30th May 2007 Archive

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Phony BBB email dupes more than 1,400 execs

Gone Spear phishin'

A provider of online security services has uncovered a highly sophisticated phishing scheme that has already duped at least 1,400 US executives. They were fooled into sending sensitive information in response to an email purporting to come from officials at the Better Business Bureau. The ruse starts with an email addressed …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 00:13
CDW goes private for $7.3bn

Bid premium etc.

CDW, the big US computer dealer, is selling itself to a private equity firm for $7.3bn. That's a 16.1 per cent premium over CDW's closing price on Friday. The deal is an all- Illinois affair - CDW is based in Vernon Hills and its prospective new owner, Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, hangs out in Chicago. Approval from …

IT Channel 30 May 2007, 00:45
Apple plugs two QuickTime holes

Second security patch in less than a week

Apple has plugged two holes in its QuickTime media player that could create serious security problems for people tricked into visiting malicious websites. The release, which is available for both Windows and Mac platforms, is Apple's second security patch in less than a week. The most serious of the two vulnerabilities …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 01:09
Peer-to-peer networks co-opted for DOS attacks

DC++ flaw sees massive data storms

A flaw in the design of a popular peer-to-peer network software has given attackers the ability to create massive denial-of-service attacks that can easily overwhelm corporate websites, a security firm warned last week. Over the past three months, more than 40 companies have endured attacks emanating from hundreds of …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 07:02
Sophos apologises for going legal on school techies

School of BOFH

UK security software developer Sophos has apologised for drafting in its lawyers after a member of a forum for IT technicians in schools posted a foul-mouth rant criticising recent changes in its anti-virus technology. One of the members of EduGeek, the largest site for ICT technicians in schools, with over 2,000 members, …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 08:43
Firms urged to tighten up access policies

Survey reveals worrying lack of security

Half of us keep our passwords on Post-It notes and over a third of IT professionals say they could still access their company's network if they left their job. These are just some of the worrying findings of a survey released on Tuesday by Cyber-Ark Software, which carried out the research at last month's Infosecurity …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 09:37
Microsoft waves in Minority Report-style computing era

Another Minority operating system?

Microsoft launched Surface Computing last night, and with a new computing paradigm - the table-top. Surface Computing allows users to interact by waving their hands around. The technology, which Redmond has been working on for last five years, has been top secret until now. The basic premise is a PC built into a coffee table …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 10:33
Tiscali coughs to spam blacklisting after a week without email

Updated 'Er...try Hotmail...for another week'

Tiscali has admitted the reason many of its customers have been unable to send outgoing email for over a week is because it has been blacklisted as a spammer. According to Reg contacts, Tiscali is known in the anti-spam community as slow to act against abuse of its network. In a statement, it said: "We...have been targeted by …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 10:39
Google Maps hits the streets

New ground-based city views wow the crowd

Google yesterday announced the immediate availability of "Street View" - ground-level, photographic panoramas of Denver, Las Vegas, Miami and New York which allow Google Maps surfers to "navigate around a city, 'virtually' walking the streets, checking out restaurants and landmarks and even zoom in on bus stops or street signs …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 10:55
CSC details iSoft objections

'It's in the interests of NPfIT'

CSC insists its blocking of the takeover of key health provider iSoft is in the best interests of the "successful delivery of the NHS National Programme for IT". The company says it carried out due diligence on the impact of IBA's takeover of iSoft on the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) and decided to vote against the plan …

IT Channel 30 May 2007, 11:33
Is Avaya up for grabs?

Shares jump as tongues wag over possible buy-out

Avaya has seen its shares rocket by more than 15 per cent amidst speculative reports that a takeover bid for the network firm is imminent. The market capitalisation of the firm shot up to just over $7bn after Avaya postponed its annual Wall Street analysts' meeting which was originally set for today. The Financial Times said …

PC Builder 30 May 2007, 12:32
USB stick security suite puts squeeze on software

Yoggie Pico offers baker's dozen

Security startup Yoggie Systems has squashed 13 security applications - covering functions such as personal firewall, anti-spam, and anti-virus - onto a USB stick. The Yoggie Pico is a slimline version of the firm's existing line of hardware security products (targeted at home office, road warrior, and consumer markets) as an …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 14:23
The Mirror website cracked

Down all day

The website for UK tabloid The Mirror has been unavailable all day. Visitors to www.mirror.co.uk are met by a blank page. A spokesman for Trinity Mirror Group, the paper's owners, could only tell us the site had been down since first thing this morning and techies were working to fix a "technical glitch". He did not know …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 14:34
Toshiba gives price-cutting AMD the nod

No longer just Intel inside

Toshiba is to start shipping laptops with AMD processors, effectively bringing to an end its exclusive partnership with Intel. The computer giant said it will add AMD microprocessors and graphics chipsets in up to 20 per cent of its Satellite laptop models. It's a move that could bring significant savings for Toshiba which …

PC Builder 30 May 2007, 16:48
Germany declares hacking tools 'verboten'

Crackers

Updates to Germany's computer crime laws banning so-called "hacking tools" have been criticised as ill-considered and counterproductive. The revamp to the German criminal code is designed to tighten definitions, making denial of service attacks and attempts to sniff data on third-party wireless networks, for example, clearly …

Software & Security 30 May 2007, 16:52
HP grants little telcos NonStop rights

Pay less for the very best

HP wants to give the poor, huddled masses of telecommunications companies in developing countries a chance to buy its very best gear. So, the vendor today rolled out the NonStop NS3000AC server - a more moderately priced, always on system. The new box stands as HP's very first NonStop server targeted at small- to mid-sized …

Enterprise 30 May 2007, 19:17
Brocade gives SAN FAN a one-two

Blades, appliances and software — oh my

Brocade left the product announcement spigot on over the Memorial Day break, churning a flood of new and upgraded software and hardware. This week's broad launch covers performance boosts, data protection and virtualization for the company's SAN (storage area network) and FAN (file area network) lineup. Grab a bucket. Brocade …

PC Builder 30 May 2007, 19:40
IBM whacks 1,600 more services jobs

Only 147,000 to go

IBM has shed another 1,573 jobs as part of an ongoing push to thin its services organization. The layoffs, mostly in the US, follow a similar round of 1,300 cuts performed earlier this month. IBM described the firings as "business as usual" and noted that it hired 14,000 people worldwide during the first four months of this …

IT Channel 30 May 2007, 20:57