Posts by 0laf

Your taxes at work: Three hours driving to turn on politician's PC

Had a teacher once screaming at me once that her printer was broken, utterly unacceptable, condemning children to life of drudgery etc. Turned up to find it was out of paper.

Regularly get Councillors and executives demanding (and getting) security rules bent and broken to suit them, whole systems put in to serve their specific personal purposes (£10k spent used by 3 Councillors) and regular demands for new toys (usually Apple themed which don't work on the network).

They along with teachers for some reason are unable to resist the BS peddled by snake-oil salesmen.

Ice volcanoes just part of Plutonic pandemonium

Re: Cool

aaargh!

There, their, they're.

I humbly apologise to the grammatically retentive everywhere.

Cool

So glad Pluto is totally weird. Would have been a bit of a disappointment if the probe had got their and it was just a lump of igneous rock with some craters.

MPs launch 'TalkTalk' inquiry over security of personal data online

Hmmmm

Government has been pretty quiet on this whole debacle so far. Wouldn't be anything to do with Dido Harding being an Oxford student with David Cameron, married to John Penrose Conservative MP, former minister and Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury, and was made a Conservative Lord in 2014 (Baroness Harding of Winscombe)?

I'm sure if she was similarly connected on the other side of the house the Government would have been similarly quiet.

Still nice to see something happening, shame the ICO doesn't have jail sentences to hand.

Volkswagen: 800,000 of our cars may have cheated in CO2 tests

I personally feel deeply sorry for the board.

After all their company has been infiltrated not once but twice in both the petrol and diesel divisions. Rogue engineers, without regard to the company or customers, designed and implemented technologies in both their small petrol and diesel engines across all VAG marques which resulted in falsely generous pollution figures for those cars. The rogue engineers managed to do this without the knowledge of any of the managers or executives who of course pay attention to every minutiae of VAG car development, just not those bits at that time.

The board unwittingly used these figures to then promote and sell lots and lots of cars through no fault of their own.

They're really really sorry that millions of people were effectively conned into buying their cars but obviously it was the work of lone malicious individuals not the board, no sireee. So no compo sorry. And of course their bonuses should be preserved for when they offer to commit corporate seppuku but only as far as getting another board placement at another company. Well you can't expect them to starve now can you?

UK finance sector: IT security testing 'becoming close to mandatory'

Re: This why we cant have nice things

What they really mean is Britain doesn't have enough people that have passed either CISSP or CISM. If you don't have them you can't get past HR no matter how good your experience is.

Hands On with Windows 10 Mobile build 10572

Not sure about that. MS holding back a lot of features to force you to use their MDM tools.

We run into a lot of very silly MDM related issues around Winpho 8 devices which are otherwise very good.

Yamaha unleashes motorcycling robot

With stabilisers like that a fat block on a Harley will beat it round the corners.

Wonder if Honda will have Asimo getting his knee down on a Fireblade next.

GCHQ starts hunt for tech-savvy apprentices

I suppose it's better than racking up student debt but they'll have to pay a lot more than they currently do to retain these guys at the end of their apprenticeship.

Dad who shot 'snooping vid drone' out of the sky is cleared of charges

I think you might be too slow for that. Plenty of anti-drone tech being developed right now. Governments are very keen on it so there is a nice big pork barrel to be opened.

And you can by anti-drone shotgun shells if you really like your snake oil ammunition

Doubt the UK judiciary would be quite so tolerant of a shotgun being discharged into the air.

TalkTalk attack: UK digi minister recommends security badges for websites

Re: Here's a thought

Yeah but the spooks don't want you to close all the back doors.

Especially the Muricans, they want the wholesome, Earthican, Jesus lovin backdoors left in.

Re: Brilliant this, isn't it?

Luckily a government minister - who has No Fucking Idea what to do either but sits of the board of a large IT company which sells cyber security products - is on hand with a cretinous proposal for self regulation, via services provided by the company they have a directorship with - which has No Fucking Chance of working, but gives a nice covering of security whitewash and gets the government minister a nice photo opportunity or two.

FTFY.

I hope the ICO will be supported in it's request for criminal action against serious corporate data abusers (including prison sentences) and the new EU Data Directive will be fully supported when it comes in next year with its potential for massive fines.

That'll be Security Essentials (self assessment) or Security Essentials + then.

Neither really bad things but not really suitable to multi-billion pound high profile telcos or other high profile organisations.

Why not just get one little bit of the company ISO27000 accredited then claim everything is great everywhere, forever? That's what everyone else does.

Then you ask for the scope of compliance and it all goes quiet....

No, seriously, NASA will fly a probe through Saturn's moon plumes

Now if they have 3 tits you might be onto something

Seriously How the f*** do that do that?

It's an hour and a half (ish) delay between Earth and Saturn. They're going to fly a couple of tons of delicate metal into an orbit just 30mi above the surface on one moon by using puffs of gas and a few gyros calculated in a system of many large objects.

Many many pints due

Little bang for the Big C? Nitro in the anti-cancer arsenal

Quiet a few old drugs are of interest for new purposes. Even the reviled Thalidomide may have some therapeutic use in cancer treatment.

Further confusion at TalkTalk claims it was hit by 'sequential attack'

I think the guys in It and security know they're going to be blamed then sacked for the board having ignored good practice in favour of profit for years so in their enforced pre interview briefings they're probably purposefully making the board look like arses.

I fully expect to see a claim now that due to a misconfiguration of a critical combobulator allows an internet valve to stay open and let the hackers steal the hard disks.

Remember that scene from the IT Crowd when Jen was showing the board "The Internet" as a little box with a red light. That's TalkTalk that its

Amazon Fire HD 8: Mid-spec Nokia Lumi... er, MediaTek slab

Unless you're a Prime customer why would you buy an Android tab. I swore I'd never buy an Amazon tab and get locked in but I am a Prime customer (moving over from Lovefilm) and I bought a Fire 7HD. But It was a refurb and only £60.

It's actually lots better than my old Nexus7 (2012) and if you're on Prime the streaming video and free apps (Really Free as Amazon touts it's Underground apps) are actually not bad.

But not good enough to pay hundreds for it

TalkTalk plays 'no legal obligation' card on encryption – fails to think of the children (read: its customers)

Re: Are TalkTalk auditted?

I'm sure they updated their policies and for everything else that would cost real money the board accepted the risk or decided that a policy change was adequate mitigation. No doubt record keeping will also be poor resulting in no minutes of those meetings.

I hope the infosec guys have kept records of their findings when the finger of blame is turned on them.

Re: What about PCI regulations

Will depend if they actually held credit card data with the same system as the hack took place. the CDE might be a completely different network or might even be outsourced.

On one hand it's good if the credit card data isn't there because then it hasn't been stolen.

On the otehr hand a breach of PCI DSS will probably mean a PCI fine which is higher than the 500k max the ICO can levy right now. Plus PCI can force TT to take on auditors for PCI and make them re-accredit as a Tier 1 merchant.

Oooh enjoy your interviews with the ICO. It might not be explicit but you've already demonstrated that your system was insufficient to protect personal data at rest without encryption.

If credit card data was stored unencrypted the PCI council will have a different opinion since it is explicit with them and they can probably levy larger fines than the ICO can right now.

Android Security: How's BlackBerry going to fix it?

When there is a £200 version we'll look at it, maybe.

~£600... we'll just buy feckin iphones as usual and winpho for the minions

Tardy TalkTalk advertised for a new infosec officer 1 week ago

All I can say is me too.

Recently I was told to remove references to significant vulnerabilities from a report because they might upset the board.

Currently studying for CISSP not because I need it to do the job but to get past the HR droids and try to get a decent salary for being ignored and sidelined.

Infosec might be the subject du jour right now but that'll soon fade. I'd rather be paid well to be ignored than paid poorly.

Re: They've contacted the ICO

Yes it's a shame the new EU DP regulation isn't in force or it would have been 5% of global turnover.

I suspect even a company as dysfunctional as TalkTalk has more than just one lowly ICO in infosec roles especially since they will be reporting to the "Head of Security".

Head of Security may actually be in the process of changing his/her title to "Scapegoat in Chief / Top Blamehound". Much like the 'rogue' VW engineers that are being liberally coated with executive blame right now in Germany.

If they were half decent I feel sorry for them because they've probably spent the last 6 months (or 6 years) being told to shut up whenever they pointed out a vulnerability or predicted a problem.

Chaos at TalkTalk: Data was 'secure', not all encrypted, we took site down, were DDoSed

Might have been a couple of attacks ongoing, one being a loud distraction whilst something more subtle was actually slurping data while the managers run around screaming.

However Talk Talk hardly has a stellar reputation for customer service or straight talking.

Bacon as deadly as cigarettes and asbestos

Ah the daily fail

This week "Bacon causes 102% of all cancers"

Next week "Bacon cures cancer", no doubt placed next to the sidebar of shame where some anorexic lassy is being criticised for something.

BYOD battery bloodbath? Facebook 'fesses up to crook code

I've found Facebook apps to be battery vampires on Android and even Winpho

Top VW exec blames car pollution cheatware scandal on 'a couple of software engineers'

[Sarcasm]Wow, totally didn't see this coming[/sarcasm]

Windows 10 mobile upgrade coming in December

How I know WinPho is fked

I plugged in my Nokia Lumia 920 into my Windows 10 desktop fire up the phone companion and it asks if I want to be sent the links for Office for Android.

If MS can't be arsed with its own kit why should anyone else?

Re: Stick with 8.1

It's a shame. I like my 920, I like WinPho8.1 Mainly for the camera, the keyboard and the fact it actually works quite well as a phone for speaking on and archaic stuff like that.

Looks like I'll end up going back to Google with my tail between my legs next year. No chance I'm paying £30-40 a month to get something worse than I have now, which I only pay £9 for.

Re: Pavlovian response

I whole heartedly concur Sir. Damn them. Damn them for reasons.

World's oldest person scoffs daily ration of bacon

Some folks last better than others.

My Mother used to be a home help and she used to do a bit of work for an old gent. He had to give up visiting the 'old folk' when he hit 100 (most of he people he visited were 20yr younger than him) and he lived in his own house until he took ill and passed when he was 101. He was an old farmer and still had hands like shovels and a handshake that would crack your knuckles.

I've seen some folk in their 40s that looked in worse health than he did at 100.

NASA boffins on Pluto: We see skies of BLUE and... RED water ice

Re: Why's it so red..?

If Pluto has been caressed by His noodly appendage enough to leave a sea of holy sauce do we not need to initiate a pilgrimage to Pluto immediately?

Silicon Valley fights European Court of Justice ruling with small print

Re: The problem is

Safe Harbour was never enough on its own to prove that a US based service provider was acting in compliance with the DPA (or other EU equivalent). Anyone using it as a tick box to do what they liked should have known they were storing up trouble.

4K catches fire with OTT streamers, while broadcasters burn

So we'll continue to get the UHD hardware shoved down out throats coupled with broadcaster hype only to find out as usual they'll compress everything as much as possible and the end result will be about as good as SD.

But we'll all buy 4k 3D tvs coz they'll be the only ones around.

We've still got a hand me down 32" 720p telly and no HD decoder. Can't say we're in a hurry to get anything new.

Surface Book: Microsoft to turn unsuccessful tab into unsuccessful laptop

$1500 probably means £1500

We'll wait on Dell or Lenovo to make one with 80% of the functionality and speed for 50% of the price.

'One Windows' crunch time: Microsoft tempts with glittery new devices

Re: Unplugged

I doubt the business wants your mobile filled with dodgy apps, knob pictures and cat videos plugged in either.

But that's what everyone sells.

Does anyone actually want BYOD other than phone sellers. And wouldn't they rather sell two?

Pricing

I'm due a new phone early next year my 920 was a bargain when I got it will the 950 be a bargain too?

Or will it be priced alongside the iphone since MS feels it needs to be 'reassuringly expensive'?

Surface will sell ok but as a laptop replacement not as a tablet. Can't imagine anyone swapping an iPad or an Android tablet for a Surface except for work. I'm sure they'll sell just not in the numbers MS will have predicted.

Apollo 15 commander's lunar timepiece goes under the hammer

#If I had a meelion dollars#

I'm not a big one for memorabilia but I would like that.

I'd like to be in the position to spunk $1M on a bauble even more.

Safe Harbour ruled INVALID: Facebook 'n' pals' data slurp at risk

Re: Am I the only one ...

And UK gov says you must use Cloud.

And Cabinet Office has all their data in a US Google data centre now without Safe harbour.

And the new Data Protection directive from the EU is pending and it's significantly tougher than the old one.

Time to buy shares in UK/EU data centres that aren't owned by a US registered company coz there is still that MS Vs US DoJ case to settle.

Hyundai i30 Turbo: Softly, softly, catchee Audi

35-41mpg for a 186hp hatch.

It's not bad really is it.?

As someone else mentioned petrol turbos are like that, pretty efficient if you keep your foot off the boost but drink like a student otherwise.

But £22k for a Korean car? Sorry nope. It'll be worth £12k as soon as you sign for it. Nice second hand buy with the long warranty. 2yr old one probably in the sweet spot.

You call THAT safe? Top EU legal bod says data sent to US is anything but

Safe-harbour not worth the data it's written on. Shock of the century!

A bit like finding out motor manufacturers have found ways to cheat emissions and mpg testing.

I don't think anyone with even slight knowledge about these industries is surprised in the slightest.

I don't think it really matters too much with Safe-harbour. It was only ever a legal whitewash on data the USofA would access with impunity any time it wanted anyway.

CHEAT! Volkswagen chief 'deeply sorry' over diesel emission test dodge

RFID

Don't forget about your weak RFID encryption keys as well VAG.

Just sayin'.

How did jihadists hack into top UK ministerial emails if no security breach took place?

They probably hacked the ministerial Hotmail accounts that were being used to avoid answering FOI requests

WinPhone community descends into CANNIBALISM and WOE

Re: Angst

That's probably why MS hates you, because you're not a rabid fanboi willing to sacrifice your firstborn to buy the latest phone.

MS doesn't want buyers it wants worshippers just like Apple.

But it ain't going to get them, A winphone like a windows desktop is a tool and people generally don't worship tools.

It's shame. I really like my Nokia 920, I liked winpho 8.1 even thought I hated Windows 8.1

If they cock it up I don't know what I'll get next.

MYSTERIES of remote ICE WORLD PLUTO: New pics BAMBOOZLE boffins

Well we were hoping Pluto would be weird and it is.

That plane looks like ice but not quite. the Left of it looks like a sort of flow, but not quite.

If anything it looks more like cream on coffee than anything else.

Roll up, roll up: Microsoft, those Irish emails and angry Feds

I'm just surprised no one form the US Gov has stepped in to quietly talk in the ear of the court and point out the risk to US business interests from this. Especially when an established route to get the information exists.

I'm glad MS is fighting the good fight here but I'm also quite clear they they're not doing it in my interests even if they are aligned with Microsoft's.

Want your kids to learn coding? Train the darn teachers first

Yup. In Scotland it would probably land on the desk of a director of Education who would see "Raspberry Pi" and assume it was something to do with free school meals.