https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/10/police_raid_man_for_downloading_google_search_docs/ [user] [user] Sign in The Register(r) -- Biting the hand that feeds IT [magn] [burg] [burg] Topics Security Off-Prem All Off-PremEdge + IoTChannelPaaS + IaaSSaaS (X) On-Prem All On-PremServersStorageNetworksHPCPersonal Tech (X) Software All SoftwareAI + MLApplicationsDatabasesDevOpsOSesVirtualization (X) Offbeat All OffbeatDebatesColumnistsScienceGeek's GuideBOFHLegalBootnotesSite NewsAbout Us (X) Vendor Voice All Vendor VoiceAdobeAmazon Web Services (AWS)Amazon Web Services (AWS) MigrationGoogle CloudGoogle Cloud's ApigeeGoogle Workspace NutanixRapid7Red hatSophosVeeamVirtru (X) Resources * Whitepapers * Webinars * Newsletters Situation Publishing * The Next Platform * Devclass * Blocks and Files Get our Weekly newsletter [front] Security Activist raided by police after downloading London property firm's 'confidential' meeting minutes from Google Search Someone must have broken in and taken docs, said Leathermarket Community Benefit Society Gareth Corfield Tue 10 Aug 2021 // 10:30 UTC 90 comment bubble on white --------------------------------------------------------------------- 90 comment bubble on white # reddit Twitter Facebook linkedin WhatsApp email [https://www.theregis] Copy A man who viewed documents online for a controversial London property development and shared them on social media was raided by police after developers claimed there had been a break-in to their systems. The raid by four Metropolitan Police constables took place after Southwark campaigner Robert Hutchinson was reportedly accused of illegally entering a password-protected area of a website. "I was searching in Google and found links to board meeting minutes," he told The Register. "Board reports, none of which were marked confidential. So I have no question that it was in the public domain." [front] The Southwark News reported that Hutchinson was arrested at 8.20am on 10 June this year at home following allegations made by Leathermarket Community Benefit Society (CBS). [front] [front] The society is a property development firm that wants to build flats over a children's caged ball court in the south London borough, something Hutchinson "vocally opposes," according to the local paper. "There's a directory, which you need to enter a password and a username to get into. But documents from that area were being published on Google," explained Hutchinson. "I didn't see a page saying 'this is the directors' area' or anything like that, the documents were just available. They were just linked directly." Hutchinson shared this screenshot of the Google search results page he clicked from Hutchinson shared this screenshot of the Google search results page he clicked from. Click to enlarge Police said in a statement that Hutchinson was arrested on suspicion of breaking section 1 of Britain's Computer Misuse Act 1990 "between the 17th and 24th February 2021 and had published documents from the website on social media." They added: "He was taken into custody and later released under investigation. Following a review of all available evidence, it was determined no offences had been committed and no further action was taken." Here the Officers Report (12/01/2021) reveals 100 people on the list will be contacted with guidance on how to submit supporting comments. "Particular emphasis" directed to "those who could be allocated an Elim property" 2/11https://t.co/esaPGdETH3 pic.twitter.com/3KkfUOO9Ui -- Save Elim Ballcourt and Garden (@BallcourtGarden) February 24, 2021 It appeared from one set of meeting minutes Hutchinson clicked on that Leathermarket CBS had been urging its tenants to submit supportive comments to Southwark Council's planning department backing its latest development, which he opposes. Hutchinson said his identification by Leathermarket and subsequent arrest raised questions in his mind, saying police confirmed to him that the company had handed over an access log containing IP addresses: "Now, how that ended up with me being in the frame, I don't know. There's part of this that doesn't add up..." [front] While the property business did not respond to The Register's request for comment at the time of publication, in a statement given to the Southwark News it said: "When it came to the CBS's attention that confidential information had been accessed and subsequently shared via Twitter, the CBS made a general report of the data breach to the police - who requested a full log of visitor access to the website before deciding whether or not to progress. The police carried out their own independent investigation into who accessed the documents and how, and have now concluded their investigation." The prepared police statement did not explain whether investigators tested Leathermarket CBS's version of events before arresting the campaigner. "Surely the Met police cybercrime unit, the first thing they do is check the website for security before they go arresting somebody? Is that not a rational thing to think?" said Hutchinson, who added that the documents disappeared from the company's website (and thus Google) in March - three months before his arrest. [front] Leathermarket CBS is a Financial Conduct Authority-regulated mutual society and its annual accounts are available on that organisation's website, showing net income of PS646,000 (inclusive of PS800k in council grants) and funds of PS10.7m available to it in 2019, the most recent year available. Those accounts included a list of directors: Leathermarket Community Benefit Society Ltd's directors for FY2019 Leathermarket Community Benefit Society Ltd's directors for FY2019 Southwark Labour Party, which controls Southwark Council, had not responded to The Register's request for comment at the time of publication. Had Leathermarket CBS succeeded in convincing police and prosecutors to charge Hutchinson, he is unlikely to have faced prison. Statistics compiled by The Register showed that while Computer Misuse Act conviction rates over the last year soared to 95 per cent of all charged cases, the number of prosecutions fell - and just 16 per cent of those received prison sentences. (r) Get our Tech Resources #Share reddit Twitter Facebook linkedin WhatsApp email [https://www.theregis] Copy 90 Comments Similar topics * MORE * Google Corrections Send us news --------------------------------------------------------------------- [front] Other stories you might like * NASA blames the wrong kind of Martian rock for Perseverance sample failure Not a hardware or software bug, for a change Katyanna Quach Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 21:33 UTC 3 comment bubble on white Mars rover Perseverance failed in its first attempt to collect a sample of rock from the Red Planet because the material crumbled to dust, NASA scientists have said. Last week, the nuke-powered science lab extended its robotic arm to bore 7cm into the seemingly hard surface, gather a core of material, and bottle it in a sample tube. Although its equipment appeared to be working fine, Perseverance came up empty handed. A closer look confirmed there was nothing wrong with the trundle bot's software or hardware. Instead, it's the rock that is to blame. Images from the WATSON camera onboard shows the regolith simply disintegrated, leaving no solid core to collect. Continue reading * US govt scores a point against Assange in run-up to extradition appeal showdown Judge wrong to prevent Uncle Sam from challenging psychiatrist's suicide risk report, says High Court Gareth Corfield Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 20:31 UTC comment bubble on black Analysis Julian Assange has lost a legal scrap in court, this time over the US government's attempt to expand its grounds for extraditing him from England to stand trial in America. Uncle Sam is ultimately hoping to overturn a decision made in January blocking Assange's extradition on mental health grounds. Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mrs Justice Farbey in London's High Court, this week overruled previous legal findings that said an expert report from Assange's psychiatrist claiming the WikiLeaker was suicidal at the prospect of trial in the United States could not be challenged on appeal. That decision, made after a pre-hearing application by the US government ahead of a full appeal scheduled later this year, is bad news for Assange's camp. Continue reading * Thunderbird 91 lands: Now native on Apple Silicon, swaps 'master' for 'primary' password, and more Project said to be well resourced, lots of tweaks in new version, plenty more to do Tim Anderson Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 19:49 UTC 8 comment bubble on white Thunderbird 91 has been released with support for Apple Silicon and other enhancements. This version entered the release channel yesterday, according to the release notes, and follows the emission of Firefox 91. You can fetch Thunderbird directly from here, or wait for your system package manager to catch up and hand it out. Mozilla's Thunderbird is a cross-platform, open-source email client. Its future looked uncertain in 2015 when Moz CEO Mitchell Baker said "sooner or later paying a tax to support Thunderbird will not make sense as a policy for Mozilla." Early last year, though, matters improved, with the formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary, MZLA Technologies Corporation, to manage the project. Continue reading * Beige Against the Machine: Hey, hey, 16K, it's the IBM PC's 40th birthday 5150: Not just a medical emergency, also the beginning of the office brick Richard Speed Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 18:36 UTC 5 comment bubble on white It is 40 years today since the IBM Model 5150 was unleashed upon the world, creating a tsunami of beige that washed over offices everywhere. IBM was famously late to the game when the Model 5150 (or IBM PC) put in an appearance. The likes of Commodore and Apple pretty much dominated the microcomputer world as the 1970s came to a close and the 1980s began. Big Blue, on the other hand, was better known for its sober, business-orientated products and its eyewatering price tags. However, as its customers began eying Apple products, IBM lumbered toward the market, creating a working group that could dispense with the traditional epic lead-times of Big Blue and take a more agile approach. A choice made was to use off-the-shelf hardware and software and adopt an open architecture. A significant choice, as things turned out. Continue reading * Workday makes Google preferred partner for public cloud weeks after demise of Amazon project revealed SaaSy HR firm gets around a bit Lindsay Clark Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 16:37 UTC comment bubble on black Workday has jumped into bed with Google Cloud, making it the preferred provider to run workloads for core industry in a public cloud environment - five years after talking in similarly glowing terms about AWS. The SaaSy finance and HR application firm said the Gogle Cloud would be their first suggestion for customers in healthcare, financial services, and retail. In a statement, Workday said customers will be able to deploy Workday Financial Management, Workday Human Capital Management (HCM), and Workday Adaptive Planning on Google's infrastructure. Continue reading * Lockbit ransomware attack didn't affect ops, claims Accenture amid lurid payoff rumours No word on whether gang got their mitts on data, though Gareth Corfield Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 15:24 UTC 2 comment bubble on white Outsourcing and accounting firm Accenture has been struck by Lockbit ransomware. The ransom note, posted on the dark web and seen by The Register, said: "These people are beyond privacy and security... if you're interested in buying some databases reach us." In a statement, the company confirmed the attack but failed to answer any of The Reg's questions about what had been affected, what (if any) data had been accessed, or how much was demanded in ransom. Continue reading * After 15 months in preview, GitHub releases Codespaces - probably the fanciest new shiny since Actions Teams and Enterprise only for now Tim Anderson Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 14:21 UTC 7 comment bubble on white GitHub's Codespaces, cloud-based development environments that have been in preview since May 2020, are finally here. Prices range from $0.18 to $2.88 per hour. First introduced at the GitHub Satellite virtual event in 2020, Codespaces are perhaps the biggest new feature of GitHub since Actions in 2018. The idea of developing in an online environment is far from new. Microsoft (owner of GitHub) offered this as Visual Studio Online from late 2019, while Gitpod has offered online environments since July 2018. Continue reading * Where's the nearest exit? ServiceNow continues on acquisition spree with interior mapping startup Mapwize PostgreSQL acceleration outfit Swarm64 also nabbed Lindsay Clark Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 13:04 UTC 2 comment bubble on white ServiceNow has done some digging between the sofa cushions and found enough loose change to bag a couple of acquisitions. First up is interior mapping specialist Mapwize. The French startup focuses on modelling internal building spaces to help "define the style, position assets, show meeting rooms availability [and] add rules to the direction engine," according to the company. It claims to reduce real estate running costs by "right-siz[ing clients'] office space based on occupancy." ServiceNow is an IT helpdesk company with an ambition to become the "defining enterprise software company of the 21st century" through the magic of workflow. As such, Mapwize might integrate with facility and management or HR workflow. It would also help companies manage and update floor maps based on usage trends and evolving real-estate needs, ServiceNow said. Continue reading * Taiwan president pokes the bear by saying the nation needs to lessen its supply chain dependency on China Tsai Ing-wen also expressed desire to attract external tech talent in rare interview Laura Dobberstein Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 12:02 UTC 13 comment bubble on white Taiwan's need to pull in external tech talent and the nation's supply chain dependence on China were two topics covered in a rare interview with President Tsai Ing-wen by Japanese outlet Bungei Shunju. Taiwan's semiconductor industry dominates the global marketplace with homegrown giants like TSMC and in 2020 claimed 70 per cent of the world's OEMs. Tsai attributed (see transcript - in traditional Chinese) this success to its mature industrial clusters and concentration on foundries as a business model, which faces little competition. One struggle that concerns Tsai is keeping up with high-tech talent, particularly as Taiwan's semiconductor companies continue to set up manufacturing plants overseas. Continue reading * Elementary OS 6 Odin released on a 'pay what you want' basis Principled Linux distro with curated apps, but spartan install may flummox newbies Tim Anderson Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 11:29 UTC 26 comment bubble on white Elementary has released version 6 of its Ubuntu-based operating system, named Odin, on a "pay what you want" model. It seems that every other day another Linux distro comes along, claiming to be an easy to use alternative to commercial offerings, and likewise Elementary is billed as a "thoughtful, capable and ethical replacement for Windows and macOS." The first look of Elementary OS is appealing, with a somewhat Mac-like Dock, a striking desktop background, and a minimalist user interface. There are some puzzles, though: for example, how to write a review when there is no LibreOffice or equivalent, just a programmer's editor called Code (and no, not the Microsoft one). Continue reading * COVID-19 cases surge as do sales of fake vaccination cards - around $100 for something you could get free Vaccine deceit is infectious Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Thu 12 Aug 2021 // 10:33 UTC 109 comment bubble on white The number of COVID cases in the US and elsewhere is again rising , thanks to the Delta Variant, lagging vaccination rates, and mask resistance among some. That has led to vaccination requirements in California for healthcare workers and education workers, in New York for new hires, at private sector companies like Google, and soon in the US military. Other countries like England, France, and Greece have said they will mandate vaccines for healthcare workers, as Italy did in March. The availability of fake vaccination certificates has risen, too. Continue reading ABOUT US* * Who we are * Under the hood * Contact us * Advertise with us * Seeking client-side dev MORE CONTENT* * Latest News * Popular Stories * Forums * Whitepapers * Webinars SITUATION PUBLISHING* * The Next Platform * DevClass * Blocks and Files * Continuous Lifecycle London * M-cubed Situation Publishing The Register - Independent news and views for the tech community. Part of Situation Publishing SIGN UP TO OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER Subscribe Twitter Facebook LinkedIn feeds no-js Biting the hand that feeds IT (c) 1998-2021 Do not sell my personal information Cookies Privacy Ts&Cs