Security

• A unified, agnostic software environment spanning HPC and AI won't be achieved

  Readers have their say
  Timothy Prickett Morgan Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 11:01 UTC

  Register debate It is entirely human and in some senses desirable to eliminate as much of the complexity out of the IT stack as makes sense. And it is also entirely human to be accepting of the need for choice and to acknowledge the necessary frustration of complexity.

  There is a tension between these two, as many Reg readers pointed out in our latest debate – Can a unified, agnostic software environment that spans both HPC and AI applications be achieved?

  Readers were a little bit more sceptical about this than they were optimistic, and the naysayers edged out the yeasayers, with 53 per cent of the vote against and 47 per cent of the vote for the motion.

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• Playing jigsaw on my roof: They can ID you from your hygiene habits

  Pat McGovern knew his way around a trash can
  Alistair Dabbs Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 10:07 UTC 6

  Something for the Weekend, Sir? Spies in space are watching me as I take a shower.

  I know this because I have just now worked out where the weak link in my home defences lies: it's the boiler. My neighbours only have to lock their front doors and they feel safe. Me, I'm at risk every time I turn on the hot tap.

  Perhaps I'd better explain. It all began with the office shredder.

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• BOFH: Time to put the Pretty Dumb F in PDF reader

  Thanks for the support. Oh … that's us, is it?
  Simon Travaglia Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 09:15 UTC 8

  Episode 22 Nggggggggaaargh!

  The Boss has decided that because ONE user "had really good results" with a particular PDF viewer we should roll it out company-wide – "because there's bound to be someone else who'll want to use it."

  And the software is rubbish. It's a turd in a water tank and everyone can taste it, but the Boss likes it because (a) it's free, and (b) it allows the user to "edit" PDFs plagiarised from the web. And by "edit" I mean crudely – the way you can "edit" your house with an axe.

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• What came first? The chicken, the egg, or the bodge to make everything work?

  Taming the multi-tentacled IT beast with spoofing, shell scripts, and a bit of C
  Richard Speed Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 08:30 UTC 8

  On Call It's another tale from the world of telephony where everything goes wrong in this week's On Call.

  Today's story comes from a Register reader Regomised as "Greg." Greg was the applications manager for a now-defunct telco, and was the throat to choke for all the applications in the customer-facing side of the business. The network side, where telephone calls were actually connected, was a whole other ball game for which he was most definitely not responsible.

  "On my side of the world," he told us, not at all highlighting a worryingly siloed side to the business, "we had a customer service application, which is where the sales clerks entered the details of new customers.

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• NASA's new black hole spotter makes it into orbit

  Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer's two year mission will check out polarization of black holes, neutrons and other celestial objects
  Laura Dobberstein Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 07:57 UTC 1

  In the wee hours of Thursday morning, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission into orbit from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

  IXPE's job is to peer into the dark corners of the universe, where it's hoped it will spot the remnants of supernovae, supermassive black holes, and other high-energy objects.

  That mission has progressed well so far. About 33 minutes after launch the spacecraft separated and unfurled its solar arrays.

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• International Monetary Fund warns crypto-related risks could soon become systemic

  Wants comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated regulation to avoid instability
  Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 06:57 UTC 11

  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for global, comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated regulation to protect the stability of the world's financial systems.

  That stern call was made yesterday in a post by Tobias Adrian, director of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department, and his deputies Dong He and Aditya Narain.

  The three write that while the $2.5 trillion market capitalisation of cryptocurrency potentially does indicate that blockchain and other crypto-related innovations have real value, it may also "reflect froth in an environment of stretched valuations".

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• Amazon fined €1.13bn by Italy's antitrust authorities for abusing its power

  'Use our logistics service or don't. It'll cost you either way.'
  Katyanna Quach Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 06:36 UTC 11

  Amazon was slapped with a whopping €1.13bn (£963.7m or $1.3bn) fine by Italy’s antitrust regulator on Thursday for “abusing its dominant position” and handicapping sellers that aren’t using its logistics service.

  The ecommerce giant offers to pack, ship, and deliver goods sold by third-party vendors under its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) platform. Sellers only have to send their products to an Amazon warehouse, and its workers will handle everything else from there. Although the service is handy, it cuts into their profits.

  FBA costs anywhere from $0.99 per item to $39.99 per month to process an unlimited number of orders in the US. Amazon also charges a referral fee that ranges from eight to 15 per cent on items, as well as any extra storage costs too. Vendors that cough up for FBA receive certain privileges that others do not, according to Italian authorities Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM).

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• Ransomwared payroll provider leaks data on 38,000 Australian government workers

  Frontier Software admitted attack three weeks ago, said data was safe … now it's on the dark web
  Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 05:58 UTC 1

  Personal information describing names, addresses, bank account details, and taxation IDs of 38,000 Australian government employees has been leaked to the dark web after a ransomware attack.

  The treasurer of the Australian State of South Australia, Rob Lucas, today revealed the source of the leak: outsourced payroll provider Frontier Software.

  Frontier had previously advised that the attack had been deflected and customer data was safe. On November 16, the company admitted it was "experiencing a cyber incident which has resulted in limited access to some of our computer systems and data". The next day, Frontier advised customers that service had been restored and that its investigations "show no evidence of any customer data being exfiltrated or stolen". Customers were told that some data was encrypted, but it was nothing to worry about as "Australian customer HR & Payroll data and systems are segmented from the corporate systems and were not compromised".

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• Pentagon wants to drive digital and AI onto the battlefield

  Re-orgs bureaucracy to deliver 'stronger alignment and synchronization'
  Laura Dobberstein Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 04:31 UTC 3

  The USA's Department of Defense has created a post of Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAIO) that is expected to encompass three existing leadership offices and develop advanced fighting capabilities.

  "The Department has made significant strides in unlocking the power of its data, harnessing artificial intelligence (AI), and providing digital solutions for the joint force," reads a DoD memo [PDF] released Wednesday by deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks.

  "Yet stronger alignment and synchronization are needed to accelerate decision advantage and generate advanced capabilities for our warfighters," she added.

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• WTF is a 'software-defined community cloud'?

  Basically a slice of public cloud with better isolation and governance – just like our cloud, says Google
  Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 03:16 UTC 1

  Google has given us all a new variety of cloud to consider: a "software-defined community cloud".

  The advertising giant’s thinking on this variety of cloud starts with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's definition of a vanilla community cloud as "infrastructure … provisioned for exclusive use by a specific community of consumers from organizations that have shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations)".

  Google thinks community clouds built to that definition have "often … failed to meet specific objectives or required significant trade-offs for adopters" because they rely on physical separation for security.

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• China: Bars app that often hosted dissenting conversations

  Also China: This one guy sent feedback to the government online, it was adopted, that shows we’re a democracy
  Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Fri 10 Dec 2021 // 01:20 UTC 6

  China has again banned a batch of apps, but this time it's taken action against a service – Douban – that's hosting opinions Beijing finds displeasing.

  Douban is a social network that shares users' thoughts on movies, books, and music. It's frequently been controversial, as its users aren't afraid to give negative reviews – even of landmark Chinese productions with patriotic themes. The service has been embroiled in numerous controversies regarding censorship and has of late also been the subject of Beijing's ire for hosting fandom communities that turn toxic as factions fight over which pop star is more exciting.

  The service was last week fined for unlawfully sharing user information. Yesterday, it was kicked out of China's app stores, along with a handful of apps that were deemed to be collecting too much personal data. Another 100-plus apps and services were also banned for various reasons.

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