• The Sizzle
  • Posts
  • F5 hack, national facial recognition database is back and Apple cuts EU chargers

F5 hack, national facial recognition database is back and Apple cuts EU chargers

Apple has finally upgraded this ABANDONED product

Author

Cam Wilson
October 16, 2025

Edition 2440

Hello non-subscribers. Enjoy a free edition and remember to sign up if you like it - CW

The News

Cybersecurity B2B bigdog F5 is our next lucky cyberattack victim

A “highly sophisticated nation-state” hacker gained long term access to the systems of major cybersecurity provider F5 (Bleeping Computer). The company — which has 48 out of the Fortune 50 companies as its clients, which gives some perspective on how important it is — announced the hack in a US financial filing, saying that the intruders accessed its source code, info on product vulnerabilities and info about how some of their customers are using their products. Again, to get a sense for how serious this is: the regulator SEC allowed F5 to delay the market disclosure!

Australia’s Cyber Security Centre has put out a critical alert for people to patch their products ASAP and be alert (Cyber dot gov dot au)

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

2025 will be the year of the national facial recognition database FKA the Capability

Australia’s controversial national facial recognition database will be up and running by the end of the year, the government says (IT News). Close to a decade after federal and state governments agreed to pool together facial photos from passports and driver licence databases, the Attorney-General’s Department told Estimates that the National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution will be up and running by the end of the year.

The plan was set back in 2019 when a Coalition government couldn’t pass a bill to allow them to use the data to help agencies “share and access identity information”. A stricter legislative framework was passed by Labor and came into effect at the end of last year. WA will be the first state government to make its licence data available, with “expansion to private organisations expected by early next year” 👀.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Apple’s new laptops will not come with chargers in the EU

Apple’s newly released MacBook Pro will be its first ever released without a charger in the box supposedly because of EU regulations (MacRumors). The tech giant is refreshing its MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and Vision Pro (CNBC) with its new M5 chip which seems pretty sweet (Apple). But if you want a charger to go with that laptop, you’ll have to buy it separately because Apple says it’s getting ready for an EU rule that requires them to give a charger-free option (although it will still have a USB-C to MagSafe cable).

The Sizzle: I’ll be honest, this feels a bit like malicious compliance! I’m sure Apple will argue “all you have to do is also buy the charger separately” and it’s not a huge imposition… but they obviously also know that this is going to insanely piss people off.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Leftovers

Australia:

Rest of the world:

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

Apple has finally upgraded this ABANDONED product

A follow up to the above story and a previous Sizzle edition: after a long delay, I can confirm that Apple’s $29 polishing cloth has been updated to be compatible with the new M5 devices and the iPhone 17 (The Verge). I’d still recommend waiting a bit before upgrading to make sure any bugs are ironed out, though.

ooooo

ahhhh


Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electrical & electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

🤖 We love robots at the Sizzle but this newsletter has always been and will always be written by humans for humans.

🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply!

💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news.

🌐 The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal.

🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.

💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide.

🦺 The Sizzle has been tested to meet and exceed ISO 3533 standards.

Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.

Reply

or to participate.