TheRegister
HMRC spares 661 from Making Tax Digital as rollout nears
The UK tax collector has exempted 661 people from moving to quarterly software-based reporting under its Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme, about half the number who have applied.…
Desktop tech sent to prison for an education on strange places to put tattoos
On Call By the end of the working week, it's natural to feel the walls closing in a little, which is why every Friday morning The Register frees things up a little by publishing a new installment of On Call – the reader-contributed column that shares your tech support stories.…
Snyk CEO bails, wants someone with more AI experience to replace him
The CEO of code review platform provider Snyk has announced he will stand down so the company can find someone better-equipped to steer the company into the age of AI.…
India’s top telco tackles AI with $110 billion build plan and proven fast market dominance playbook
India’s top telco, Reliance Jio, has announced plans to spend $110 billion on datacenters to run AI workloads and says it will use them to deliver services with the same “extreme affordability” it brought to the mobile communications market.…
AI agents abound, unbound by rules or safety disclosures
AI agents are becoming more common and more capable, without consensus or standards on how they should behave, say academic researchers.…
Crims create fake remote management vendor that actually sells a RAT
Researchers at Proofpoint late last month uncovered what they describe as a "weird twist" on the growing trend of criminals abusing remote monitoring and management software (RMM) as their preferred attack tools.…
NASA points fingers at Boeing and chaotic culture for Starliner debacle
NASA has released the findings from its investigation of the ill-fated crewed Boeing Starliner mission of 2024, and while it still isn't sure of the root technical causes, it's admitted that trusting Boeing to do a thorough job appears to have been a mistake. …
Google germinates Gemini 3.1 Pro in ongoing AI model race
If you want an even better AI model, there could be reason to celebrate. Google, on Thursday, announced the release of Gemini 3.1 Pro, characterizing the model's arrival as "a step forward in core reasoning."…
Spending watchdog tells National Science Foundation CIO to up game on tech procurement
The US Congress’ spending watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, has pressed the National Science Foundation’s CIO to improve how the agency plans, manages, and procures technology.…
Crims hit a $20M jackpot via malware-stuffed ATMs
Thieves stole more than $20 million from compromised ATMs last year using a malware-assisted technique that the FBI says is on the uptick across the United States.…
Don't believe the hyperscalers! AI can't cure the climate crisis
Some AI advocates claim that bots hold the secret to mitigating climate change. But research shows that the reality is far different, as new datacenters cause power utilities to burn even more fossil fuels to meet their insatiable demand for energy.…
Palantir spent $25M on CEO flights so Alex Karp could do all the talking
Opinion Palantir CEO Alex Karp has a singular mission to stand out among tech CEOs. Big talk on sales, profits, and tech potential is not enough. His gift for edgy one-liners takes him to places where execs of the past would have scarcely dared to go. Say hello to allusions to goose-stepping and innate Western superiority that we assume have audiences rolling in the aisles.…
Android malware taps Gemini to navigate infected devices
Cybersecurity researchers say they've spotted the first Android malware strain that uses generative AI to improve performance once installed. But it may be only a proof of concept.…
IRS lost 40% of IT staff, 80% of tech leaders in DOGE shakeup
Job cuts at the IRS's tech arm have gone faster and farther than expected, with 40 percent of IT staff and four-fifths of tech leaders gone, the agency's CIO revealed yesterday.…
US tech giants open their wallets for AI-friendly politicians
Meta is among tech giants reportedly funding US politicians friendly to the AI industry, as concerns mount over a huge expansion in datacenter building and the effects of AI on everyday life.…
DEF CON bans three Epstein-linked men from future events
Cybersecurity conference DEF CON has added three men named in the Epstein files to its list of banned individuals. They are not accused of any criminal wrongdoing.…
AI agents can't teach themselves new tricks – only people can
Teach an AI agent how to fish for information and it can feed itself with data. Tell an AI agent to figure things out on its own and it may make things worse.…
UK to demand social platforms take down abusive intimate images within 48 hours
The UK is bracketing "intimate images shared without a victim's consent" along with terror and child sexual abuse material, and demanding that online platforms remove them within two days.…
Healthcare security: Write login details on whiteboard, hope for the best
Bork!Bork!Bork! Today's bork is entirely human-generated and will send a shiver down the spine of security pros. No matter how secure a system is, a user's ability to undo an administrator's best efforts should not be underestimated.…
AI chatbots waffle on GOV.UK queries, then get facts wrong when told to zip it
Artificial intelligence chatbots can be too chatty when answering questions on government services, swamping accurate information and making mistakes if told to be more concise, according to research.…