* Posts by Robert Helpmann??

2583 publicly visible posts • joined 31 May 2011

Radio hackers set off Dallas emergency sirens at midnight as a prank

Robert Helpmann??

Re: But there was no emergency.

Dems have, for years, salivated over the wealth & health of the Texas economy and a few years ago they were looking for a way to siphon off Texas' money and, uh, "distribute it to other states"...

You mean as in federal taxes? Texas sits pretty much in the middle of the pack when it comes to dependence on federal dollars. With some notable exceptions, red states pull more from the federal teat than do blue, so odds are you would only be helping your fellow Republicans should Texas choose to share the wealth.

https://taxfoundation.org/states-rely-most-federal-aid/

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700/

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/which-states-are-givers-and-which-are-takers/361668/

Ofsted downplays site security concerns

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: What are Paul Moore's security qualifications?

Sounds like Mr Moore is having a go at knocking over at least two of the three pillars of information security. Availability is dead in a ditch and integrity seems a bit questionable.

Payday lender Wonga admits to data breach

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: [INSERT-NAME-HERE] operates to highest standards, but attacks are increasingly sophisticated...

Followed by "We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused." So that's alright then? Fines alone will never be enough to deter fiscal irresponsibility as long as they are so far outstripped by the gains. Add a dash of personal charges levied against a company's officers and a pinch of personal jail time and we might have a recipe for more reasonable behavior.

Do not insert coin: Uni of Utah to dish out scholarships to ace video game players

Robert Helpmann??
Mushroom

Re: All fun and games until

This is a personal issue to me as the school I got my undergrad degree at decided to go all in and get a football team going. Most of the students don't care nor do most of the alumni. While many schools argue that their sports programs bring in more money than they spend, it has been a disastrous program in financial terms. It actually takes money away from education to support the sports program.

While I believe there are many benefits to the various sporting programs and events available to the public, I also feel that tying them to educational institutions does little to fulfill the core mission of such institutions. Furthermore, the argument that doing so brings money to those schools in cases where actually profitable is still not a compelling argument for state-funded schools as their business model should be to provide a service and not to make a buck.

As Trump signs away Americans' digital privacy, it's time to bring out the BS detector

Robert Helpmann??
Facepalm

Re: @joed

What they did not say was free for one year only, so a year later the site became unmodifiable and still causes trouble when people find it instead of the replacement.

You might consider hitting them with a take down notice for infringement and then following it up with legal action just because.

Patch Qubes to prevent pwnage via Xen bug

Robert Helpmann??
Unhappy

The Only Qubes User

I just got my Qubes box up and now I have to re-do the thing? Talk about bad timing!

Drone complaints to cops are up twelvefold in three years

Robert Helpmann??
Pirate

I would go with putting together an air cannon battery that fires tennis balls, especially if I could decorate the top of the house to look like the Death Star or a pirate ship. It would make for a fun project and should not endanger anyone. Adding an air raid siren to the mix might annoy the neighbors, though, so that's definitely got to go into the mix.

Douglas Coupland: The average IQ is now 103 and the present is melting into the future

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Different Averages

If I remember correctly, the way the WAIS was set up was to force the data into a bell curve and set the median score to 100. This is what is meant by "average" in the context of this test. It is possible that differences may have arisen over time as to where in absolute terms that point falls as the overall population may have got a little bit smarter or stupider. A better way to look at it is that at age X, how does the person being tested perform compared to others of age X.

Thousands of NHS staff details nicked amid IT contractor server hack

Robert Helpmann??
FAIL

Re: Welcome...

[I]t's just a simple example of the ongoing monetization of data, that's all. Nothing sinister.

Cognitive Dissonance Error [E000001984]. Immediate cerebral shutdown!

America's Marine Corp steamy selfies scandal, a Senate probe – and El Reg to the rescue

Robert Helpmann??
Coat

Re: correction - Selfie?

A selfie without the subject's knowledge? How did that happen? Were they drugged at the time or did they make an comedic mistake involving a selfie stick? OK, I'll stop with that image.

WikiLeaks promises to supply CIA's hacking tool code to vendors

Robert Helpmann??
Coffee/keyboard

Cure for a Crap Friday

Assange is personally going to see those Android 4.x phones get patched.

I was having a pretty sad day until I read that line. Very funny! Tell me another one!

Uber blackballs 'Greyball' tool it used to deny rides to regulators

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Reward the little guy

I would think Uber would have an idea as to where it can and cannot operate legally. Just out of curiosity, how hard would it be for them to simply ignore hails from areas where they are not supposed to operate?

Google, Microsoft bump bug bounties

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Oh, so fixing normal bugs is no longer a priority?

Since when has bug-fixing ever been Microsoft's priority?

Any time they feel that they might be liable for the bug. If it is just a matter of annoying, not so much.

LUNAR-CY! SpaceX announces a Moon trip-for-two it'll inevitably miss the deadline on

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Price looks sane to me

I am not sure price is as big an issue for this proposed trip as it will be for subsequent jaunts. It might constitute their entire advertising budget, but considering the possible increase in business, it could pay off. Perhaps it's best to think of it as a very big advertising stunt...

US Air Force terminates Predator drones. Now you will fear the Reaper

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: How much ped could a pedant dant if a pedant could dant ped?*

Think you could work with the "pleasant mother pheasant plucker" tongue twister next time? I'll give you two up-votes for that!

Health firm gets £200k slap after IVF patients' records leak online

Robert Helpmann??

Re: Slap?

And my first thought was "I wonder what their safe word was." Apparently it did not involve actual safety.

Microsoft slaps Apple Gatekeeper-like controls on Windows 10: Install only apps from store

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: @Streaky First it's optional...

MS will not screw you over if there's no profit in there for them.

...

The setting would have an obvious benefit to security by steering users away from potentially backdoored copies of popular applications. By limiting the installation of software to the Windows Store, Redmond could help to ensure that only properly screened apps are installed and eliminate the possibility of users being duped into running malware packages.

The first statement from AC points out how disingenuous the second is. Security is all about understanding and control by the system owner. The given settings will cede control to MS which has goals that are not necessarily in line with those of the system owner and actively discourage awareness and ownership. It might marginally increase security for your standard home user, but only marginally and only for a limited time.

South Korea targeted by cyberspies (again). Kim, got something to say?

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Constant incentive to harden

With cyber attackers at their doorstep, you'd expect Samsung's and other (South) Korean products to be especially hardened against various malware.

Why? The whole world is at your doorstep when you are on the internet and you have whatever products you have. I would hope your standard user and typical dev would take security seriously by default, but then I would be disappointed on an ongoing basis.

BOFH: Elf of Safety? Orc of Admin. Pleased to meet you

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Hah, brilliant!

A boss who is aware of what the BOFH is up to isn't as worrying as the as yet unnamed person who pointed the H&S blowfly to the server room... perhaps we have someone to play Sherlock to the BOFH's Moriarty.

'First ever' SHA-1 hash collision calculated. All it took were five clever brains... and 6,610 years of processor time

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 sha1 calculations

It's still really really REALLY improbable to produce a meaningful difference.

Remember the bit in the article about this getting easier over time? That means that SHA-1 is broken and will only get more so until it is trivial to roll it like an old carpet. This attack is just the tip... not what you want to hear if your security depends on this algorithm.

Conviction by computer is go, confirms UK Ministry of Justice

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Minority Report

Perhaps Brazil is a more apt movie for comparison mostly because it doesn't involve Tom Cruise, but also because the broad scope for abuse is all too realistic (and also no Tom Cruise).

SQL Server on Linux? HELL YES! Linux on Windows 10? Meh

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Gut feeling

I am with oiseau on most of this. Penguin tools on MS boxes are nothing new (POSIX toolset and later the horrible PowerShell aliases, for example). If non-MS folks are working on this, then there is a chance it will work reasonably well. However, just from the multiple uses of the phrase "believe it or not" in the article, I am leaning toward the "not" side of things. I think MS SQL on Linux will probably be good for all involved, but much of this sounds like needlessly complicated solutions to problems that have been solved repeatedly (see other comments in this thread).

Elon Musk joins anti-Trump legal brief

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Chilling

The fact that there are business interests involved should not come as a surprise and also should not be viewed as exclusive of national security issues. Many of the affected companies contribute to the national security in a number of ways and their inability to staff positions may have direct and indirect effects on their ability to do so. Also, filing an amicus brief is a very public way of having their voices heard. I would rather have that out in the open rather than happening behind closed doors.

Boffins build laser satellite data link

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Sharks?

So sharks can communicate via satellite?

Not through the use of a satellite. It means that sharks will be able to communicate with satellites. They will be able to cause them to swivel around and point the reflected beams anywhere in the world. ANYWHERE!

Trump's cybersecurity strategy kinda makes sense, so why delay?

Robert Helpmann??
Headmaster

Re: "We need less regulations and more action", Bay said

Goldmember, perhaps this is better still:

"We need less regulation and more action."

BOFH: Password HELL. For you, mate, not for me

Robert Helpmann??
Facepalm

Re: "I rarely get cold calls"

Q: What's the good kind of death by decapitation?

A: The kind that happens to someone you don't like.

Home-pwners: Cisco's Prime Home lets hackers hijack people's routers, no questions asked

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Alternate method of verification

"Administrators can verify whether they are running an affected version by opening the Prime Home URL in their browser and checking the 'Version:' line in the login window."

Or you could just try the exploit...

Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals to be made from old electronics

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Citius, altius, fortius, recyclius

Faster, higher, stronger, reused more! Love the line! Perhaps it can be adopted as the official motto of the geriatric senior Olympiad. The world's population is, after all, becoming older.

Protest against Trump's US travel ban leaves ‪PasswordsCon‬ in limbo

Robert Helpmann??
Boffin

Re: Oh FFS

The great orange one is on prostate medication which causes as a side effect him to be hairy...

His doctor revealed that he was on finasteride to prevent hair loss. It is not listed as having the same side effects as methyltestosterone. It would seem that you will have to find a different justification for Trump's behavior.

Robert Helpmann??
Headmaster

Re: Alternatively...

But no, he's jumping on the anti-Trump bandwagon to make a meaningless political statement.

Hardly "meaningless" as it has definite ramifications for this and similar events. Just because you do not agree with the statement or it is not the one you would prefer to hear does not render it empty.

Hard numbers: The mathematical architectures of Artificial Intelligence

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Srsly!?

Cool your jets, AC. The author does not claim that Statistics is more important than Mathematics. In fact, the point is made that Statistics depends on Maths, implying it is lower down and not above while the IT meaning of the term stack makes this a bit of a mixed metaphor. It is just a layer in the proposed model, not an indication of value.

Where the article goes off the rails is in the analysis of Microsoft's terms and conditions for Cortana. Anthropomorphization doesn't have any place in the model and it was jarring to have that tacked on to the end of an otherwise excellent piece of work.

Coming to the big screen: Sci-fi epic Dune – no wait, wait, wait, this one might be good

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Can't be a single movie

Now, if they could do something similar to LOTR with 3 or 4 movies...I guess Peter Jackson wasn't available.

To the first, I agree provided the new production doesn't gut the ending...which in turn leads me to say "Great!" to the second. Skipping the resolution and heading straight to the epilogue in the LotR movies was a disappointing finish to an otherwise great cinematic work. Dune is already acknowledged to be quite difficult to adapt. If Villeneuve doesn't work out, I would suggest Lana Wachowski or anyone else who helped bring Cloud Atlas to film.

Trump hits control-Z on cybersecurity order: No reason given for delay

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Is it possible...

Were you aware that this was all pretty much lined up under Obama and Trump just implemented it?

Are you implying that Trump is not capable of making his own decisions or pushing his own policies? Are you claiming that he does not vet the documents he signs? He has stated over and over that he intends to undo everything he can from the previous administration and has gone all in on this approach. Whatever he does is on him, for good, bad or otherwise. He is the President of the United States of America. If he wants all the glory, he must also accept the blame - all of it.

Want to bring down that pesky drone? Try the power of sound

Robert Helpmann??
Boffin

I agree, you're probably going to have to redesign the unit so that the sensors are masked from external light sources and any transparent areas, e.g. for visual confirmation of drip flow, are separated.

Depends on how the sensor works. If it is only sensitive to a narrow set of colors, then applying film that just blocks that range should allow visual confirmation while preventing this particular hack. Even if it is not, if you are going through the trouble of a redesign I would think it would be easier to update sensors than change everything else.

Ransomware avalanche at Alpine hotel puts room keycards on ice

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Really?

And who said it was accesible from the internet? It might just have been infected when somebody from the reception (or office staff, ...) opened a booby-trapped email attachment.

Directly or indirectly, it was accessible which is how it was pwned. In light of the countermeasures mentioned in the article, specifically decoupling networks, it seems pretty obvious this was the case when the attack too place and has since been remedied. Such a shame that this obvious step was taken only in response to an attack.

Hotels are notoriously lax when it comes to electronic security, but this has typically just been to the detriment of their customers. I would like to think they would step it up a notch in response to these sorts of attacks, but the past would seem to indicate the opposite to be true.

Father of Pac-Man dies at 91

Robert Helpmann??
Coat

Adam Sandler?

I'll blaspheme: I liked parts of his performance in the movie.

There really is no arguing with taste. The thing about Sandler is that he is capable of turning in a decent performance and yet fails to do so time and again. However, to return to the subject at hand:

HIC REQUIESIT IN PAC-MAN

Has President Trump’s executive order on 'Public Safety' killed off Privacy Shield?

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Privacy Act != Privacy Shield

I feel like a gigantic bag of popcorn is needed here.

Yes! Lots of buttery popcorn is in order along with a second bag to hold the rotten tomatoes for when participation is called for.

Huzzah! Doctor Who comes to Playmoverse

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: "Baker"

I really got into the way Eccleston portrayed the Doctor. He distilled the character down to it most basic elements and everything about his version conveyed that from the acting to the clothing. From the pre-reboot days, I enjoyed Pertwee most and am reminded of him every time I watch an episode of Gotham.

AI eggheads: Our cancer-spotting code rivals dermatologists

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Aren't Boffins Brilliant ?

These folks are creating the tricorder in real life. Brilliant, indeed!

It's that time of the year again: Texas school district blabs staff tax documents to phishers

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

This would increase news viewership thus giving the members of the SWAT team and local reporters something to do. Likewise, the various officers in charge of the constabulary would be kept busy fielding questions from the press. Lawyers would obviously have their time taken up on both sides of the issue. Social services would be needed to take care of any surviving children. Commemorative merchandise would be sold helping all involved remember the event. The public would be entertained. The economy would be stimulated.

What's not to like?

Batman v Superman leads Razzie nominations

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: "The very concept of Batman v Superman is dumb"

It's excellently written and illustrated and would have made a great film IMHO.

From the Wikipedia page you provide: "DC Entertainment produced a two-part animated version." Part 1 was nominated for four awards. It should have won for Gary Anthony Williams' voice acting for the mutant leader as far as I am concerned. Part 2 had one nomination and one win: a Golden Reel Award for voice acting. It stayed true to the source material as was very good because of doing so.

2014: El Reg booze lab proves Bluetooth breathalyzers are crap. 2017: US govt agrees

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Too true

The standard in at least parts of the US is to administer a field sobriety test and then confirm with a blood test at the station. I recently pulled grand jury duty and heard this litany over and over.

'It will go wrong. There's no question of time... on safety or security side'

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Software testing? We've heard of it.

...how do you determine in a complex system that you have selected enough variation, particularly taking into account all possible fault conditions and event sequencing[?]

Run through common scenarios and tests where you know the results you should get and then use fuzzing to find out if your error handling works? This is a good area in which to employ automation in testing. I agree with the rest of what you had to say, The Mole, and see the current state of affairs as there is not even an attempt at any of this in most software houses and especially not among IoT devs.

Mozilla wants infosec activism to be the next green movement

Robert Helpmann??
Coffee/keyboard

Should come as no surprise

...millions of Facebook users do not realise the social network is on the internet...

How?! Wait! I know: these are the same people who type "facebook.com" into Google search in order to get to the web site... or they think the app on their phones is staying in FB when they follow a link because all of the interwebs is actually within FB. We need to build the B Ark and use FB usage as the main criterion for a free trip to another world.

Adobe's naughty Chrome telemetry code had XSS problem

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Adobe was insecure? GASP!

In other news water is wet, grass is green, air is good for your health...

In response: yes, often*, unless there is something in it that isn't, not in Japan, I assume you speak from vast knowledge concerning this and have consulted with many of our castoridine brethren on the subject, try liquid nitrogen, & neither am I.

I don't use Adobe products any more unless forced to at work, but I am contemplating setting up a VM and installing this just to see if I can send them a bunch of bogus info... No, it's better to leave sleeping dogs lie.

*See other commentard's note concerning Australia

Silence is golden: How Google hunts Android malware in the wild

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Meet the New Boss

The state of Android security looks like a guarantee of perpetual employment.

So Google has overcome Microsoft's lead in this area, too? Maybe I ought to add Android security to the skill set...

College fires IT admin, loses access to Google email, successfully sues IT admin for $250,000

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Well of course...

First admin job I had I got because they fired all the other folks. The school I was working for at the time as a temp had half its budget slashed and they wanted to get through with just the bare minimum which is all they could afford. I was lucky in that my boss was kept on long enough to train me a bit and to give him a chance to find another job, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out this sort of scenario plays out a lot. Schools tend to be underfunded and to pay their staff less than the going rate. Their management tends to be not very technologically literate even for institutes that have IT curricula. The combination breeds situations of this nature.

Hacker cracks Facebook with remote code execution bug

Robert Helpmann??
Big Brother

Re: Found a vulnerability

It can only collect what you willfully place on it.

...

I've still no idea why so many people (my wife included) spend so much time/effort on it

So your last statement is a confirmation of the first in that you just don't get it? Fair enough. It's like this: FB promises hours of free mindless entertainment and encourages users to give up everything about themselves under the guise of allowing them to keep up with their friends, to confirm their pre-existing biases and to look at memes. They then take all the information they harvest, with or without their users' knowledge, and sell it over and over. People are good with this because mindless is mindless, after all. It's easy to take advantage of folks if they think they are getting something for free. If there is nothing physical for them to see being taken from them, they will never notice the loss.

Smart bombs, smart bullets – now guided smart artillery shells, thanks to DARPA dosh

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: The USA way of doing things

These contracts are just "keep smart people working for our side" bags of money to keep people working in the defense industry and for the US...

DARPA projects are always long shots - pun intended - for success. Basic R&D is on average high cost and low return, so the price tag on this should come as no surprise. Beyond the stated goal, there is almost always additional applications to which the tech under development by DARPA can be put. At least one thing springs to mind in this case: guided rail gun shells. It has always been the goal of the rail gun project to have a high rate of fire, long range, very accurate weapon. Pretty much everything I have read that talks about the program as a whole, not just about the development of one aspect of it, includes a mention that the shells will be guided. It's the gift that just keeps giving.

D-Wave goes public with open-source quantum-classical hybrid software

Robert Helpmann??

Re: A Contrary View for Rapid AIDeployment of Virtualised Reality Applications

There will be those who would realise the opposite to be true...

Spoken like a bot powered by D-Wave tech.