Stable kernels 4.16.17 and 4.14.51

• Linux 4.16.17

• Linux 4.14.51

OpenBSD disables hyperthreading support for Intel CPUs due to likely data leaks

• OpenBSD disables hyperthreading support for Intel CPUs due to likely data leaks

  The OpenBSD project, which produces an UNIX-like operating system of the same name, has decided to disable support for hyperthreading for Intel processors as it could lead to data leaks in a manner similar to that caused by the Spectre flaws in Intel processors announced earlier this year.

• OpenBSD Disables Intel CPU Hyper-Threading Due to Security Concerns

• OpenBSD disables Intel’s hyper-threading over CPU data leak fears

• OpenBSD snubs Intel's hyper-threading over 'Spectre-class' security concerns

• OpenBSD stops support for Intel CPU hyper-threading

Open source log management options for Linux distributions

If you run Linux, you're probably familiar with rsyslog and systemd-journald. However, if you oversee dozens of Linux servers and cloud instances, it's not realistic to dig into each individual log file. Graylog and Logcheck are two viable open source alternatives. When you search for open source log management software, you will see that Graylog is one of the most adopted products. The program can be easily installed on common Linux distributions, including CentOS and Ubuntu, and is available as an appliance.

Microsoft and ICE, Major Downtimes Again

• Microsoft says pro-migrant, but no mention of cancelling ICE contract

  Both Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith have responded to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement separating migrant children from their parents at the Mexico-US border by issuing strong statements against the practice. However, neither has said a word about ending the company's US$19.4 million contract with ICE. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday cancelling the separation policy for the next 20 days. About 4000 children have already been taken from their parents and there is no sign of their being returned. About 100 employees had sent a letter to Nadella, asking for the contract with ICE to be cancelled.

• Microsoft CEO: don't worry, we're mostly helping the parts of ICE that don't involve kidnapping children

  As Microsoft employees grow increasingly furious that their employer is a key technology provider to ICE, providing, among other things, facial recognition software, the company is responding, conscious of the possibility of a repeat of Google's showdown with its employees over the provision of AI for drone warfare systems. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella circulated an internal memo to all employees reassuring them that Microsoft only indirectly contributes to ICE's child kidnapping system by providing service to the rest of ICE. The child kidnapping crisis has prompted Mike Godwin to temporarily suspend Godwin's law, which allows me to point out that the service technicians IBM dispatched to service the Nazi tabulating machines only helped the Nazis to count the dead -- it wasn't like IBM was servicing gas chambers, just as Microsoft is only supplying adjacent services to an agency that the UN has condemned as "counter to human rights standards and principles."

• Microsoft Azure suffers 11-hours of borkage across Europe

  The official word is that the downtime, which comes just days after Office 365 went titsup, lasted from around 5.45pm on Tuesday until 4.30am on Wednesday morning.

  However, many customers were still reporting issues today, despite Azure Support claiming that its engineers had "mitigated the issue in North Europe and impacted services should be recovered at this time".