The real insight behind measuring Copilot usage is Microsoft's desperation
Opinion The quantum theory of management includes an analogy for the physical law of the observer effect, where observing a system changes its state. When you make a metric a target, it is not useful as a metric. Instead of reflecting whatever underlying behavior it was intended to measure, the metric becomes a measure of how well the benchmark is being gamed.…
Major AWS outage across US-East region breaks half the internet
A major outage is affecting Amazon Web Services (AWS), with even Amazon's own web page reported to be offline and dozens of other online services and websites affected, including disruption in the UK.…
Auction house Sotheby's finds its data on the block after cyberattack
Auction house Sotheby's says it was breached on July 24, and those behind the intrusion stole an unspecified amount of data, including Social Security numbers and financial account information.…
A simple AI prompt saved a developer from this job interview scam
INFOSEC IN BRIEF Engineer David Dodda says he was just "30 seconds away" from running malware on his own computer after nearly falling victim to a North Korea-type job interview scam with a "legitimate" blockchain company. …
UK calls up Armed Forces veterans for digital ID soft launch
The UK's Armed Forces veterans are being tasked with one last mission – proving the government can successfully roll out a digital ID card scheme.…
Oracle goes all-in on AI, customers still figuring out how they'll use it
As Oracle pounds the market with AI announcements across cloud infrastructure, applications, and data analytics, experts have warned that users' path to adoption remains uncertain.…
Tribunal wonders if Microsoft has found a legal hero after pivot to copyright gambit
The long-running legal battle between ValueLicensing and Microsoft over the resale of software licenses has taken another turn following Microsoft's attempt to make the case about copyright.…
Company that made power systems for servers didn’t know why its own machines ran out of juice
Who, Me? Each new Monday ushers in a week during which you might shine or flatline. The Register celebrates the times you end up doing the latter with a new instalment of Who, Me? It's the column in which you admit to making mistakes and execute cunning escapes.…
Ruby Central tries to make peace after 'hostile takeover'
Ruby Central, the non-profit that recently seized some Ruby open source tools from maintainers, is transferring the repository ownership of RubyGems and Bundler to the Ruby core team. The move appears to be an attempt to mollify the Ruby community following a divisive power grab, but it does not restore the control of those tools to the maintainers who previously oversaw them.…
Amazon spills plan to nuke Washington...with X-Energy mini-reactors
Despite technological and regulatory hurdles, Amazon remains convinced that small modular reactors (SMRs) are the answer to the cloud titan's power woes.…
Thou shalt not let AI run amok: Vatican wants global rules
Recently, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff warned investors to avoid the "false prophets" of AI. Now, the Pope has brought real theological weight to the bot debate, hosting a Vatican seminar that called for global AI regulation and fair distribution of the technology's benefits.…
American Airlines subsidiary Envoy caught in Clop's Oracle EBS raid
Envoy Air, an American Airlines subsidiary, has confirmed that it was among the dozens of organizations compromised via Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) security flaws, following claims by Clop extortionists that its parent company was one of its victims.…
Hyperscalers try to beat the heat with larger racks, more air flow
Datacenters are set to standardize on the larger, 21-inch rack format by 2030, according to Omdia, as hyperscalers and server makers fully embrace it, leaving enterprises to the existing 19-inch standard.…
Chamber of Commerce sues over Trump's $100K H-1B paywall
The US Chamber of Commerce (CoC) has filed a suit accusing President Trump of exceeding his authority by seeking to slap a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications.…
Labor unions sue Trump administration over social media surveillance
Updated Lawyers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are helping three US labor unions sue the Trump administration over a social media surveillance program that threatens to punish those who publicly express views that are not harmonious with the government's position.…
Have I Been Pwned logs 17.6M victims in Prosper breach
Data breach tracker HaveIBeenPwned claims the victim count of peer-to-peer lender Prosper's September cyberattack stands at 17.6 million.…
Carmakers fear chip crunch as Dutch sanctions hit Nexperia
Major car, van, truck and bus manufacturers are warning that the Dutch government placing semiconductor biz Nexperia under special administrative measures could result in a shortage of automotive chips.…
Boris Johnson confesses: He's fallen for ChatGPT
After a string of marriages and innumerable affairs, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has come clean about his new squeeze.…
Microsoft parks Landsat and Sentinel satellite data in Azure's orbit
Microsoft has made NASA's Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset available on Azure via the Windows giant's Planetary Computer platform.…
SAP users still wrestling with business case for S/4HANA
More than a decade after SAP's S/4HANA in-memory ERP system debuted, 95 percent of legacy users say building a positive case to migrate requires a big effort or is genuinely challenging.…
