CISA boss: Makers of insecure software are the real cyber villains
Write better code, urges Jen Easterly. And while you're at it, give crime gangs horrible names like 'Evil Ferret'
Software20 Sep 2024 | 6
Public Sector
Your Public Sector Pulse: Where Policy Meets Tech Innovation
There’s so much happening at The Register in our coverage of government tech, we’ve dedicated section for the Public Sector, which offers you a front-row seat to the intersection of governance and technology. From e-governance initiatives and cybersecurity protocols to digital transformation in public services, however fast (or slow) it happens, we bring you analyses, updates, and insights that matter.
With billions in UK govt IT contracts about to expire, get the next vendors to act right
Poor performers get renewals, new small outfits discouraged from bidding, say researchers
Public Sector19 Sep 2024 | 16
FBI boss says China 'burned down' 260,000-device botnet when confronted by Feds
Plus: Wray tells how bureau helps certain victims negotiate with ransomware crooks
Cyber-crime18 Sep 2024 | 18
Deja blues... LockBit boasts once again of ransoming IRS-authorized eFile.com
Add 'ransomware' to the list of certainties in life?
Cyber-crime18 Sep 2024 | 1
Putin really wants Trump back in the White House
US govt, Microsoft report on Kremlin trolls' latest antics to Make America Grate Again
Research18 Sep 2024 | 160
Lebanon now hit with deadly walkie-talkie blasts as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war
Second wave of exploding gear kills at least 14 today
Security18 Sep 2024 | 165
UK pensions department's project to unite government ERP systems comes to £1.9B
Four branches attempt to streamline HR and business processes
Public Sector18 Sep 2024 | 12
SpaceX faces $663K FAA fine for Musk's alleged launch impatience
Some good news for Elon – 2,500 planes to be Starlink Wi-Fi ready as United joins the party
Public Sector17 Sep 2024 | 45
Bank fines HPE's financial services arm in India
Alleges its governance was MIA and its KYC SNAFU
Public Sector16 Sep 2024 | 2
China wants red flags on all AI-generated content posted online
Visible and audible warnings, plus metadata, with absence of info considered suspicious
Public Sector16 Sep 2024 | 18
Meta back at it, harvesting Britons' public Facebook, Insta feeds for AI training
I wanna know 🎵 What you're feeling 🎵 Tell me what's on your mind
Personal Tech14 Sep 2024 | 31
EU OKs $1.9B aid for Intel Polish plant, assuming x86 giant doesn't end up cutting it
Updated That's zloty money but is it too little, too late?
On-Prem13 Sep 2024 | 13
AI giants pinky swear (again) not to help make deepfake smut
Oh look, another voluntary, non-binding agreement to do better
AI + ML13 Sep 2024 | 16
Australia’s government spent the week boxing Big Tech
With social media age limits, anti-scam laws, privacy tweaks, and misinformation rules Elon Musk labelled 'fascist'
Public Sector13 Sep 2024 | 41
Pokémon GO was an intelligence tool, claims Belarus military official
Augmented reality meets warped reality
Personal Tech12 Sep 2024 | 36
Cyber crooks shut down UK, US schools, thousands of kids affected
No class: Black Suit ransomware gang boasts of 200GB haul from one raid
Cyber-crime11 Sep 2024 | 45
India to train 5,000 'Cyber Commandos'
Minister reckons dedicated cops necessary to protect digital transactions
Security11 Sep 2024 | 3
Pentagon has little to show for two decades of GPS modernization work
Not even the venerable expertise of the US Space Force is enough to push progress
Software10 Sep 2024 | 15
US spends CHIPS Act cash to explore Indian chipmaking collabs
Starting with an analysis of what India has to offer, which is plenty
Public Sector10 Sep 2024 | 6
Malaysia's plan to block overseas DNS dies after a day
Minister orders regulator to slow down following immediate backlash
Public Sector10 Sep 2024 | 14
Popular
IBM quietly axing thousands of jobs, source says
We did warn you, Big Blue tells The Reg, as Cisco also cuts staff as promised
Open source maintainers underpaid, swamped by security, going gray
AI-coded contributions? Most would rather skip the bot's work
FBI boss says China 'burned down' 260,000-device botnet when confronted by Feds
Plus: Wray tells how bureau helps certain victims negotiate with ransomware crooks
Chinese spies spent months inside aerospace engineering firm's network via legacy IT
Exclusive Getting sloppy, Xi
Torvalds weighs in on 'nasty' Rust vs C for Linux debate
This is like vi vs Emacs with 'religious overtones,’ project chief laughs
Lebanon now hit with deadly walkie-talkie blasts as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war
Second wave of exploding gear kills at least 14 today
Despite Russia warnings, Western critical infrastructure remains unprepared
Feature 'Lives will be lost' as Moscow ramps up offensive cyber military units
Cops across the world arrest 51 in orchestrated takedown of Ghost crime platform
Italian mafia mobsters and Irish crime families scuppered by international cops
Tor insists its network is safe after German cops convict CSAM dark-web admin
Outdated software blamed for cracks in the armor
Putin really wants Trump back in the White House
US govt, Microsoft report on Kremlin trolls' latest antics to Make America Grate Again
STORIES
US sets reporting requirements for AI models, infrastructure operators
Washington wants to know what the biggest model-makers are up to
AI + ML10 Sep 2024 | 1
Russia's top-secret military unit reportedly plots undersea cable 'sabotage'
US alarmed by heightened Kremlin naval activity worldwide
Security09 Sep 2024 | 40
DoE drops $23M in effort to reinvigorate supercomputing
Challenges span energy efficiency, memory, programmability, and national security
Systems09 Sep 2024 | 3
Boeing's Calamity Capsule returns to Earth without a crew
What now for these pod people?
Science07 Sep 2024 | 67
Defense AI models 'a risk to life' alleges spurned tech firm
In-depth Chatterbox Labs CEO claims Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office unfairly cancelled a contract then accused him of blackmail
AI + ML06 Sep 2024 | 8
US tightens export controls on quantum kit and chips for China, Iran, Russia
Alloys make the list too, as allies try to ensure foes can't weaponise tech
Public Sector06 Sep 2024 | 4
Homeland security hopes to scuttle maritime cyber-threats with port infosec testbed
Supply chains, 13M jobs and $649B a year at risk, so Uncle Sam is fighting back - with a request for info
Public Sector05 Sep 2024 | 6
White House’s new fix for cyber job gaps: Serve the nation in infosec
Now do your patriotic duty and fill one of those 500k open roles, please?
Security05 Sep 2024 | 21
Uncle Sam charges Russian GRU cyber-spies behind 'WhisperGate intrusions'
Feds post $10M bounty for each of the six's whereabouts
Cyber-crime05 Sep 2024 | 7
Apple accused of hoodwinking UK antitrust cops
Mac maker denial of Safari self-preferencing called out by OWA
Applications05 Sep 2024 | 9
Security biz Verkada to pay $3M penalty under deal that also enforces infosec upgrade
Allowed access to 150K cameras, some in sensitive spots, but has been done for spamming
Security05 Sep 2024 | 3
White House seizes 32 domains, issues criminal charges in massive election-meddling crackdown
Russia has seemingly decided who it wants Putin the Oval Office
Security05 Sep 2024 | 90
You had one job – and four US regulators will share info to check a merger didn't unfairly end it
The mass layoffs that follow tech acquisitions are likely to attract greater scrutiny
Public Sector04 Sep 2024 | 4
European chip lobby seeks more government cash and policy clout
Last year's €43B was a nice snack. Now for a feast of regulatory capture
Public Sector04 Sep 2024 | 14
Telegram apologizes to South Korea and takes down smutty deepfakes
Unclear if this is a sign controversial service is cleaning up its act everywhere
Public Sector04 Sep 2024 | 10
Ex-senior New York State staffer charged in cash-for-favors scandal with China
Bagging two posh properties, three luxury cars on a govt salary a bit of a giveaway – allegedly
Public Sector04 Sep 2024 | 6
US govt halts medical study into Havana Syndrome, cites 'coercion' of participants
What was screwing with minds of US diplomats – wait, is that a black helicopt...
Science04 Sep 2024 | 49
NHS dangles £1.5B carrot to be outfitted with everything from PCs to printers
Gadget gladiators line up to supply world's largest healthcare org
Public Sector02 Sep 2024 | 31
Astronomers back call for review of bonkers rule that means satellite swarms fly without environment checks
Space boffins want pollution from the likes of Starlink regulated
Science29 Aug 2024 | 48
EU tries to pin down China on definition of 'important data'
Rules on cross border data transfers have European businesses scratching their heads
Legal29 Aug 2024 | 2
Big Tech: Malaysia won't let us set our own rules and that's not fair and makes us grumpy
Asia Internet Coalition asks for rethink of social media licensing law with the old 'You'll scare away investors' line – a week after AWS opened a region
Public Sector28 Aug 2024 | 22
Watchdog warns FBI is sloppy on secure data storage and destruction
update National security data up for grabs, Office of the Inspector General finds
Security26 Aug 2024 | 6
India misses ten million public WiFi hotspot goal, catchup not looking likely
ASIA IN BRIEF Plus: Glowing reports for Fukushima wastewater; New datacenters in Fiji, Malaysia & South Korea; and more
Public Sector26 Aug 2024 | 3
UK government can't kick consultancy habit despite promises
Spending returns to pandemic levels as tech deals make up bulk of framework agreements
Public Sector24 Aug 2024 | 46
Under pressure from Europe, Apple makes iOS browser options bit more reasonable
Analysis Cupertino quits screwing around with defaults – for those in the EU
Applications24 Aug 2024 | 19
Feds, US states sue RealPage for building rent-hiking software for landlords
Algorithm just a fancy way to collude using private info, prosecutors say
Applications23 Aug 2024 | 35
Cisco calls for United Nations to revisit cyber-crime convention
Echoes human rights groups' concerns that it could suppress free speech and more
Security22 Aug 2024 | 13
City council faces £216.5M loss over Oracle system debacle
Europe's largest local authority canceled expected savings baked into financial plans
Databases20 Aug 2024 | 105
Euro antitrust cop Margrethe Vestager to depart after decade of reining in Big Tech
Her legacy hinges on her successor – will they double down?
Public Sector20 Aug 2024 | 5
Pakistan’s internet slows to uncomfortable levels, allegedly due to new China-style firewall
Minister issues denial – it's just an upgrade to the 'web-management system'
Public Sector20 Aug 2024 | 6
California trims AI safety bill to stop tech heads from freaking out
Anthropic boss meanwhile reckons there's 'a good chance ... we'll be able to get models that are better than most humans at most things'
AI + ML16 Aug 2024 | 27
Texas Instruments calculates its US CHIPS Act winnings at $1.6B
Another $3B in loans also on the table to support $18B foundry enlargement
Public Sector16 Aug 2024 | 7
UK farm ministry offers £27M to support legacy systems for another three years
Controversial payment systems set for another lease of life
Public Sector16 Aug 2024 | 19
IRS has loads of legacy IT, still has no firm plans to replace it
Treasury questions the retirement of the, er, Technology Retirement Office
Public Sector14 Aug 2024 | 31
Indian telcos to cut off scammy, spammy, telemarketers for two whole years
There's a blockchain involved so it's totally going to stop you getting those calls
Public Sector14 Aug 2024 | 33
India shuffles away draft law treating influencers like real broadcasters
Online celebs might find that flattering – but not if it means a committee must approve their next livestream
Public Sector14 Aug 2024 | 12
Biden tries to cut through fog of confusion caused by deliberately deceptive customer service tricks
Targets impossible unsubscribes, elusive human assistance, and other wallet-draining time sinks
Public Sector13 Aug 2024 | 46
Small datacenters face the axe under China's new energy policy
Tech industry told to clean up its act – and help others to do likewise – in pursuit of 2035 'Beautiful China' goal
Off-Prem13 Aug 2024 |
Report slams Boeing and NASA over shoddy quality that's delayed SLS blastoff
Space Launch System project overspent, under-built, and is overdue, government probe finds
Science09 Aug 2024 | 51
US 'laptop farm' man accused of outsourcing his IT jobs to North Korea to fund weapons programs
American and Brit firms thought they were employing a Westerner, but not so, it's alleged
CSO08 Aug 2024 | 19
NASA mulls using SpaceX in 2025 to rescue Starliner pilots stuck on space station
Officials may overhaul next year's Dragon mission if Boeing's Calamity Capsule proves too risky to return with crew
Science07 Aug 2024 | 90
Verisign under fire for increasing .com prices each and every year it can
Registry happy to chat about caps, just don't consider it a commitment to actually do anything
Networks06 Aug 2024 | 8
Michigan probes Musk-backed PAC website that weirdly tried and failed to help register people to vote
Updated It claimed to have one job and couldn't do it
Public Sector05 Aug 2024 | 44
Keir Starmer says facial recognition tech is the answer to far-right riots
The technology remains highly controversial despite widespread rollout
Public Sector05 Aug 2024 | 292
China starts testing national cyber-ID before consultation on the idea closes
Eighty-one apps signed up to pilot facial recognition and real name ID system
Public Sector05 Aug 2024 | 12
India migrates 25,000 small lenders to ERP in just five months
ASIA IN BRIEF Plus: Food poisoning hits ByteDance Singapore; Indonesia bans DuckDuckGo; and more
Public Sector05 Aug 2024 | 3
San Francisco set to ban rent-hiking algorithms used by landlords
Automated price-fixing software screwing over tenants? Fog off!
Software02 Aug 2024 | 39
Here we go again with more AI crime prediction for policing
Hold that thought, citizen
AI + ML01 Aug 2024 | 34
Infosys denies it owes $4B in taxes to India
Taxman disagrees with the outfit that built the tax portal
Off-Prem01 Aug 2024 | 6
Malaysia is working on an internet 'kill switch', says minister
Follows requirement for social media and messaging platforms to get a license
Public Sector30 Jul 2024 | 21
US border cops really must get a warrant in NY before searching your phones, devices
Do we really want to bother SCOTUS with this, friends? Surely they're way too busy to take a look
Public Sector29 Jul 2024 | 38
Inquiry hears UK government misled MPs over Post Office IT scandal
Former business minister Vince Cable testifies, highlighting misinformation and oversight failures
Public Sector29 Jul 2024 | 50
China ponders creating a national 'cyberspace ID'
Because clearly it's better for Beijing to know who you are than for every ISP and social service to keep its own records
Public Sector29 Jul 2024 | 19
US claims TikTok shipped personal data to China – very personal data
Not even Oracle could stop it, claims DoJ
Legal29 Jul 2024 | 29
Group of 91 nations agree to continue not taxing cross-border data movement – for now
Promote free use of government data, privacy, canning spam, and more
Public Sector29 Jul 2024 | 10
Kamala Harris's $7M support from LinkedIn founder comes with a request: Fire Lina Khan
FTC boss must be doing something right if folks will pay to get her binned
Public Sector26 Jul 2024 | 109
UK.gov to chuck up to £5B to gang of back office software vendors
Framework deal set to run until 2029 as central govt transitions to new ERP SaaS model
Public Sector26 Jul 2024 | 14
UK and India sign broad tech collaboration pact
Pick a hot market – AI, quantum, chips, 6G – and the pair have a plan to work on it together
Public Sector26 Jul 2024 | 12
Sam Altman wants a US-led freedom coalition to fight authoritarian AI
Team America AI Police?
AI + ML25 Jul 2024 | 30
India ditches its 'Google Tax' after US waved a big stick
Stakeholders found it an 'ambiguous' compliance burden and the world has moved on – or tried to
Public Sector25 Jul 2024 | 19
Philadelphia tree trimmers fail to nip FTC noncompete ban in the bud
What a Trump-appointed judge taketh away, a Biden judge giveth
Legal24 Jul 2024 | 19
'Data embassies' promise bubbles of digital sovereignty, but India just cooled on the idea
Scratch the surface and they look more like a sales pitch – or a soft power play
Public Sector24 Jul 2024 | 2
Philippines wipes out its legit online gambling industry to take down scammers
President apologizes in advance for job losses
Public Sector24 Jul 2024 | 5
Kamala Harris has a long history with Silicon Valley that could help – or hurt
Analysis The presumptive Democratic nominee has gone back and forth with Big Tech
Public Sector23 Jul 2024 | 51
Hong Kong becomes major hub for shipping banned tech to Iran, Russia
Government doesn't seem to mind – and business is into it, claims report
Public Sector23 Jul 2024 | 19
Indonesia blocks 2.5 million pieces of gambling content, minister says it's not enough
Wagering boomed – and so did the quantity of money heading offshore
Public Sector23 Jul 2024 | 3
Serco appoints former GDS leader Tom Read to digital leadership role
Read also served at UK's MoJ, where outsourcer paid fine over electronic tagging fiasco
Public Sector22 Jul 2024 | 7
EU's renewable hydrogen plan needs a 'reality check'
Member nations aren't on the same page, investors are confused, and nobody understands the real costs
CxO19 Jul 2024 | 78
DARPA slaps down credit card for 3D military chiplets – $840M ought to be enough?
UT-Austin lab gets the job, and five years to do it
Public Sector18 Jul 2024 | 5
Europe's largest council could face £12M manual audit bill after Oracle project disaster
Thank goodness for pen and paper. Re-implemented system might not arrive until March 2026, four years after initial roll-out
Public Sector18 Jul 2024 | 39
FBI gains access to Trump rally shooter's phone
Hasn't said how it did it, but has form cracking devices
Research16 Jul 2024 | 115
Kaspersky culls staff, closes doors in US amid Biden's ban
After all we've done for you, America, sniffs antivirus lab
CSO15 Jul 2024 | 25
China's internet cleanup campaigns are going so well it needs a new one to protect kids
Years of crackdowns haven't stopped some revolting stuff
Public Sector15 Jul 2024 | 3
CISA broke into a US federal agency, and no one noticed for a full 5 months
Red team exercise revealed a score of security fails
Security12 Jul 2024 | 21
Biden throws $1.7B at automakers to prepare fading factories for EV production
Ice ICE, baby
Personal Tech11 Jul 2024 | 28
Intuit decimates staff, hopes to hire same number in AI refocus
What's that Lassie? The IRS hopes to offer free direct tax filing for everyone next year?
Applications10 Jul 2024 | 6
FBI, cyber-cops zap ~1K Russian AI disinfo Twitter bots
RT News snarks back after it's accused of building social nyet-work for Kremlin
Cyber-crime09 Jul 2024 | 11
America's new Sentinel nukes mushroom 81% in cost. Pentagon says it's all good
Minuteman replacement to hit $141B as officials promise good ol' 'restructure'
Public Sector09 Jul 2024 | 46
Brit council gives Oracle another £10M for professional services amid ERP fallout
Birmingham struggles to get current version of Fusion fit for purpose
Public Sector08 Jul 2024 | 56
Devs claim Apple is banning VPNs in Russia 'more effectively' than Putin
Updated Mozilla shows guts with its extensions – but that's the way the Cook, he crumbles
Security05 Jul 2024 | 59
Biting the hand that feeds IT
