Kieren McCarthy
The Register
San Francisco, CA, United States
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Past articles by Kieren:
After oil giant Shell hit by Clop ransomware, workers' visas dumped online as part of extortion attempt
Royal Dutch Shell is the latest corporation to be infected by the Clop ransomware. The criminals behind the malware have siphoned internal documents from the oil giant, and publicly leaked some of the data – notably a selection of workers' passport and visa scans – to chivy the corporation along to pay the ransom. Earlier this month, the oil giant admitted its systems had been compromised,… → Read More
Chinese businessman plotted with GE insider to steal transistor secrets, say Feds
Hong Kong-based suspect wanted to create rival startup using pilfered silicon carbide MOSFET blueprints – claim → Read More
The perils of non-disclosure? China 'cloned and used' NSA zero-day exploit for years before it was made public
Check Point says Beijing 'reconstructed' Equation Group's hacking tool long before leak → Read More
Switzerland 'first' country to roll out contact-tracing app using Apple-Google APIs to track coronavirus spread
Launch comes one day before UK rolls out its controversial version → Read More
Made-up murder claims, threats to kill Twitter, rants about NSA spying – anything but mention 100,000 US virus victims, right, Mr President?
Trump's throwing everything at the social wall to see what will stick → Read More
Apple promises third, no, fourth, er, fifth time's a charm when it comes to macOS Catalina: 10.15.5 now out
Apple has released the fifth version of macOS Catalina, and fixed yet another stability issue that saw machines crash during large file transfers; the latest in a long series of problems with version 10.15 of the operating system. The “good” news is that macOS 10.15.5 includes a new battery management feature that Apple says will make your battery last longer by effectively refusing to charge it… → Read More
US cable subscribers are still being 'ripped off' by creeping price increases – and this lot has had enough
Lawsuit claims Charter's 'fixed' monthly fees are anything but → Read More
Frontier: Yes, yes, we've filed for bankruptcy protection, but that's not stopping us giving key staff $38m in bonuses
Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, US ISP Frontier Communications has insisted on giving key staff $38m in bonuses and other incentives – and an American judge has agreed. The telco's “employee retention plan” was opposed by some creditors, including the bankruptcy trustee, although not for the reason you might imagine. All those involved have approached the issue from the perspective of… → Read More
US lawmakers get a second shot at forcing FBI agents to obtain a warrant before they leaf through web histories
Bi-partisan amendment aims to take away easy access to your online life → Read More
AT&T slapped down for its '5G E' ads: You don’t have a 5G network, so stop saying so, says watchdog
Pah, fine, OK, we’ll do what you say, pouts giant telco to NARB → Read More
Remember when Securus was sued for recording 14,000 calls between prison inmates and lawyers? It just settled
It was a software bug, insists telco, as attorneys walk with most of the money → Read More
Hey Siri, are you still recording people's conversations despite promising not to do so nine months ago?
Apple may still be recording and transcribing conversations captured by Siri on its phones, despite promising to put an end to the practice nine months ago, claims a former Apple contractor who was hired to listen into customer conversations. In a letter sent to data protection authorities in Europe, Thomas Le Bonniec expresses his frustration that, despite exposing in April 2019 that Apple has… → Read More
You know this Land of the Free thing, yeah? Well then, why allow the FBI to trawl through Americans' browsing history without a warrant?
50-plus advocacy groups call on US House of Reps to slap protection mechanism on surveillance law → Read More
Rogue ADT tech spied on hundreds of customers in their homes via CCTV – including me, says teen girl
Security biz admits worker snooped on victims, two lawsuits filed → Read More
AT&T tracked its own sales bods using GPS, secretly charged them $135 a month to do so, lawsuit claims
AT&T tracks its sales reps to make sure they keep to its schedule and then charges them for doing so, claims one of its "in-home experts" Daniel Gunther. Gunther has sued the American telco giant, and hopes to lead a class-action lawsuit against it in California, where he is based. He alleges the cellular network uses the GPS in its cars to keep tabs on sales reps, hassling them if they… → Read More
FCC boss pleads with Congress: Please stop me from auctioning off this spectrum for billions of dollars
In unusual turn of events, Ajit Pai warns he’ll do his job unless stopped → Read More
Equifax finally coughs up the money for its 2017 monster hack… to the banks for having to cancel your cards
What did happen to the $125 everyone was promised? → Read More
Donald Trump extends ban on Huawei, ZTE telecoms kit in US companies to May 2021
Also extends exemption on doing business with the pair – a negotiating tactic so incredible it has to keep being renewed → Read More
Now there's nothing stopping the PATRIOT Act from allowing the FBI to access web browser histories without a warrant
An amendment that would require the FBI get a warrant before they access Americans’ web browsing history failed to pass by a single vote on Wednesday. The bi-partisan push to install the privacy protection mechanism was led by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT), and came following the news a planned addition to the PATRIOT Act, which is due to be renewed this week, would allow law… → Read More
Senator Wyden demands deep probe into NSO Group after spyware-hacking toolkit offered to American cops
A prominent senator has called for “aggressive oversight” into the sale of the NSO Group's hacking-and-spying tools to police forces in America. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) was reacting to Vice's discovery of a brochure by the US subsidiary of the controversial NSO Group, called Westbridge Technologies, that pitched its Pegasus technology, rebadged as Phantom, to a police force in San Diego,… → Read More