2nd March 2007 Archive

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GPS tracking Feds bust Cisco reseller 'fraud'

The network is the sting

A GPS tracking sting has led to accusations that a reseller defrauded Cisco of millions of dollars in networking gear by fiddling its hardware maintainance program on a grand scale. The US Attorney claims Michael A. Daly, 53, set up false identities and rented mailboxes in at least 39 states, which he used to bag Cisco parts …

IT Channel 2 Mar 2007, 00:41
SCO loses another $1m in Q1

Unix biz rushes to vanishing point

The SCO Group's revenue kept on sliding during the first quarter, although the company did reduce losses. SCO pulled in $6m last quarter – down from $7.3m in the same period last year. Thankfully for the IP defender, SCO's legal costs fell, helping it to a tidy $1m loss – an improvement over last year's $4.6m loss. Shrinking …

IT Channel 2 Mar 2007, 00:59
Online ads diet planned for Adobe Photoshop

Thinks free

Adobe Systems is the latest boxed-product vendor to put its software online and embrace the ads-based revenue model. Adobe will launch a free version of its expensive Photoshop photo manipulation software online in the next six months, while hoping to derive income from the internet advertising boom. The service will use an …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 01:34
Torex Retail to lay off developers

The trouble continues

Oxfordshire-based software company Torex Retail is laying off developers, but insists the move is not connected to the ongoing investigation into the company and its financial woes. Torex came unstuck when a trading update, which said everything was fine, was quickly followed by a profits warning last month. Shares in the …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 10:01
Samsung ships 60nm 1Gb DDR 2 DRAM chip

Two years in the making...

Samsung has begun punching out 60nm 1Gb DDR 2 DRAM chips in volume, the company announced today, claiming it's the first memory maker to do so. It's offering the chip on 512MB, 1GB and 2GB DIMMs, it said. The South Korean giant first created the chip in 2005, spending the intervening time getting the design ready for mass- …

PC Builder 2 Mar 2007, 11:46
Maynor reveals missing Apple flaw

And claims underhand play

Security researcher David Maynor got some measure of vindication at the Black Hat DC Conference this year. Six months after he and his colleague Jon Ellch claimed that Mac OS X wireless drivers were vulnerable to attack, Maynor on Wednesday revealed the code he used to exploit a native flaw in the platform as well as emails …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 12:44
The rise of zero-day patches

Interview The experts speak

Zero-day exploits were once the realm of just underground and elite hackers, but their increased prevalence is bringing a positive new trend: unofficial patches from members of the community, offered for protection before official vendor patches appear. Federico Biancuzzi interviewed Landon Fuller, who wrote Mac OS X patches …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 13:01
UK councils in email meltdown madness

New Forest without mail as Cambridge launches spam blizzard

Email systems and local councils in Britain just don't seem to mix. Council bosses in the New Forest called in the assistance of Microsoft after a glitch in its email system prevented staff from either sending or receiving email for a week. System failure on 20 February was followed by a secondary (unrelated) problem which …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 13:47
AMD chipset roadmap does include Intel

ATI acquisition changes nothing

AMD will continue to develop chipsets for Intel processors, the company has apparently claimed, although it also admits it's not shooting for marketshare dominance. So said AMD sales and marketing VP Jochen Polster this week, according to a DailyTech report. Polster said the company wants a decent share of the third-party …

PC Builder 2 Mar 2007, 13:53
Armed robber offers bank customers loans

Surrounded blagger mans the phones

An armed blagger who was surrounded by cops in an Austrian bank filled an idle five hours before his arrest by offering phone customers loans, Ananova reports. According to Austrian police, Guenther Baum "stormed into the Bawag bank on the main shopping street in Vienna waving a gun". His choice of target, however, proved ill- …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 14:21
Morse all smiles despite turnover slide

Post-tax profits looking healthy

Despite a fall in turnover and profits, Morse says it is pleased with its financial results for the six months ending 31 December, the first since the group split into two six months ago. The company saw group turnover fall to £132.2m, against £187.4m for the same period a year earlier. Profit, before tax, was also down at £3. …

IT Channel 2 Mar 2007, 15:51
MacRumors vigilantes nail UK teen scammer

'Max on Macs' took cash, didn't stump goods

A British teenager who tried to scam fellow MacRumors members learned the hard way that when enraged fanboys get up a head of indignant steam, you'd better run for cover. The story of "Max On Macs" began with this post by member skoker on 23 October 2006, and ended recently with Max on Macs interviewed by Thames Valley police …

IT Channel 2 Mar 2007, 18:00
Novell posts drop in revenues and profits

Pleased with Linux progress

Novell has recorded a $12m drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2007. The networking software firm reported net revenues of $230m for the period ending 31 January, (Q1 '06: $242m). Novell posted net losses of $19.9m for the quarter, resulting in a loss per share of $0.06, compared with net profits of $1.8m and flat …

IT Channel 2 Mar 2007, 18:28
Vista product activation unpicked

Broken by brute force and swiped from shelves

The activation method used by Microsoft to protect Vista from piracy is under attack on multiple fronts. According to Keznews, activation codes for Vista can be obtained by brute force using key generator software that randomly tries a variety of 25-digit codes until it finds one that works. With a powerful enough PC, users …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 20:28
eBay plugs hole in sign-on page

Persistence pays off

A week or more after it was brought to its attention, eBay has plugged a hole in its sign-on page that was being exploited by phishers. The vulnerability was noteworthy because it led users to eBay's official login page first, unlike most phishing attacks, which direct victims to a spoofed URL. Once a user entered a valid user …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 20:35
Office 2007 bug delights Francophiles everywhere

Others less amused

Much to the delight of Francophiles everywhere, Microsoft's Office 2007 switches Outlook Express spell-checkers to work only in French. Those disposed to communicate in other languages are being advised to use third-party programs. Microsoft has confirmed the problem here, and explains it comes about when the Office 2007 …

Software & Security 2 Mar 2007, 21:52