Top tech stories this week: Apple's creative slump, Nintendo's Android plans and MongoDB security glitch
Computing's most-read stories from the past week. Don't miss 'em!
Here they are, in case you missed them: our seven most popular stories from the past seven days.
7. Microsoft rushes out patch to secure against new Hacking Team exploit
The Hacking Team produces (produced?) surveillance software that exploited vulnerabilities in commonly used software from the likes of Adobe and Microsoft. Having itself been hacked, with the information helpfully indexed by WikiLeaks, these vulnerabilities are there for all to see, and patches are being hurried out before they are more widely exploited.
6. United Airlines pays out millions of airmiles to hackers as part of 'bug bounty' programme
United Airlines has awarded millions of frequent flier miles to hackers who have uncovered and disclosed gaps in the company's security. It has even paid out two awards worth one million airmiles each - or 40 times around the world – one of which was for exposing a flaw that could have enabled hackers to take control of one of the airline's websites.
Introverted CIOs and CTOs don't have the right skills to make the transition to CEO, according to the co-founder of luxury lifestyle website Discover&Deliver, Isabel Rutland.
"I think I probably wouldn't find [CIOs or CTOs] with the right human characteristics and dynamism that you need, especially in a small business. [Staff] have to love you, they have to follow you - and you have to have a tremendous amount of leadership character to be able to do that," she said.
4. British Gas CIO defends much-criticised smart metering rollout
Only £12bn to solve the pressing problem of estimated billing? Sounds reasonable...
3. Check your NoSQL database – 600 terabytes of MongoDB data publicly exposed on the internet
If you are running an older version (pre-April 2015) of MongoDB you should check your security settings. By default authorisation controls were not enabled, meaning that the database was listening on localhost. This means that a total of 595.2 terabytes (TB) of data is exposed on the internet via publicly accessible MongoDB instances that don't require any form of authentication, according to blogger and inventor of the Shodan search engine John Matherly.
2. Here's to the humdrum ones: Has Apple truly forgotten how to innovate?
Since 2011 Apple has been iterating rather than innovating, argues Peter Gothard. It began by iterating on its own products (a thinner, lighter iPad or iPhone almost every year) and then, when it ran out of places to go there, began iterating on the products of others (the Apple Watch).
Steve Jobs would never have released the Apple Watch in the state it's in. A Bluetooth-reliant gimmick that takes half a second to even tell you the time, and still has no discernible apps to give it a standout reason to exist on its own.
1. Nintendo to go with Android and AMD for make-or-break console
AMD will design the CPU and graphics co-processor in Nintendo's next games console - and the console will be based on a version of the Android operating system, according to reports.
If true, the move would mark a shift from proprietary, in-house designed operating systems behind both the Wii and Wii U, but is intended to attract developers to the platform. However, Android gaming consoles have not proved popular, even when sold at a low price, due to the poor quality of the games compared to PC gaming or other mainstream consoles.
Can Android save Nintendo? Plenty of people wanted to find out, making this our top story this week.