9th February 2007 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site. Or try the full archive of all our sister sites.

VeriSign builds $1bn internet security Titan

RSA Thinks big

Verisign will spend $1bn during the next three years beefing up its internet infrastructure following this week's high-profile root server attack. Verisign, the company managing .com and .net addresses, today announced Project Titan will drastically increase its server and bandwidth capacity to offset attacks as millions of …

Software & Security 9 Feb 2007, 01:23
UK PC disposal is rubbish

PCs on council tips and other security no-nos

Large UK businesses are crap at securely disposing old PCs and mobile devices. A survey by mobile security firm Pointsec found that less than half the 329 corporations quizzed use professional disposal companies to destroy their old computers. The rest flog PCs to secondhand dealers or sell them to staff, which often means …

PC Builder 9 Feb 2007, 07:02
US cyber chief talks tough on security

RSA Quick and determined action

The US's latest chief of cyber security has pledged quick and determined action to protect the nation's critical infrastructure from attack. Greg Garcia, the first assistant secretary for cyber security and telecommunications, said he will work "vigorously" with the private and public sectors to devise common practices and …

Software & Security 9 Feb 2007, 08:36
Cisco buys into social networking

MySpace for corporates?

Router behemoth Cisco has bought social networking provider Five Across. Rather than create its own online communities, Five Across sells software to allow companies to add interactive and community features to their websites. The 11 person company, based in San Francisco, includes the National Hockey League and dailycomedy. …

IT Channel 9 Feb 2007, 11:02
Vista-effect credited with PC sales boost

The Wow starts now...

It might have had a mixed response from critics but Vista is being credited with a big jump in US retail computer sales. The launch of Microsoft's latest operating system apparently helped PC sales jump 173 per cent compared to the week before. According to market watcher Current Analysis, PC sales were up 67 per cent in the …

Software & Security 9 Feb 2007, 11:32
MS plans 'dirty dozen' patch release

Lots of fireworks

Microsoft plans to release 12 patches next Tuesday (13 February) as part of its regular monthly security update cycle. These patches will include five security bulletins concerning Windows, at least one of which is critical, and two involving Office (of which one, at minimum, earns the dreaded critical rating). It remains to …

Software & Security 9 Feb 2007, 11:47
Abit launches 'pro' Fatal1ty mobo

Gaming friendly

Universal Abit this week rolled its latest Fatal1ty-branded mobo, this one based on Nvidia's Intel-oriented nForce 650i SLI chipset. It'll take an Core 2 desktop processor and run it on a 1,066MHz frontside bus speed. The Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI Professional incorporates a pair of x16 PCI Express graphics card slots, ready for …

PC Builder 9 Feb 2007, 11:51
Nvidia's 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS goes on sale

UK suppliers listing it, at least

UK resellers have begun to confirm that Nvidia is indeed preparing a 320MB version of the GeForce 8800 GTS graphics chip, as was rumoured early last month. As expected, the part matches the GPU specs of the 640MB 8800 GTS: 500MHz core clock frequency, 96 unified shaders running at 1.2GHz and memory set to 1.6GHz effective. …

PC Builder 9 Feb 2007, 14:02
Acer gears up for SMB server push

Just not in UK

Acer will pile into the SMB server business in Europe this year, but UK companies will have to wait until September before they see the benefit of the renewed drive. For the last few years the PC vendor has focused on its laptop range, and, to a lesser extent desktops PCs as it looked to ramp up its market share across Europe. …

PC Builder 9 Feb 2007, 14:16
'World first' quantum computer set to debut next week

Landmark or footnote?

A Canadian start-up says it will demonstrate a working commercial quantum computer in Mountain View next week, years ahead of many experts' predictions. Venture capital-funded to the tune of $20m, Vancouver-based D-Wave says it has built a quantum computer with 16 qubits - the quantum world's version of a digital bit, but …

Enterprise 9 Feb 2007, 14:22
Watford Electronics left debts of £3.5m

Administrators hang on to stock

Watford Electronics’s stock remains in the hands of administrators, giving unsecured creditors hope of seeing some of the £3.5m they were owed when the firm collapsed earlier this week. Watford's cards had been marked since November when it released a troubling set of accounts and trade insurers started putting the squeeze on …

PC Builder 9 Feb 2007, 18:17
Sophos changes tack with mobile anti-virus launch

U-turn

Sophos, the UK anti-virus developer, launched an anti-virus product for Windows mobiles yesterday. After years of saying the threat of viruses infecting mobile devices is over-hyped, Sophos now maintains the protection against a "growing number of malware attacks" aimed at Windows Mobile is necessary. In a recent Sophos web …

Software & Security 9 Feb 2007, 18:27
HMRC guides UK eBay traders on income tax

Garage sale or dealer?

A new guide has been released which tells occasional online sellers if they should be paying income tax on their profits. The guide is designed to differentiate between online traders and people who "are just clearing low value items from the attic". The phenomenal success of auction sites such as eBay means that a huge …

IT Channel 9 Feb 2007, 19:00
Fear and Loafing at RSA

Comment The outsourcing of security

It's the end of yet another RSA security conference, and we're tempted to trade our PCs for an abacus and hole up in the basement while the nightmarish robot invasion on mankind plays out. Malware, we were repeatedly told over the past five days, is lurking everywhere - in PCs, phones and online bazaars - and is waiting for the …

Software & Security 9 Feb 2007, 23:43