2.6m spent on making a press room
Discussion
Pegscratch said:
Vanden Saab said:
Am I missing something here, this is the new press room where the UK gov. announce things not a top secret MI5 briefing room. What possible benefit would there be for the Russians to bug it... 
Don't scrunch his tin foil hat.
Iminquarantine said:
I assume your knowledge of IT/IP technology stopped around 25 years ago. As I assume you are unaware than the Americans abandoned their Russian constructed embassy in Moscow 1980s as it was infested with bugs, even after the Americans spent considerable effort debugging it. The room is within Downing Street; therefore it is within range of all the common short range RF comm protocols, WiFi, Bluetooth etc. I assume you are quite ok with any RF data which is detectable in that briefing room, just being sent straight over the internet back to Moscow.
You assume wrong. Given your assertions in this thread thus far, I'd recommend you abandon working in IT if you do. Technology (and more specifically the commoditisation of) has changed vastly since the 1980s, but you know that already if you can put your own underwear on.Pegscratch said:
You assume wrong. Given your assertions in this thread thus far, I'd recommend you abandon working in IT if you do. Technology (and more specifically the commoditisation of) has changed vastly since the 1980s, but you know that already if you can put your own underwear on.
Oh, so sorry I didn't realise you were still working on your helpdesk sorting MS Teams issues. The 2018 rice grain size Chinese spy chip is still ongoing as reported here:
https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/12/supermicro_...
You may or may not believe this, it is not proven. However a supply chain attack of IT hardware is rated as quite plausible. Here the NSA is also reported as doing their own IT supply chain attacks. https://www.theregister.com/2015/03/18/want_to_dod...
But of course, nothing to worry about here. We will just flash it before we use it.
Lots of unsubstantiated garbage around Supermicro that rightly disappeared into the abyss because while UEFI-level exploitation is possible on system boards, the concept of this one man's "spy chip" undermines the very principles of network technologies in order to function.
As for compromised Cisco gear, yeah, maybe - at a real push. In any event Cisco are ultimately the keepers of what is and isn't possible on that hardware platform and any modification in code would be incredibly obvious (if a little more challenging to remove).
Of course this all ignores (at your convenience) that the company in question is as much British as Lotus - basically in all but ownership.
In other words, you're talking s
t.
As for compromised Cisco gear, yeah, maybe - at a real push. In any event Cisco are ultimately the keepers of what is and isn't possible on that hardware platform and any modification in code would be incredibly obvious (if a little more challenging to remove).
Of course this all ignores (at your convenience) that the company in question is as much British as Lotus - basically in all but ownership.
In other words, you're talking s
t.
Getragdogleg said:
I'd use foreign companies for this sort of work so they could bug my Press room, then I could find the bugs and have a better idea how to avoid my Top secret briefing rooms being compromised.
The design of the bug in the Great Seal mounted in the US ambassador's residence was genius:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_%28listeni...
It was passive, powered by a beam of microwave radiation from outside & sat in the office for seven years before being accidentally discovered.
johnboy1975 said:
Is the 37b is for T&T, or the whole umbrella of Test Track and Trace?
If T&T - it must be wages mainly? Plus office costs etc? (But 20,000 people @ 25k a year is only 500m........
)
...
The £37B cost was for Test Track & Trace up to April 2022, so its the budget rather than what has been spent. They have spent £22b so far and a further £7b has been approved out of that £37b 2 year budget. The minister in charge said that 80% of that budget was for the testing element, covering the test development, the lab testing, and setting-up and manning all the test stations across the country. They have done 102m tests so far although I'm not sure if that includes those undertaken in schools over the last few weeks.If T&T - it must be wages mainly? Plus office costs etc? (But 20,000 people @ 25k a year is only 500m........
)...
The remaining 20% of that budget being the tack & trace element which includes the call centres and the development of the track & trace app..
The Surveyor said:
johnboy1975 said:
Is the 37b is for T&T, or the whole umbrella of Test Track and Trace?
If T&T - it must be wages mainly? Plus office costs etc? (But 20,000 people @ 25k a year is only 500m........)
...
The £37B cost was for Test Track & Trace up to April 2022, so its the budget rather than what has been spent. They have spent £22b so far and a further £7b has been approved out of that £37b 2 year budget. The minister in charge said that 80% of that budget was for the testing element, covering the test development, the lab testing, and setting-up and manning all the test stations across the country. They have done 102m tests so far although I'm not sure if that includes those undertaken in schools over the last few weeks.If T&T - it must be wages mainly? Plus office costs etc? (But 20,000 people @ 25k a year is only 500m........
)...
The remaining 20% of that budget being the tack & trace element which includes the call centres and the development of the track & trace app..
So, roughly 16b for 102m tests (PCR)
The App cost peanuts, surely? A few million at worst? (I stand by, prepared to be amazed, and not in a good way)
Plus millions of LFT at (apparently) about a fiver a pop
Any idea of any profit(s)? Guess the consultants making 7k a day need to be factored in somewhere?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56818750
Downing Street scraps plans for White House-style press briefings
Downing Street scraps plans for White House-style press briefings
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