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    <title>www.theregister.com - Articles</title>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252438</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/06/08/attackers-had-month-long-head-start-on-patched-check-point-vpn-zero-day/5252438</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:10:31 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Ransomware crims got a month-long head start on Check Point VPN 0-day that now has a fix</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Scumbags, including a Qilin ransomware affiliate, began hitting this hole May 7 ]]></description>
        <category>cyber-crime</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ cyber-crime ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:11:36 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Check Point released an emergency fix on Monday for a critical authentication bypass vulnerability affecting its Remote Access VPN and Mobile Access deployments - but attackers, including ransomware criminals, got a month-long head start. Attacks against the bug, tracked as CVE-2026-50751, began on May 7, according to Check Point VP of research Lotem Finkelstein, and picked up in early June. The security software vendor spotted suspicious activity and began investigating the zero-day on June 4, Finkelstein said in a Monday blog. “We have observed indications that exploitation has been limited to a relatively small number of targeted organizations (several dozen globally), primarily over the past few days,” Finkelstein wrote, adding that, in at least one case, investigators observed post-compromise activity associated with a Qilin ransomware affiliate. This same ransomware scum is also likely exploiting other VPN-related vulnerabilities in Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and F5 products, Finkelstein said. CVE-2026-50751 is due to a logic-flow weakness in the Remote Access and Mobile Access certificate validation process, and it allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and establish a remote access VPN connection without a user password. It affects Mobile Access/SSL VPNs, Remote Access VPNs, and Spark Firewalls configured to use the deprecated IKEv1 key exchange protocol. While investigating CVE-2026-50751 and affected VPN components, Check Point found another vulnerability, CVE-2026-50752, in its Security Gateways and Spark Firewall products. It’s due to a bug in the certificate validation logic of the deprecated IKEv1 key exchange method, and can lead to man-in-the-middle attacks on the VPN site-to-site configuration. Check Point says that it hasn’t received any reports of in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2026-50752. Check Point urges customers running vulnerable gateways and firewalls to apply the hotfixes, and the vendor also provided alternative mitigation options with instructions in the security advisories. The software provider also published a list of indicators of compromise, including attacker IPs, and recommends customers search Check Point SmartConsole logs for possible VPN certificate authentication attempts associated with observed attacker infrastructure and certificate subject names for at least May 7 through June 5. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252373</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/06/08/canonical-sends-ubuntu-into-the-ai-agent-era/5252373</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:34:02 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Canonical sends Ubuntu into the AI agent era</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Sandboxed LLM dev environments lead the show, but accessibility may be the real prize ]]></description>
        <category>software</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ software ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ UBUNTU SUMMIT Canonical is still experimenting with the format of the Ubuntu Summit series of free conferences, and its most recent instance, the 26.04 edition, was a primarily online event. There was a small in-person invited audience, which by our informal estimate was about half the size of the one at last October's edition. The event opened with a keynote from Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth, and his opening sentence set the tone for much of what would follow: The agentic revolution will touch every aspect of human endeavor. We take that to mean the use of LLM "agents" to develop software, translate between human languages and from speech to text, and so on. For all that this vulture might personally dispute just how revolutionary this is, there were some 21 full-length talks over the two days of the summit, and about half of them were about AI, or at least touched upon the subject. Shuttleworth's keynote also contained the biggest Canonical product announcement of the event: the new Workshop sandboxed LLM development environments (at the 20-minute mark in the video above). Workshop uses Canonical's LXD "containervisor" and snap packaging to make it easy to install and run LLM agents, while keeping them isolated in sandboxes so that they can only access specific limited resources in that user's home directory. For instance, they can access the machine's GPUs and nominated local files, while being walled off from personal data such as stored credentials. As Shuttleworth put it: You can run random code, from the internet, on your laptop, without handing it root. Canonical also announced Workshop online the same day, with a collection of documentation already available, including a tutorial. Workshop is an open source project with the source code on GitHub. Later that day, engineering manager Dmitry Lyfar gave a talk on the new tool, titled Introducing Workshop. Shuttleworth's keynote was followed by another by VP of engineering Jon Seager. As we reported last month in our article on AI integration into Ubuntu and Fedora, Seager recently published a blog post about the company's AI intentions. In his keynote, Seager said that this post had been "SEO'd to death," but he too devoted a substantial part of his talk to AI, saying: Ubuntu can't be in the conversation about AI and open source unless it has a position and a stake. Seager also spelled out some of what this will mean, from small feature improvements such as improving auto-focus in webcams and making power management more intelligent, to more significant features. He called out accessibility as a key area for investment and improvement. He said that "existing Linux screen readers suck" – harsh, but not entirely unfair – and that there is "so much room for improvement" in that area. He continued that the plan is "to enable speech-to-text everywhere in the desktop," but said "AI is transformative for people with disabilities" and that the company soon hopes to preview the "first AI-powered context-aware desktop features." In case, this sounds niche or unimportant, it really isn't. Speech-to-text is a vital tool for people with physical impairments that make typing difficult. This vulture has written at length about the importance of keyboard user interface design, as well as about how few Linux desktops fully and correctly implement it, leaving Apple with a significant edge in this area. As it happens, this author is a keyboard-intensive user with relatively poor eyesight, so this matters to us. Register accessibility columnist Colin Hughes has written about the importance of speech-to-text UI. For now, Linux's usability in this area is much poorer, and as Wayland displaces X11 from the big-name desktops, it's about to get a lot worse, as the recent blog post from "nocoffei" describes: My Accessibility Stack and the future on Wayland. "nocoffei" links to the same series of blog posts by TapType developer Aaron Hewitt that we did back in March, under the collective title "I Want to Love Linux. It Doesn't Love Me Back." We recommend them again:  Built for Control, But Not for People: Linux is already broken before you even start  The Audio Stack Is a Crime Scene: You can't hear anything – and it's not your fault  Interlude – A Thank You, Where It's Due: This is what it looks like when people care  In part 4, he takes a surprising new direction: Wayland Is Growing Up, And Now We Don't Have a Choice: The future is Wayland. Let's make sure we're invited. In that, he reports on significant strides in keyboard-driven accessibility for blind users with GNOME on Wayland – but as nocoffei's post spells out, that is no help to those who can see fine but can't type. If the integration of AI into Ubuntu can address this or improve on the current situation, that will go further toward ameliorating this vulture's deep skepticism about the viability of LLMs than anything else. Bootnotes Canonical invited The Register to attend the Summit in person, and paid for our travel and accommodation during the event. Indeed, if you look closely at the 30-second mark of the highlight reel – it's only 50 seconds long, so it's not too arduous – you can see The Reg FOSS desk's hands typing away industriously into Logseq. Back in April 2023, severe injuries from a road traffic accident very nearly cost the author one of those hands, which is part of the reason for his interest in accessibility tools – as well as the reason for the MacBook Air visible in that video, into which his articles were dictated for the next few months. On the subject of AI integration into desktop distros, it's interesting to note that since we wrote about AI tooling in Fedora a month ago, there has been considerable pushback from the user community, and two committee members have changed their votes to oppose it. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252434</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/08/zte-demonstrates-integrated-ai-connectivity-and-digital-utility-technologies-at-tnb-energy-transition-conference/5252434</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:25:02 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>ZTE Demonstrates Integrated AI, Connectivity and Digital Utility Technologies at TNB Energy Transition Conference</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ PARTNER CONTENT: Driving Grid Modernization and Energy Transition in Malaysia Through Advanced AI and Smart Infrastructure Solutions ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ At the recent TNB Energy Transition Conference, ZTE showcased an integrated portfolio of digital utility, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and intelligent infrastructure technologies. The display highlighted how advanced connectivity and digitalization can support the evolving needs of modern power utilities while driving Malaysia's broader energy transition ambitions. The technologies presented by ZTE encompassed a broad range of digital utility and intelligent infrastructure solutions designed to support the evolving needs of modern power systems. These included Digital Utility Solutions that demonstrate global best practices in utility digitalization and smart grid communications, AI-driven platforms that enhance operational intelligence and predictive decision-making, as well as integrated grid connectivity technologies that enable secure, resilient and wide-area communications for critical utility operations. The showcase also featured Smart Energy Innovations that apply AI technologies to energy optimisation, forecasting and sustainability initiatives, alongside Next Generation Optical Transport Networks that provide secure, high-capacity backbone connectivity for digital utility infrastructure. Collectively, the integrated technologies demonstrate how intelligent digital infrastructure can help utilities improve operational visibility, strengthen grid resilience, enhance efficiency and support more advanced energy management capabilities. The solutions are aligned with broader digital utility transformation efforts, including initiatives undertaken by utilities such as Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), by supporting capabilities such as real-time monitoring, operational efficiency, enhanced visibility of network performance and intelligent utility management. Liu Bang, Managing Director of ZTE Malaysia, said: "These technologies demonstrate how AI-driven platforms, intelligent connectivity, and optical transport networks can support the future of digital utilities and smart grid development." "Through our collaboration with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) on selected technology initiatives, ZTE continues to contribute its expertise and innovation capabilities. We remain committed to supporting utility digitalization and Malaysia's broader energy transition aspirations," Liu added. In addition to its digital utility and intelligent infrastructure solutions, ZTE also showcased its latest mobile gaming devices, demonstrating the company's continued innovation across both enterprise and consumer technology segments. Among the devices on display was the nubia Neo 5 GT 5G, an affordable gaming smartphone equipped with a built-in cooling fan designed to maintain performance during extended gaming sessions. ZTE also presented the REDMAGIC 11 Pro, its latest flagship gaming smartphone featuring an advanced liquid cooling system and an under-display front camera design that delivers a true full-screen gaming experience without a visible camera cut-out. The devices reflect ZTE's broader commitment to technological innovation across communications infrastructure, artificial intelligence, digital utilities and next-generation smart devices. Beyond the technologies presented during the conference, ZTE has participated in technology validation and assessment activities relating to smart metering communication solutions. These activities have provided valuable insights into the performance, reliability and applicability of the technology within utility operating environments. Aside from that, the readiness of ZTE's local delivery and technical support teams, together with ecosystem partners, will support long-term utility digitalization initiatives across Malaysia. As the country advances its National Energy Transition Roadmap ("NETR") ambitions, ZTE believes intelligent utility technologies will play an increasingly important role in accelerating Malaysia's energy transition by enabling accurate metering, improving operational transparency, strengthening grid resilience, and supporting more efficient energy usage. The technologies are also expected to support TNB's broader AMI ambitions, while enabling future smart energy applications such as rooftop solar integration, EV charging optimization, and demand-side energy management capabilities for households and businesses. Through continuous innovation and strategic collaboration, ZTE aims to support utilities in building intelligent, scalable and resilient infrastructure capable of supporting the future demands of the energy sector. Contributed by ZTE. ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252311</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/offbeat/2026/06/08/nasa-moon-astronauts-get-prada-designed-base-layer/5252311</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:21:25 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>NASA's Secret: Moon astronauts will be rocking Prada underwear</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ What, you think any old liquid-cooled bodysuit would be acceptable to pair with such a fashionable outer layer? ]]></description>
        <category>offbeat</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ offbeat ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:03:55 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The devil may wear Prada, but soon Moon-bound astronauts will be sporting unmentionables from the high-fashion brand. Okay, to be honest, Prada hasn’t actually designed haute-couture Italian astronaut underthings for casual rocket missions so much as its existing collaboration with Axiom Space has been expanded to include a base layer for the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), which the pair announced in 2024. One can’t be caught in an unfashionable Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) inside a fashion house EVA suit, after all. Axiom Space rolled out the LCVG in New York City over the weekend, describing it as the companion piece that future NASA Moon explorers will be issued when humans return to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis IV mission in 2028, provided that the timeline doesn’t change again. According to Axiom Space and Prada’s announcement, the new LCVG will be much like old designs, inasmuch as the ensemble is outfitted with a bunch of tubes circulating chilled water across an astronaut’s body and moving hotter stuff toward the suit’s life-support system, where heat is expelled. The ventilation portion of the acronym involves a series of oxygen tubes “delivering fresh oxygen across an astronaut's face to continuously wash away exhaled carbon dioxide,” which is then removed by carbon dioxide scrubbers in the suit’s life support system. The Prada/Axiom Space LCVG differs from older models in its redundancy, the companies said. The suit includes “a fully redundant cooling circuit” to ensure no one has to come back to the ship sweatier and nastier than they have to be. Because NASA is envisioning extended spacewalks on the Moon, Axiom and Prada designed the AxEMU to support eight-hour spacewalks on the Lunar South Pole, which the new LCVG is also designed to support. While the companies didn’t give specifics about the materials or other elements of the LCVG, the announcement did mention Prada’s “expertise in engineered knitting and innovative design concepts,” along with advanced 3D modeling, contributed to a “high-performance” suit that includes “specialized fibers that allow the garment to be worn repeatedly across long-duration missions.” Axiom Space declined to go into specifics on the material makeup of the LCVG, but the company’s SVP of spacecraft development, Russel Ralston, did tell The Register that the materials “are microbial-resistant and antifungal to prevent odor and degradation between wears.” In other words, Artemis astronaut underthings should stay scent-free while on the Moon, hopefully. Astro-BO doesn’t matter if you can’t make it to the Moon No one wants to be stuck in a tiny capsule with several people unable to clean themselves with much more than wet wipes and dry shampoo, but presumably stink-suppressing Prada space suit unders don’t really matter if future Artemis missions have trouble getting to space. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket recently exploded, leading to extensive damage at its Cape Canaveral launch complex and what could be more than a year of reconstruction to get the platform ready for its next launch. SpaceX’s Starship, one of NASA's options for getting astronauts back to the Moon, hasn't done much better of late, and is running short on time to prove it can meet the agency's lunar mission needs. And then there's Axiom and Prada's part in the whole show, which NASA's watchdog has raised concerns about as well. NASA's Inspector General said in an April report that while Axiom currently plans to have demonstration suits ready in 2027, historical testing timelines suggest the agency might not see flight-ready demonstrations until 2031. Ralston told us that a lot has changed since that report, including NASA establishing incremental steps for increased cadence and reduced risk in developing various parts of the Artemis program. Axiom Space, Ralston added, has been moving quickly to reduce its lead time for the suits, too. “We have begun assembling the qualification suit and are preparing to begin qualification testing,” Ralston said. “We will complete the Critical Design Review this year.” Axiom Space has performed more than 1,000 hours of crewed pressure testing, Ralson noted, including an initial thermal vacuum test. “The AxEMU spacesuit will be ready to enable humanity to return to the lunar surface,” Ralston proclaimed. As it currently stands, Artemis IV is the mission NASA intends to land at the Moon’s south pole, and it plans to do so in 2028. That timeline has already slipped once, and given recent setbacks, could very well slip again, likely giving Axiom and Prada a bit more time to get their interplanetary fashion house in order. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252322</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/06/08/ransomware-attack-shuts-illinois-high-school-until-wednesday/5252322</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:46:52 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Ransomware sends Illinois high school on an early summer vacation</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Meanwhile, 13 schools in Wales affected by separate attack ]]></description>
        <category>cyber-crime</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Cyber-crime ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ An Illinois high school won't reopen until Wednesday at the earliest after suffering a ransomware attack on Sunday, June 7. Evanston Township High School (ETHS), located 14 miles north of Chicago, said it would be closed today and tomorrow, and that the closure also affected summer school, sports camps, and on-campus activities, which are all canceled. "Upon discovering the incident, we immediately activated our incident response procedures and engaged external cyber breach attorneys and cybersecurity forensic experts to assist with the investigation and recovery process," ETHS said in a statement issued via a dedicated information page. "We are working with these specialists to determine precisely what information may have been accessed or acquired and to restore normal systems operations as quickly as possible. The district is cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of the ongoing investigation." It said that phone systems are down and staff have limited access to emails. Children and their families may also not be able to access certain online resources, all of which suggests the institution may still be in the containment phase of remediation. Among the online resources currently offline is Home Access Center, which is powered by PowerSchool. PowerSchool itself was was at the center of a cybersecurity disaster in late 2024. However, ETHS has not linked the platform to the ransomware attack. All staff other than safety and operations workers were told to work from home, although their work will be limited since, for the time being, they're locked out of the district's Google accounts and "other network systems, including eSchool." "We understand this situation is disruptive and appreciate your patience and flexibility," ETHS went on to say. "Additional updates and instructions will be provided as they become available." No major ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the intrusion at the high school yet. Education under attack The ETHS incident follows a separate attack on the education sector disclosed on June 4 that affected 13 schools in Powys, Wales. Powys Council set up its own information page about the attack, although it has not revealed much, saying it is awaiting the outcome of investigations by external specialists. However, it said the attack has affected "some school systems" and personal data belonging to both staff and pupils was accessed. The council identified 13 affected schools, although the compromised data only appears to have been taken from one of these, according to current information. Its information page repeatedly uses the phrase "because of the sensitive nature of the data." The council cites this as the reason for not revealing information such as which schools were affected, how many individuals are affected, what types of data have been accessed, and whether this included sensitive or safeguarding-related data. It also refused to say whether the attack involved ransomware or who was responsible for it. However, it said the risk of identity fraud would vary by individual, hinting that different types of personal data may have been accessed. Powys Council confirmed that all schools across the region remain open, and the cyberattack does not affect their day-to-day safety or operations. Education remains a strong target for cybercriminals. Given the sensitivity of the data these organizations store, it makes the sector one of the most attractive for financially motivated criminals looking for an extortion payment. In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office said that between 2022 and 2024, pupils were responsible for 57 percent of 214 school data breaches, often using stolen login details. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252287</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/06/08/amazon-leos-satellite-homework-is-late-but-fcc-wont-flunk-it-just-yet/5252287</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:21:39 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Amazon Leo's satellite homework is late, but FCC won't flunk it just yet</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Orbital broadband biz will miss its July 30 deadline to have 1,616 spacecraft in place ]]></description>
        <category>networks</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ NETWORKS ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Amazon is set to miss its deadline to deploy half of its Leo satellite constellation by July 30, as required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The agency has, however, granted it a waiver of sorts – at the cost of priority status in spectrum licensing. The Bezos-founded behemoth got the go-ahead from the FCC for what was then known as Project Kuiper back in 2020. This was on the proviso that it had 50 percent of its planned constellation of 3,236 broadband satellites in orbit by July 30, 2026. Amazon rebranded its satellite broadband biz from Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo in November last year. However, the company filed an application on January 30 this year seeking an extension of the deployment deadline by 24 months, or alternatively a complete waiver of this milestone requirement. At the time of filing the application, Amazon Leo reported that it had launched just 180 satellites and estimated that it will have deployed approximately 700 by the July 30 deadline. On June 5, the FCC granted Amazon a limited waiver of its 50 percent deployment requirement. However, the company is still expected to meet its final deployment deadline of July 30, 2029, for the entire constellation. Under normal circumstances, if a licensee failed to meet the set interim milestone, its total number of authorized satellites would be capped at the number of satellites that were in orbit and operating on the date of the missed milestone. This will still apply if Amazon fails to have completed its deployment by the final deadline. The FCC says in its order [PDF] that it may waive any rule for good cause shown, though this only tends to happen if such a move is judged to serve the public interest. Amazon blamed delays from rocket launch providers and shortages of launch availability for causing significant backlogs and stretching out its planned deployment timelines. It also claimed that many of its planned launches were further delayed due to "a variety of factors that were outside of its control," including weather, technical problems, and prioritization of government launches. The company is understood to have given the FCC assurances of its ability to meet an extended 50 percent milestone, as well as the final milestone in 2029, providing detailed schedules of future launches along with information on its financial and operational investments in the constellation and its mitigation efforts so far. As a condition of the waiver, Amazon Leo is temporarily losing its priority status for any satellites that are not deployed and operational as of July 30, 2026, as initially authorized in the 2020 Ku/Ka-band Processing Round and in the 2021 V-band Processing Round, the FCC says, and will be reassigned to a later priority status. "Priority status" governs a company's legal right to transmit in a specific orbital slot or frequency block. This ruling means that Amazon Leo satellites deployed after July 30, 2026 will lose their priority access to the Ka/Ku spectrum until either 20 months have passed from that date (to March 30, 2028), or the date Amazon Leo manages to deploy and operate 50 percent of its constellation, whichever comes first. We also understand that Amazon will forfeit the surety bond it agreed to post as a condition of its authorization for satellite launches. The amount involved was not disclosed. The FCC notes that "a number of parties" filed comments in response to Amazon Leo's application, many of which support granting either the requested extension or waiver. However, Elon Musk's SpaceX filed comments opposing the granting of a waiver. This is hardly surprising as Amazon Leo is a direct rival for SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband service. Back in March, Amazon also tried to get the FCC to reject a SpaceX application for permission to launch a fleet of orbital datacenter satellites. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252214</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/08/nhs-prescribes-half-a-million-copilot-licenses-for-its-paperwork-headache/5252214</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:21:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>NHS prescribes half a million Copilot licenses for its paperwork headache</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ After a trial claimed chatbot saved staff 43 minutes a day, NHS England has decided it's time to supersize the experiment ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ AI AND ML ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:35:55 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ NHS England is handing Microsoft Copilot to more than half a million staff after a pilot claimed the AI assistant could claw back 43 minutes a day from administrative work. On Monday, NHS England announced plans to roll out Copilot to 505,000 clinicians and support staff. Its confidence comes from a pilot involving 30,000 staff across 90 organizations, which the health service says saved users an average of 43 minutes a day on admin, working out to roughly five working weeks over the course of a year. The rollout won't happen overnight. NHS England said that each trust will receive a central allocation of licenses based on headcount, typically starting with around 2,000 Copilot seats, and that more than half a million staff are expected to have access by October 2026. The NHS has no shortage of administrative work to throw at the software. The rollout envisions Copilot helping with discharge paperwork, bed management, rota planning, meeting minutes, board papers, briefings, data analysis, and assorted HR, finance, and procurement tasks. NHS organizations will also receive access to Copilot Studio, Microsoft's toolkit for building custom AI agents. NHS England said trusts will be able to develop agents for tasks such as handling Freedom of Information requests, processing complaints, reducing helpdesk workloads, and assisting with financial analysis. A governance framework called Agent 365 will oversee the deployment of those systems. The health service is not alone in buying into Microsoft's vision of AI-powered digital workers. Lloyds Banking Group signed up for a similar vision last week, rolling out Microsoft's Frontier Suite to support what it called its "agentic future." One detail missing from today's announcement is the price tag. NHS England has not disclosed the cost of the deal, although public pricing for Microsoft 365 Copilot typically runs to tens of pounds per user per month. At list price, a deployment of this size would be worth well into nine figures annually, though large public sector customers rarely pay sticker price. The NHS has spent years trying to reduce paperwork. This time, it's handing the job to Microsoft. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252169</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/08/github-nukes-70-microsoft-repos-amid-suspected-worm-attack/5252169</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:56:50 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>GitHub nukes 70+ Microsoft repos, breaks CI/CD pipelines, following suspected worm infections</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Miasma worm shapeshifts, but cloud secret-scouting remains the goal ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Microsoft’s GitHub has disabled over 70 repositories after they were reportedly compromised by a worm in the latest open source supply chain attack. The code shack took down 73 repos within the space of 105 seconds after its alarms were tripped on Friday, June 5, after detecting signs of the Miasma worm infecting its projects, according to StepSecurity’s co-founder and CTO, Ashish Kurmi. Users reported issues quickly on Friday, after visits to those repos all resulted in the same message displayed, indicating that they had been disabled due to terms of service violations. According to StepSecurity’s analysis, the attack kicked off after a compromised contributor account pushed a malicious commit to Azure/durabletask. The commit dropped configuration files that triggered remote code execution on machines when a developer opened the repo in an IDE or AI coding tool, such as Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. Several developers soon reported broken CI/CD pipelines, a support thread showed, although a moderator said at the time this was due to “an internal management issue.” "The repo that most immediately caused issues was Azure/functions-action,” Kurmi wrote, used to deploy code to Azure. With it being taken down, every workflow that referenced Azure/functions-action@v1 stopped resolving. GitHub stepped in a few hours after the repos were infected by the malicious commit. Its automated detections kicked in and disabled the repos in under two minutes, in two separate waves. However, it was the borking of the durabletask family that hinted at the bigger picture, that the attack was indeed a re-opening of the previous Miasma worm attack that hit Microsoft last month. Microsoft’s durabletask PyPi package was a previous target of the Miasma worm on May 19. Within a 35-minute window, three versions of the package were uploaded to PyPi, which planted infostealers on developers’ machines, specifically sniffing out cloud secrets and developer tool configurations on Linux systems. Crucially, the re-targeting of durabletask suggests the tokens associated with the compromised developer account used to execute the PyPi attack were not fully rotated, allowing an attacker to gain access and push commits to GitHub, Kurmi said. It was either that, or the contributor was re-compromised through the worm's own propagation loop, or a different contributor's token was used but the attacker altered the metadata to make it look like a repeated attack. Security shop Snyk described Miasma as a descendant of the Mini Shai Hulud worm. It’s the same one that ravaged open source packages over at the npm registry, including Red Hat’s, earlier this month. Cybercrime group TeamPCP claimed responsibility for developing Mini Shai Hulud, which itself is named after an earlier worm of the same name, sans “mini.” However, because TeamPCP open-sourced Mini Shai Hulud, it’s difficult to tell whether it was also behind Miasma or if someone else took the reins on the follow-up project. StepSecurity also reported that two days before the Microsoft attack, the same worm was making a nuisance of itself at npm, compromising more than 50 packages, including a Vapi.ai SDK with more than 408,000 monthly downloads. The Register asked Microsoft for comment, but it did not immediately respond. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252079</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/devops/2026/06/08/python-jit-compiler-may-be-removed/5252079</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:45:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Python JIT compiler project under threat after steering council says proper process wasn't followed</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ No new features to be submitted to main branch, existing code removed in 6 months if new proposal not created and accepted ]]></description>
        <category>devops</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ devops ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:04:01 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The Python steering council has surprised onlookers by asking for the suspension of new development on the JIT (just in time) compiler project from the main branch of the Python code repository, pending creation and acceptance of a new PEP (Python enhancement proposal) for the project. Bug and security fixes for existing JIT code in main will continue to be accepted, but if no PEP is submitted and approved within six months, the JIT code will be removed from main. The announcement is unexpected because an improved JIT compiler is one of the key features of Python 3.15, for which features are frozen, and for which full release is expected in October. The release notes promise "8-9 percent geometric mean performance improvement" over the standard CPython interpreter on x86-64 Linux. That said, the JIT compiler is experimental and disabled by default; use requires setting PYTHON_JIT=1 as an environmental variable. The implication of the steering council statement is that the experimental JIT compiler should not have been merged into main, on the grounds that PEP 744, which relates to the JIT, is only informational and contains open questions. "We (the Steering Council) have not been as strict about following the process as a change of this complexity and reach deserves," states the post from council member Pablo Galindo Salgado. These open questions include future maintenance of the JIT, compatibility with existing CPython features and tooling, clear and measurable success metrics, and relationship to third-party JIT compilers. Key JIT contributor Mark Shannon said "stopping all development until a PEP is accepted puts us in an awkward position," because it puts pressure on the JIT team to produce a new PEP quickly, but doing so will not give the community time to discuss it. He said a new PEP was already planned for "later this year when the performance advantage would be larger." Shannon has asked for a grace period of "a month or two" to continue work. He said "a moratorium risks loss of momentum and losing the new contributors we have recently gained." Asked whether development could continue in a fork, Shannon said it was not easy due to the way optimizations are generated, leading to very large code differences that are hard to manage. The impact of the steering council’s JIT statement is that the future of the project is now in doubt, whereas before it looked likely to become part of CPython. Six months is not long for creating a PEP and having it agreed; and if in fact the JIT code is removed from the main branch the project is likely to lose momentum. Salgado said "the intent is not to call for competing proposals" but nevertheless raised the possibility of shifting towards "a JIT infrastructure that can support multiple implementation strategies," and implied the steering council would prefer an infrastructure that is not "highly coupled with a single strategy." The announcement appears to have come as a surprise to Shannon and others suggesting a lack of communication between the steering council and the JIT project team. Another steering council member, Donghee Na, said "the current experimental JIT project needs an official PEP" and "this would be a good time to review the different possible approaches." Fast-track approval of a new PEP will be hard to achieve alongside the lengthy likely discussion of different approaches. Both Salgado and steering council member Thomas Wouters said there is some flexibility around the six-month deadline. "We’re not unreasonable," said Wouters, "but we do want this to be taken seriously."® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252105</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/08/nso-group-back-in-metas-crosshairs-after-alleged-whatsapp-targeting/5252105</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:10:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>NSO Group back in Meta's crosshairs after alleged WhatsApp targeting</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Zuckercorp says surveillance-for-hire vendor was still running phishing operations after federal court told it to knock it off ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:45:39 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Meta has asked a federal judge to hold Israeli spyware maker NSO Group in contempt of court after claiming it caught the surveillance vendor targeting WhatsApp users again despite a permanent injunction ordering it to stop. In a blog post on Monday, Meta said it had disrupted "NSO-linked social engineering attempts" after investigating reports from users. According to the company, the activity involved attempts to lure targets into clicking malicious links that redirected them to websites outside WhatsApp, as well as the creation of test accounts and groups on the messaging platform. "We successfully disrupted NSO-linked social engineering attempts after investigating user reports," Meta said. "They tried to trick people into clicking on malicious links to drive them to external websites outside of WhatsApp, similar to previously reported 1-click phishing campaigns linked to NSO." WhatsApp also published a handful of domains it linked to the campaign, including ikhwancast[.]com, ghazacast[.]com, and fr24cast[.]com, and said it was releasing indicators to help organizations identify related activity. The move marks the latest chapter in the long-running legal battle between Meta and the Israeli spyware maker. A US court found NSO liable in December 2024 for hacking WhatsApp users via its Pegasus spyware. In May 2025, a jury awarded Meta roughly $168 million in damages, but the judge later cut that to $4 million while issuing a permanent injunction barring NSO from targeting WhatsApp or its users. Meta, however, says NSO didn't get the memo. "Last year, WhatsApp made history by securing a landmark verdict and permanent injunction barring NSO Group ... from targeting WhatsApp and its users ever again," the company wrote. "Today, we're asking the court to hold them in contempt of that order." The company provided few technical details about the activity, such as when it occurred, how many users were targeted, whether any compromises were successful, or how it attributed the operation to NSO. Meta did not respond to The Register’s questions. However, the blog post adopts a hard line on the spyware industry than previous updates, repeatedly describing commercial spyware as a national security issue. "When a malicious company on the US government's Entity List continues to defy US courts, existing restrictions must remain firmly in place," WhatsApp wrote. "Easing them would undermine US national security and put American companies and billions of people worldwide who depend on secure communications at risk." If Meta's allegations are accurate, the episode suggests that a court loss is not enough to persuade a spyware vendor to leave a high-value target alone. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252046</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/science/2026/06/08/uk-boffin-bait-lands-18-international-researchers/5252046</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>UK boffin bait lands 18 international researchers</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Global Talent visa program aims to draw in dissatisfied scientists from countries including the US ]]></description>
        <category>science</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ SCIENCE ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:52:14 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Britain's much-heralded scheme to attract top scientific talent has managed to attract a total of 18 takers, the government has admitted. The Global Talent visa program was launched last summer following announcements from the EU and France that they intended to tempt scientists unhappy with their lot in Trump's America and elsewhere. But while the EU was putting up €500 million ($575 million) in funding for foreign eggheads, the UK could only stump up a dedicated pot of £54 million ($72 million) to lure boffins to Britain. According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), UK research organizations have managed to attract ten leading international researchers in the latest wave, who are expected to drive breakthroughs in clean energy, life sciences, and other advanced technologies. This is on top of eight researchers previously announced by the agency. Nevertheless, DSIT today declared a key milestone for the scheme, with all 12 of the Global Talent Fund research organizations taking part having successfully recruited international candidates. This demonstrates strong delivery against initial program objectives, it claimed. DSIT highlighted two scientists that have left the US for Great Britain: Professor Bryony DuPont is joining the University of Strathclyde in Scotland from Oregon State University to work on the use of AI to improve energy systems and make them more resilient to the changing environment. The second is Dr Ivana Bukvin, who is joining the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, from Stanford University. She is researching proteins to advance understanding of aging and neurodegeneration in diseases such as Huntington's. UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), which oversees the scheme, says it is expanding its Global Talent visa fast-track route to cover all of the Association for Innovation, Research and Technology Organisation members (including IBM). Doing so means it will cover about 100 R&D-intensive businesses across key high-growth sectors, including advanced manufacturing and digital technologies. "It's no coincidence that the world's top researchers, driving groundbreaking innovations in AI, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and clean energy, are choosing to come to the UK to advance their work," stated Lord Vallance, Minister for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear. The government says the Global Talent Fund is also strengthening UK research capability thanks to early investment in infrastructure and lab equipment. Some organizations are already deploying funding into specialist facilities and start‑up resources to support incoming talent, it claims. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5252024</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/08/motor-insurance-frausters-abusing-ai-to-exaggerate-claims/5252024</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:48:21 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Brit fraudsters using AI to doctor 'evidence' in motor insurance claims</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Policy-holders increasingly turn fender benders into much more by sprinkling in their favorite AI chatbots, Aviva says ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ AI and ML ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:41:20 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ UK insurer Aviva is receiving tens of thousands of reports from scammers looking to profit from claims embellished using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Aviva and its wider brand portfolio received an estimated 18,400 plus fraudulent claims in 2025, backed by doctored evidence includeding AI-generated car accident scenes, fake official documents, and fabricated images exaggerating damage. If approved, the sum of these claims would have amounted to £233 million ($310.3 million) across the year, or roughly £638,000 ($850,000) per day. The majority of claims cooked up using AI were related to motor insurance. The insurer says policyholders handed in supporting documents for claims such as inflated costs incurred for vehicle repairs and exaggerated reports of damage. Some claims were fraudulently made to appear more severe, whereas others were entirely fabricated. It marks a shift away from the older fraud model where policy-holders staged incidents such as a crash IRL in the hope of securing a payout. In total, Aviva said the value of scam claims made against motor insurance policies jumped 39 percent, with fraudsters increasingly seeking higher-value payouts. Similar trends were witnessed in liability insurance. While the number of cases remained broadly stable, the value of fraudulent claims rose 32 percent in 2025, with claimants exaggerating loss of earnings, rehab costs, and injury claims. “Professional enablers” – rogue white-collar workers, such as lawyers and medical professionals – are lending their support to the claims, says Aviva. These individuals are also playing a role in the increased value of travel insurance and medical claims for policy-holders. Aviva is countering the rise of AI-enabled fraudulent claims with… AI. It uses a concoction of its own tools and “advanced analytics,” all with human oversight, to help identify suspicious claims faster. Pete Ward, head of claims counter fraud at Aviva, said: “Fraud isn’t a victimless crime – it drives up the cost of insurance for everyone. We have a duty to ensure our customers don’t foot the bill for other people’s dishonesty, and we work tirelessly to root out fraud and stop it wherever we find it. “We’re seeing fraud become more sophisticated, from exaggerated claims to the use of AI-generated documents, and we’re continuing to invest in the tools and expertise needed to identify and stop it. “By detecting and preventing these claims, we’re helping protect honest customers from the cost of fraud.” ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251983</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/08/department-of-work-and-pensions-answer-to-ai-job-fears-is-a-bot-to-polish-your-cv/5251983</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:02:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Department of Work and Pensions' answer to AI job fears is a bot to polish your CV</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Whitehall says Work Assistant will help jobseekers apply around the clock – provided employers don't mind machine-written applications ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ ai and ml ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:43:21 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The UK government is about to unleash an AI-powered CV writer on jobseekers in the hope that the technology taking jobs can also help people to find them. Prime minister Keir Starmer used London Tech Week to announce a three-month trial of an "AI Work Assistant" that officials say will put "a job centre in your pocket," offering around-the-clock help with CV writing, applications, job searches, and career advice. The service is already live online, though the government would like users to keep a few things in mind before handing the keyboard to a large language model: check whether the employer allows AI-assisted applications, make sure the generated content is accurate, and perhaps most challenging of all, rewrite it so it still sounds like you. The government, in effect, is encouraging job seekers to use AI while reminding them not to make it obvious. The service appears to be the latest step in Whitehall's growing enthusiasm for AI-powered public services. Earlier this year, the government confirmed it was working with Anthropic on a chatbot for job seekers, and more recently it launched "GOV.UK Chat," a generative AI assistant bolted into the GOV.UK app that it is boldly pitching as the "most comprehensive government-built chat tool in the world." Whitehall's latest experiment arrives as young workers face the toughest jobs market in years. Official figures show youth unemployment has climbed to 16.2 percent, the highest level in more than a decade, while business groups have repeatedly warned that rising employment costs are making firms more cautious about hiring. "No one doubts the huge potential of tech to change lives," Starmer is expected to say. "But we have to decide who that change is for. This government's choice is clear: the tech revolution must work for everyone, not just a privileged few. We're backing British businesses to lead the way, driving growth and investment that turns into more jobs and stronger communities." He added that ministers were using technology to "bring opportunity to every corner of the country" by helping people into work, boosting skills, and tackling inequality. Alongside the AI assistant, ministers announced AI and technology training for up to 400,000 pupils in disadvantaged schools and a new AI bootcamp program for young people at risk of falling out of education, employment, or training. The announcement comes as ministers are simultaneously grappling with growing concern about AI's impact on the labor market. A recent survey found that almost one in five Britons believe widespread AI-driven layoffs could trigger civil unrest, while more than half expect the technology to reduce the number of available jobs. Those concerns are unlikely to disappear any time soon. The same technology companies building AI systems to automate workplace tasks are increasingly pitching those tools as replacements for at least some human work, particularly the administrative and entry-level roles that traditionally provide a route into employment. Whether employers are eager to receive applications drafted by the same technology they are increasingly deploying to screen candidates remains to be seen. The labor market may yet become an arms race between applicants using AI and recruiters using AI to filter out applicants using AI. Somewhere in the middle, a human being is presumably still expected to get hired. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251530</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/06/08/history-of-centos-how-a-biochemists-linux-hobby-project-became-the-enterprise-worlds-default-operating-system/5251530</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:15:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>History of CentOS: How a biochemist's Linux hobby project became the enterprise world's default operating system</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ When a community came together after Red Hat said Windows was 'probably the right product'  ]]></description>
        <category>os platforms</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ os platforms ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:50:36 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ INTERVIEW Gregory Kurtzer, CentOS's founder, tells the story of how the Red Hat Enterprise Linux clone was born of a small group of rebuild hackers and Linux fans who were angry that Red Hat Enterprise Linux had replaced Red Hat Linux and convinced they could do better. Back in 2003, Linux fans were ticked off at Red Hat because they were replacing the end-user-friendly Red Hat Linux with the business-oriented Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It was a smart move for Red Hat, but users were pissed when then Red Hat CEO, Matthew Szulik, said that for home users, Windows was probably "the right product line." Yeah. That went over about as well as you'd expect. In the meantime, Gregory Kurtzer had no plans to start building a Linux distribution, he says. He came out of biochemistry and genomics, where compute‑hungry (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) (BLAST) jobs were chewing through early SGI systems. One day, his business partner suggested they try Linux. "He said there was this thing called Linux, he wanted to try, and I thought he was mispronouncing Unix," Kurtzer tells The Register. They drove to Fry's, "bought a ton of hardware," and discovered that a free operating system downloaded off the internet could run serious scientific workloads. It wasn't the price that blew his mind, says Kurtzer. What hooked him was realizing that "many, many thousands of people [were] collaboratively working all over the world on a common software project… actually creating something of massive amounts of value." He became "enamored with open source in general, but Linux as a platform," and started looking for ways to contribute. When he landed at the Department of Energy's Berkeley lab, the environment was standardized on Red Hat. He says he missed Debian's ecosystem and apt so much that he began asking why there was "no community around the Red Hat type ecosystem or the RPM-based ecosystem." The answer he kept hearing was that Red Hat owned that space. His answer was Caos [Community Assembled Operating System]. The idea was "to be basically a Debian-like alternative for RPM-based distributions of Linux." Caos used Red Hat as a base. "Glibc came out of Red Hat, for example, right, but we used the upstream kernel and then extended it with a community‑driven package universe." He formalized the effort as the Caos Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non‑profit. Caos might have stayed a small Linux distro like so many others, but when Red Hat ended the classic Red Hat Linux line in favor of RHEL, it picked up steam. Kurtzer recalls that the community had grown up on free Red Hat Linux CDs, and the move landed badly: "Linux is a community project, it's freely available, and it should remain freely available, so a lot of people didn't like that notion at the time." By then, there was already a Red Hat "rebuild" mailing list where multiple groups were experimenting with re‑compiling Red Hat's source packages into community distributions.uKurtzer tell is: "VA Linux was doing this, along with an HPC company called Atipa, which is where early CentOS developer Rocky McGaugh worked… and there were a few others." Rocky, later immortalized in the name Rocky Linux, was part of that loose coalition, maintaining his own rebuilds. The list also included John Morris, who'd create White Box Enterprise Linux, and David Parsley, who would launch Tao Linux. The first RHEL clone to break out wasn't CentOS; John Morris's White Box Enterprise Linux, not CAOS or CentOS, was first. "He released White Box Enterprise Linux, and Slashdot went crazy for it," Kurtzer remembered. Sudden success became a burden. Morris "got way more visibility and attention and responsibility than… he was ready to take on" and didn't want to "take on the weight of the world in terms of infrastructure." The Caos folks, by contrast, already had build and mirror infrastructure: "we already have our own builders, we already have our own infrastructure… we were already ingesting packages from… Red Hat Linux [and] Red Hat Enterprise Linux." "So a couple members of the Caos team said, well, we're already kind of doing a lot of this… It's like, well, this actually makes sense, because we can then leverage those same binaries… and let's start this project, and so CentOS kind of came out of everything that was happening at the time." Then the Red Hat clones were more collaborative than competitive: "We were generally all very collaborative… we were all kind of on the same IRC list, so when any of us had a bug on rebuilding a package or issue, we all kind of worked together." Where Caos had an edge was scale. "We actually had a number of people already associated with it. We already had a critical mass… so it was not that big of a lift for us to properly support this," Kurtzer says. Parsley ultimately "ran Tao Linux… for quite a while before finally retiring the project, and then telling his users basically to go… over to CentOS," complete with a "nice transition plan." White Box and Tao quietly funneled users and expectations into the emerging CentOS brand. Even the version numbers reflect CentOS's pragmatic roots. "CentOS 3 was developed almost completely by Rocky," Kurtzer adds. "We started CentOS version 3 before version 2, and there was never a 1, right, because… There was never a version 1 of RHEL either." CentOS 3 arrived on stage on March 19, 2004. The community went where the demand was. "We identified that the first and most pressing need was around version 3, so Rocky started with version 3. That focus, combined with Caos's infrastructure and the consolidation of smaller rebuilds, turned CentOS into the RHEL clone that stuck." For its early life, CentOS lived under the Caos Foundation umbrella. By the CentOS 4 timeframe, in 2005, the projects split. Kurtzer says, "At about the release of… CentOS four… the CentOS project left the Caos Foundation, and it moved on… and we kind of ended up going different directions." He ceded control. "I was no longer the project lead of CentOS at that point, so it was taken over by a guy named Lance Davis," he tells The Reg. Caos continued until around 2007–2008, including a "Node Server Appliance" variant focused on "lightweight high-performance computing systems," but the market was voting with its feet. "Most people wanted the compatibility… that one-to-one compatibility… was incredibly important," he says. CentOS became the canonical RHEL clone; Caos faded into history. How CentOS simply had to exist From the outside, CentOS often gets cast as Red Hat's free rival. Kurtzer sees it differently. Red Hat's subscription model, he contends, practically required something like CentOS to exist. "This choice in the business model has made it very difficult for organizations, and so this is the whole reason why… There was even a need for CentOS," he says. Kurtzer explains that enterprises evolved a two‑tier pattern. "Organizations started running a bisected environment where they ran CentOS on the majority of it, and then they ran Red Hat on a sliver of it, where they needed the most support, where they needed validation, where they needed to know that it's going to work." Without CentOS, he bluntly says: "I believe that most organizations probably would have gone to a Debian and Ubuntu model because nobody's going to pay for support… across their whole environment for a free product." Running Debian or Ubuntu everywhere and RHEL on a small slice doesn't work well, he argues, because "it's an incompatible operating system, so the tooling would be different depending on what side of the infrastructure that they're looking at." With CentOS, they could "run the free product where they can and then only pay for the support where they need to." His conclusion: "I actually truly believe CentOS was very helpful to RHEL overall, given the choice of that particular business model." Asked when CentOS stopped being a niche rebuild and became a default choice, Kurtzer points to a supercomputing conference in Phoenix in the mid-2000s. "I remember being at a supercomputing conference… and I was talking with a vendor… and I remember somebody came up next to me and interrupted the conversation to ask the vendor: 'Why don't they support CentOS?'" It was a turning point. "This is the first time I actually even heard somebody outside of my circle of people actually now start demanding CentOS… and it was somebody I didn't know, and I'm just kind of like, 'wow, that was kind of cool.'" Around the same time, Kurtzer says he and early collaborators met IBM executives there to pitch Caos and CentOS. "Interestingly enough, there was no interest at the time. Another metric of success was seeing technology appear on resumes and in job descriptions. By the mid‑2000s, CentOS was on its way to being more popular than RHEL." By the early 2010s, CentOS was everywhere, but still maintained by a small, unpaid team. When Red Hat moved to sponsor the project in 2014, some read it as a hostile capture. Kurtzer didn't. "The CentOS team was fairly small at this point… and the developers were basically doing heroic feats for the entire community, and not being paid for it." Some things never change in open source, do they? Kurtzer says he thought the deal was fair. "They're giving up their home lives and whatnot… and there were companies out there that were doing very well, basing their infrastructure on it, but also making a ton of money on that, so I thought that this was a really fair option for them to now get hired by Red Hat… and now get paid, and now be… not having to give up their home life." Vendors began calling to ask if CentOS was going away and whether he'd recreate it. "I even had two people from fairly large companies at fairly high rankings… basically say, 'Greg, do you want to recreate CentOS?' And I said, 'no… let's give Red Hat… the benefit of the doubt… and see what happens,'" he recalls. For years, he thinks, Red Hat did "a phenomenal job": release latency improved, documentation and community interaction got better. That's why the CentOS 8/CentOS Stream pivot in 2021 hit so hard. Kurtzer thinks that Red Hat's messaging "was just a complete cluster… nobody, including the people at Red Hat, really knew what they were saying." The community's "general consensus at the time was that CentOS is end of life, and there's this new thing that's replacing it, which is some rolling beta." The blog post announcing the change "got more press… and more comments than any other blog that Red Hat has ever posted… mostly people in the community yelling at Red Hat," and "it was… nasty." By then, Kurtzer was running CIQ, a young high-performance computing (HPC) company building a computing platform on CentOS. They had already asked themselves what would happen if "something happens to CentOS." Their answer was to be ready to help rebuild a RHEL‑compatible distro if needed. Within two hours of the CentOS blog going live, as comments piled up, Kurtzer says, he replied publicly: "Hi everybody, I'm… original founder of CentOS. I'm going to go… recreate CentOS, and I'm hanging out over in this Slack over here… and if anybody wants to join me, I'll be hanging over there, kind of thinking about how to do this." The response was immediate. "Within four to six weeks, we had over 10,000 people join… it took off," he says. The free tier of Slack couldn't cope, "that 10,000 message limit goes in a matter of hours," but it was enough to bootstrap a new community. Teams coalesced around release engineering, testing, development, branding, web work, and even merchandise. "We had T‑shirts, swags, and memorabilia that you can get before we had any code," he laughs. Early shirts read "Rocky Linux" with "early supporter" in brackets underneath. Rocky Linux wasn't the only successor; AlmaLinux and others joined the field, and the usual distro tribalism followed. Kurtzer compares it to sports rivalries: "We just do it around our Linux distribution choices," he says. But he insists the diversity is healthy. "If something happens to Alma, Rocky's here; if something happens to Rocky, Alma is there; if something happens to both of us, Oracle is there; and we have all of these other options to guarantee the stability in the ecosystem." That may be CentOS's real legacy. It proved that a community could rebuild an enterprise OS from source and sustain it long enough for enterprises to standardize on it, and that doing so could actually reinforce, not undermine, the commercial platform it tracked. The clones that followed, from Scientific Linux to Rocky and Alma, are part of the same lineage that began when a few people on a rebuild mailing list decided that Red Hat's sources shouldn't just sit on a server; they should become a truly community Linux again. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251541</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/06/08/yes-its-true-windows-11-is-an-agentic-platform/5251541</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Yes! It’s true! Windows 11 is an agentic platform</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ It always has been, but Microsoft didn’t realize it ]]></description>
        <category>os platforms</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ os platforms ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:19:27 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ OPINION In the time zone of the keynote, it's dystopia o'clock. These days, it always is. The fervent CEO prophet strolls around an empty stage, backlit by a giant altar of light on which they display their magic and impart visions of a future that address none of our fears, choosing instead to add to them. The format has as little variation as a church service, the whoops and cheers of the faithful as predictable as psalms. There are no industry awards for keynotes, even the most brazen hype machines can't go that far. Perhaps there should be. Taiwan's Computex had a great selection. Nvidia's Jensen Huang pushed RTX Spark, a repackaging of existing technologies — another keynote staple — as the next PC platform. It'll make local AI ubiquitous, freeing users from reliance on giant minds elsewhere. Or it would, if those giant minds weren't using all the memory you'll need. Pricey thing, privacy. Another, even more delightful dollop of digital darkness came from Qualcomm's Vogon Captain Cristiano Amon. His vision is of omniscient agents constantly monitoring everything you do on every device, combined with the sort of wireless traffic analysis via 5G that outperforms anything GCHQ and the NSA managed in the cold war. "Resistance is futile," he actually said. Which is curiously comforting. It replicates both Sun Microsystem's 1984 "The network is the computer" and the more notorious quote from Sun's then-CEO, Scott McNealy, in 1999 that: "You have zero privacy. Get over it." He, too, actually said it. Sun was defunct ten years later, and we still have privacy worth fighting for. Just. But the They Actually Said It Award in a keynote didn't come from Ol' Taipei, but rather the streets of that upstart city San Francisco. Here, the keynote for Microsoft Build 2026 was in the CEO-as-Ringmaster format, an option if your company does more than a couple of things. Here Satya Nadella, sadly lacking top hat, tails and a spangly waistcoat, wheeled on act after act culled from underlings blinking uncertainly in the LED lights. Yes, there were plenty of moments where things nobody wanted were presented as inevitable miracles. Shrunken models that might actually run in affordable memory because "sorry-not-sorry about the datacenters." Autopilot, an omniscient, omnipresent trickster god of an agent, that watches everything you do and wilfully inserts itself into your reality. A synthetic demo of agents wandering critical power plants gathering vulnerability data and integrating it into corporate IT. Why on Earth would you want a human doing that, anyway? It's all very exciting, and pffft, security is too trivial to mention. Only — OMG — they did mention it. It came late, after the "We've put grep and Homebrew in Windows' fans service." Imagine shipping your OS with a CLI package manager, eh, Apple? Then, at last, agent security took the stage. In fact, there was a live demo of OpenClaw trying desperately to delete all the files on a desktop and failing. "Six months ago, that totally would have worked," they joshed. The reason Microsoft can finally admit that agents are dangerous AF is because it has rediscovered what an operating system actually is and actually does. The thwarted OpenClaw was sandboxed in a Windows MXC container with very detailed permissions about what agents could access, who they could talk to, and so on. If this sounds familiar, it's because MXC marks Microsoft's discovery that agents need an ID that has to operate under rules and needs to be managed. In other words, once you realize that agents are just another kind of user, all the user and process focused protection of a modern OS can be brought to bear. It was sitting there all the time in the OS, because that's what we've had to evolve to keep things safe. Fancy that, eh? None of this is much good as it stands for Qualcomm's unique cyberpunk dreams. Getting access to all of your services wherever you are, on your own terms, is obvious and as old as silicon. The keynote actinic fever dream videos always show such access to be effortless — the Microsoft keynote had Project Solara showing just that — but the MXCification of OpenClaw is anything but. It's a belated admission that trust and control are prerequisites of agent acceptance, and that currently you can only grok that if you know about menu diving through right-click granular system-level settings. The alternative at the moment is the slightly abstracted model for mobile apps, where the user has to tell the OS to grant or deny permissions as requested by the software. Just hitting accept every time is common, dangerous in apps, and devastating with agents. If the industry is serious about agentic AI, let alone multi-platform auto-porting agents, it needs to create and adopt common interfaces that monitor, manage, and protect wherever agents touch the users, user ID and user data. As Microsoft has now actually said, this is what OSes are designed to do. It doesn't fit precisely into the shimmering nightmare future, but it does into one that's moderately shiny and not entirely unwholesome. That's a difficult proposition to work into a 2027 season keynote but what if it was? That would really be worth an award. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5245952</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/06/08/consultant-mistakenly-deleted-a-ton-of-data-but-reported-it-as-a-bug/5245952</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Consultant mistakenly deleted a ton of data – but reported it as a bug</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ And he got away with it too! ]]></description>
        <category>software</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Software ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:00:41 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ WHO, ME? Is showing up for work every Monday a mistake? While you ponder that question, dive into a new installment of Who, Me? – The Register's weekly column that shares readers' stories of escaping their errors. This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Evan," who wrote to us from the side of a pool while his kids had a swimming lesson! "I work in test automation as a consultant and for one client I had to record test evidence as video," he explained, adding that the client's test management tool stored the vids. The resulting files weren't individually large, but by the time Evan had recorded 600 of them, managing all those files was starting to get a bit cumbersome. "Removing them manually was far too slow and wasn't feasible," he wrote. So he wrote a script to clean things up all at once. "Obviously this data was important, and I'm not reckless," Evan wrote. He therefore carefully debugged the script using breakpoints. "I stepped through every line, I checked all values, and I could see everything was right. Then I let the code try to delete the one file I was watching." The script deleted that file. And everything else in the container that the test tool used to store videos and plenty of other data. Did we mention this happened in the middle of a project, meaning Evan's action was profoundly unwelcome? Evan reckoned he was probably at fault, but decided not to confess to his client and instead informed them about the data loss and logged a support ticket. The client therefore assumed this incident was an accident and was cool about it. After a week of back-and-forth with support, Evan got good news. His client's support team was able to restore the data from a backup and could not find a reason for the incident. And then came even better news. "They took all ownership of the fault," Evan admitted. "They were very apologetic and said one of their SaaS scripts had gone haywire and deleted the content." Evan therefore escaped blame and carried on consulting – and is clearly doing well enough to pay for multiple kids to have swimming lessons! Have you successfully escaped blame for an error? If so, click here to send an email to Who, Me? It would be a mistake not to share your story so we can present it to your fellow readers. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251877</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/06/08/our-systems-editor-flew-all-the-way-to-taiwan-and-still-couldnt-get-away-from-ai/5251877</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 01:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Our systems editor flew all the way to Taiwan and still couldn't get away from AI</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Every show now is an AI show, and that included this year's Computex ]]></description>
        <category>systems</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ systems ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:02:12 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ KETTLE El Reg's systems editor Tobias Mann has been in Taipei for the past week getting the skinny on the hottest new chips, and what he's heard has been less about actual hardware announcements and more about how chipmakers are rushing to meet the demands of AI, other customers be damned.  Tobias joins host Brandon Vigliarolo to discuss what he noticed at Computex 2026, how AI has taken over yet another industry event, and whether the world is going to have to adjust to new, more expensive hardware that only the biggest datacenter operators and wealthiest consumers are going to be able to afford. Will things stabilize? Will prices return to normal? We're not so sure, to be honest. You can listen to The Kettle here, as well as on Spotify and Apple Music, or read the transcript of the latest episode below. It's been lightly edited for clarity. Brandon (00:01) Fire up the hob, it's time for another episode of The Register’s Kettle Podcast. And we're even more international than usual this week, as our systems editor Tobias Mann has been in Taiwan scoping out this year's Computex conference. If you're curious about what's coming from chip market leaders this year, you've come to the right place. Tobias, it's really good to see you from the other side of the globe. Tobias Mann (00:21) Yeah, a whole twelve hours ahead, right? If I don't have it confused in my head. But it yeah, it's good to be here. Brandon (00:29) Yeah, it's kind of late for you, so we'll try to we'll try to keep this concise so we don't keep you from from some sleep. So I think you filed a number of stories this week about Computex, like quite a few. so talk us through some of the biggest announcements or or news items that have come out of this year's show. Tobias Mann (00:46) Yeah, yeah. It's been a it's been a wild week here in Taiwan and and at least for the first half of it it was sunny and warm rather than the last half, which has been rainy and warm. Brandon (01:00) Well, hopefully that means you've been focusing more on the conference for the second half, right? Tobias Mann (01:05) Well, at least the air conditioning works in the conference center, that's certainly true. We had some we had some interesting announcements, some of which we we we definitely hadn't anticipated. I think the one that everybody had long hoped to see was Nvidia's N1X. This is their kind of Apple silicon competitor, high-end notebook SOC. They're they're finally rolling that out on a Windows platform. And you know, this is something that Nvidia had been rumored to have been working on for for years, but we only started to see inklings of what it could look like last year in some very niche products, and now that silicon is gonna be coming to to notebooks. I think that's the big PC news from Computex. As sad as that might sound, of all the chipmaking stuff we got, that's probably the biggest. Intel had some Brandon (02:01) And that's more like mainly I'm assuming consumer kind of, or are they talking about business notebooks and stuff too? Tobias Mann (02:04) They're spinning it both ways. This is a 20-core CPU with like a 5070 class GPU strapped on to it, with up to 128 gigabytes of unified memory. So this is a very, very high-end chip and it's expected to retail in notebooks that start around three thousand dollars. Brandon (02:18) So we're talking about yeah, high end hardware here. Like you said, it's kind of a Mac an Apple Silicon competitor, so to speak. Tobias Mann (02:33) High end hardware. Right. The funny thing is the chip's not new. So even Nvidia is having to recycle parts to to have something to talk about in the PC sphere. This is a part they announced back at CES in 2025. It was called the GB10, at that time, Grace Blackwell miniaturized super chip. Brandon (02:41) So this is a Blackwell derivative here. Tobias Mann (03:05) Yeah, it initially launched as part of what was originally called Project Digits, and later actually launched to the market as the DGX Spark. This was like an AI development mini PC that we reviewed back in October. Brandon (03:18) I remember when that came out. Tobias Mann (03:22) And so really the silicon is being recycled and what's new is the partnership Nvidia embarked [on] with Microsoft in order to kind of extend Windows support to this platform, and they're working on a bunch of agentic AI integrations into Windows, so maybe Copilot might be worth a damn. It's hard to say. Brandon (03:39) Of of course they are. Yeah. So now is this gonna be, I mean, are these gonna be Microsoft branded machines then? Or is this gonna be something that's available to the to the wider OEM market for PCs? Tobias Mann (03:52) So essentially every major OEM is gonna have some version of this. Whether under the RTX Spark branding. Microsoft will have hardware, they have a Surface product that they're also bringing out with it. But I think that the partnership with Microsoft and Nvidia is largely focused on kind of doing something actually interesting and useful to end users with AI versus, you know, another chatbot, which unfortunately is what most people kind of associate it with with this technology at this point and kind of roll their eyes. Or at least I do anyway. Brandon (04:24) So Microsoft had their – was it Ignite this week? Tobias Mann (04:36) Ignite is later in the year, I think. Build was this week. Brandon (04:42) Right. So at Build this week they announced new autopilots, right? So they're trying to do something useful with that AI, right? Turn it into something that's completely autonomous and always watching everything you do. But that's not what we're here to talk about. I'm sure we could go on about Microsoft and agentic AI being stuffed in everyone's faces for for a while. Tobias Mann (05:02) Right. We we we also got a couple othe announcements this week from Intel that are worth mentioning, at least on the PC side. They had some they had some handheld gaming processors which didn't get a ton of attention, mostly because everything has gotten so much more expensive that it's just kind of like, great, a new thing I can't afford. Brandon (05:25) Right. Yeah, yeah. I mean we'll get to some of the pricing issues a bit a bit later on in the podcast, but that also ties back to, right, the big factor in every trade show right now, and it seems like Computex, based on what I'm reading from what you reported and elsewhere, it was an AI show again this year, right? I mean that's kinda what it seemed like. Everything was being turned toward feeding the great large language model beast. Tobias Mann (05:52) Every conference is an AI conference now. And that includes Computex. Even Nvidia's PC hardware launch was steeped in AI. You just can't escape it. It was, every keynote was AI, AI, AI, whether it was Jensen getting on stage at GTC Taipei because they've gotten too big for Computex, so they have to hold their own conference on the sidelines as well. But everything just came down to artificial intelligence and how it's going to revolutionize the world, and also maybe turn the entire world into a surveillance state if Cristiano Amon has his way. Brandon (06:23) Yeah, what did he say? He was talking about AI agents are going to be inescapable, according to what he said in the story you covered. You were at that keynote, I assume. Tobias Mann (06:55) Yes. That was probably the most dystopian of the keynotes that I caught. And I get the message he's trying to say. He's trying to make the argument that doing AI compute inference in the cloud is just not economically viable. It needs to move down the stack, and that means it needs to move down onto our personal devices, whether that's notebooks and smartphones and, he seems to think we're gonna have AI inference happening in earbuds even. Brandon (07:27) Yeah, I saw that. Glasses, obviously, so that it can watch everything you do. Tobias Mann (07:31) And so I think the creepiest moment in all of it was when he said, basically on the topic of the economics of it all, he said "resistance is futile." It's like this is happening whether you want it or not. But in that same breath starts going on about 6G, because of course this is a you know a big connectivity chipmaker. And how 6G is gonna turn all of us into walking cameras and 6G towers are going to function like radars that let us track everything from bicycles to cars to drones in the sky and…[laughs] Brandon (08:09) Tech leaders always try to spin that as like this thing that's great for data and great for, you know, we're gonna be able to maximize every little thing we do, right? With with for the most efficient XYZ. But it right, they always kind of seem to neglect the fact that I don't think the average person really wants to be tracked by their cell phone towers, even if they don't have a phone. You know, it's it's a little intrusive to put it lightly. Tobias Mann (08:36) I certainly don't want to be tracked. You would think somebody, maybe even Copilot, could have checked over his keynote speech to see if this is it what what is the vibe here? Is it creepy? Yeah, it's kinda creepy. Brandon (08:48) Maybe you should cut this out or rephrase it a little bit. Tobias Mann (08:54) "Resistance is futile." Maybe maybe don't say that part out loud. Brandon (08:57) Yeah, drop the Borg reference, you know? 'Cause I that's a thing, right? Like anyone in this space probably is a Star Trek fan. I know I am. And I mean when you hear "resistance is futile", you immediately think, right, yeah, the the the Star Trek, the Borg, the the thing that assimilates everything and sucks it into the big collective aka big large language model. Tobias Mann (09:14) If you're gonna make a pop culture reference appealing to nerds, don't make it a creepy one. Brandon (09:20) Seriously. And I guess Marvell was also talking about, kind of on the AI front too, ditching copper finally in favor of optical connections. I know they're not the first company to take this up, but Jensen seemed dead sure that this was gonna turn them into a trillion-dollar company. Tobias Mann (09:36) This is one of the more interesting chats, mostly because of the dialogue between Jensen and Matt Murphy, the CEO of Marvell. Marvell is a company that most people probably never heard of before today, or before this week, when Jensen sends its stock prices through the roof, with the next trillion-dollar company claim. but they are a chip development company and IP house that has collected a lot of intellectual property around networking and photonics. A Brandon (10:13) They're fabless, is that correct? Tobias Mann (10:18) Yes. They design and then license out, kind of shake and bake pieces of a larger design. So you might go to them to license a piece of the chip that you don't want to spend resources on, and you just need it to work, so you're gonna spend money on engineers to do the core part that you're interested in, then buy the rest from Marvell. Broadcom also operates in this space. But we're in an interesting place where the speeds that these networks need to operate for the the AI infrastructure to work efficiently keep doubling, and doubling really quickly. And the problem with going faster is every time you double the speed, you half the reach on copper. Brandon (11:10) So I think you mentioned in your story a 400 gigabit interconnect that only moved to I think two and a half meters. Was that right in terms of length? Tobias Mann (11:18) Right, yeah. We're at the point where at 200 gig it's about two and a half meters and it's gonna get halved as you go to four hundred gig. These are lanes. So, you think about ports on a network switch today and you might see 400 gig or 800 gig or 1.6 T. But those are assembled from four to eight lanes at these speeds. It's not the port speed, it's the link speed. At four hundred gigabit you're down to like 1.25 meters, you're at the limit of a rack….We are putting the switches in the middle of the rack for these systems for a reason, because that's the where you can get the best reach to all the stuff you get a plug in. Once we go to 800, you're gonna be supremely limited. And so you have to start talk thinking about optics at some level. There's a lot of ways to do this, but Matt Murphy is convinced that within 10 years, copper is basically going to go away. And there's a lot of companies that have been working towards this. Today the way we connect to optics is really complicated. You have a chip that communicates over copper through PCB out to a front end, some PCI interface or something like that. That has to go up to a network interface, and then you're gonna plug a pluggable optic in. And then you can go out over the fiber, and then you have to have basically the same thing on the other end, or there might be a switch in the middle, with more pluggable optics. Those pluggable optics are one of the reasons that we haven'tdone this yet. Why, if we're heading in this direction, just not move to optics now? And the reason is pluggables are really power hungry, especially at the speeds we're talking about. You need lots of them. Like 72 pluggables for one GPU potentially. And each pluggable pulls like fifteen watts. So you start doing the math – or not 72, but 18, so sorry, or 36. It's a lot of power. It adds up really, really quickly. The numbers get really confusing very quickly, but the point is you just need an absurd amount of pluggables. And to use really simple numbers, Nvidia faced this problem two years ago. They said why not just do optics? We're gonna have to go there eventually. And they did the math and it was going to add 20 kilowatts of power to a rack that was already pulling 120. And as you go faster, you need faster pluggables. Eventually we'll get to the point where the fibers go straight to the chip. You've cut out all of those copper interconnects all the way out, and the fibers just go to the chip, and you might have a little connector that goes from fiber to fiber in between. Brandon (14:39) So that's that's coming. Tobias Mann (14:41) That's coming. Matt Murphy thinks it's probably ten years out, that we're gonna get to a point where most most of the copper is gone. You'll still use it for power, but you're not gonna be using it for data communications. Brandon (14:56) Well it'd be great if that would kind of resolve our issue with with the copper shortage. Tobias Mann (15:00) It would help with copper shortage, but it would also help with memory. So today the reason everything has to go in one box. You have a CPU, a GPU, you have a bunch of memory. All of it has to go in one box and it has to be in a relatively fixed ratio of of these things. You know, one CPU to two GPUs to X amount of memory. And regardless of whether your application, your workload actually needs that ratio or not, that's what you're stuck with. When everything is optically interconnected, Murphy is contending that you could just have a box full of GPUs in one corner of your data center. You could have memory over in the other corner, and CPUs in another corner. Brandon (15:43) Basically it'd be fast enough to have a distributed system essentially. Tobias Mann (15:48) Right, and then you can then reallocate it. And there's there are protocols, Compute Express Link, this is a technology that's been under development for a long time. It allows for memory sharing on compatible components. And memory sharing is interesting because you can have two different systems doing almost exactly the same thing, and it's basically deduplicating. So they're only using the memory of like one and a quarter versus two machines. And so we can dramatically potentially reduce the memory consumption of these systems by sharing the memory like it's network attached storage device almost. Brandon (16:36) Yeah. So Marvell is putting this forward as their strategy and causing Jensen to basically cause their stock to just skyrocket, right? That to me sounds like they're getting their share of the bubble. Right? A lot of what I wonder is, what's going on there this week, do you think it's more it's more bubble inflation? Or do you think these are, you know, practical, realistic things they're saying in an attempt to move an industry forward regardless of the potential collapse. Tobias Mann (17:12) Well, I think there's a lot of industry building going on, certainly. But I think to your point, hype is something that, if you if you can't launch a product, then you can hype up your product or hype up somebody else's. Nvidia invested two billion dollars in Marvell not that long ago. So I'm sure Jensen is eager to get his money's worth out of that investment and jacking up the stock price with predictions is probably a pretty decent way of getting things going. But the reality is that for any of the things that you know Matt Murphy is talking about, for Jensen's prediction to come true, there's a lot of the industry that needs to start ramping up now in preparation of this, and if you want to keep the bubble from popping, a good way to do that is to make sure that you don't run into roadblocks too early. So if you've got capital to burn in getting…in kind of building the track further out in front of the train, I'm mixing a lot of metaphors here because it's late, but this seems to be what Nvidia is doing here. And it feels like we're seeing a lot more of this. This is not the first time Nvidia has thrown money at optics in the last couple of months. They've invested heavily in photonics companies and Marvell is just the latest example. Brandon (18:50) We've seen memory prices just skyrocket recently, right? Memory and storage prices are going through the roof. There's no reason to guess on that. It's been AI and people have been fingering AI chip needs as as the cause for a while now. What was the sense like there, right? D customers, do speakers, did the air seem to be kind of thick with concern over an an affordability, you know, or what? Like what's the finger on the pulse there? Are people concerned about pricing? Tobias Mann (19:27) Yeah, I think people are concerned about pricing, but less so on the components that we used to get excited about and more so on things that touch memory. Memory has basically eaten everybody's lunch. It doesn't matter whether you're building AI servers or you're just trying to buy a new laptop. The share of the price on either of those things as associated with memory has just become the dominant force and what's driving up memory. I was talking to AMD this week about some products that they're they have in the works, trying to build up their developer onramp for around their products, something they have kind of a deficit and they're trying to catch up with Nvidia on. And you know, the device that they're gonna do this with is $4,000. And they said 75 percent of that is now memory and storage. And you know what's crazy is the hardware in it's not new. And so a year ago, that $4,000 box could be had for under $2,000. Brandon (20:45) Yeah, it's the same with the Steam Deck, right? It skyrocketed in price as a consumer device example, right? We talked about this in last week's episode. It's gone through the roof and it's not new hardware. It's the same thing. It's just that in order to make it, Valve's markups are now gonna be have to be so much higher because of the price of the memory and the storage in the thing. It's ludicrous. Tobias Mann (21:05) Right. I was walking around some of the consumer memory vendors. They don't make the memory but they package it and they're how consumers buy it. And they were all advertising that their new SSDs with capacities up to eight terabytes and and new memory with up to a 128 gigabytes per DIMM. And I'm looking at this going, uh-huh. And so we have a $8,000 SSD that I can't afford and a memory kit that God knows how expensive that's going to be, but it's going to be probably two, three thousand dollars for that. The addressable market for these products is shrinking because you know the market can't, the consumer market simply can't bear it. And there's a lot of excitement that's lost on that. Brandon (21:36) Yeah, totally. I mean when you when you say, hey, here's the newest graphics card or the newest blah blah blah blah blah, it's faster, it's greater, it's gonna make your PC run, more efficiently, but it costs, more than three times more than the computer you bought, it's like, well I that why should I get excited about that? Tobias Mann (22:21) We used to get excited when there was a thirty percent improvement and whatever performance market generation on generation, but that was predicated on the price staying relatively…increasing by less than the performance increased. Why upgrade? Sure the performance is thirty percent better, but the price doubled. That's not a compelling sale. Brandon (22:28) So this this old machine's gonna have to work for a little longer, you know? It really makes me wonder, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Apple's got the new MacBook Neo or whatever it's called, the the the cheap one, right? I think I just read somewhere that they've had a double production because it's been so popular, right? Cheap hardware, people want it, right? And it makes me wonder if given the cost of, you know, high performance components, getting to the point where they're going to be untenable for anyone but, hyperscalers and colo facilities that are running, all this this stuff. I mean, are we looking at kind of a new normal in computing? Are these prices going to come back down or are we are we getting to a point where this is going to be the sort of thing where companies are going to use this as an excuse to say, here's a cheap machine that you need all our services for? Are we moving that direction? Tobias Mann (23:38) It's an interesting question. There's a lot of there's a lot of shifting market dynamics around this kind of thing. New markets are oftentimes born out of necessity. I would say that the MacBook at Neo is an interesting example of this. It's like this is this is not a market that Apple has traditionally played in. But they had excess capacity of, I think it's the A19 that it's based on. And they were able to leverage that and to bring into bringing a lower cost but still premium device to to market. In that there's some relief and there's an ecosystem play. They can capture a market that has previously been inaccessible to them on and kind of that low end Mac marketing. So I do think that there's some opportunity for Microsoft to capitalize on this if they're if they're smart. But I would also say that Windows has become increasingly hostile to users and I think that they might be better served by focusing on fixing the software first. Back in April, Intel did bring some new chips to market that look like they're going to provide similar performance to a MacBook Neo at low enough prices that we should start to see notebook vendors being able to compete on kind of the premium device with just enough performance to be interesting. Brandon (25:15) So you don't necessarily think we're looking at a period where we're gonna all be sold Chromebooks and toll or something to that effect, right? Like cheap machines that are basically gonna be like, necessitating connected services that we can eventually either be handing over data or money for. Tobias Mann (25:30) Right. You know, anytime you hit a kind of you stall out on the technological, the hardware side of things, software typically is where you see the most optimization and improvement. But I do think that if this idea of local AI is going to take over as kind of an economic driver, as Amon was kind of pushing, we're gonna need memory. Like these models are not small and it needs to be fast memory. And so, right now those devices cost three or four thousand dollars for to even to get into the entry level of of of that. It's kind of two forces working against each other. And the reality is the problem that all of this comes back to is that we can't control the memory markets. And at least from talking to folks at Tech Insights not that long ago, it looks like we're in this for the next year and a half at least. And even then prices are going to settle rather than continuing to rise. It's not going to be the course correction that we've historically seen. Memory markets are historically very cyclical. You have booms and busts, prices go high, memory vendors raise enough money to ramp production again, they stop production, and when inventory gets high, prices drop because people are willing to pay less for it. That we're just not seeing that. The demand is so high that every memory module just gets eaten. Brandon (27:18) Yeah. I it's gonna be an interesting it's gonna be interesting couple of years here in the tech space as we kind of hopefully find some new balance. We'll see what comes of it. And chances are we will be right here at The Kettle to talk about it after writing plenty of stories about it. So thanks again Tobias for joining me this week and hopefully have a safe flight home. And to everyone listening, we'll see you soon. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251616</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/offbeat/2026/06/07/brit-maritime-agency-heralds-fresh-global-rules-for-crewless-cargo-ships/5251616</link>
        <pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Brit maritime agency heralds fresh global rules for crewless cargo ships</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ If you thought driverless cars were bad, imagine a 200,000 ton container ship ]]></description>
        <category>offbeat</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ offbeat ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:20:01 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) says it helped to develop a code of safety for future remotely operated and autonomous cargo ships. The executive body, responsible for maritime law and safety policy, represented the UK’s interests in working groups during development of the first non-mandatory International Code of Safety for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS Code). This code, set to be published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on July 1, is the first stab at a global regulatory framework covering uncrewed cargo ships. It will be followed by a mandatory MASS Code based on reviews of this set of regulations, slated for adoption in 2030, for entry into force on January 1, 2032. Autonomous vessels are already being tested out. In Norway, for example, a ship called the Yara Birkeland is used to carry chemicals and fertiliser from an industrial plant where they are produced to the deep-sea container harbor at Brevik, from where they are shipped to customers around the world. Yara Birkeland is the world's first fully autonomous and electric zero-emission container ship, but is relatively small at about 80 meters (260 ft) long and a weight of 3,200 tonnes. A scoping exercise by the IMO to help inform the regulations identified four degrees of autonomy - inspired by those applicable to self-driving cars. Degree one has seafarers on board to operate and control shipboard systems and functions, although some operations may be automated. Degree two is a remotely controlled ship with crew aboard, able to take control if necessary. Degree three covers a remotely controlled ship without any crew, and Degree four is a fully autonomous ship. The IMO said it identified a number of high-priority issues, cutting across several instruments, that must be addressed at a policy level in future. These involve the development of MASS terminology and definitions, particularly in clarification of who is responsible for the ship in Degrees Three and Four. Others include actions normally be carried out by the crew, including firefighting, cargo stowage and securing, maintenance, watchkeeping and implications for search and rescue. The latter is a legally binding duty that applies to all vessels, without exception. “The maritime industry is inherently global, so progress towards a harmonised regulatory framework is vital to support consistency, fairness and – most importantly – safe operations internationally,” said MCA assistant director for Future Technical Standards Leanne Page. “We’re very proud to have played a leading role in reaching this major milestone.” The next step is building a framework for an experience-building phase, the MCA says, to inform development of the mandatory MASS Code. Both the MCA and the UK’s Department for Transport will continue industry consultations to provide further information and guidance on this new non-mandatory MASS Code. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251780</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/06/07/home-office-ditches-legacy-asylum-database-keeps-the-spreadsheets/5251780</link>
        <pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 12:16:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Home Office ditches legacy asylum database, keeps the spreadsheets</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Years into a major IT overhaul, MPs say the department still lacks reliable view of what is happening across the asylum system ]]></description>
        <category>public sector</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Public sector ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 10:54:49 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The UK's long-running asylum IT overhaul may finally have put the 25-year-old Case Information Database (CID) out to pasture, but Parliament says that officials are still relying on spreadsheets and disconnected systems to keep track of asylum cases. A new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found asylum data remains scattered across multiple systems, making it difficult for officials to track cases, spot emerging backlogs, or understand where pressure is building across the wider system. As of December last year, the Home Office was still heavily dependent on CID, a decommissioned platform dating back to the turn of the century, while attempting to move asylum operations onto Atlas. The PAC's findings suggest the migration has not solved a more familiar government IT problem: getting different systems to share information. The committee said that there is still "no single, reliable view of cases across the asylum system." While the Home Office told MPs it has now fully moved to Atlas for asylum case management, officials noted that the transition has been complex, involving legacy data migration, functional improvements, and staff training. MPs also heard that some Home Office staff continue to maintain their own spreadsheets alongside official systems. The committee warned this can leave multiple versions of the same information in circulation and contribute to ongoing data quality problems. One of the bigger gaps sits between the Home Office and HM Courts & Tribunals Service. The two are working to link their case management systems, but MPs said current data-sharing arrangements still make it impossible to follow an individual case through the entire asylum process. The report also echoes earlier National Audit Office findings that a reliable single record for each asylum seeker is still unavailable. Information on issues such as repeat appeals and absconders remains incomplete, inconsistent, or unavailable, while MPs said officials struggled to provide some key figures with confidence. The committee concluded that departments still lack the integrated data needed to understand how people move through the asylum system or whether attempts to fix one bottleneck are simply creating another elsewhere. What’s more, without reliable data, MPs said that they cannot properly assess whether the asylum system is improving or whether taxpayers are getting value for money. “Departments still lack integrated, system-wide data and agreed performance measures needed to manage the asylum system effectively,” the PAC report states. “Until these gaps are addressed, senior leaders cannot fully understand where pressures are building or assess whether interventions are working as intended, and Parliament cannot obtain robust assurance on progress or value for money.” The old database may be on the way out, but MPs are not convinced the underlying data problems went with it. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251365</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/personal-tech/2026/06/07/englands-exam-watchdog-frets-over-smart-specs-turning-gcses-into-google-searches/5251365</link>
        <pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>England's exam watchdog frets over smart specs turning GCSEs into Google searches</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Ofqual says smart glasses, hidden earpieces, and AI tools are creating a new generation of cheating headaches ]]></description>
        <category>personal tech</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ personal tech ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:42:25 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ England's exams watchdog is warning that the next generation of school cheating may arrive not in a student's pocket, but perched on their face. In a new podcast, Ofqual chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham said advances in consumer technology are creating fresh headaches for exam authorities, with smart glasses, hidden earpieces, and other connected gadgets raising the prospect of increasingly sophisticated cheating during exams. "We shouldn't underestimate the challenge involved here," Bauckham said, warning that regulators will need to move quickly as technology evolves. Students smuggling phones into exam halls is hardly a new phenomenon. According to Ofqual, mobile phones and other smart devices were involved in 2,225 malpractice cases during 2025 exams, accounting for 44.3 percent of all student malpractice incidents. Device-related offenses have been the largest category of student malpractice every year since 2018. What appears to be keeping regulators awake at night is what comes next. A smartphone hidden in a blazer pocket is one thing, but a pair of ordinary-looking glasses quietly displaying information to the wearer, or a near-invisible earpiece feeding them answers from elsewhere, is harder to spot from the back of an exam hall. The concerns arise as consumer technology companies continue to cram cameras, microphones, AI assistants, and internet connectivity into an ever-growing range of wearable devices. What starts life as a gadget for checking messages or translating languages can easily become something more useful when sitting a three-hour mathematics exam. Bauckham also suggested artificial intelligence poses a separate challenge outside the exam hall. Ofqual is examining ways to ensure coursework remains authentic as AI-generated submissions become harder to distinguish from student work. Possible responses include tighter requirements around referencing sources and greater involvement from teachers in verifying that students actually produced the work they hand in. Bauckham even floated the possibility of removing coursework entirely from some qualifications if confidence in its authenticity cannot be maintained. For now, students are still expected to turn up with a pen and whatever knowledge they've managed to retain. But as smart glasses and AI gadgets become cheaper and harder to spot, invigilators may soon need to know as much about consumer electronics as they do about exam regulations. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251754</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/06/oxford-university-data-pwned-again-by-career-platform-breach/5251754</link>
        <pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2026 09:28:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Oxford Uni student data pwned yet again - this time via career platform breach</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Totally different attack from the break-in last month. Oh so that's OK then  ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:47:21 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Oxford University students seeking work will be dismayed to learn that crooks have breached a second external platform provider for the university in as many months. The institution’s CareerConnect platform, provided by Group GTI, was the target of the intrusion, which exposed users’ full names and email addresses. Those who don’t use single sign-on (SSO) had their encrypted passwords leaked, too. CareerConnect forms part of Oxford University’s career services department, supporting students and alumni to find work opportunities. It is available to students, alumni, research staff, and recruiters. The same underlying technology powering the platform, which GTI markets as TargetConnect, is used by other universities in the UK and overseas, according to its website. OxfordUni said the May 28 attack was enabled by a “security vulnerability,” which has since been fixed. GTI has not publicly disclosed the security snafu itself, and did not respond to our requests for more information. The London-based tech company has not confirmed how many individuals were affected by the break-in, nor whether any data was stolen. It has also not explicitly stated which types of individuals were affected, although Oxford’s announcement listed “alumni, research staff, and employer users” as those who had their passwords forcibly reset following the attack. “There is no evidence that course information, uploaded files, appointment information, or financial information were involved in this incident,” the announcement went on to say. “GTI has stated this breach appeared to be focused on gathering credentials which may lead to phishing attempts.” The university did not list current students as among those affected, but told student newspaper Cherwell that names and email addresses might be compromised, and said the attack was entirely separate from the one which hit Instructure’s Canvas last month. Twice bitten Oxford University was just one of the circa 8,800 educational institutions affected by the mega breach at Canvas, a separate platform that’s also relied upon by schools, colleges, and universities. Seemingly timed by ShinyHunters to coincide with exam season, students across multiple countries were left without access to learning materials, tests, and grades at a pivotal time of the year. The scale of the attack was vast, affecting the usernames, email addresses, course names, enrollment information, and messages of up to 275 million students, teachers, and staff. The severity of the situation, coupled with the inopportune timing, led to Instructure “reaching an agreement” with ShinyHunters to prevent the criminal gang from leaking all the data online. In cyberese, this implies Instructure paid the criminals an extortion fee in exchange for their word that they would delete the stolen data. "We received digital confirmation of data destruction (shred logs)," Instructure said, adding "We have been informed that no Instructure customers will be extorted as a result of this incident, publicly or otherwise." ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251911</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/legal/2026/06/05/new-york-advances-one-year-datacenter-permit-moratorium/5251911</link>
        <pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:35:16 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Start spreading the news: Datacenters may face one-year ban in NY</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ The bill awaits Gov. Hochul's signature after passing the state legislature ]]></description>
        <category>legal</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ legal ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ New York lawmakers have approved a bill imposing new labor, energy, environmental, and community-benefit requirements on datacenters, including a one-year moratorium on certain permits for facilities drawing 20 MW or more. The bill now heads to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for a signature. A spokesperson for the governor told the New York Post she would review the legislation, but gave no signal as to whether she would sign it. Hochul has previously said she hoped to leave regulating datacenter construction to the local communities. “Today we face an unprecedented wave of proposed large-scale data center development across New York,” the bill’s sponsor Assemblymember Anna Kelles wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “My legislation seeks to provide New York with the time necessary to fully evaluate the environmental, energy, water, and ratepayer impacts of these facilities and to develop appropriate regulatory safeguards before additional projects move forward.” The Assembly approved the bill on Thursday, the same day Anthropic, the AI giant behind Claude, called for a pause on LLM development sprints as developers believe the models could soon be capable of building themselves. In light of that possibility, researchers at Anthropic said the world would benefit from a slowdown in the race to make models more powerful. In New York, lawmakers hope to protect consumers from higher energy bills by creating a special classification for datacenter electrical customers and mandating that all necessary infrastructure upgrades, administrative expenses, and operational costs be assigned entirely to the datacenter. The bill also outlines electricity-sourcing requirements for datacenters with a peak load of at least 5 MW, requiring a phased shift toward renewable energy, with one-third of electricity coming from renewable sources between 2030 and 2034, two-thirds between 2035 and 2039, and 90 percent from 2040 onward. For trade workers who are employed to build the facilities and maintain the buildings later, the bill requires the datacenters to meet prevailing wage requirements, unless the workers are operating under a collective bargaining agreement. Additionally, it demands datacenter companies help host communities with renewable energy initiatives, and mitigate the strain on local wastewater treatment facilities. Business leaders are urging Hochul to reject the bill, saying it was rushed through at the end of a legislative session and presented without appropriate debate. In a statement provided to The Register, Julie Samuels, president and CEO of Tech:NYC, which promotes the state’s technology industry, said a blanket moratorium on datacenters would slow investment in the next generation of infrastructure projects. “Energy usage, grid capacity, and the community impact of data centers must be addressed, and the Governor’s Public Service Commission is already pursuing the right approach by ensuring data centers pay their fair share for grid upgrades and energy usage,” Samuels wrote in a statement. Republican Assemblymember Phil Palmesano argued that datacenters were being unfairly targeted when other technology companies were given tax incentives to build, pointing to the recent groundbreaking of the Micron chip fab in Clay, New York, which is expected to create 50,000 New York jobs throughout construction, and up to 90,000 nationally. The bill, approved by the Senate on Friday, includes carve-outs for certain industrial computing applications, including manufacturing. “If we told Micron they had to power their energy demands strictly using renewable resources, they wouldn’t be here,” Palmesano said, according to the NY Post. One of the first drafts of the bill had called for a three-year pause on datacenter construction. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251891</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/06/05/if-you-dont-fall-for-these-extortionists-calls-theyll-show-up-with-usb-sticks/5251891</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:18:42 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>If you don't fall for these extortionists' calls, they'll show up with USB sticks</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ When 'Chatty Spider' morphs into tech services cosplay spider ]]></description>
        <category>cyber-crime</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ cyber-crime ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 21:20:00 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ If they don't get you online, they'll try in person. A data-theft and extortion gang has targeted “dozens” of banks, law firms, and other professional services companies in the US from January through May, using fake help desk calls and other social-engineering techniques to gain access to corporate IT environments, according to Google’s Mandiant incident response team. And when those remote-deception methods don’t work, the criminals sometimes show up at victims’ physical offices, posing as IT technicians, and attempt to steal sensitive files using thumb drives. Google’s threat hunters track the extortion threat group as UNC3753, while other analysts call it Luna Moth, Chatty Spider, and Silent Ransom Group. The crew has been around since 2022, originally using fake software renewal emails and other billing lures, typically with PDF attachments containing phone numbers for attacker-controlled call centers, as their means of gaining initial access to corporate networks. Beginning around March 2025, the crims shifted tactics and started posing as IT help desk staff. “While UNC3753 primarily relies on digital vectors, GTIG assesses that associated threat actors have also attempted direct data theft using physical, in person access,” Google incident responders and researchers Chad Reams, Tufail Ahmed, Keith Knapp, Ashley Frazer, and Tyler McLellan said in a Friday blog. The authors also pointed to a May FBI alert to corroborate this in-person tactic. According to the feds, Silent Ransom Group crooks have been walking into law firms’ physical offices as recently as this spring. Once they are on-site, they claim to be IT support staff needing to image a device or create local backups for security reasons. If that line works, they plug a thumb drive into the victim’s computer and steal data the old-fashioned way. “Although limited forensic evidence and the absence of a subsequent extortion attempt prevent formal attribution, GTIG assesses that these physical intrusions are likely associated with UNC3753 based on structural, timeline, and targeting overlaps,” the blog said. Google won’t say how many dozens of firms have been targeted in these attacks, or how many ended in the data thieves paying a visit to the victims’ locations. “While we can’t share additional details regarding specific investigations, Mandiant CTO Charles Carmakal notes that this tactic has been observed over the years,” a spokesperson told The Register. “Mandiant has investigated various matters where adversaries planted insiders, bribed employees, or physically entered buildings to facilitate cyberattacks.” Another noteworthy thing about UNC3753’s attacks: they are very fast. In many of Mandiant’s investigated incidents, the entire operation from initial contact to data extortion occurred in just one day. “Recently, Mandiant observed data searches, staging, and theft initiated in under an hour,” the threat analysts warned. These intrusions typically begin with an invoice-themed email - but these don’t usually contain any malicious links or attachments. The email’s sole purpose is to give the miscreants a plausible reason to follow up via phone, so that the recipient is more likely to believe the call is legitimate. Most of the crew’s entry mechanisms involve voice-phishing, using a method that has worked so well for other groups like ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider over the past few years. UNC3753 calls organizations’ employees directly and purports to be a help desk worker or member of the security team. The criminals say they need the target’s help addressing a security issue or aiding with a corporate data migration project, and convince the individual to join a screen-sharing session via Zoom, Microsoft Terminal Services, Microsoft Teams, or Quick Assist. In one such intrusion, using Teams to gain access to the victim’s computer, the attacker jumped on five separate calls with the same target over a three-day period, we’re told. And in more than one incident that Mandiant responded to, UNC3753 established Zoom sessions directly on targets' personal laptops, using these machines to access corporate virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) using native client platforms, such as Windows 365 or Citrix clients. Once they’re in the corporate systems, the intruders map local directories and network drives, and target specific legal and document storage repositories. The crooks also use very-specific keyword searches to find sensitive folders containing tax logs (Forms W-2, W-9, and 1099), audit files, corporate client agreements, and Social Security numbers, before staging this data for exfiltration. UNC3753 uses several methods to sneak the data out of the corporate IT environment without setting off any security alarm bells, including using portable versions of free Windows file manager WinSCP or another open source filesystem like Rclone. The crew has also been known to log into a file-sharing account from the victim’s browser and upload the stolen files that way - or even instruct the victims to send the files to an attacker-controlled email address. After stealing the data, they send the extortion email, usually within 30 minutes of exiting the victim’s environment, and set a three-day deadline to respond and begin the negotiation process. “We hope to find a financial solution that will be acceptable for both parties,” reads one such extortion email. It continues: In case of ignorance or no agreement, We will notify your employees, partners and customers, after which We will publish your data. You will receive claims from individuals, and legal entities for information leakage and breach of contracts, your current deals will be terminated. Journalists and others will dig into your documents, finding inconsistencies or violations in them. Your organization will lose its reputation, shares will fall in price, and your organization will be forced to close. Stay safe, friends In the Friday report, Google’s threat hunters list IP addresses and other indicators of compromise, including these phishing domains that UNC3753 uses in its social-engineering attacks, all designed to look like the target organization’s help desk: -itdesk[.]com, -it[.]com, and -helpdesk[.]com. The security shop also suggests a range of things companies can do to avoid falling victim to this group and other voice-phishing scams or physical office intrusions. Some of the physical controls include requiring visitors to display official credentials and photo identification, and mandating front-desk staff log all visitor IDs before granting access. Also, check pre-scheduled work orders to ensure the “technician” at the front desk is who they say they are, and make sure any visiting technical service workers are always accompanied by a corporate, in-office supervisor. Because the bulk of these intrusions occur without any physical entry into the office, however, companies should also implement remote access conditional access policies to ensure only corporate-owned devices can authenticate to any VDIs or VPNs. Plus, block the installation and execution of unauthorized remote monitoring and support utilities. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251855</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/05/yet-another-cisco-sd-wan-0-day-under-attack-and-no-patch-in-sight/5251855</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:27:42 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Yet another Cisco SD-WAN 0-day under attack, and no patch in sight</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Good luck, sys admins ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:37:42 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The threat is real. Unknown miscreants are exploiting a high-severity, zero-day bug in Cisco’s SD-WAN management software, and the networking giant hasn’t said when it will patch the flaw. Cisco issued an advisory on Thursday for the Catalyst SD-WAN Manager vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-20245, and it sounds like attackers have been exploiting this security failure for at least the last week. It’s due to a validation error - the software fails to properly validate user-supplied input - and an authenticated, local attacker can exploit the flaw by uploading a specially crafted file to vulnerable systems. From there, they can escalate privileges and execute commands with root privileges. The vulnerability affects all versions of the SD-WAN software, regardless of device configuration, and across all deployment types including on-premises, cloud-based, and FedRAMP-certified deployments. Switchzilla says it became aware of attacks against this vulnerability in June. “To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have netadmin privileges on an affected system,” the vendor said. “This would require valid credentials or exploitation of CVE-2026-20182 or CVE-2026-20127. Cisco is not aware of successful exploitation by other methods.” Both of these earlier SD-WAN security holes have also been hit by attackers in previous months. The good news: an attacker needs valid credentials to abuse the new hole. The bad news: exposed credentials aren’t hard to find (or buy) online. We don’t know the scope of exploitation or exactly when attackers began hitting this SD-WAN hole. Cisco declined to answer The Register’s questions, and instead sent us a statement via email. “Cisco recommends customers upgrade to the fixed software released in May 2026 for CVE-2026-20182 as a protective measure,” a spokesperson said. “A patch for this vulnerability will be provided on a future date. Customers needing assistance should contact Cisco TAC.” This latest bug is the sixth SD-WAN vulnerability listed as under attack since the start of the year, and the second zero-day in two months. The most recent is the one the Cisco spokesperson mentioned in an email to The Register. In May, Switchzilla disclosed a max-severity make-me-admin bug (CVE-2026-20182) affecting Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager, and warned that attackers had already found and exploited the hole before it issued a patch. A month earlier, America's lead cyber-defense agency said that three Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager bugs (CVE-2026-20128, CVE-2026-20133, and CVE-2026-20122) were under attack, and gave federal agencies just four days to patch the security holes. Cisco fixed all three CVEs in late February, and in March warned of attackers abusing two of them. Also in February, the networking vendor patched a max-severity improper authentication flaw (CVE-2026-20127) affecting the same SD-WAN software, prompting a Five Eyes countries’ joint intelligence alert urgently warning defenders to patch it - plus an old SD-WAN vulnerability (CVE-2022-20775) - or risk root takeover. "Malicious cyber threat actors are targeting Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN used by organizations globally," the UK's lead cyber agency said at the time. "These actors are compromising SD-WANs to add a malicious rogue peer and then conduct a range of follow-on actions to achieve root access and maintain persistent access to the SD-WAN." And while this one isn't listed as under active exploitation (yet), on Wednesday, Cisco warned about a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2026-20230, a critical bug in its Unified Communications Manager that also allows attackers to gain root privileges. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251831</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/science/2026/06/05/new-iss-leaks-send-astronauts-to-dragon-safe-haven/5251831</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:56:32 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Serious ISS air leak forces NASA astronauts to temporarily take shelter in Dragon capsule</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Business is back to normal in the orbital station, but one of two newly discovered leaks is still unrepaired ]]></description>
        <category>science</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ SCIENCE ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:15:48 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ A serious air leak in the Russian segment of the ISS forced NASA astronauts to put on their spacesuits and shelter in their Dragon capsule for a brief period of time on Friday, but all appears to be safe for now and operations have resumed. At around 1316 UTC Friday, NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens announced that, after the crew discovered new leaks, Roscosmos had decided to do a repair operation. During this time, the US space agency ordered astronaut Chris Williams and the four-member SpaceX Crew-12 team into the Dragon spacecraft as part of a precautionary safe-haven procedure. Reuters, citing an unnamed NASA official, said that leaks in the Russian section of the station escalated this week from around a pound of air a day to two pounds. A source The Register spoke with said that the latest discoveries were the longest cracks in the module they’d seen, though we’re still not clear on how large the cracks actually are. Approximately two hours later, Stevens confirmed that NASA had instructed crew members sheltering in a docked Dragon spacecraft to resume normal operations aboard the International Space Station after Roscosmos paused repair work in the Zvezda service module's transfer tunnel, known as PrK. The Roscosmos crew was planning to conduct repairs on the transfer tunnel on Friday, but Stevens said that the plan was paused in order to further assess “measurements and data” regarding the new leaks. “Given this development, NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station,” Stevens said. What’s life in space without some risks? Just how big is this crack, exactly? We’ve known about problems with Zvezda leaks for some time now, as Stevens noted. “The cracks have always been a concern that NASA watches very closely,” the NASA mouthpiece said in Friday’s X post about the leak. “NASA and Roscosmos have been working to determine the root cause of the cracks, and Roscosmos manages the issue through operational mitigation measures and periodic partial-repair efforts.” The Register has been reporting on leaks in the Russian segment of the orbital lab since they were first identified in 2020. Multiple repair efforts over the past few years have failed to stop the leaks entirely, and newly identified cracks suggest the problem is continuing. Russian news wire Interfax reported that cosmonauts identified two potential air leaks in the transfer chamber, one of which was sealed on Friday with a layer of Germetall-1 two-component sealant, but the second hasn’t been addressed yet. “Efforts are underway to prepare it for hermetic sealing,” Roscosmos said in a statement. We’ll update this story if we hear anything new from NASA, including whether the continued leaks, with cause unknown, could lead to an early retirement for the station. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251734</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/science/2026/06/05/trump-pumps-federal-funds-into-coal-plants-in-the-name-of-energy-security/5251734</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:15:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Trump pumps federal funds into coal plants in the name of energy security</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ DoE wants to keep 13 coal-fired power generators going at the same time as funding nuclear research ]]></description>
        <category>science</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ science ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:00:37 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The Trump Administration is using Cold War-era rules to authorize up to $500 million in funding to keep 13 coal-fired power plants going and build a coal export terminal in California. America's Department of Energy (DoE) says it is securing the funding via the Defense Production Act (DPA), which grants the president authority to use federal financial incentives to stimulate private domestic industry deemed critical to national defense. At the same time, the DoE announced that one of the advanced nuclear reactor projects it has been sponsoring has achieved criticality ahead of a July 4 deadline set by President Trump. That DPA funding includes up to $425 million for 12 projects to "expand and reinvigorate" the aging US coal power fleet, plus up to $75 million for the West Gateway Terminal Project in Oakland, California. This will be an export terminal reached by rail, capable of handling more than 10 million tons annually, which the government hopes to export to nations such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The pretext for authorizing funding via the DPA is that the DoE is ensuring the US maintains the industrial capacity and energy resources it needs to strengthen national security. Those projects chosen are intended to keep domestic coal mining alive and support reliable baseload power generation to boost the resilience of critical energy infrastructure, the DoE said. The coal industry in America has been declining for decades. It delivered 578 million tons in 2023, less than half the amount produced in 2008 when coal production peaked, according to figures from the US Energy Information Administration. And according to a report from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), it was largely due to natural gas becoming cheaper, rather than green energy rules or clean air legislation, while solar and wind have also proved a competitive threat to coal. But the recent AI-driven datacenter build boom has pushed electricity demand upwards after years of stagnation, prompting coal-fired plants to stay online rather than retire. A group of environmental nonprofit organizations warned earlier this year that coal plants in America emit pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), both threatening human health, in addition to the greenhouse gases belched out. The DoE is at least pushing ahead with new nuclear reactor technology. One of its advanced reactor designs, the Mark-0 from Antares Nuclear, has successfully completed what the agency calls a zero-power fueled criticality demonstration at the Idaho National Laboratory. This is basically a test running a controlled, self-sustaining chain reaction, but with no electricity generation involved, simply to show that the reactor can operate safely. Perhaps the reason for the announcement is that Energy Secretary Chris Wright promised in an interview with Bloomberg last year that at least one small nuclear reactor project would be online by July 2026. Sustaining a test chain reaction doesn’t really count as online in our book, but we’ll let that pass. The DoE said the Mark-0 is the first of multiple advanced reactors anticipated to go critical by July 4, the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence. “It is fitting that on the eve of our nation’s 250th anniversary, we are witnessing a historic moment for American energy,” Secretary Wright commented. “For the first time in more than four decades, a new privately developed non-light-water reactor has reached criticality in the United States.” The DoE announced the Nuclear Reactor Pilot Program last June, and in August disclosed a list of ten companies it has accepted to take part, including Antares Nuclear. In other news, the department also trumpeted that Japan is officially joining the Trump Administration’s Genesis Mission, billed as a national effort to use AI to drive scientific discoveries. Japan's RIKEN scientific research institute and Fujitsu began working with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Nvidia to build the compute infrastructure for Genesis back in January, but now the DoE says that Japan and the US are both contributing $500 million each to the project. The move makes Japan the first, and so far only, international partner on Genesis. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251809</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/06/05/zte-showcases-ai-driven-project-management-innovations-at-the-14th-ipma-research-conference-2026/5251809</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:09:17 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>ZTE showcases AI-driven project management innovations at the 14th IPMA Research Conference 2026</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ PARTNER CONTENT: Integrating AI into the iEPMS platform to achieve a 98% quality review accuracy rate and slash report generation times, leveraging experience from 240,000 global projects ]]></description>
        <category>networks</category>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ ZTE Corporation today showcased its pioneering achievements in digital transformation and AI-driven project management at the 14th IPMA Research Conference in Bogotá, Colombia. During the conference, Wang Yuzhu, Managing Director of Engineering Services at ZTE Colombia, and Jose Perez, Senior Expert in Engineering Delivery Management at ZTE, delivered a keynote speech themed "The Digital and Intelligent Future of Project Management", highlighting ZTE's practical experiences and innovative achievements in global project delivery. To address the evolving challenges of global project delivery, ZTE has developed a digital project management system tailored for complex international scenarios. Built on the "One Team, One System, One Mechanism" tripartite architecture, this system, powered by ZTE’s iEPMS (Intelligent Engineering Project Management System), enables comprehensive management across the entire project lifecycle—spanning planning, cost control, quality assurance, risk mitigation, and resource allocation. Through digital, automated, and intelligent management approaches, the system significantly enhances project management efficiency and precision. On the intelligence front, ZTE is driving the deep integration of AI with project management. By deploying Optical Character Recognition (OCR), AI Agents, Large Language Models (LLMs), and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for knowledge enhancement, ZTE has automated key workflows such as quality reviews, design generation, risk analysis, and reporting. These innovations have yielded outstanding operational benefits: the accuracy of AI-powered quality reviews has reached 98%, and the time required to generate project reports has plummeted from 180 minutes to just 5 minutes, significantly improving delivery efficiency and governance capabilities. ZTE’s digital delivery achievements are backed by its extensive global footprint and rich network service expertise. Globally, ZTE has delivered over 240,000 projects, deployed over 7 million base stations and over 240,000 kilometers of optical cables, while managing and maintaining over 510,000 kilometers of network cabling. By continuously automating processes and building an intelligent tool ecosystem, ZTE has achieved a 65% reduction in acceptance costs, an 85% drop in site re-entry rates, and a 2.5-fold improvement in network activation efficiency, creating tangible value for global customers. ZTE also showcased several global benchmark case studies at the conference. In Ecuador’s RAN network project, ZTE integrated its intelligent platform with over 50 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to achieve a seamless, "zero-user-perception" migration during network handovers. Additionally, ZTE’s digital project management solutions have been widely deployed in Colombia across diverse projects, including lithium battery installations, solar energy, microwave, FTTH, and DWDM networks. Centered on the theme "Project Management Practice in a Disruptive Era: Integrating Technology, Innovation, and Sustainability", this landmark event gathered experts from over 50 countries. Across key thematic tracks including AI & innovation, project manager 5.0, and sustainability & purposeful management, attendees explored how disruptive technologies are reshaping human leadership and project frameworks in the digital era. Looking ahead, ZTE will continue to act as a "Driver of Digital Economy", deepening the integration of AI, big data, and project management to upgrade global delivery models. ZTE remains committed to collaborating with global ecosystem partners to advance both research and practical innovation, contributing to an open, intelligent, and sustainable global project management ecosystem. Contributed by ZTE. ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251564</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/06/05/china-mobile-jiangsu-and-zte-unveil-intelligent-complaint-analysis-agent-to-reshape-core-network-om/5251564</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:53:49 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>China Mobile Jiangsu and ZTE unveil intelligent complaint analysis agent to reshape core network O&amp;M</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ PARTNER CONTENT: Leveraging multi-modal LLMs and agent technology to automate signaling analysis and shift core network O&M from experience to knowledge-driven ]]></description>
        <category>networks</category>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ ZTE has joined forces with China Mobile Jiangsu under the guidance of China Mobile's Network Division to pioneer the implementation of core network complaint agent capabilities, marking a significant step forward in accelerating intelligent network operations and maintenance (O&M) transformation. Both parties innovatively introduce the multi-modal signaling model and agent technology to reconstruct the complaint handling process, implement automatic signaling analysis, and efficiently locate customer complaints. This solution sets a new benchmark for digital and intelligent O&M in the industry. At present, the complexity of service signaling interaction in mobile communication networks increases dramatically. Manual analysis of original signaling to locate problems has a high technical threshold, which relies on expert experience. In 2024, the Network Division of China Mobile Communications Group proposed a planning framework for intelligent agent-based complaint handling, leveraging agent and large model architectures to intelligently process complaint work orders. China Mobile Jiangsu and ZTE innovatively launched the complaint agent solution, and implemented it in 2025, breaking through the bottleneck of the industry through three core technologies. Modal Signaling Large Model: Learn massive raw signaling rules to train a core network multi-modal signaling large model, achieving end-to-end automatic signaling parsing and anomaly detection. The system inherits signaling expert knowledge to significantly enhance signaling interpretation efficiency. In customer complaint scenarios, the complaint agent automatically orchestrates the analysis workflow by integrating the signaling analysis large model and core network configuration data. It enables precise localization of issues in complex scenarios such as international roaming. Knowledge-based Complaint Handling: Intelligently recommend complaint handling suggestions based on complaint localization results to assist operations personnel in making rapid decisions. It can drive the transformation of complaint handling from "experience-driven" to "knowledge-driven" and close the loop on complaint resolution tickets. In the future, China Mobile Jiangsu and ZTE will continue to focus on digital and intelligent transformation, driven by value-oriented scenarios, to extend coverage to all scenarios and processes of core network operations and maintenance. It will continuously produce core network operations and maintenance agents and large models tailored to diverse maintenance scenarios, forming an agent cluster to enhance analytical capabilities in complex scenarios and empower industrial digital transformation. Through in-depth integration of AI and communications technologies, ZTE has created a new O&M mode to improve user experience and satisfaction. Contributed by ZTE. ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251711</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/05/agentic-ai-hype-races-ahead-as-enterprises-remain-stuck-in-pilot-mode/5251711</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:29:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Agentic AI hype races ahead as enterprises remain stuck in pilot mode</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Most orgs remain trapped between flashy demos and real-world deployment, despite 75% saying adoption is racing ahead ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ AI and ML ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:06:06 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Three-quarters of enterprise leaders say they're adopting agentic AI, but only a small minority have managed to move beyond pilots and into meaningful production deployments, according to Forrester. That won't stop vendors from slapping "agentic" onto every product brochure they can find, but the analyst's assessment is that most organizations remain stuck somewhere between experimentation and actual business value. Agentic AI has reached an important milestone in 2026, says Forrester: "long-horizon agents are no longer off on the horizon." In plain English, the bots are no longer clocking on for a five-minute task and calling it a day. Vendors have demonstrated agents capable of operating for days, weeks, or even months, with examples ranging from software development to research workflows. The trouble starts when those demos collide with the realities of enterprise. Forrester says companies are expanding their agentic ambitions while largely failing to scale them. Governance remains immature, platform strategies remain fuzzy, and many organizations are struggling to demonstrate a return on investment substantial enough to justify broader deployment. Forrester's argument is that companies aren't struggling because they have too many AI agents, but rather they're struggling because managing them gets messy fast. What works as a handful of experimental projects can become much harder to control once agents start operating across multiple systems and teams. Many organizations are building agents in isolation, the report says, without a clear way to track them, manage them, or coordinate how they work together. That may be fine for a pilot, but it becomes more of a problem when dozens of agents are making decisions, calling tools, and passing information around an enterprise environment. The report warns that, as projects grow, companies often end up with overlapping systems, duplicated work, and agents behaving in ways that become increasingly difficult to predict. Forrester is equally skeptical that governance policies alone will solve the problem. The firm notes that more than half of enterprises still experience what it calls "agentic sprawl" despite adopting governance frameworks and formal policies. Its conclusion is that writing rules down is one thing; enforcing them is another. Companies are increasingly finding that autonomous systems need automated guardrails that can track what agents are doing and restrict what they're allowed to do in real time. For now, the industry's biggest challenge may not be building AI agents. It's finding useful work for them that survives contact with the enterprise. Or, as Forrester puts it: "Until companies tie agent autonomy to measurable changes in how work gets done, agentic AI will remain stuck in proof-of-concept purgatory." ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251684</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/databases/2026/06/05/microsoft-allows-byol-for-amazon-rds-repeat-microsoft-allows-byol-for-amazon-rds/5251684</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:45:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Microsoft allows BYOL for Amazon RDS. Repeat, Microsoft allows BYOL for Amazon RDS</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ SQL Server licenses can now be consumed in the rival cloud's DBaaS ]]></description>
        <category>databases</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ databases ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:06:14 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Microsoft now lets customers apply existing SQL Server licenses toward SQL Server usage on AWS's managed relational database service (RDS). The move promises to give customers who decided to go with AWS an easier path to consuming their SQL Server systems as a service, rather than in virtual machines. In a blog post, Amazon explained that customers paying with Microsoft’s Software Assurance licensing program could only previously bring their SQL Server licenses to AWS on self-managed Amazon EC2 through the Redmond vendor’s License Mobility program. “If you wanted a fully managed database like Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), and you already had SQL Server licenses, you had to pay for licensing a second time through the License Included model,” RDS database engineer Srikanth Katakam said. Amazon's Bring Your Own Media (BYOM) for RDS for SQL Server lets customers use existing SQL Server Enterprise or Standard Edition licenses to cover both installation media and licensing on the managed service, with no additional fees. The process includes three steps, Amazon told The Register: customers submit a License Mobility Verification Form to Microsoft to confirm eligibility; they upload their SQL Server Release to Manufacturing media to Amazon S3; and in the Amazon RDS Console, users should select their SQL Server major version, point to the media file in S3, choose their minor version, and create the database. Customers can track their Microsoft SQL Server license usage with AWS License Manager. Microsoft has declined to comment on why it got involved in the deal. For Amazon, the self-interest is clear: it wants to get the data nearer to its AI tech. “Once that operational data is in the cloud, it sits alongside AWS AI and analytics services — so teams can build agentic AI applications that reason directly over their business data without complex data pipelines or infrastructure constraints,” AWS said in a statement. Microsoft has its own equivalent technology in Fabric, its data lake and analytics environment, which also offers a control console to manage databases. In the absence of any firm statement from Redmond, it seems reasonable to assume that SQL Server is no longer the strategic priority it once was for the Microsoft. It is inviting users to migrate to its database services, Azure SQL and SQL database in Fabric. Like AWS, users can also choose from a bunch of database services, including those running MySQL and PostgreSQL, which Microsoft has been increasingly vocal about SQL Server remains third in the DB-Engines ranking, although its popularity has been on the slide for more than five years, and it looks like it will be overtaken by PostgreSQL in the near future. However that may not be of great concern to Redmond’s accountants. As a database vendor, Microsoft is doing fine. As Adam Ronthal, vice president analyst at Gartner, pointed out: "Of the leading vendors in 2011 (Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, and SAP), only Microsoft has grown their market share in the last 15 years.” ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251605</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/05/world-food-programme-breach-exposes-data-of-600k-vulnerable-gazan-families/5251605</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>World Food Programme breach exposes data of 600k vulnerable Gazan families</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Those receiving aid in the famine-threatened, war-torn territory told support will remain ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:15:37 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Humanitarian organization World Food Programme (WFP) says one of its systems was breached, and around 600,000 Gazan households receiving aid had their details improperly accessed. Its announcement, made via Telegram on May 31, confirmed there was “a security incident” in the self-registration application used by Gazans to register for aid and applicants’ names, ID numbers, phone numbers, and location information were among the data types accessed. “We understand this may be concerning, and we want to assure you that protecting your data and privacy is our top priority,” the WFP said. “The program is treating this situation with the utmost seriousness and priority.” The organization said it temporarily suspended the registration platform to urgently apply the necessary security improvements. Its most recent update on the situation came on June 2, when it said the platform was still down, but added that aid recipients did not need to do anything, while their support would continue to be delivered uninterrupted. “The WFP wants to assure all those registered via the link that food assistance, cash assistance, nutritional supplementation, and all other WFP programs are continuing as usual,” it said. “If you are already registered on the Self-Registration Application (SRA), your registration remains valid. There is no need to update, delete, or re-register your information at this time.” WFP told The New Humanitarian, which first reported the story, that the attack was detected on May 14, and confirmed the scale to be in the region of 600,000 households. The news organization also claimed, citing a whistleblower’s account of matters, that an anonymous “independent expert” contacted WFP’s Palestine team, alerting it to vulnerabilities in the SRA two days before the organization detected the breach. The Register contacted WFP’s Rome headquarters for more details, but it did not immediately respond. WFP, which is a division of the UN and the largest welfare organization in the world, supports 1.6 million Palestinians every month who face a malnutrition crisis amid fierce conflict between the territory and neighboring Israel. This represents around 77 percent of the country’s population, and an estimated 80 percent of the population is unemployed, unable to earn the money required to pay for a nutritionally sound diet. WFP delivers wheat flour, high-energy biscuits, and fortified snacks to families, community kitchens, and bakeries in its effort to push back famine, as well as facilitating cash transfers. The organization is also helping individuals get back into paid work, maintains roads, and says that when conditions allow, it will stay in the region and help local people rebuild communities, markets, and other food systems. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251500</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/06/05/gigabyte-packs-40-intel-lunar-lake-pcs-in-a-pizza-box/5251500</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:15:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Gigabyte packs 40 Intel Lunar Lake PCs in a pizza box</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Who needs one big CPU when you could have dozens of little ones? ]]></description>
        <category>systems</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ SYSTEMS ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:47:40 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ COMPUTEX 2026 Gigabyte showed off a high density server platform at Computex this week that crams 40 low-power compute nodes into a pizza box. Amid a sea of nearly identical MGX and NVL blades, the R1C7-KOA-AS1 was one of the more unusual systems on this year’s show floor. Rather than using Intel or AMD's datacenter class Xeon or Epyc, the machine is powered by dozens of notebook processors. Specifically, Gigabyte has opted for Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V. Launched in mid 2024, each chip is equipped with four Lion Cove P-cores and four Skymont E-cores clocked at up to 4.8 GHz and 3.7 GHz respectively. Each processor is paired with 32 GB of LPDDR5x 8,533 MT/s memory, Arc 140V graphics with eight Xe cores, and a 48 TOPS NPU. These chips are mounted on a thin motherboard roughly the size of an index card. Each node is equipped with a pair of PCIe 5.0 m.2 drives, which probably provide redundant storage. Eight of these nodes slot into one of the chassis’ five carriers for a total of 40 systems, 320 cores (160 P / 160 E), and 1.28 TB of high-speed memory. Networking and power come in the form of two 100 Gbps QSFP28 LAN Ports, and a pair of 3200 watt 80-plus Titanium power supplies. We're told the system is well suited to running micro services workloads like Kubernetes, but we suspect many will be attracted to it as a bare metal alternative to VDI, for something like Microsoft 365 cloud PCs or casual cloud game streaming. The Intel 258V's on board graphics means customers wouldn't need to worry about vGPU licensing costs. Each node would have its own dedicated graphics acceleration. Gigabyte currently lists the system as "To be released" on its website. We've asked for comment on timing and will let you know if we hear anything back. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251661</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/personal-tech/2026/06/05/raspberry-pis-profits-are-up-so-is-its-dram-bill/5251661</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Raspberry Pi's profits are up. So is its DRAM bill</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Forecasts earnings well ahead of expectations, even as it taps credit facilities to lock in memory supply ]]></description>
        <category>personal tech</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Personal tech ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:14:45 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The AI gold rush is proving good for Raspberry Pi's bottom line, but it's also forcing the low-cost computer maker to borrow money to keep enough memory chips in stock. In a trading update published on Friday, Raspberry Pi said it expects full-year earnings to come in significantly ahead of market expectations after a stronger-than-expected first half driven by healthy demand, higher average selling prices, and the benefit of lower-cost memory inventory purchased earlier. Raspberry Pi expects first-half profits of at least $38 million from shipments of more than 4 million units, putting it close to the roughly $42 million analysts had forecast for the entire year. Investors piled in after the update, pushing Raspberry Pi shares up nearly 20 percent and more than tripling the Cambridge-based firm’s value since January. The most interesting detail, however, was tucked away beneath the headline numbers. Raspberry Pi warned that pricing and availability of DRAM and non-volatile memory remain challenging, a familiar complaint across the industry as AI infrastructure builders continue vacuuming up components. To ensure it meets production targets, the company said it intends to make strategic purchases of memory inventory and will "appropriately utilize" its debt facilities throughout the year. Not so long ago, Raspberry Pi's biggest supply-chain challenge was making enough boards for eager tinkerers and classrooms. The firm increasingly looks less like a hobbyist hardware vendor and more like a company navigating the same semiconductor supply chain headaches as much larger technology firms. Earlier this year it raised prices on some products as memory costs climbed, while executives have repeatedly pointed to component availability as a key business risk. At least Raspberry Pi has a problem that many hardware vendors would happily take. Customers are still buying enough boards to keep the memory buyers busy. Still, Raspberry Pi said first-half profitability benefited from lower-cost DRAM inventory acquired before memory prices moved higher. As that stock is consumed, margins are expected to moderate during the second half of the year. Still, management seems willing to sacrifice some profitability to secure supply. It turns out the AI boom affects more than datacenter operators. Even Raspberry Pi is now playing the DRAM market. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251226</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/saas/2026/06/05/capita-370m-bid-40-under-ukgov-estimate-for-oracle-hr-and-finance-system-project-court-case-reveals/5251226</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:45:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Capita £370M bid 40% under UK.gov estimate for Oracle HR and finance system project, court case reveals </title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Cost model designed to protect against low-cost bid bias, claims rival ]]></description>
        <category>saas</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Saas ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:21:51 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ A new court filing has revealed the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions accepted a bid from Capita to run its new Oracle-based HR and finance system at £272 million less than its own cost modelling. In March, the UK outsourcing company won the contract for running shared services for £370 million over ten years. The central government department had earlier produced a "Should Cost Model" — designed to protect against a bias towards low bids — which provided a total price of £642 million, according to court papers. Capita’s bid was 42 percent less than the “should-cost” estimate. Since January, the deal to run HR and finance systems for four UK government departments has been the subject of a legal claim from rival bidder Sopra Steria, which alleges Capita's bid was "abnormally low" and based on staffing "significantly below the current levels." Capita has already told The Register it took part in a robust procurement process and stands ready to work with the DWP to ensure a smooth transition of service and value for money. A DWP spokesperson has previously told us: "We have signed a contract with Capita to deliver the Business Process Service and are committed to ensuring a smooth transition. Our priority is continuity of service and value for money for the public." Through its subsidiary SSCL, Sopra Steria has been running back-office shared services for the DWP, the Ministry of Justice, the Cabinet Office and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, based on Oracle eBusiness Suite 12.2.6, since 2013. In 2024, the DWP led the procurement for a new Oracle-based SaaS system and awarded the deal to IBM and Big Red for £711 million ($950 million), with the Home Office set to join the shared service at a later date. Capita’s 10-year deal to run the Business Process Services (BPS) for the group of Whitehall departments — known as the Synergy cluster — is part of the government's shared services strategy it says will offer £4 billion in benefits. In its defense against the claim, the DWP alleged that Sopra Steria was in breach of an “Ethical Wall Agreement” by basing its case on a document the department sent in error. A Sopra Steria spokesperson told The Register: "Sopra Steria was not excluded by the DWP from the procurement, and we do not accept that there was any breach of the Ethical Wall Agreement." In its defense, the DWP also alleged that Sopra Steria’s bid was “excessively high.” In the recently disclosed reply to the defense, Sopra Steria denies that claim by producing evidence from the "Should Cost Model" the department developed during the procurement in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines. The model put the contract price at £642 million. Sopra Steria notes its price was less than the model price, and not "excessively high" as the DWP alleged, although details of its bid are redacted. Cabinet Office guidelines state that complex outsourcing projects shall produce a “Should Cost Model Estimate” as part of the delivery model assessment. They refer to a Sourcing Playbook which states that the model can help “demonstrate value for money, to inform the development of payment mechanisms or to help protect government from ‘low-cost bid bias’.” The Playbook says that if a bid is more than 10 percent lower than either the average of the other bids or the “Should Cost Model” estimate, it should be referred to the Cabinet Office’s Government Commercial Function. The Register asked the DWP if it had referred the Capita bid in that way. Officials said it would be inappropriate to comment further, as the procurement is currently subject to an ongoing legal process. Last month, during a hearing of the UK’s Parliamentary spending watchdog, Labour MP Clive Betts questioned why the DWP would pick Capita after its performance on the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has sparked protests. Users of the pension portal launched last year were quick to complain about login failures, broken links, and unfinished-looking pages after the launch. MPs later heard the system went live without full functionality in place and struggled to handle the volume and complexity of cases transferred from the previous administrator, MyCSP. Dianne Jeans, DWP Senior Responsible Officer for the Synergy Programme, told the Public Accounts Committee that the shared service award was “a very different scenario than from pensions.” She said the award to Capita followed all the government regulations and processes. “We also had strong legal and commercial oversight and subject matter experts from all four Departments assessing the competing bids throughout the whole process. Capita emerged as the clear preferred bidder under Government procurement processes,” she said. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251214</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/05/council-in-uks-city-of-york-outs-hundreds-of-disabled-residents-with-a-single-email-blunder/5251214</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Council in UK's City of York outs hundreds of disabled residents with a single email blunder</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Blue Badge holders exposed to each other after BCC function proves too complex ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:01:49 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ A City of York Council email mishap exposed the email addresses of hundreds of Blue Badge holders in the ancient Viking capital, inadvertently revealing their status as disabled residents and triggering a data breach investigation. The council confirmed to The Register that it’s investigating what it described as a "personal data breach" after emails sent to residents last week were distributed without using the blind carbon copy (BCC) function, allowing recipients to see everyone else on the mailing list. According to local reports, the council sent three emails containing Blue Badge-related updates before issuing a fourth message acknowledging the error and asking recipients to delete the previous emails, including from their deleted items folders. Recipients were also warned to remain alert for suspicious messages following the incident. While the exposed information appears to have been limited to email addresses, the breach is especially sensitive because everyone on the distribution list was receiving communications intended for Blue Badge holders. In practice, that meant recipients could identify hundreds of people as members of a group generally associated with disabilities or mobility impairments. One affected resident told local media that the disclosure had left her upset because most people in her life were unaware she held a Blue Badge. "Honestly, I think it's just disgusting – we've been given the details of hundreds of disabled people, which feels unsafe," she said. In a statement to The Register, a spokesperson at City of York Council said it activated its data breach procedures as soon as the error was identified and is conducting a risk assessment in line with guidance from the UK Information Commissioner's Office. "We're working carefully to establish exactly what's happened, alongside conducting a thorough risk assessment ... to understand any potential impact on individuals," a spokesperson said. “Our investigation is ongoing, and we’ll continue to be as open as possible while ensuring the accuracy of the information we provide.” The spokesperson declined to say how many individuals were affected or whether the issue was caused by human error or a technical issue. The council added that it was assessing whether the incident meets the threshold for notification to the ICO within the statutory 72-hour reporting window. That may depend less on the email addresses themselves than on what the mailing list revealed. A spokesperson at the ICO told The Register: "We can confirm that we have received a data breach report on this matter, and following an assessment of the information provided we have closed the case with advice given.” For all the talk of AI-powered cyber threats, it seems some organizations remain committed to the classics. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251155</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/06/05/uks-top-crime-agency-hamstrung-by-legacy-it-watchdog-warns/5251155</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:15:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>UK's top crime agency hamstrung by legacy IT, watchdog warns</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Regulator says NCA's aging tech drags down productivity, forces officers to juggle hardware and do manual workarounds ]]></description>
        <category>public sector</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Public Sector  ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:35:52 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) has been told to urgently overhaul an IT estate so dysfunctional that officers say they are fighting serious organized crime despite the technology rather than because of it. A new report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has delivered a bruising verdict on the National Crime Agency's tech, concluding that the systems underpinning Britain's fight against organized crime are no longer up to the job. The criticism lands despite inspectors otherwise finding much to like. The NCA was graded "Good" in several operational areas, including tackling serious and organized crime and working with partners. But throughout the report, inspectors repeatedly return to technology as a fundamental weakness running through the entire organization. "The NCA's IT infrastructure isn't fit for purpose," the report states. Inspectors backed that assessment with a long list of examples, from officers manually re-entering data and sharing information by hand to teams relying on spreadsheets and other workarounds due to a lack of confidence in official systems. According to the report, around 70 percent of critical IT incidents each month are linked to that technical debt, the result of years spent prioritizing short-term fixes over long-term modernization. Officers told inspectors they did not trust the agency's systems, while others described technology as a major drag on productivity. One interviewee summed up the mood: "IT is a blocker; we achieve in spite of it." Another was even less flattering. "When I started in policing 15 to 20 years ago, I had better technology than I do in the NCA." The report paints a picture familiar to anyone who has worked in a large public sector IT environment. Officers told inspectors they routinely enter the same information multiple times, rely on manual processes, and manually transfer data to external partners. Some said the agency lacks even a basic personnel directory, making it difficult to find the right colleague when they need help. While the NCA operates a corporate system called ATLAS CM, inspectors heard that officers are using as many as 50 different case management methods across the agency, including spreadsheets and other manual workarounds, often due to a lack of confidence in the official platform. The agency's security architecture has also produced its own headaches. Because data sits across multiple government security classifications, many officers reportedly require at least two laptops to do their jobs. Inspectors spoke to some staff who were using four separate machines and said they witnessed the resulting inefficiencies firsthand. In a separate HMICFRS inspection published last year, inspectors found the agency was still relying on around 260 legacy IT systems more than a decade after beginning a project to modernize IT, with technical debt consuming roughly 80 percent of entire IT budget. These ongoing IT problems appear to be taking a toll on morale as well. In the NCA's 2024 staff survey, only 33 percent of respondents said they had the tools needed to do their job effectively. Inspectors concluded the problems are not solely the NCA's responsibility. They also pointed the finger at the Home Office, arguing that short-term funding cycles and a lack of coordinated investment have slowed modernization efforts. HMICFRS has given the NCA and Home Office until September 30 to explain how they intend to dig the agency out of its technology hole, complete with timelines, funding requirements, and a plan to retire aging systems. Criminals may have embraced ransomware, encrypted communications, and industrial-scale cybercrime. But according to inspectors, the NCA is still trying to get some of its own systems to talk to each other. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251100</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/networks/2026/06/05/brit-regulator-finds-mobile-network-service-on-trains-is-far-from-first-class/5251100</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Brit regulator finds mobile network service on trains is far from first class</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Comms watchdog says up to 83% of tests fail the 'good performance' threshold ]]></description>
        <category>networks</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ networks ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:07:04 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Train travellers are poorly served by the UK’s mobile networks, says Ofcom. Tests on railway lines in England, Scotland and Wales revealed disappointing signal across 24 rail segments, with results falling short in 83 percent of cases. The communications regulator is now calling for a nationwide effort to raise the standard of mobile coverage passengers can expect. On-board Wi-Fi was also tested by Ofcom and it performed well just one percent of the time. This writer can attest that on train journeys to London, the mobile network signal is often too weak to allow doom scrolling on social media - which is perhaps no bad thing. Ofcom’s report [PDF] found that even the best performing network (EE) met the Good Performance threshold less than half the time, while Three, O2 and Vodafone could only achieve this between 17 and 21 percent of journeys. For the purpose of the tests, Good Performance was defined as a download speed of at least 5 Mbit/s, an upload speed of at least 1.5 Mbit/s and a response time (latency) of 50 milliseconds or better. This level should allow a passenger to stream video or browse the web without noticeable delays. Ofcom tested cell performance on main line rail journeys, and most of these were in England, with a few in Scotland and just a solitary line along the south coast in Wales. Northern Ireland was not included in the tests. According to the results, the best performance was on the London Victoria to East Croydon line, south of the capital, or London to Bristol – but only for EE users. The problem is down to weak mobile signal strength along rail corridors, which can be further attenuated by certain types of rail carriage, Ofcom says. Rural and intercity passengers unsurprisingly experience a worse service than those in urban areas, where there are more cell base station sites. However, latency turns out to be the main reason why tests failed to meet the Good Performance threshold. Even when download and upload speeds were adequate, network delays proved to be the bottleneck, Ofcom says. One aspect of the study relates to the technologies operating across the four networks. EE has a roughly even three-way split between 4G, 5G Standalone (5G SA), and 5G Non-Standalone (NSA), which the report says “represents the most advanced 5G deployment observed in the study.” Three remains predominantly a 4G network along the rail corridors, accounting for 68 percent of samples, 32 percent as 5G NSA and no 5G SA encountered during testing. Vodafone and O2 sit somewhere between these findings. Despite Vodafone and Three sharing their networks as part of their ongoing merger, Three users were not able to use Vodafone 5G SA at the time of the survey, Ofcom found. In the case of Wi-Fi, only South Western Railway, which is testing a trackside millimeter-wave tech, delivered a meaningful service as part of their technology trial, Ofcom says. Throttling by train operators is too severe, it found, with caps of about 1 Mbit/s on some routes preventing passengers from enjoying Good Performance. The on-board service also used older standards, typically Wi-Fi 4 or 5. In-train connectivity does not yet consistently meet the expectations of modern passengers, the report concludes, with significant variation by route, operator and time of day. Improving the experience will require coordination between mobile operators, train operating companies and others, plus supportive policy and regulatory frameworks. Kester Mann, CCS Insight director for consumer and connectivity, told us: "bringing reliable mobile connectivity to trains is hugely challenging. It requires connecting to multiple masts and other network infrastructure while travelling at speeds of 100 MPH or more. Tunnels and cuttings make the job even more demanding." He said many tracks pass through rural areas where mobile coverage is weak or absent. "Poor signals on trains is a regular customer frustration that the mobile industry, Government and train operating companies have long struggled to address." The regulator wants to hear from interested parties on the issues raised in this report, and welcomes responses between now and July 29. “People rightly expect connectivity they can count on - and delivering it will require a joined‑up national effort,” said Ofcom’s Group Director for Infrastructure and Connectivity, Natalie Black. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5245506</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/offbeat/2026/06/05/tech-support-chap-hauled-out-to-help-swat-team-saw-his-life-flash-before-his-eyes/5245506</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Tech support chap hauled out to help SWAT team saw his life flash before his eyes</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Bulletproof vests and armored vehicles were not in the job description ]]></description>
        <category>offbeat</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Offbeat ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:53:47 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ ON CALL Buckle in, dear readers, for an extreme installment of On Call, The Register's reader-contributed Friday column in which we share your stories of superlative tech support scenarios. This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Solomon" who sent a story from his time working for a county sheriff's office. "I usually arrived early in the morning to get my daily stuff done before the phone calls started," Solomon told On Call. "One morning I found the Major waiting for me. He told me to follow him. I said I needed to clock in. He replied that he'd already done that for me." That told Solomon time was of the essence, an impression that proved correct as the Major broke into a jog and led him to a waiting patrol car in which the officer explained that Solomon was coming along on a raid that might need someone with IT skills to mop up afterward. "We sped through streets, with no lights or sirens," Solomon wrote. "The Major didn't say anything except 'You're a good man.'" That's when Solomon noticed the Major was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a belt that held a few extra magazines of ammunition. At which point he became more than a little worried. His mood didn't improve when the patrol car came to a sudden halt and the Major told him to stay in the vehicle – no matter what happened. Solomon did as he was told and soon noticed several other patrol cars arrive and heard a disconcerting increase in radio chatter. So many personnel appeared he wondered if a full-blown SWAT team might be needed for the job. "Just then, two tactical vehicles came roaring down the street from behind me and sped around the corner," Solomon told On Call. Then he heard a lot of shouting, and his mind started to race. "I need a bulletproof vest and a fully automatic rifle. I haven't been to church for years." About 20 minutes later, the Major returned and told Solomon he wasn't needed. "No computers here," the Major said, explaining the situation with a cryptic "Things moved faster than expected." Some of the officers who worked on the raid invited Solomon along to lunch after. "The burger I ate that day was the best I'd ever had in my life, I was so relieved," he told On Call. What's the most dangerous situation you've encountered while delivering tech support? Be brave and click here to send On Call an email so we can help other readers partake of your peril in a future column. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251460</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/05/it-would-be-good-for-the-world-to-slow-down-ai-sprints-anthropic-says/5251460</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:46:31 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>'It would be good for the world' to slow down AI sprints, Anthropic says</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ The plea for caution comes the same week it beat AI archrival OpenAI to filing for an IPO ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ AI AND ML ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ It would be “good for the world” to slow down the pace of AI development, according to a blog post from Anthropic, which this week began the process of going public with a confidential IPO filing. “We believe it would be good for the world to have the option to slow or temporarily pause frontier AI development to enable societal structures and alignment research to keep up with the advance of the technology,” stated a blog post written by Anthropic co-founder (and former Reg scribe) Jack Clark and researcher Marina Favaro. Executing an actual pause would take a negotiation and monitoring effort on par with nuclear accords, including the agreement from all of the frontier AI labs, as well as support from policy makers around the world. Even then, there is a possibility that some will not abide by any restrictions. “Training runs are far easier to conceal than missile silos, their inputs are general-purpose, and the incentive to defect quietly is enormous, because whoever continues while others pause could inherit the lead. A credible pause also has to specify what triggers it, what lifts it, and who adjudicates." Anthropic has been one of the more alarmist organizations when it comes to the growing capabilities of AI, as it's tried to portray itself as the more safety-concerned alternative to OpenAI, where its cofounders originated. One might dismiss this as clever marketing hype – what better way to convince enterprises to drop millions on largely unproven and sporadically reliable technology than claiming it could be so powerful that it might terminate humanity? In addition, Anthropic's recommendation is taking place the same week it beat archrival OpenAI to filing a confidential IPO as it seeks investment from public markets. Last week, the company announced that it reached a $965 billion valuation, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. It's pretty rich for a nearly trillion-dollar company to tell everybody else to slow down just as it's about to become unstoppable. Yet the headwinds are swirling. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week, which in part directs the Treasury Department to establish an “AI cybersecurity clearinghouse” that works with the AI industry and critical infrastructure operators to coordinate and deconflict the use of advanced AI tools. And it comes amid growing public backlash to rapid datacenter expansion. Nonetheless, throughout the paper, Anthropic explained how the “human role is narrowing” in model development and attempted to make the case that on the current trajectory, models could soon reach a point where they can self-improve and write better versions of themselves without people in the mix. “Once human- and AI-authored code quality reach parity, humans will stop writing code entirely, and shift to only reviewing it,” the paper’s authors write. “But if they can’t review code as quickly as Claude can generate it, human review will become the bottleneck to AI development.” As of May, Claude authored more than 80 percent of the code merged into Anthropic's codebase, up from the low single digits before Claude Code launched in research preview in February 2025. Newer models are also improving on complex tasks faster than before. The length of human tasks that models can reliably complete on their own had been doubling every seven months as measured in March 2025. Now it is closer to every four months, they said. The Claude 3 Opus model released in March 2024 could reliably complete tasks that take humans four minutes to complete. Claude Opus 4.6 can reliably complete tasks that take humans 12 hours, the team wrote. “If this trend holds, tasks that take a skilled person days could come into range this year,” the paper states. The paper admits that unknown bottlenecks could emerge, which stop the progress that has been made so far, and the next generation of models could see a slowdown in improvement. The authors cite Amdahl’s Law, which states that acceleration in one part of the system leads to choke points in other parts. “Anthropic has already encountered one signature of Amdahl’s law: as we’ve begun to push more code around the organization, human code review has become a new bottleneck,” they wrote. Anthropic said one area where AI consistently underperforms is in “taste” or selecting the next step to take, when left unprompted by humans. “Without that judgment, Claude is a capable assistant, but not a system that could drive AI progress on its own,” the paper states. “It is genuinely unclear whether today’s training methods and architectures could unlock that capacity.” However, the alternative scenario is that the current trend of models getting better more rapidly may hold. “In this world, the pace of progress in AI development becomes determined entirely by the availability of compute … Humans play a substantially diminished role in their development, likely moving most of our effort towards oversight, validation, and verification of an expanding 'virtual lab' run by AI systems,” the paper states. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251434</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/06/04/pink-is-the-latest-goon-squad-to-use-fake-helpdesk-calls-to-steal-creds/5251434</link>
        <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:16:55 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Pink is the latest goon squad to use fake helpdesk calls to steal creds</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ A familiar tactic popularized by chaotic crime crew Lapsus$ ]]></description>
        <category>cyber-crime</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ CYBER-CRIME ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:18:44 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ UPDATED A new extortion brand called Pink – which may be a rebrand of BlackFile – uses voice phishing and fake help-desk calls to gain initial access to organizations’ IT environments, steal their sensitive data, and threaten to leak it unless the victims pay a ransom demand. Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 first spotted the gang, which it tracks as cluster CL-CRI-1147, and its data-leak site, which went live on May 31. “Pink uses vishing and IT impersonation to phish credentials/MFA, then exfiltrates enterprise cloud storage and productivity data to extort victims,” the threat-intelligence biz said in a LinkedIn post. Google Threat Intelligence is not so sure it's a new gang, however. "After retiring the BlackFile brand in May 2026, we assess the group launched the 'Redact' brand and has now potentially surfaced as 'Pink,," Austin Larsen, Principal Threat Analyst at Google Threat Intelligence Group, told us. "This new operation exhibits hallmarks of UNC6671, including similar credential-harvesting infrastructure, data leak site (DLS), and recurring messaging that claims to 'improve the security' of victims who pay. Additionally, we attribute the Pink (CL-CRI-1147) domains recently published by Unit42 to UNC6671." Regardless whether it's brand new or just a new coat of paint, the tactics are very familiar. Pink is one of many goon squads to use these social-engineering tactics to steal employees’ credentials and bypass multi-factor authentication, using this access to burgle companies’ cloud storage and databases. Chaotic crime crew Lapsus$, during its 2021 and 2022 extortion spree that hit Nvidia, Microsoft, and Okta, among others, popularized this style of phone-based intrusions before Scattered Spider picked up the mantle. Scattered Spider is perhaps best known for its 2023 Las Vegas casino digital heists, and reportedly bragged that all it took to break into MGM's networks was a 10-minute call with the help desk. Over the last few years, ShinyHunters has used this same playbook to steal sensitive data from Ticketmaster, AT&T, and other Salesforce customers, and thousands of schools and universities that use Canvas’ digital learning platform. Despite multiple arrests across all three gangs, they keep coming back to victimize more organizations. Most incident responders, including Google’s Mandiant and Unit 42, link many of these criminal collectives to The Com, a loosely knit group of primarily English speakers made up of several interconnected networks of hackers, SIM swappers, and extortionists, with some of its subgroups offering real-life violent crime for hire. According to Unit 42, this latest cluster of extortion activity is also “likely a Com-affiliated actor.” And after investigating “multiple” of these extortion attacks over the past few months, on Monday, they spotted something that led them to Pink’s name-and-shame website. “On June 1, 2026, an existing extortion negotiation that had never received a response, attributed to a likely Com-related cluster, received new communication from a threat actor via a free webmail account,” Unit 42 analysts Richard Emerson and Cuong Dinh said in a Wednesday threat-intel post. “The actor provided a new qTox ID and a leak site associated with the Pink brand, but referenced exfiltrating almost identical information from the original extortion notice.” Pink data thieves set a 72-hour deadline for the victim to respond before leaking the stolen goods. After gaining access to the victim’s account, the criminals snoop around for valuable corporate and customer data from platforms like SharePoint and OneDrive. After exfiltrating the stolen files, Pink attackers use compromised victim accounts and internal Teams messages to extort the company. “The actor reuses second-level domains to target multiple organizations, and the third-level domain typically thematically represents the target,” Emerson and Dinh wrote. They also listed the following phishing domains as indicators of compromise:  passkeyadd[.]com  passkeydeploy[.]com  deploypasskey[.]com  Along with these three IP addresses:  185[.]178.208[.]153 (hosted phishing domains)  172[.]93.100[.]252 (accessed compromised accounts)  96[.]232.20[.]66 (residential proxy IP responsible for extortion email creation)  Plus, these user-agent strings were observed during data exfiltration:  Microsoft.Graph.Client/5.62.0  python-requests/2.28.1  python-requests/2.33.1  Network defenders can use these to assist in threat-hunting efforts. And be very wary of help desk calls, both from people claiming to be employees locked out of corporate accounts and from those purporting to be support staff rolling out a mandatory MFA update or other emergency. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251404</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/04/canada-wants-its-own-ai-less-reliance-on-us-tech/5251404</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:56:58 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Canada wants to make its own AI, break free from US bots</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Another ally questions reliance on American AI ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ AI and ML ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ We’re a month shy of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence, and another close ally has decided to celebrate by declaring independence from American tech, AI in particular. The Canadian government on Thursday announced a new "AI for All" national strategy that will see Ottawa direct CA$1 billion ($719 million) toward expanding AI adoption and supporting Canada's AI sector. The plan includes CA$500 million through an AI financing program to help small and medium-sized businesses adopt AI tools, and another CA$500 million to expand support for Canadian AI companies through the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative. Prime Minister Mark Carney made clear one of the initiative's central goals: ensuring Canadians can build and use AI on Canadian terms. “AI is here. The question is whether it will improve the lives of all Canadians or benefit only a few,” Carney said in a press release. “AI can … make a small business more competitive, if it is governed by Canadian values with a clear goal of improving the lives of all Canadians.” In other words, we don’t want your OpenAIs and your Anthropics north of the border, especially when American tech comes with so much political baggage lately. Yet another ally pursues AI sovereignty While the Canadian government frontloaded its target of $200 billion in economic growth, a litany of new AI-related jobs, building trust in domestic AI, and other five-year goals to boost the country’s economy, one of the most noticeable parts of the announcement, and the plan itself, is its insistence on Canadian sovereignty. “We will build the foundations of sovereign Canadian AI,” the announcement declared. That includes “compute, cloud, connectivity, data, and talent,” the government said, “so Canadian researchers, businesses, and public institutions can build and adopt AI on Canadian terms." A major part of that sovereignty push will see Canada “strengthen multinational partnerships with trusted allies” as part of the Sovereign Technology Alliance Ottawa entered into with Germany this past February. “Canada will leverage 12 international partnerships,” the announcement continued, as part of its sovereignty push, which ought to be read less as an independent effort, and more like one in which a bunch of countries partner up to get rid of American tech influence. As mentioned elsewhere in the announcement, Canada has signed AI and tech partnerships with Germany, Australia, the EU, Finland, India, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, the UAE, and the UK since March 2025 - shortly after Trump took office for his second term and started getting belligerent with Canada and other allies, coincidentally or not. One can’t help but be reminded of the EU’s recent tech sovereignty push, which gained steam earlier this year when the EU realized relying on cloud technology provided by American companies under influence from an unreliable, mercurial US government liable to cut them off for petty revenge might not be the best idea. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been easy for the EU, as its sovereignty push has been complicated by the fact that, even if you make your own software, you’re still stuck dealing with dominant US chipmakers for your hardware. Canada and its Sovereign Technology Alliance partners will have a tough road ahead of them if they intend to reduce their reliance on US tech companies. We reached out to the government in Ottawa, but it didn’t respond before publication. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251377</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/04/openais-codex-chains-decade-old-dos-techniques-into-http/2-bomb/5251377</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:08:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>OpenAI's agent chained decade-old DoS attacks to crash web servers in seconds</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Codex drops an HTTP/2 Bomb ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:23:28 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The next threat your server faces may have been helped along by a bot. OpenAI's Codex agent helped uncover a remote denial-of-service (DoS) exploit that can be launched from a single machine to render vulnerable web servers inaccessible in seconds, according to Calif security researchers. The attack works on default HTTP/2 configurations of major web servers including nginx, Apache HTTP Server, Microsoft IIS, Envoy, and Cloudflare Pingora. As of Thursday, Microsoft IIS and Cloudflare Pingora still don’t have a patch, according to the researchers, although Cloudflare disputes this finding. “Cloudflare's existing architecture and DDoS mitigations automatically detect and protect against this attack, making customers resilient to this vulnerability,” a spokesperson told The Register. “No patch is needed.” “We are aware and actively investigating appropriate mitigations to help keep customers protected," a Microsoft spokesperson told The Register. Calif researcher Quang Luong discovered the exploit, named it HTTP/2 Bomb, and will present the full technical details of the attack at the Real World AI Security conference later this month. In the meantime, there are proof-of-concept exploit scripts on GitHub along with a warning from the AI red teaming security shop: “Please don't point these at infrastructure you don't own.” In a Tuesday blog, Luong says Codex chained two existing DoS attack techniques that have been known for more than a decade - HPACK compression bomb and Slowloris-style hold - and warns that upwards of 880,000 websites supporting HTTP/2 and running one of the vulnerable web servers may be affected. An HPACK bomb attack (also known as CVE-2016-6581) exploits the HTTP/2 header compression algorithm (HPACK) by sending thousands of tiny messages to the server, forcing it to rapidly allocate memory and ultimately crash. Then the Slowloris DoS attack (CVE-2016-8740 and CVE-2016-1546) overwhelms the server by opening legitimate connections and maintaining them as long as possible. Combining the two exhausts the server’s memory and forces it offline. “A home computer on a 100Mbps connection can render a vulnerable server inaccessible within seconds,” Luong wrote. “Against Apache httpd and Envoy, a single client can consume and hold 32GB of server memory in roughly 20 seconds.” The Calif research team disclosed the issue to nginx in April, and the web server’s maintainers fixed it the next day in version 1.29.8, which imports the max_headers directive from freenginx. Apache issued a fix (mod_http2 v2.0.41) the same day that Calif submitted its report, and assigned it CVE-2026-49975. “The fix commits above are public and disclose the vectors directly; any capable AI model can turn those diffs into a working exploit, which is exactly how we found that Microsoft IIS, Envoy, and Pingora are also vulnerable,” the threat hunting team wrote, adding that all three have been notified. In a Wednesday update, Calif pointed to Envoy patches “that appear to mitigate this attack,” and notes that its researchers are still validating the fix to ensure it works. For Microsoft IIS and Cloudflare Pingora, the security sleuths recommend disabling HTTP/2 if possible, or enforcing a cap on the number of HTTP headers a client can send in a single request to the server. The fact that a coding agent - not a human - discovered this attack is notable, according to Calif. “Both halves have been public for a decade,” Luong wrote. “What Codex did was read the codebases, recognize that the two compose, and build the combined attack. That combination is obvious once you see it, and yet as far as we can tell no human had put it together against these servers.” ® Updated at 2023 with statement from Microsoft. ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251340</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/04/ai-heavyweights-warn-their-tech-could-erode-barriers-to-bioweapons/5251340</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:48:23 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>AI heavyweights warn their tech could help terrorists develop bioweapons</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Scientists and industry leaders push for mandatory DNA synthesis screening ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ ai and ml ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:52:35 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ The world’s AI luminaries love to warn us of impending planetary demise thanks to their creations, and they’re back with a new warning: Rapidly improving frontier AI models, combined with readily available synthetic nucleic acids, could lower barriers to biological weapons development. The open letter, published this week, calls on lawmakers to make screening of orders for synthetic nucleic acids and the equipment used to produce them mandatory. It also backs recordkeeping for synthesis orders and sequence data so that potentially dangerous activity that slips through initial screening can be traced back to its source. As has been the case with previous open letters from AI heavyweights warning of extinction-level threats from the products they created, the letter was signed by a who’s-who of the industry. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, OpenAI chief Sam Altman, Anthropic boss Dario Amodei, Microsoft AI leader Mustafa Suleyman, and other notable names appear on the letter. Outside the AI sector, leaders from the life sciences and nucleic acid synthesis industries also signed the letter, warning that advances in AI and the growing availability of synthetic nucleic acids could pose biosecurity risks. “The ability to order synthetic DNA online has accelerated vaccine development, powered basic research, and made it possible for small teams to access capabilities that used to be confined to major institutions,” the signatories said, adding that synthetic nucleic acid availability has already been established to be a potential risk, and that advances in AI could increase those risks. “AI systems are improving rapidly, and alongside incredible benefits to science and medicine, there is a real possibility that the knowledge barriers which have historically prevented bad actors from obtaining biological weapons will meaningfully erode,” the letter continued. Screening purchases of synthetic nucleic acids and the equipment to manufacture them, the letter argues, is one of the “best understood and least disruptive biosecurity measures available.” The signatories argue that providers of the equipment and materials should check synthesis requests for “sequences of concern,” and verify the legitimacy of a customer before shipping orders. Synthesis orders and sequence data should be retained as well, which would enable tracing of threats that evade initial screening. “Awareness of traceability itself deters misuse,” the letter argues. “Many of the largest and most responsible providers in the industry already screen and record orders,” and they want those practices codified in US law.” “Given the pace at which the underlying technology is changing, we believe the need is urgent,” the letter concludes. “Congress should act this session … this is a rare moment of agreement across stakeholders that are often at odds. We hope policymakers will meet it with decisive action.” There are currently a couple of bills in Congress aimed at strengthening oversight of synthetic nucleic acid synthesis: one introduced in the House more than a year ago, and another filed in the Senate in January 2026. The House measure was ordered reported out of committee in April 2025 but has seen no further action, while the Senate bill has remained in committee since its introduction. It’s worth noting that the Biden administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy published a framework in April 2024 directing federally funded life sciences research to procure synthetic nucleic acids and synthesis equipment from providers that follow specified screening practices. The Trump administration ordered OSTP to revise or replace that framework in a May 2025 executive order, giving the office 90 days to do so. A new version of the framework has yet to be published. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251237</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/04/meta-to-allow-staff-breaks-from-keylogging-data-grab-scheme/5251237</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:28:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Benevolent dictator Zuck will give Meta staff 30-minute breaks from keylogging privacy assault</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Tech biz teaching AI to use computers by slurping staff activity ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ ai and ml ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:30:58 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Meta is reportedly backtracking on, or at least weakening, its plans to implement enhanced employee workplace monitoring following staff protests. According to the latest internal memo on the matter, first reported by Reuters, Meta is still planning to capture employees’ keystrokes as previously understood, but it will allow Metalings to switch off the monitoring for 30-minute periods, and request a total exemption. The memo was distributed to staff on Tuesday by Stephane Kasriel, veep at the company’s Superintelligence Labs AI division. Kasriel said that, in addition to allowing staff to take half-hour privacy breaks, when the software is hoovering up their data, it will at least do it in a less resource-demanding manner. Some staffers were complaining about the battery drain on their devices incurred by the initiative, while remote workers reported undue strain on their home internet usage. The Register contacted Meta for a response but it did not reply, as was the case when we previously asked it to comment on the scheme around six weeks ago. According to reports in late April, the software now running on employee machines is part of what Meta calls the Model Capability Initiative. The program’s goal is to capture workers’ keystrokes, mouse movements and screenshots of their devices at various points, all so Meta can build AI agents that better understand how humans use computers. The irony of the people who help one of the internet’s most prolific data gluttons now being snooped on themselves is not lost on us. Leaked audio recordings of an internal Meta meeting from April 30 revealed CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s attitude toward capturing all this information when he said it was in pursuit of building advanced AI models quicker than competitors. “We are using this to feed a very large amount of content into the AI model, so that way it can learn how smart people use computers to accomplish tasks,” Zuckerberg purportedly said, per the recording leaked by worker advocacy group More Perfect Union. “I think that this is going to be a very big advantage if we can do it.” Throughout Zuck’s six-minute monologue, he repeatedly referred to Meta staff as “smart people". Whether this was to soften the blow of constant monitoring, to seem personable amid mass layoffs, or both, is anyone's guess. Zuck said Meta chose to capture data from its own people rather than outside contractors because they were smarter than the workers they could bring in on a temporary basis. The CEO confirmed Meta had no intention of using the data captured by the monitoring software to surveil employees’ activity or productivity, although he didn’t commit to saying the data would be anonymized. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251283</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/systems/2026/06/04/amd-takes-a-third-of-server-cpu-market-as-shipments-grow/5251283</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:49:42 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>AMD takes a third of server CPU market as shipments grow</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Intel still owns the room, but Epyc keeps nicking the furniture ]]></description>
        <category>systems</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ SYSTEMS ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Processor shipments declined by more than six percent during the first quarter of 2026, at least for the x86 world, with server CPUs bucking the trend and AMD in particular showing strong performance. These are the latest figures from Mercury Research’s PC Processor report, which tracks the ins and outs of the component markets. The firm says that the total volume of x86 processor chips shipped was lower during this quarter than the previous one, which is seasonally typical, but the magnitude of the decline was worse than average this year. And this also follows a weaker-than-typical fourth quarter due to supply constraints at Intel, the largest supplier of CPUs for the PC and server marketplace. As reported previously, this was due to a decision the company made earlier last year to reallocate manufacturing capacity to favor server chips. Looking at those server parts, unit shipments increased by more than 10 percent compared to a year ago, no doubt due to the ongoing boom in demand for AI servers in datacenters. AMD's server volumes grew strongly, according to Mercury, with the firm taking a third of the server CPU market share (33.2 percent) during the quarter. That’s an increase of six percentage points since the same period last year, but still leaves Chipzilla holding a two-thirds share of this expanding market. Intel's own server CPU shipments were relatively flat both sequentially (compared to the last quarter) and year-on-year, but both suppliers indicate the outlook is very promising for datacenter silicon for the rest of this year. (Although AMD did say during its Q1 financial results that it expected CPU shipments to decline in the second half of the year because of the memory supply crisis.) When it comes to the entire x86 processor marketplace, AMD also secured close to a third of the shipments, which Mercury attributed to the firm experiencing a smaller-than-expected drop-off in its console system-on-chip (SoC) business. On the client side, CPUs for desktop systems saw a marked decline, worse than the seasonal norm, with shipments down nearly 20 percent from the same quarter a year ago. AMD's performance here was surprisingly worse than Intel's, a reversal of recent history, resulting in Intel gaining some share here since the last quarter. That brought it up to 66.8 percent of shipments (but still down on a year ago), with AMD on 33.2 percent. The mobile market fared better, with shipments “negligibly worse than seasonal averages” according to Mercury. The figures were down by low single digits, and the decline was all at the expense of Intel, with AMD seeing a rare increase in first-quarter shipments. As a result, AMD’s share of the mobile spoils rose to 28.3 percent, up from just 22.5 percent a year ago. The market watcher said that this situation was likely due to those capacity constraints hitting Intel’s laptop CPU supplies, and that it had previously warned that this quarter would likely mark the low point for client CPU supply. Looking outside the x86 sphere, Mercury also has a handle on Arm CPUs used in PCs and servers, but warns that its estimates here come with a certain amount of uncertainty. Arm-based clients, including Chromebooks and Apple's M-series-based Macs, are estimated to have grown to 14.4 percent of the total market in the first quarter of 2026, from a revised 13.9 percent figure for Q4 2025. It will be interesting to see if Apple's budget-friendly MacBook Neo manages to tip the scales any further in future figures. As far as Arm-based server chips go, Mercury estimates these account for 13.2 percent of total shipments, up from a revised 12.5 percent figure for Q4 2025. “We note that Arm server CPU shipments are nearly double what they were a year ago, due primarily to growth from Nvidia's Grace CPU that is shipped in its rapidly growing Blackwell NVL72 AI rack platforms,” commented Mercury Research President Dean McCarron. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251189</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/04/please-do-not-vibe-f-up-this-software-broken-backups-spark-ai-coding-row-in-rsync-project/5251189</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:45:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>'Please do not vibe f--- up this software': Broken backups spark AI coding row in rsync project</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Users probe backup failures find Claude-assisted commits. Veteran engineer retorts: "I did not just vibe-code 'convert test suite to python'." ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ AI and ml ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:48:12 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Incremental backups started failing for some rsync users after a recent update, and what they found in the project's commit history quickly turned a routine bug hunt into yet another fight over AI-generated code. The controversy centers on rsync 3.4.3, a security-focused release published earlier this year to fix multiple vulnerabilities. Shortly after the upgrade, some users reported that incremental backup workflows were no longer behaving as expected, with one user saying their backup system failed on anything other than a full backup. Rsync creator Andrew Tridgell has pushed back against the criticism in a Medium post titled "Rsync and Outrage," arguing that many commenters have drawn conclusions without understanding how the AI tools were actually used. Rsync is not a weekend side project maintained by three people in a Discord server. First released in the 1990s, it remains one of the most widely used file synchronization and backup utilities in the Unix and Linux world. Countless backup products, scripts, NAS appliances, and IT departments depend on it quietly doing its job without surprises. That makes any suggestion of AI-assisted development in the project far more contentious than it might be elsewhere. The backup issue might have remained a fairly ordinary bug report had users not started poking around in rsync's recent commit history. They found that since rsync 3.4.1, dozens of commits have been attributed to "tridge and claude," referring to rsync creator Andrew Tridgell and Anthropic's AI assistant Claude. The discovery prompted a strongly worded GitHub post titled "Please Do Not Vibe Fuck Up This Software," a reference to the increasingly common practice of handing coding tasks to AI models and trusting the results. From there, the discussion spread to Reddit and Hacker News, where the conversation shifted from a backup bug to a broader debate about AI-generated code finding its way into critical open source infrastructure. Veteran developer Tridgell acknowledged that rsync 3.4.3 introduced regressions affecting some backup workflows, describing them as "valid (but unusual) use cases" that were not covered by the project's existing test suite. "I apologize if your use case of rsync was hit by these regressions," he wrote. But Tridgell pushed back on suggestions that he had simply handed development over to Claude and hoped for the best. According to Tridgell, the most visible AI-assisted work involved rewriting rsync's aging shell-script test suite in Python as part of a broader effort to improve security testing and harden the codebase. He said he designed the framework himself, used Claude alongside OpenAI's Codex and Google's Gemini for what he described as "grunt work," and manually reviewed the resulting code. "I did not just vibe-code 'convert test suite to python,'" he wrote. "I'm a software engineer with 40 years experience." Tridgell also argued that maintainers are increasingly dealing with a flood of security reports, many of them AI-generated, which has dramatically increased the workload required to keep widely used open source software secure. "The world of software engineering has changed dramatically in the last few months," he wrote. "The world of IT security and maintaining software in the face of the flood of reports has completely and utterly changed just in the last few weeks." Far from backing away from AI-assisted development, Tridgell suggested he intends to continue using the tools as rsync heads toward a larger 3.5 release focused on security improvements. He also took a swipe at users threatening to jump ship to OpenBSD's openrsync project, noting that rsync's new test suite currently reports dozens of failures when run against the alternative implementation. Whether that reassurance satisfies critics is still unclear. But if nothing else, the whole thing demonstrates that AI-assisted development and backup software make for a combustible combination. One involves trusting a machine – the other exists because people don't. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5250989</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/06/04/intels-new-gpu-is-what-nvidias-rubin-cpx-nearly-was/5250989</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Intel's mysterious new datacenter GPU is what Nvidia's Rubin CPX nearly was</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Nvidia's prefill accelerator was shelved, but Chipzilla's Crescent Island could fill the void ]]></description>
        <category>ai and ml</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ AI and ML ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:58:14 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ COMPUTEX 2026 Intel offered new insights into its next-gen datacenter GPU codenamed Crescent Island. Alongside supporting enterprise AI deployments, the GPU could fill the void left by Nvidia's Rubin CPX GPUs, which were seemingly shelved late last year following its acquisition of Groq. As datacenter GPUs go, Intel's Crescent Island is certainly an odd duck. It'll ship in a PCIe form factor when most high-end GPUs are now using socketed designs. It also won't use HBM or even GDDR memory. Instead, Intel has opted for LPDDR5x memory — the same kind used in high-end notebooks and smartphones — and quite a bit of it too. Crescent Island will be offered with up to 480 GB of memory, significantly more than you'll find on Nvidia's flagship GPUs, which currently top out at 288 GB. It's also cheap, at least relative to HBM or GDDR, which should keep prices down in spite of the global semiconductor supply chain, which has seen memory prices surge by more than 3x since last year. The one thing that LPDDR5x isn't is fast. Intel hasn't shared bandwidth figures just yet but, assuming a large 1024-bit memory bus, we're looking at around 1.2 TB/s. Crescent Island’s actual bandwidth will depend heavily on how wide the memory bus actually ends up being, but for reference, Nvidia and AMD's latest GPUs are pushing 20 TB/s. How quickly a GPU can churn out tokens is largely determined by how fast the memory is, making bandwidth a major bottleneck. Or at least that was the case. The past year we've seen a shift toward disaggregated compute architectures which break inference into two phases: prefill and decode. Prefill is a compute-heavy phase of the pipeline. If you’ve ever used an AI chatbot, you’ve experienced prefill as the wait between submitting a prompt and when the model starts to respond. The faster the compute, the shorter the wait. While prefill operations still consume a large quantity of memory, they’re mostly compute bound, which means you can get away with using slower GDDR or LPDDR memory rather than pricy HBM. This was the idea behind Nvidia's Rubin CPX when it was announced late last summer. The Accelerator promised 128 GB of GDDR7 memory and up to 30 petaFLOPS of NVFP4 performance. For context, heavy workloads that required ingesting massive quantities of tokens — code assistants for example — prefill operations would be offloaded to CPX accelerators while token generation would continue to run on Nvidia's HBM4-equipped Vera Rubin Superchips. With AI agents rapidly driving up the number of input tokens, the architecture made a lot of sense. Yet, by March Nvidia had shelved the idea in order to prioritize its new Groq LPU-based LPX racks. Announced at GTC, LPX addressed the opposite end of the spectrum. Rather than accelerating prefill, Nvidia's Groq accelerators aimed to improve user experiences and inference economics by juicing token generation. But, the use case for something like a Rubin CPX hasn't gone away. In a round table with press this Spring, Ian Buck VP of Hyperscale and HPC at Nvidia said CPX was still a good idea and we may see the concept resurface in future generations. Intel clearly sees an opportunity to fill the void. The company, which has grown closer to Nvidia since CEO Lip Bu Tan took the reins last year, hasn't said much about Crescent Island's intended use case but Intel has suggested that Nvidia Dynamo was coming to the platform. Dynamo is Nvidia's framework for disaggregating prefill and decode across multiple GPUs. Whether Crescent Island actually makes sense for this use case will depend heavily on its performance profile, something for which we have very few data points right now. Intel hasn't shared FLOPS figures yet, but we know the GPU will use its Xe-3P microarchitecture which adds support for FP8 and FP4 datatypes, and will ship as a 350 watt Air-cooled PCIe card. While Intel has signaled support for disaggregated inference via Dynamo, it's not the company's only option. Back in February, Intel and friends funneled $350 million into AI chip startup SambaNova. Then in April, the company revealed plans for a disaggregated inference platform using Intel Xeons, SambaNova RDUs, and what turned out to be Nvidia GPUs. That platform went live this week. However, there is no reason that Intel couldn't use something like LLMd — the open source, open vendor contemporary to Dynamo — to combine its own GPUs with SambaNova RDUs instead. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251132</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/databases/2026/06/04/palantir-wins-9m-contract-to-run-uk-firearms-licensing-cia-backed-biz-to-hold-gun-bomb-and-poison-records/5251132</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:30:00 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Palantir wins £9M contract to run UK firearms licensing: CIA-backed biz to hold gun, bomb, and poison records</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Pips Accenture and NEC to bag decade-long deal for cops across England, Wales, and beyond ]]></description>
        <category>databases</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Databases ]]></lab:kicker>
                <dc:modified>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:11:24 +0000</dc:modified>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Palantir has secured a £9 million ($12 million) government contract to provide software for managing firearms licensing across the UK. The US spy-tech biz will also handle Home Office licensing for explosives, explosive precursors, and poisons. The contract covers a replacement for the National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS), which has been in use since the mid-2000s. According to a recently published procurement notice, the new system will help 43 Police Forces in England and Wales record how they grant, renew, and revoke firearms licenses. The contract — set to last up to ten years, including possible extensions — could also support Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) if required. Three companies made the final bid stage, though Accenture and NEC Software lost out. An earlier tender notice valued the deal at £17 million including tax. The procurement was run by the Police Digital Service, which is responsible for “coordinating, developing, delivering, and managing digital services and solutions”, according to its website. The quango — a “delivery vehicle” for digital strategy in police services — gets funding from grant funding, “pass-through” from commercial activities, membership fees, funded program, and other sources. It launched plans for the new firearms database last year, in collaboration with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the Home Office. It said it would buy a commercial off-the-shelf solution to replace the legacy NFLMS platform and enable integration with partner agencies and national systems. Palantir's selection may raise a few eyebrows. The firm was founded with CIA venture capital, and its leadership has courted controversy. CEO Alex Karp, for example, once said Palatir was designed to "power the West to its obvious innate superiority". Earlier this week, the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee said the government's reliance on Palantir represented an “unacceptable point of weakness.” The company’s other contract wins include the controversial £330 million NHS Federated Data Platform and the £240 million deal with the Ministry of Defence, awarded without a procurement process. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5250978</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/06/04/five-eyes-china-expanding-state-secret-recruitment-campaign/5250978</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:57:22 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Five Eyes: Watch out for odd LinkedIn connection requests, China's back on the hunt for state secrets</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Cash-for-intel tradecraft continues to concern intelligence officials years after it was first spotted ]]></description>
        <category>security</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ Security ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ MI5 and its international allies are once again warning that China is shopping for state secret leakers on popular recruitment platforms, including LinkedIn, Indeed, and Upwork. In a fresh advisory published on Wednesday evening, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence agency said China is using an increasing number of platforms to recruit those who have access to classified or privileged information. Chinese military intelligence officers specifically target security clearance holders, including marks working in defense, security, and foreign affairs, military personnel, and those with indirect access to government information, such as academics, journalists, think tank employees, and others. Anyone who fits the bill is being urged to remain vigilant to potential attempts from Chinese operatives to cultivate long-term relationships. “These actors use an aggressive online recruitment strategy whereby intelligence officers or their affiliates pose as employees of private consultancies, think tanks, or human resources firms, and place online job advertisements for foreign policy and defence analysts (or similar),” the advisory [PDF] states. “Successful candidates are pressured to provide 'non-public' information for unspecified clients who are associated with the Chinese government. China’s military intelligence services ultimately seek to acquire privileged military, political, and economic intelligence that can provide China with a strategic and tactical advantage over the Five Eyes.” According to MI5, after the job and gig-work ads are posted online, China’s spies will rank the resumes they receive based on how likely a given individual is to have information of interest before interviewing them. It warned that even by sending a resume over, which includes personal details, a person is risking their own security and privacy. Targets face probing questions about who they know in government. For those in the military, they might be asked about where they were based, and what tasks they were responsible for. After demanding potential recruits complete a trial report on matters related to China, the spies will often shift conversations to encrypted messaging platforms where recruits are offered payments in exchange for increasingly privileged information. Payments may arrive through a number of online platforms, including reputable services like PayPal, Zelle, and Wise, to others more commonly associated with associated with illegality, such as Western Union and cryptocurrency. MI5 closed out its advisory with a warning to anyone even considering a life of peddling secrets to China: doing so comes with severe consequences. “Certain types of data can place the lives of frontline military or other personnel at risk, can weaken our economic prosperity, and enable interference in our democratic processes,” it said. “Individuals engaged in the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or classified information could face a number of consequences, including prosecution under national laws such as those relating to espionage.” A common theme This week’s admonition is far from the first issued by the UK in response to this particular aspect of Chinese spies’ tradecraft. The most recent came in November when UK security minister Dan Jarvis reminded the UK's House of Commons that members should have received information about Chinese attempts to recruit parliamentarians through identical means. In those information packs disseminated by MI5, Brit politicos were given the names of two online profiles that the counter-intelligence agency suspected of being involved in recruitment campaigns. MI5 dished out an earlier warning in 2021, saying that around 10,000 Britons had been targeted by Chinese spies over the previous five years using work platforms, posing as headhunters. The 10,000 figure, it added, was thought to be a conservative estimate, with the agency's head, Ken McCallum, saying workplace platforms were being exploited “on an industrial scale.” The US said it was seeing similar tactics used when President Trump took office for the second time, which shortly after led to mass redundancies across federal agencies. Experts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) named five supposed consulting companies targeting the recently jobless via LinkedIn, Craigslist, and others, all in search of state secrets. The companies would present the fired workers with job opportunities, and as FDD senior analyst Max Lesser told The Register at the time, the layoffs, which began in February 2025, would have likely raised the risk level associated with state secrets being spilled. ® ]]></content:encoded>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.theregister.com/a/5251075</guid>
        <link>https://www.theregister.com/cyber-crime/2026/06/04/duo-who-sold-car-crash-victims-data-must-repay-118k/5251075</link>
        <pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:13:05 +0200</pubDate>
        <title>Duo who sold car crash victims' data must repay £118k</title>
        <description><![CDATA[ Fresh penalties secured after initial prison, community service sentences for RAC double act ]]></description>
        <category>cyber-crime</category>
                <lab:kicker><![CDATA[ cyber-crime ]]></lab:kicker>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[ Two former RAC workers in the UK have three months to pay more than £118,000 ($158,500) collectively after being convicted of selling crash victims’ data, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Debbie Okparavero and Maliha Islam, of Salford and Manchester respectively, were sentenced to six-month prison stints, suspended for 18 months, and 150 hours’ unpaid work in 2024, after being found guilty of offenses under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Data Protection Act 2018. The pair, who worked for roadside accident biz RAC, were caught selling the personal data of car crash victims – just shy of 30,000 lines of data to an unknown buyer, the ICO revealed following an investigation. Okparavero and Islam were in a WhatsApp chat together, where they discussed the data and its sale to the unknown third party. RAC clocked on to the activity after deploying unspecified monitoring software, which detected Okparavero copying the data from RAC systems. A resulting investigation showed that around 29,500 lines of data were shared with Islam via WhatsApp. Islam was ordered to repay £39,522.50 ($48,274.45) for her part in the scheme in November, and the ICO noted in a Thursday announcement that she paid this in full. Reflecting more serious offending, at Manchester Crown Court on May 29, Okparavero was ordered to repay £89,277.32 ($119,962.38) within three months. Failure to do so will result in her serving 18 months in prison. Andy Curry, head of investigations at the ICO, said: “This outcome demonstrates justice did not end at sentencing. Our powers enabled us to continue to pursue these two individuals in order to strip them of assets gained through their serious criminal activity. Through the Proceeds of Crime Act, we are ensuring people do not financially benefit from their criminal activity. “I would like to once again thank the RAC for informing us about this breach and fully supporting the ICO’s investigation, which enabled us to hold these two individuals to account.” ® ]]></content:encoded>
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