Posts by gazthejourno

Autonomy's Mike Lynch gets yet another judgment date as US extradition wrangling continues

A nice concise summary of 750,000 words... hmmm.

"he did it" / "he did not do it"

* delete as appropriate

Trojan Source attack: Code that says one thing to humans tells your compiler something very different, warn academics

Re: No examples

If you open the PDF paper linked in the article and scroll to the end, there's a bunch of examples there. They're C&Pable.

Ancient with a dash of modern: We joined the Royal Navy to find there's little new in naval navigation

Re: Suggested podcast

Funny you mention Omega Tau, I think I was aboard Enterprise within a couple of months of his visit. At the time Severn's current captain was CO of Enterprise.

Computer Misuse Act: Tell the Home Office infosec needs a public interest defence in law, says CyberUp campaign

Re: Rather than a defence...

I do wonder whether a licensing scheme would present more problems than it solves: who owns and operates it? How much should it cost to join? Would it only accept corporate members? If you're playing about with Shodan on a Sunday afternoon and stumble on something, are you still protected? etc etc.

Average convicted British computer criminal is young, male, not highly skilled, researcher finds

Re: What about........

Belgacom hack reporting: https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/26/belgium_finds_evidence_gchq_belgacom_hack_proximus/

If it HELPS we can randomly insert WORDS ..... in BLOCK capitals......... and hold DOWN THE period KEY..... and dribble ON the KEYBOARD!

Tedious dullard.

Ex-Geeks staff lose legal bid to claw back withheld training costs from final paycheques

Have a read of the full judgment, link's in the article. Quite dense but that's exactly what Day and Bennett's lawyers did. The problem they ran into was Geeks had kept precise records (detailed in the judgment) and one of the claimants had actually received a full month of training time over and above what his contract said he would get. On the flip side none of the training was externally accredited.

From what's in the judgment (and I know what's presented in a courtroom can and does vary from reality) I don't think Geeks was running a bad shop. Training is a cost and ab initio trainees only had to repay it if they quit within 30 months. They even offered a repayment plan when these guys quit - details not given but I get the impression it would have been reasonable, albeit on the steep side.

Hacktivists breach Verkada and view 150,000 CCTV cams in hospitals, prisons, a Tesla factory, even Cloudflare HQ

Re: Nothing new?

We're trying to make the place more yoof-friendly. Five years is a long time, yo.

Dangerous flying car drone zoomed into UK's Gatwick Airport airspace after killswitch failed

Re: Not a red herring

Not so much. The operator was using Google Earth satellite images, and presumably the ruler function, to draw his display box and safety buffer zone. He didn't check with the aerodrome if they had any up to date survey maps he could have used. The Google Earth image was out of date because the runway had been reduced in width after it was taken.

The AIP doesn't contain distances from runway edges to buildings, which in this case was the measurement the operator needed. See pp xx and xxi of the report.

Court witness describes how Autonomy founder Lynch would wash his rear-end in US prison showers and dorms

Re: WTF

I think the idea is to show that sending Lynch to America would result in his health deteriorating to the point where it would impede justice because he'd be too ill to stand trial or testify. But that's just an educated guess.

Lynch's legal team asked for, and were granted, legal orders excluding the bulk of the medical evidence from the public eye. Unfortunately that also covers the precise reasons for Sickler's testimony and cross-examination. I sympathise with Lynch, in all honesty - nobody would want this kind of thing out in public - but it forms part of his pleaded case before a public court and clearly his legal team hoped something substantial would turn on it.

EncroChat hack case: RAM, bam... what? Data in transit is data at rest, rules UK Court of Appeal

"No report of these proceedings shall identify any user or suspected user of EncroChat until further order"

Drastically overbroad and definitely not what the judge in a linked, earlier case intended to achieve, but the effect is what it is.

Heavy-duty case closed: Peli tried to steal peli.co.uk from rightful owner, says Nominet

Re: "Nominet's DRS is part and parcel of the terms and conditions for owning a UK domain name."

You might enjoy this 2012 High Court case, then.

Hydrogen-powered train tested on Britain's railway tracks as diesel alternative

Re: Unloved?

The writer was a daily victim of Thameslink's washboard seating until the Chinese virus halted normal commuting. Unloved is a kind way of referring to those things.

I can see my house from here! Microsoft Flight Simulator has laid strong foundations for the nerdy scene's next generation

Quite honestly I spent ages flying around this as a hardcore flight simulation nerd and not nearly enough time trying out all the other features, though I only had 2 days to test and write this up.

The basic version is available on the Xbox Game Pass for something like £4/month and all you're missing out on is the extra detailed airports and some of the aircraft. The basic selection is plenty good enough if you're not a rivet counter or systems operation geek like me.

I really enjoyed (was frustrated by!) the landing challenges. There's a gameplay section where your job is to accurately touch down at the correct spot on the runway. Obviously there's lots of gusty winds and/or extremely challenging approaches which make that hard. Strongly recommended if you like that sort of thing.

Only true boffins will be able to grasp Blighty's new legal definitions of the humble metre and kilogram

Re: Oh dear...poor use of symbols and units

Her Britannic Majesty's government did the proof-reading, on account of the big bits in bold in the article being direct copy-n-pastes from the Statutory Instrument.

It's quite literally the law.

Dutch spies helped Britain's GCHQ break Argentine crypto during Falklands War

Re: Re: Great name, great beer

A bit further west than Munich I discovered a great Flemish dish called carbonnade flamande. Beef marinaded in local beer (so dark and strong!) and then stewed in a creuset dish with onions and mushrooms plus various regional herbs for flavour. Serve with frites and side salad. Mouth-watering just thinking about it.

Surprise surprise! Hostile states are hacking coronavirus vaccine research, warn UK and USA intelligence

Re: Re: Bullshit article based on bullshit press releases.

You leave the OP alone. All his friends have been posting on Facebook about the bad MSM and how journalists have got it wrong all the time. He wants to feel like part of the special group, fearlessly posting The Truth in comment sections across the internet, bravely pointing out that It's Wrong, You Know. Verily, we are blessed to have his Righteous Sword of Truth gracing our base commentardery.

I'm sure he couldn't tell you what an APT is or does, even given two hours with Google and a packet of crayons. But that's no reason for you to come and crap all over his historic crusade by repeating simple facts well understood by the readers of El Reg, you nasty bully.

Assange should be furloughed from Belmarsh prison, says human rights org. Here's a thought: He could stay with friends!

Re: If you want to know what's happening in the ongoing Assange saga ...

The alleged crime of committing contempt of court, you mean? Further details, albeit brief, available from The Times.

Shipping is so insecure we could have driven off in an oil rig, says Pen Test Partners

Re: Re: "bridging designed gaps between...engineering control systems and human interface"

Fun fact, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary deploy honest-to-god 30mm Vulcan cannon aboard civilian shipping. Not hard to guess why!

Fed-up air safety bods ban A350 pilots from enjoying cockpit coffees

Re: Re: The problem is obvious from the picture

You jest but that was genuinely the problem with the unscheduled A330 coffee-electronics interface event. The cockpit had US cup holders fitted but the puny Euro disposable coffee cups were too small to fit. Cue captain trying to put his cuppa on his tray table and whoops...

Ex-Autonomy CFO Sushovan Hussain's part in the accounting badness was 'wildly overblown'

You're very kind. :-)

'Buyer's remorse' drove HP's legal crusade to go after Lynch, High Court told

Re: Slightly disappointed

Language!

I'm the queen of Gibraltar and will never get a traffic ticket... just two of the things anyone could have written into country's laws thanks to unsanitised SQL input vuln

Gib.gov's press office sends its missives out under the name "No.6 Press Office Mailbox". It took me a few minutes to realise that, far from having six separate email addresses, the Gibraltarian government is actually based at No.6 Convent Place, GX11 1AA.

I assume it's a pleasingly parochial reference to 10 Downing Street.

IT consultant who deleted every account on UK company Jet2's domain cops 5 months in jail

Re: Re: Good

Neither a sentace nor sentence. Hope this helps.

Lynch was 'willing to lie' to High Court over Autonomy whistleblower, claims HPE

Re: @ Gareth...

Both sides did call expert accounting witnesses. Unfortunately they did this at full forensic accounting length during late summer and early autumn when there's lots of other news going on.

I'm hoping to use the quiet Christmas period to try and summarise those parts, though it'll be difficult as the court people who I ask for copies of exhibited graphs, spreadsheets and so on will be on holiday. There is a fair amount of it in the closing arguments too.

Uni of London loses attempt to block mobe mast surveyors from Paddington rooftop

To avoid the article getting unfeasibly long I didn't highlight that the reason behind the Lillian Penson Halls kerfuffle was because Cornerstone needed to replace its existing Paddington mast, which was, in fact, on Eastbourne Terrace - on top of a building scheduled for demolition and redevelopment.

Morrisons is to blame for 100k payroll theft and leak, say 9,000 workers

Re: Headline?

With 29 withdrawn comments I thought you might see better than to post this, but perhaps the 6 upvotes emboldened you.

I have placed your commentard account on pre-moderate. We don't need clodhopping dullardry like this polluting the forums.

If anyone else can explain to me why a straight headline summarising the legal arguments of the Morrisons claimants is "clickbait", do so.

For all others who are too defective to read beyond the headline, feel free to go and read something more suited to your abilities and station in life. You will find Spot the Dog provides you with an adequate intellectual challenge and suitable dinner party discussion material for years to come.

UK ads watchdog slaps Amazon for UX dark arts after folk bought Prime subs they didn't want

Advertising Standards Authority Ltd is a private company based in Shoreditch. Adland has a gentleman's agreement that they won't sue the ASA for embarrassing them publicly.

Oddly enough the ASA also "rules" against companies (well, small and micro-businesses) who don't subscribe to its various rules and so on. I assume the policy is 1) never target a non-subscribing company with any financial reserves and 2) adland agrees to cover their legal fees if a one-man band does get legally angry.

Former BAE Systems contractor charged with 'damaging disclosure' of UK defence secrets

Re: ??

Hi Simon Finch, nice to see you've got internet access now you're out on bail. See you at the Old Bailey next month! xxx

EU court rules Right To Be Forgotten doesn't apply outside member states

Not so: dot-com is the US version of Google.

Army Watchkeeper drone flopped into tree because crew were gazing backwards

He didn't decrab at all? That touched down facing the camera (20 degrees+ off the runway centreline) and only straightened out once the tyres gripped the runway surface.

Brilliant skill to safely land in a very strong crosswind but not a decrab as I understand the term.

US soldier cleared of taking armoured vehicle out for joyride – because he's insane, court says

Re: So...

This has 22 upvotes. I am considering locking the comments now and preserving this moment of divine intervention for all time.

Fantastic Mr Fox? Not when he sh*ts on your lawn, kids' trampoline and your soul

No no no no no. If you're going to shoot, shoot to kill, don't shoot to inflict suffering and a drawn out death from lead poisoning. A .22" Hornet round seems to be the smallest accepted lethal foxing cartridge.

Mind you, one of those automatic airsoft guns pumping out a stream of plastic BBs might do the trick. Could be a Reg project - can we build a replica Phalanx CIWS using a Raspberry Pi, an airsoft gun and some open source AI/ML pattern recognition sw so it doesn't blast holes through Tiddles and Rover?

Phalanx doing its thing, as seen on Youtube.

I may have read Autonomy whistleblower emails about 'inflated' sales, founder Mike Lynch admits in court

Re: Re: Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of auditors ..

Believe me, you don't want to watch it live. Long moments of utter accountancy tedium interspersed with the odd judicial comment and the occasional pulled face.

Scots NHS symptom checker pings Facebook, Google and other ad peddlers

Re: "Scots NHS symptom checker pings Facebook, Google and other ad peddlers"

The crucial difference between the NHS health symptoms checker website and El Reg is...

Autonomy integration was a 'sh!t show', HP director tells court

Re: Re: It's just gets worse and worse...

Correct. I'm expecting the second half of this, where HP cross-examines Lynch and Hussain's witnesses and evidence, to contain a fair amount of traffic the other way because that's how cross-examination works.

It's worth bearing in mind that the reports you read, here and elsewhere, are distillations of what happened in court that day. For the clearest picture it's best to read multiple outlets' reports: we all differ subtly in what we mention because this is such a complicated and nuanced case.

Here's what Autonomy told its salesmen they were allowed to do

Re: Re: It begins with H and ends with E and is 8 letters long:

Get out.

Autonomy's one-time US sales chief can't remember if he took part in grand jury hearing

Re: Re: Picture. Are they auctioning something off?

US case heavily referenced during this hearing involved gavels. Nice try but your pedantry fails you.

'Software delivered to Boeing' now blamed for 737 Max warning fiasco

Re: Re: does this affect more aircraft than the ill fated 737 max?

It's a different thing to have a permanent set of steam-driven gauges displaying information all the time. On the Tutor, if I want to check the ammeter I glance down at that particular gauge.

On a glass cockpit (say with an Airbus, or even a Cessna with a Garmin setup) that means looking down and selecting a menu on a multi-function screen and picking the right parameter to display. I also need to know what things will spontaneously pop up and where they will pop up on my screens if something goes wrong, as opposed to just knowing that if gauge X goes to reading Y I need to carry out action Z.

Two different beasts, two different philosophies.

Autonomy's financial reports? I didn't even read KPMG's due-diligence, says ex-HP CEO Léo Apotheker

Re: Re: Awesome reporting!

The Rolls Building where this trial is taking place, allegedly Britain's most modern courthouse, has no press benches or even tables. The 19th century Royal Courts of Justice has press benches in every courtroom.

Mind you, the Rolls Building is abundantly sprinkled with plug sockets for chargers whereas it wouldn't surprise me if the oak-panelled RCJ was still lit with natural gas, so there's advantages and disadvantages.

Autonomy trial judge gets SaaSy with HPE's lawyer over vital accounts fraud claim

Re: Yawn...

a) No juries in English civil cases

b) Someone genuinely just snored, once, loudly enough to be heard across the whole courtroom.

Autonomy paid its own customers to pump up revenues, claims HPE

You'd be surprised how many people look like incoherent idiots if you write down every single word they say. Try it - record yourself for 3 minutes having a chat with a friend or a colleague and then transcribe it word for word.

UK joins growing list of territories to ban Boeing 737 Max flights as firm says patch incoming

Re: 737-800

Yes, they are different. At the moment there are six (count 'em!) 737-8 Maxes on the UK civil register and 96 737-800s. AFAIK Ryanair hasn't yet received any of their ordered Maxes.

Buffer overflow flaw in British Airways in-flight entertainment systems will affect other airlines, but why try it in the air?

Re: Re: Entertainment system pen testing

Believe it or not, Ryanair's fleet of Boeing 737s are almost all brand new.

Crowdfunded lawyer suing Uber told he can't swerve taxi app giant's £1m legal bill

It's very nice of you to copy-and-paste from a light rewording of my original article, which you had to click in order to get here.

HPE wants British ex-CFO to testify in UK Autonomy lawsuit before Uncle Sam sentences him

Re: Re : The Register will be reporting the case as it progresses.

Excellent stuff, please keep up the reading.

Kwik-Fit hit by MOT fail, that's Malware On Target

Re: Re: re: Too bad they couldn't continue operating as normal with paper records,

Not sure about air traffic control. On the rare occasions when UK ATC systems down tools and go to the pub, everything stops: procedural control is so rarely needed that it's no longer trained in places that don't use it day-to-day.

Nationwide UK court IT failure farce 'not the result of a cyber attack' – Justice Ministry

Re: Judicial precedent for refusing to continue ...

Nah. The criminal justice system is run by and for the State. No judge is going to upset the applecart by putting the CPS on the same level playing field as a defendant.

What happens when a Royal Navy warship sees a NATO task force headed straight for it? A crash course in Morse

The original invite was to pop over to Norway for a few days to see the RN doing things with autonomous watercraft (boats and mini submarines). Part tech demo to show off British industry, part "oi, Vlad, we've got toys that can detect your toys now". Unfortunately the timing clashed with something else.

Sportingly, the RN said "come aboard anyway". Hence I got to treat you all to tales from the Arctic, as well as discovering Windows ME/XP and Apple Macintosh still in use.

Re: Vomit inducing

We encountered a 5 metre swell just outside Kristiansund. That was very entertaining; I learned that I don't get seasick (to be fair, may well have been the seasickness tabs functioning as designed) and very nearly impaled my nostril on a coathook outside the wardroom as Enterprise just kept on heeling further over.

I also nearly got KO'd by a flying chair while interviewing one of the HMs, who had developed the uncanny ability to stand rooted to the spot while everyone (and everything!) else went flying hither and thither.

Good point, well made, nice use of colour. It should read tap tap - clunk tap, each tap being the clanky shutters on the lamp opening.