Microsoft Secures Energy Strategists for Asian Datacenter Expansion

Asia In Brief Microsoft is hiring senior managers to ensure its datacenters in Asia can access the energy they need. The software giant last week advertised for three “Senior Energy Program Managers” – two in Australia and another in Singapore – who will be “responsible for strategizing and executing “end-to-end” plans for Microsoft’s energy requirement for a specific geographical market within the APAC region.” Microsoft wants whoever gets the gigs to “Lead and implement datacenter power interconnection projects, power purchase agreement and/or energy supply contract development with utilities and third-party energy suppliers in support of Microsoft’s DC businesses in APAC and associated objectives related to capacity delivery, cost and sustainability.” Microsoft Singapore has also advertised for a Principal Civil/Geotech Engineer to help with datacenter builds, and a regional lead to help arrange new datacenter leases across South East Asia. Microsoft’s expanding datacenter footprint is no secret, nor is the fact that datacenters used for AI applications are power-hungry. Microsoft’s Asian outpost looks to be hiring to address those challenges, in its own facilities and third-party bit barns it rents. Vietnam’s first fab breaks ground Vietnamese telco Viettel on Saturday broke ground on the nation’s first chipmaking plant. The company plans to offer foundry services on a 32-nanometer process and Viettel will target customers who want chips for industries including aerospace, telecommunications, IoT, automotive manufacturing, and medical devices. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hailed the plant as a strategic moment for Vietnam, as while the nation is already home to businesses that contribute to the global semiconductor industry in many ways it lacks the ability to build chips. If Viettel’s plans stay on track, the country will close that gap in 2027 when its fab starts work. Big Tech takes down 4.7 million kids accounts in Oz Australia’s eSafety Commissioner last week announced that the 10 tech companies it regulates under Australia’s ban on social media for under-16s have collectively removed access to 4.7 million accounts. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant welcomed that outcome, but said it is too early to measure the impact of the law. “While some kids may find creative ways to stay on social media, it’s important to remember that just like other safety laws we have in society, success is measured by reduction in harm and in re-setting cultural norms,” she said. “Speed limits for instance are not a failure because some people speed. Most would agree that roads are safer because of them. Over time, compliance increases, norms settle, and the safety benefits grow.” Bangladesh honeynet attacked within an hour Bangladesh’s University of Dhaka has revealed that it deployed a Honeynet sensor – an environment designed to lure cyberattacks – that attracted hostile attention within an hour of going online. The University joined the Asia Pacific Network Information Center’s (APNIC’s) Honeynet Project and, according to a post by network engineer Md Mahedi Hasan, recorded more than 63,000 attacks from 4,262 unique IP addresses in just 12 days. “The time to first attack was less than one hour, and we averaged ~5,270 attacks every single day!” he wrote. Hasan said many of the attacks “used default or common credentials” and suggested they would fail “against basic security practices.” Malaysia and Indonesia block X over failure to curb deepfake smut China wants to ban making yourself into an AI to keep aged relatives company Starlink claims Chinese launch came within 200 meters of broadband satellite China’s first reusable rocket explodes, but its onboard Ethernet network flew India’s CloudSEK celebrates US funding Indian threat intel outfit CloudSEK last week announced it won “a strategic investment from Connecticut Innovations, the strategic venture capital arm of the State of Connecticut, as part of its $10 million Series B2 round.” The company claimed this is the first time a US state’s investment arm has put cash into an Indian infosec company. CloudSEK has come to The Register’s attention for strong analysis of Oracle’s denial of a successful attack on its cloud, and discovery of a major data leak in India. ASUS’s health gadgets passed fit ASUS last week announced it won approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell its ultrasound devices in America. The Taiwanese hardware giant said wining the approval means it will now expand into “key regions with growing demand for smart and remote healthcare – including Southeast Asia and South America – to broaden access to advanced medical technology.” ®