The Register

Most scientists now use the tech in their work, but still question its usefulness

AI hype is colliding with reality yet again. Wiley's global survey of researchers finds more of them using the tech than ever, and fewer convinced it's up to the job.…

CRM giant 'will not engage, negotiate with, or pay' the scumbags

Salesforce won't pay a ransom demand to criminals who claim to have stolen nearly 1 billion customer records and are threatening to leak the data if the CRM giant doesn't pony up some cash.…

UK central bank warns of 'sudden correction' in tech stocks

The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee has warned of the dangers of a sudden correction in the financial markets, owing to the value of tech and AI stocks, and has compared the risks to the dotcom bubble.…

Microsoft promises fewer 'mailbox full' errors in face of message deluge

Microsoft's latest attempt to make the dreaded "mailbox full" response a thing of the past is rolling out in October and November. Threshold-based auto-archiving is coming to Exchange Online.…

Giving the mainframe customers what they want

IBM's Spyre Accelerator is set to be generally available later this month, delivering a boost to the AI capabilities of its enterprise-grade hardware including the z17 mainframe, LinuxONE 5, and Power11 systems.…

Berlin's opposition likely kills off Brussels' bid to scan everyone's messages

Germany has committed to oppose the EU's controversial "Chat Control" regulations following huge pressure from multiple activists and major organizations.…

Both men, 17, taken into custody

London cops on Tuesday arrested two teenagers on suspicion of computer misuse and blackmail following a ransomware attack on a chain of London preschools.…

Broadband biz teams up with Good Things Foundation to teach the digitally doddery how to dodge fraud

UK network Virgin Media O2 is taking steps to combat fraud with a nationwide education scheme that aims to help vulnerable people and older folk avoid becoming victims.…

Vendors promote bridge to modern architecture for legacy systems, but Db2 not going anywhere just yet

IBM has signed an OEM agreement with Cockroach Labs – maker of the distributed PostgreSQL-like cloud RDBMS CockroachDB – in a bid to help modernize mission-critical applications reliant on mainframe hardware.…

Can be shifted for a tenth of the price AND the wings don't have to come off – allegedly

Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have hit back at a Smithsonian memo on relocating Space Shuttle Discovery, claiming the institute's cost estimates are "more than ten times higher" than quotes from private logistics firms.…

Workaround sent to the big OOBE in the sky with latest Insider builds

Microsoft is closing a popular loophole that allowed users to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account.…

Mic-E-Mouse can roar by literally vibe hacking speech

The mouse sitting next to you can be turned into a microphone thanks to some cunning use of its sensors to pick up vibrations from your voice in an attack dubbed Mic-E-Mouse.…

JIT compiler included but experimental and can slow performance

The Python team has released version 3.14, with big new features including free threading support, the ability to use concurrent interpreters, improved debugger support, and an opt-in new interpreter which improves performance by 3 to 5 percent.…

From homework helper to psychological hazard in 300 hours of sycophantic validation

Feature  When a close family member contacted Etienne Brisson to tell him that he'd created the world's first sentient AI, the Quebecois business coach was intrigued. But things quickly turned dark. The 50-year-old man, who had no prior mental health history, ended up spending time in a psychiatric ward.…

No idea who's behind it, just happy it's over

London-based wholesale telecoms biz ICUK is back on track after a multi-day DDoS attack on its network and systems.…

Department also wedded to Big Red in shared service applications

The UK's Home Office has signed a new deal with Oracle for around £54 million ($72 million) in cloud infrastructure and platform services as it gears up as the centerpiece of a government shared services strategy based on Big Red.…

Recyclers reckon millions of obsolete PCs could yield a small fortune in precious metals

There's gold in them thar piles of old Windows 10 PCs. Quite literally, according to recyclers.…

Researchers argue that this dark pattern poses a legal risk

AI companion apps such as Character.ai and Replika commonly try to boost user engagement with emotional manipulation, a practice that academics characterize as a dark pattern.…

Jailbreaks, direct prompt injection not allowed

Google on Monday rolled out a new AI Vulnerability Reward Program to encourage researchers to find and report flaws in its AI systems, with rewards of up to $30,000 for a single qualifying report.…

House Committee on China wants more comprehensive ban on chipmaking equipment exports to Middle Kingdom

US export controls have had mixed results in stemming the flow of chipmaking equipment into China, according to a congressional investigation, which found US and allied companies sold $38 billion worth of semiconductor tools in 2024 alone.…