis into London next year - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 04:19:06 GMT)Cab drivers protested Uber’s arrival, but Westminster has rolled out the welcome mat for clanker chauffeursRobot taxis are coming to The Register’s London home in 2026.… |
France’s post office partly offline for over 12 hours after 'major network incident' - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 01:39:21 GMT)Might be Le Grinch, or a DDoS, but it's taking a while to fixLa Poste, France’s postal service, is largely offline, possibly due to an unexplained incident.… |
Japan loses another H3 launcher, plus the satnav bird it carried - (pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:09:43 GMT)25 percent failure rate for JAXA's space truck, with the second stage again proving perilousJapan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has created a Special Task Force to investigate the failed launch of its H3 rocket on Monday.… |
Poisoned WhatsApp API package steals messages and accounts - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 22:04:19 GMT)And it's especially dangerous because the code worksA malicious npm package with more than 56,000 downloads masquerades as a working WhatsApp Web API library, and then it steals messages, harvests credentials and contacts, and hijacks users' WhatsApp accounts.… |
Palo Alto's new Google Cloud deal boosts AI integration, could save on cloud costs - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 21:19:51 GMT)SEC filings show the outfit cut projected 2027 cloud purchase commitments by $114MSecurity vendor Palo Alto Networks is expanding its Google Cloud partnership, saying it will move "key internal workloads" onto the Chocolate Factory's infrastructure. The outfit also claims it is tightening integrations between its security tools and Google Cloud to deliver what it calls a "unified" security experience. At the same time, Palo Alto may trim its own cloud purchase commitments.… |
SoftBank scrambling to come up with $22.5B in OpenAI funding before New Year - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 20:28:03 GMT)Masayoshi Son better hope he made Santa's nice listJapanese tech investment giant SoftBank needs to secure $22.5 billion before the end of the year to make good on its commitments to AI partner OpenAI.… |
Spy turned startup CEO: 'The WannaCry of AI will happen' - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 19:39:58 GMT)Ah, the good old days when 0-day development took a yearInterview "In my past life, it would take us 360 days to develop an amazing zero day," Zafran Security CEO Sanaz Yashar said.… |
Nvidia wasting no time to flog H200s in China - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:49:12 GMT)Shipments still waiting on approval from BeijingNow that it can legally export them, Nvidia has reportedly informed its Chinese customers that it'll begin shipping H200s, one of its most potent graphics accelerators for AI training and inference, in time for Chinese New Year. One caveat: Beijing could spike the deal before then.… |
Hacktivists scrape 86M Spotify tracks, claim their aim is to preserve culture - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 17:24:49 GMT)Anna’s Archive’s idealism doesn’t quite survive its own blog postWhat would happen to the world's music collections if streaming services disappeared? One hacktivist group says it has a solution: scrape around 300 terabytes of music and metadata from Spotify and offer it up for free as what it calls the world’s first “fully open” music preservation archive.… |
Conman and wannabe MI6 agent must repay £125k to romance scam victim - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 16:37:09 GMT)Judge says former most-wanted fugitive Mark Acklom will likely never return to the UKThe UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says a fraudster who claimed to be part of MI6 must repay £125,000 ($168,000) to a former love interest that he conned.… |
What the Linux desktop really needs to challenge Windows - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 15:35:11 GMT)Wasn't 2025 the year it happened? Yes. No. Answers on a Christmas cardOpinion I've run Linux desktops since the big interface question was whether to use Korn or Bash for your shell. Before that, I'd used Unix desktops such as Visix Looking Glass, Sun OpenWindows, and SCO's infamous Open Deathtrap Desktop.… |
EU offers UK early gift: Data adequacy until 2031 - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 14:35:31 GMT)Relief for those dealing with data pipelines between the two, but move has its criticsThe EU has extended its adequacy decision, allowing data sharing with and from the UK under the General Data Protection Regulation for at least six more years.… |
Vultures rake our claws over COSMIC as Pop OS 24.04 LTS with 'Epoch 1' emerges - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 14:01:13 GMT)Even with the latest Gparted Live, it's not easy to dual boot – but it's worth the hassleHands On It's been a long time coming but version 1.0 of the first ground-up Rust-based desktop is here… and it is shaping up very well.… |
Around 1,000 systems compromised in ransomware attack on Romanian water agency - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:13:10 GMT)On-site staff keep key systems working while all but one region battles with encrypted PCsRomania's cybersecurity agency confirms a major ransomware attack on the country's water management administration has compromised around 1,000 systems, with work to remediate them still ongoing.… |
AI is rewriting how power flows through the datacenter - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 11:16:15 GMT)Rising rack densities are driving changes from grid connection to chip-level deliveryPower semiconductors are soon set to become as vital as GPUs and CPUs in datacenters, handling the rapidly increasing loads forecast for AI infrastructure.… |
Europe gets serious about cutting digital umbilical cord with Uncle Sam's big tech - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 10:22:15 GMT)Public bodies migrate in the bloc as hyperscalers claim sovereigntyFeature Europe’s quest for digital sovereignty is hampered by a 90 per cent dependency on US cloud infrastructure, claims Cristina Caffarra, a competition expert and a driving force behind the Eurostack initiative.… |
The Roomba failed because it just kind of sucked - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:30:11 GMT)Something messy happens when the cat hairs of reality meet the shiny hype of smart techOpinion Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are trumped by accountancy's First Law of Finance: you must make money. iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with its Chinese manufacturing partner-cum-creditor poised to pick over the bones.… |
AI has pumped hyperscale capex, capacity – but how long can it last? - (pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 08:27:13 GMT)Total operational capacity just keeps risingHyperscale datacenter operators nearly tripled their spending on infrastructure over the past three years in response to the AI craze, while the amount of operational capacity added each quarter has increased by 170 percent, with little sign so far of any slowdown.… |
