Posts by Snorlax

Ex-US intel, military trio were cyber-mercenaries for UAE, say prosecutors

Somebody once said "If the punishment for a crime is a fine, you're just targeting poor people".

Re: it does not make much difference to me.

Reminds me of that Mitchell and Webb Nazi sketch... "Hans,are we the bad guys?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF9LP-9uG_k

Pretty naive to imagine that these guys restrict themselves to spying on people from country X or country Y.

ExpressVPN bought for $1bn by Brit biz with an intriguing history in adware

Hmmm

It appears that one of the head honchos of ExpressVPN, Daniel Gericke, may be the same Daniel Gericke who was charged by US authorities today for hacking US citizens on behalf of the UAE government.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-spying-raven/

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.235544/gov.uscourts.dcd.235544.1.0.pdf

https://github.com/expressvpn-dan-g

https://twitter.com/msuiche/status/1222168162361278464

When everyone else is on vacation, it's time to whip out the tiny screwdrivers

Re: Haynes Manuals

Auto Auction Rebuilds on YouTube. Saw this one during the week :D

G20 finance ministers agree plan to make multinationals pay their 'fair share' of tax

Re: EU backs it...

Oh please...

UK overseas territories top list of world’s tax havens

The top 10 biggest enablers of global corporate tax abuse

1 British Virgin Islands (British overseas territory)

2 The Cayman Islands (British overseas territory)

3 Bermuda (British overseas territory)

4 Netherlands

5 Switzerland

6 Luxembourg

7 Hong Kong

8 Jersey (British crown dependency)

9 Singapore

10 United Arab Emirates

IT manager who swindled Essex hospital trust out of £800k gets 5 years in prison

Poking The Bear

"As well as creating fake identities to help disguise his fraud, Stannard was also including VAT on his invoices, something his barrister Paul Webb told the court was purely so the fraud looked convincing."

Every fule kno you don't mess with the VAT man.

Also, admitting to an additional fraud to make your original fraud look more convincing isn't a smart move.

While some Apple employees aren't happy with hybrid work plans, those on the retail front line are probably delighted

Re: Lead by example

"What is currently going on is a theft from the workers on an unprecedented scale. You cannot explain the fact that big companies boast about their billions and workers cannot afford anything."

Currently? This has been the employer-employee relationship since forever - extracting the maximum amount of labour for the minimum amount of expenditure

Brit IT firms wound up by court order after fooling folk into paying for 'support' over fake computer errors

+91 Support Scum

“Brit IT firms” in the loosest sense only.

Unfortunately there are 1000’s more “Vikrams” out there preying on vulnerable people. The profits are offshored long before they end up in court.

Why did automakers stall while the PC supply chain coped with a surge? Because Big Tech got priority access

Re: Everything needs intelligence these days, except my Harley.

"But do we really need the processing power of a small data centre just so an idiot can get in the back seat when he's 'driving'?"

Straw man argument. Only a tiny fraction of a percentage of cars allow the driver to do dumb stuff like you describe.

US nuke agency hacked by suspected Russian SolarWinds spies, Microsoft also installed backdoor

Re: Best Practice

AV is a bit clunky but has tough job to do and is first line of defence...

Last line of defence, I think you'll find.

'Long-standing vulns' in 5G protocols open the door for attacks on smartphone users

Re: Astonishing

” It seems that software development in particular is mostly conducted without any discipline at all.”

@Mike 137: Indeed.

One word: “Agile”. Ship crappy code early, and rewrite it regularly.

But I thought...

...everything was going to be fine security-wise once the networks got rid of their Huawei equipment. Mike Pompeo said so repeatedly.

Yours,

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells

Sopra Steria: Adding up outages and ransomware cleanup, Ryuk attack will cost us up to €50m

Having an insurance policy isn't the same as insurance paying out in the event you make a claim.

This. Anybody who’s ever made a car or home insurance claim knows what slippery, devious f***ers insurance companies are.

If data is exfiltrated and published by the attacker (e.g. Maze), you can start thinking about how big your GDPR fine might be...

Spending Review: We spy a stray £60m – is that all you can spare to help 5G market recover from UK kicking out Huawei?

Remember the Brexit bus?

The Brexit bus claimed that £350 million per week was being sent to Europe for the privilege of EU membership.

Presumably UK.gov stopped making these payments after the referendum? Why not spend some of that money on corporate welfare payments?

Or better yet, spend the money on citizens’ welfare rather than propping up tax-dodging multinational phone companies...

UK's Space Command to be 'capable of launching our first rocket in 2022'

Needs Must

How else will the UK GNSS satellite constellation make it into space?

Is GNSS still a goer, or a pipe dream?

Gibraltar’s kinda close to the equator?

Diego Garcia would be perfect but they’d have to evict the Yanks first.

Ex-missile systems worker jailed for breaching Official Secrets Act after last-second guilty plea

Re: Somebody please tell me....

I know from experience (not myself) how difficult it can be to get assessed as an adult in the UK for the simple reason that the funding is not there for adult assessments.

Too right. I was waiting for an ADHD assessment in the public system for nearly three years before I gave up and paid to get it done privately. Phoned the clinic on a Friday, had the assessment the next Wednesday.

My advice to anybody waiting for an appointment on the NHS: beg, borrow or steal (ok, don't steal) the money to get an assessment done privately.

Given the court's rejection of his condition, I doubt he'll get the support he might actually need - if his claims are correct.

He was picked up previously for having a hammer and a machete in a public place, so he might have mental health issues but I don't think autism's his problem. If his legal team thought he had autism, they would have had him assessed before trial..

Re: (yes girls have it as well)

It’s at times like this I wish The Reg allowed us to respond to comments with gifs.

If they did I’d use this one for you, my anonymous friend:

https://media1.giphy.com/media/d1E2qvruXFtGi6A0/giphy.gif

Re: Somebody please tell me....

I’m not sure I understand the question. Was that an attempt at humour? Some people have both...it’s not an either/or situation.

Whatever neurodevelopmental disorder you’ve got, whether it’s ADHD, autism or Aspergers, you’re not entitled to a “get out of jail free” card

Re: Somebody please tell me....

Criminal behaviour is very low amongst those with Asperger's as compared to the overall populace.

ADHD is my thing. It's well-represented in prison populations - probably something to do with impulsive behaviour, and the likelihood of co-morbidity with oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder.

"..is there a more boring the place in the entire world than a court room?"

I think the administration of justice in court is fascinating. Maybe I need to get out more :D

Sometimes you wonder "What was the defendant thinking?, other times it's "What was the judge thinking?"

Somebody please tell me....

...why autism is often claimed to be a mitigating circumstance in cases like this?

Seems offensive to those who have the disorder that it would be falsely cited as a reason for some dumbass disclosing State secrets...

Software AG hit with ransomware: Crooks leak staffers' passports, want millions for stolen files

Negligence or incompetence?

I keep an eye on the Maze website to see who's been hit lately. I can excuse the 'mom and pop' companies somewhat and say that they're incompetent or lacking skills, although they may still have legal obligations to secure data under GDPR, HIPAA, etc. Enterprise companies on the other hand, have no excuse. They've got SOCs, IR teams, etc.

The problem I see (with the companies I work with, at least) is that too many don't do enough proactive work to prevent a ransomware attack, and have the attitude "Well, isn't that why we have cyber insurance?".

They pay the ransom...get back to work...no lessons learned.

Expect to see more pushback from insurance companies in the future. As any fule no, they don't like paying out to customers.

Huawei Matebook X Pro 2020: Nothing too crazy but at least it's more fixable and cheaper than comparable Apple wares

Re: Seems good but..

” What put me off the last iteration though is battery.”

Batteries are very easy to replace on pre-2018 MacBook Airs, and moderately easy to replace on post-2018 models:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Retina+Display+2019+Battery+Replacement/135254

Re: £1,699.99

"Can someone explain to me..."

They bought a shitload of components before the US sanctions were enacted:

https://www.techspot.com/news/85439-huawei-has-spent-billions-2-year-stockpile-american.html

Presumably the same goes for their Windows licenses.

Or maybe they can sidestep the ban by using an OEM like Foxconn or Clevo to build their laptops...but probably not.

They're currently knocking out (ARM?) desktop processors in the Chinese market under the HiSilicon brand, so you'll probably see more of that if the Apple ARM thing takes off and people realise that x86 isn't the only game in town.

https://www.techspot.com/news/86330-huawei-24-core-kunpeng-desktop-cpu-faster-than.html

Re: £1,699.99

"...the weird presumption..."

Your logic is somewhat flawed, my anonymous friend, and the only weird presumption I can see is yours. I'm sure you'll understand that I don't really care what brand of hardware you spend your money on.

The observation was that the US has deemed Huawei to be a threat to domestic companies, to the extent that the government has banned US companies from doing business with them - ultimately hurting their sales figures in that part of the world.

Re: Like comparing an apple with a watermelon

"The "business laptop" category is widely understood in the industry. "

Businesses don't buy Huawei laptops.

£1,699.99

It's a nice laptop, but is it worth dropping 1700 quid on?

It's not a premium brand by any stretch of the imagination, and the Trump government's anti-Huawei propaganda hasn't done the name any favours...

Also - at least a similarly-priced MacBook will have some resale value in 3 or 4 years...

US drugstore chain installed anti-shoplifter facial-recognition cameras in 200 locations – for eight years

Hey Tesco...

Funny. I was in my local Tesco this morning and saw new iPad-sized screens attached to the self-service tills at head height, displaying each customer. Asked the guy behind the counter what they were used for...”Something to do with shoplifting”.

My phone was in the car, so I didn’t get a photo. Must go back later for a pic or two...

Capita Consulting ditching more than a quarter of its workforce 45 days after consultations with consultants

Re: AIrcrew redundancies willbe far higher than reported so far

... no recourse to public funds when she returns

And rightly so.

Sorry to hear about your daughter’s unemployment by the way.

Re: What do you call Capita shrinking by 25%?

I find it hilarious when people lose their jobs too.

I think the irony is lost on you...

Let me wipe a tear from my eye

...A tear of laughter.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of people

Barclays Bank appeared to be using the Wayback Machine as a 'CDN' for some Javascript

Re: Liability

Intent, mens rea, is a key component in any potential case...

Good luck proving intent.

Re: Liability

I would change the image to Goatse man and wait to see how long it took to be un-hotlinked.

Re: Liability

Are you liable for what happens to the data of the visitors of the other site?

Of course not.

You had no idea that anybody was hotlinking to your site, did you?

Re: Once Flash finally dies

Keep your hair on. It’s probably just autocorrect messing things up.

Gulp! Irish Water outsources contact centres to Capita for up to €27m over 7 years

Re: Thanks management

I personally know customer service staff in another Irish state-run utility who were earning €60k/year for answering the phones before customer service was outsourced.

Those days are gone. To be honest, Irish companies are shite at customer service anyway. They act like you should be grateful that they’re supplying you with a service. :D

Re: Thanks management

“ I'm kinda surprised they've not hired the expertise in-house.”

Irish Water is a state-run utility.

In-house expertise? The company’s staffed with civil servants so you can forget that idea.

Infrastructure support - pipes, meters, etc - is also outsourced.

Re: Irish Water

The Irish drink a lot.

Yeah, never heard that stereotype before. Very witty.

Re: "new software and digital capabilities"

@macjules: If you’re speaking or writing in Irish, the name of the country is Éire. Notice the fada, or long accent , on the first letter of the word.

If you’re speaking or writing in English, the name of the country is Ireland.

Simples.

You don’t refer to Wales as Cymru when you’re having a conversation in English, do you?

Embrace and kill? AppGet dev claims Microsoft reeled him in with talk of help and a job – then released remarkably similar package manager

I’ve never heard of MS doing that before /s

Sometimes when the good-looking girl in the class comes to talk to you, she just wants you to do her homework...

Surely no developer is naive enough to go for a chat with Microsoft without bringing along at least six lawyers?

Although if you need to ask for Azure credit, they know you don’t have the resources to sue them for stealing your ideas.

Tech's Volkswagen moment? Trend Micro accused of cheating Microsoft driver QA by detecting test suite

Re: "Working closely..."

What the hell is wrong with you? This situation is nothing like a person being raped.

If that’s your idea of a random example to compare, you need to see a psychiatrist.

Re: Petty or Pedant?

This place is full of pedants. Don’t apologise.

Where the hell Huawei? It should be a bit easier to tell now the AppGallery has its first proper navigation app

@Tubz

..unless they stamp out dodgy apps...

lol, you haven’t been on the Google Play Store have you? Stamping out dodgy apps doesn’t seem to be high on Google’s list of things to do either...

Google begs for US Entity List exemption to let Huawei use its mobile services – report

To be honest...

...I find the lack of Google-related spyware on newer Huawei phones a great selling point.

It would appear that the world's biggest ad-slinger needs Huawei more than Huawei needs them. Funny old world eh?

How the US-China trade war is felt stateside: Xilinx trims workforce after lucrative Huawei sales pipe blocked

Re: So the CIA should just buy Huawei, problem solved

Didn’t Motorola sell their cellular business to Nokia Siemens a decade ago?

Re: So who is actually happy?

” The Feds are trying to make somebody buy a controlling interest in Nokia or Ericsson, so that they can smile again... Hopefully Europe will tell them where to get off.”

For a country that despises ‘socialism’, Bill Barr’s suggestion that the state should take over a private company would make Stalin proud.

Re: Isn't It Ironic?

True. Uncle Sam doesn’t like competition.

Isn't It Ironic?

No, not the Alanis Morissette song...

US government tells us that the Chinese will hoover up our calls and data traffic if they’re allowed to build 5G networks in the West.

Meanwhile, in the news last week we discover that the CIA was running a Swiss front company, Crypto AG, which had backdoored encryption devices used by governments worldwide. Seriously, fuck these guys...