Posts by Great Southern Land

Fired techie admits sabotaging ex-employer, causing $862K in damage

Cases such as this are a good advertisement for 2FA.

Not only would this idiot have been unable to get in to do what he did, the rightful owner of those credentials would have known something was wrong when his/her SMS or Authenticator App pinged.

‘ERP down for emergency maintenance’ was code for ‘You deleted what?’

Re: Nah

Isn't this what Data Warehouses were invented for?

COPIES of production data held on a separate system.

'Fax virus' panicked a manager and sparked job-killing Reply-All incident

Re: Solicitors

>>Some firms still don't accept service by email though..... If the email service takes place on the first day that person is on holiday and the date for responding is before he returns, tough; the deadline has been missed.

And that's why the company letterhead should show an address along the lines of [e-mail] for service of documents, in the same way as a fax number.

Need I also add that if someone is on leave, their email should be forwarded to someone (eg reception, manager, colleague)?

Re: Fax machines, that brings back memories

Tasmanians would sympathize with the problems of late night fax calls

Prior to Australia's change to 8-digit phone numbers, Sydney Area Code was 02, Melbourne was 03, Tasmania was 002, 003 and 004, depending on which part of the state.

As a result, it was rather common for Tasmanian voice lines (especially 002 and 003 numbers) to go off in the middle of the night, thanks to incoming international faxes where the sender failed to drop the first 0 from the area code.

The problem was solved by the 8-digit changeover, where Tasmania became part of 03, and their existing 6 digit numbers were changed to 62xxxxxx, 63xxxxxx, 64xxxxxx

Client defended engineer after oil baron-turned tech support entrepreneur lied about dodgy dealings

A Sting in the Tail

While I can't speak for UK law, the situation in Australia is...

In an Australian company wind-up, "preferential payments" are voidable payments made to a creditor in the six months before liquidation, giving them an unfair advantage over other unsecured creditors. A liquidator can demand the repayment of these "unfair preferences" to ensure a more equitable distribution of the company's assets among all creditors. The six-month period can extend to four years if the payment was made to a "related party"

In other words, even if you managed to get payment before the debtor went under, if the liquidators can show that you had a reasonable suspicion of the debtor's situation, expect a polite request to hand over the cash.

>>What the guy from oil and gas did was a bit crude

And such a refined guy too.

Techies tossed appliance that had no power cord, but turned out to power their company

Like finding an old couch left out in the street. Turn it upside down and shake well, and you never know what you might find.

And why wasn't the kit identified in the first place? Especially if it was critical to the firm's internet access.

Microsoft lets bosses spot teams that are dodging Copilot

>>You WILL use the AI slop.

>>You WILL comply.

Try saying it in a Dalek voice.

Microsoft lets devs tell Copilot to STFU in Visual Studio

Re: Even CNN today writes about a "vibe shift" in AI reporting

>>Common sense will be a thing of the past

Too late, it's already happened.

CIO made a dangerous mistake and ordered his security team to implement it

Re: C.Y.A.

>>The most important acronym in the entire IT industry...

Not just IT, but the entire corporate world.

Microsoft Research chief scientist has no issue with Windows Recall

Re: Two thoughts spring to mind...

>>The OS displayed a warning along the lines of "this will take a lot of processor time, don't do it". Yet they think it's OK to take processor time to do frequent screen grabs and even more processor time to perform OCR on said screen grab.

And that of course is why they don't want you to show seconds. It takes up processor time that could be more profitably used running Recall.

Re: In other news

Along with every Corporate and Government Internal Investigations Team.

Basic projector repair job turns into armed encounter at secret bunker

Re: Fun at the DTI

>> Official Secrets Act is probably a good starting point. You'd be surprised what they can classify as "secret".

Such as the BT Tower in London.

US Navy backs right to repair after $13B carrier crew left half-fed by contractor-locked ovens

>> Delivery of said engineer can include Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning style of submarine link up.

Or the style of delivery used to get Jack Ryan to USS Dallas in "Hunt for Red October"

Trump threatens to add formal Apple Tax on top of the 'Apple tax'

Re: Partners are leaving to start their own firm

>>>does that mean no more security fixes if you have a .gov domain?

It could mean no more licences for MS products.

No more Windows, Windows Server, SQLServer, Office, Exchange Server..........,

Techies thought outside the box. Then the boss decided to take the box away

Re: Shredder

>>His justification was that as gay guys their dogs were the equivalent of children.

Especially since Animal Welfare laws generally require that we treat household pets in the same way as we treat our kids.

DoorDash scam used fake drivers, phantom deliveries to bilk $2.59M

Doordash IT Security questions

>>one of them is XXXXX, and was briefly employed by DoorDash in 2020

So why weren't his credentials revoked after he left?

People find amazing ways to break computers. Cats are even more creative

Not Surprised

My cat has a habit of trying to bite the top corners of my iPad and Kindle if I'm using either of them while lying on the bed. Just something they do, I guess.

AI chatbot startup founder, lawyer wife accused of ripping off investors in $60M fraud

>Lau earned the obstruction charge by allegedly deleting files related to her work with the San Francisco-based GameOn from her employer's records while a grand jury was investigating the matter.

Why weren't her files copied as part of the investigation, prior to referral to a Grand Jury? The article implies that the files were deleted AFTER the Grand Jury commenced.

While I'm not promoting deliberate deletion of records, this smells of entrapment.

Tech support warrior left cosplay battle and Trekked to the office

Re: What's the weirdest outfit you've worn to a tech support job?

>I believe the term used in that situation is "meat crayon".

Or, "Organ Donor"

That hardware will be more reliable if you stop stabbing it all day

Re: This is why ergonomics matters

And that's why boxes should have the barcode printed on all 6 surfaces. That way, no matter which way the box is facing, there will always be a visible barcode.

Yes, your network is down – you annoyed us so much we crashed it

Re: Can't recall the mechanism

The Australian Taxation Office used to operate this way as well.

However, after a number of high-profile windups where the employees and small businesses got nothing, the law was changed.

Now, directors of a company can be held personally liable for PAYE, GST and employee Superannuation debts.

Gets the attention of "silent" directors real fast.

Re: "making them wait was jeopardizing the very existence of their business"

>It seems that "insufficient funds" bank stamps can be grounds for defamation proceedings if made public)

In Australia at least, the banks marked such cheques as "Refer to Drawer" to avoid such issues.

Bandai Namco reportedly tries to bore staff into quitting, skirting Japan’s labor laws

It's not that simple

Japanese employers who choose to do this might want to take a closer look at their labour laws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_dismissal

There is no honor among RAM thieves – but sometimes there is karma

Re: RAM raid

This means WAR!

Re: Sad they have to do that

Both my parents were High School teachers. It was very common for them to bring work home to mark in the evenings or over the weekends.

Work for you? Again? After you lied about the job and stole my stuff? No thanks

Re: BOFHess?

>>Bastard Operator from Hell-ess?

Surely it would be Bastard Operatrix from Hell?

>Not even a full day passed between the call asking if I still had a copy and the lawyers sending me a nasty-gram via FedEx.

If that was me, that would be the end of my cooperation with them. Sending the lawyers in that quickly is bullying behaviour. From that point onwards, they can deal with my lawyers.

How Apple Wi-Fi Positioning System can be abused to track people around the globe

Re: Burner Anyone?

>pretty soon, all that is missing is your inside leg measurement

And they'll get that from matching your credit/debit card to the store records.

Get your staff's consent before you monitor them, tech inquiry warns

Re: "and freed them up to focus on more sophisticated tasks beyond the scope of automation"

Why bother with the bottle?

Just plug the catheter into a socket at the desk.

The Matrix is one step closer!

While we fire the boss, can you lock him out of the network?

Re: Likewise ...

And even hospitals have zero-tolerance for abusive behaviour.

Re: Working for Untrustworthy Companies

Not to mention stealing from the Government.

In Australia, directors of companies that fail to pay PAYE and Superannuation on time, and fail to do anything about it in a timely manner, can be held personally liable for the unpaid amounts.

A million Australian pubgoers wake up to find personal info listed on leak site

Re: They were warned....

.... And thus they've had 13 years to do something about it, and haven't.

They were warned....

As shown by this Australian Information Commissioner Privacy Case in 2011....

https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/AICmrCN/2011/2.html?context=1;query=registered%20club;mask_path=au/cases/cth/AICmrCN

The complainant alleged that a registered club interfered with their privacy by scanning their driver licence and, in doing so, recording unnecessary information. The complainant conceded that the club was required to collect their name, address and signature. However, the complainant considered the collection of the other information on the licence, including their date of birth, driver’s licence number, driver’s licence type and photograph to be unnecessary.

The complainant also raised concerns that the registered club ’s notice and security procedures were insufficient.

WTF? Potty-mouthed intern's obscene error message mostly amused manager

Re: "speach"

>Wasps? Meh. Wasps are just angry bees.

With magazine weapons rather than the single shot weapon that bees have.

Telco CEO quits after admitting she needs to carry rivals' SIM cards to stay in touch

Re: Gladys Berejiklian

One of the smaller states by Area, one of the largest by Population

How to get a computer get stuck in a lift? Ask an 'illegal engineer'

Re: Getting stuck in a lift is no fun

Either that, or they'll just use the Universal Master Key that opens any door..... An Axe (As told to me by a building manager in Newcastle NSW)

Typo watch: 'Millions of emails' for US military sent to .ml addresses in error

Another solution....

Another solution would be for the US military to change from .mil addresses to .mil.us

Cunningly camouflaged cable routed around WAN-sized hole in project budget

And let's not forget the home-made power boards some of these bands used. Plenty of potential for disaster there.

Pager hack faxed things up properly, again, and again, and again

Re: Ahhh Pagers

>>> Ahhh Pagers

>>> Do you still get these in this day and age?

Yes, the NSW State Emergency Services and NSW Rural Fire Service (both volunteer organisations) use them for callouts. They use a separate network to the phones and SMS and hence are seen as being slightly more reliable. We also get the callout messages on SMS.

IT phone home: How to run up a $20K bill in two days and get away with it by blaming Cisco

Re: Happened to me

This guy would sympathise.....

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/04/us/twinsburg-55000-mail-post-office-trnd/index.html

Student requested access to research data. And waited. And waited. And then hacked to get root

Re: Not caught either...

Or between common sense and paranoia/distrust of staff

It's been 230 years since British pirates robbed the US of the metric system

Re: Hooray for Avoirdupois and pounds, shillings and pence

Or Australia.

Microsoft is checking everyone's bags for unsupported Office installs

Re: Death to subscriptions

I'd be more inclined to borrow the BOFH's cattle prod......

Brocade wrongly sacked award-winning salesman who depended on company insurance for cancer treatment

Re: Intrigued

Sounds like the class system in UK medicine, as described in the Richard Gordon novels, is alive and well.

Re: A timely reminder

And at the other end of the spectrum....

I was visiting my father in a Sydney ICU, and developed a screaming headache. The nursing staff simply asked some questions, presumably to ensure nothing serious was going on, and handed over 2 paracetamol tabs and water, no charge.

Anyone want to guess how much of the $54.75 went to the Candystriper (who are untrained volunteers BTW)?

Meet the merry pranksters who keep the workplace interesting, if not productive

Re: Going BOFH on a spammer.

I see great things in your future. Join us on the Dark Side.

Re: Going BOFH on a spammer.

And In Australia, can also be held personally liable for outstanding tax debts.

Senior engineer reported to management for failing to fix a stapler

Not unusual in any Civil Service department, and not just in the UK......