Computeractive! Latest news

Apple tablet pegged for October release

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco — 2009-07-14T02:27:00.000Z

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 02:27:00

New reports point to $800 netbook device

Apple is preparing a tablet netbook device for release later this year, according to reports from Taiwanese news site InfoTimes, and has placed orders for components with several local hardware vendors.

The device will reportedly feature a 9.7in screen, and function as a touch-screen tablet.

Reports have described the new device as a cross between a traditional netbook and the company's current iPhone and iPod Touch offerings, eschewing a built-in keyboard or trackpad for touch-screen input.

The device will reportedly launch as early as October, at an introductory price of $800 (£490).

Further reports also suggest that the tablet will make use of assets obtained through the 2008 acquisition of chipmaker PA Semi. Apple purchased the company with the intention of developing in-house chip designs for products such as the iPhone.

The news is the latest in the ongoing speculation over the development of tablet and netbook models by Apple. The company has in the past declined to enter such low-cost markets, citing quality concerns.

Authorities close in on South Korea hackers

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco — 2009-07-14T02:39:00.000Z

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 02:39:00

Researchers uncover command server in UK

Security experts have reportedly uncovered the command server for the botnet believed to be responsible for recent attacks on US and South Korea government web sites.

Researchers from Vietnamese firm Bkis Security said on Monday that they had been working with the Korean Computer Emergency Response Team in an effort to track down the source of the attacks.

The company said that it now believes that the command server controlling the attacks is hosted in the UK.

Bkis Security said that the botnet controls nearly 177,000 infected PCs programmed to randomly dial one of eight attack servers which then relay targets. The servers each receive their instructions from a central attack server located in the UK.

While the news does not necessarily mean that the individuals behind the attacks are physically located in the UK, researchers say that finding the attack server will make it easier to uncover the criminals behind the attacks. The company also claims to have gained control of two of the servers.

"Having located the attacking source in the UK, we believe that it is completely possible to find the hacker," the company said in a report. "This, of course, depends on the US and South Korean governments."

The news could put investigators closer to shutting down the denial-of-service attacks, which have preyed primarily on sites run by the US and South Korean governments.

While the motive for the attacks is not known, the hackers behind the operation are believed to be supporters of North Korea.

Perhaps of more concern, however, is the apparent ease with which the attacks were launched.

Amichai Shulman, chief technology officer at data security firm Imperva, noted that the attacks show how cyber warfare can be executed on a much smaller budget than many would like to believe.

"This attack is relatively inexpensive to execute, no more than $50,000 [£30,000], making it doable not just by any government, but by any Tony Soprano, " he said.

Microsoft unveils Office 2010 and takes productivity software online

Dave Bailey — 2009-07-13T14:24:00.000Z

Dave Bailey, Computing, Monday 13 July 2009 at 14:24:00

Office 2010 reduces number of packages, adds new features and provides Office Web applications option

Microsoft has announced that some of its Office applications will be delivered over the internet in the next version of its productivity suite, Office 2010, codenamed Office 14.

Office Web applications, as Microsoft has tagged the online version, will include Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word "with reduced functionality to that experienced by users who have Office installed on their PCs," according to Chris Adams, Microsoft's Office client product manager.

The cut-down online version of Office 2010 will be available to more than 400 million Windows Live account users, as an on-premises version to 90 million Office annuity (volume licensing) customers, and through Microsoft Online Services, which is available to customers who purchase a subscription as part of Microsoft's hosted Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) offering.

A technical engineering preview of Office 2010 will be made available next month – the first time that a large number of enterprise customers and partners will get access to a pre-release version of the software.

Office 2010 and the new Office Web applications will be formally released in the first half of 2010, said Adams.

Microsoft has also cut down the number of packages from eight to five:

For enterprise customers – Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 and Microsoft Office Standard 2010 will only be available via volume licensing, with both including usage rights for on-premises web applications.

For consumers – Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 will be licensed for non-commercial use, along with Microsoft Office Professional 2010 and Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 for smaller businesses.

New features in Office 2010 will include an image-processing tool and an enhanced cut-and-paste function for Word, a video-processing tool for PowerPoint, and tools to deal with email management in Outlook.

All Office 2010 applications will be delivered in 32- and 64-bit formats, and Office 2010 will be installable on Windows XP with service pack 3, Vista, and the yet-to-be-released Windows 7 operating system.

NHS security blunders put patients at risk

Phil Muncaster — 2009-07-13T13:15:00.000Z

Phil Muncaster, V3.co.uk, Monday 13 July 2009 at 13:15:00

New investigation finds over 8,000 viruses infected NHS computers last year

NHS devices in England were infected with more than 8,000 computer viruses last year, 12 of which affected patient care, according to a new investigation by Channel 4's More4 News.

The TV programme wrote to every NHS Trust in England requesting information on successful attacks, and had responses from 75 per cent. The results suggest that IT networks in these organisations are not being properly managed, and are putting patient care at risk in some cases.

Several trusts told More4 News that their networks had been attacked because anti-virus protection had been turned off or not properly applied, while in other cases staff had actually turned off automatic Windows updates.

Around 800 PCs in Sheffield were infected after one computer in an operating theatre had its anti-virus software switched off, More4 News said. And on 18 November last year, the Mytob worm overloaded systems at Barts, the Royal London and the London Chest Hospital, affecting access to blood tests, X-rays and patient administration.

As well as these security concerns, patient data was also revealed to have been put at risk from hackers due to poor processes.

The NHS told More4 News that the new records system being implemented will have better levels of security than is currently the case at many local trusts.

"Electronic patient records systems are protected by the highest levels of access controls and other security measures," said the NHS in a statement. " These levels of security are far higher than any which can be imposed on access to paper records or the majority of local NHS IT solutions."

Gary Steele, chief executive of messaging security firm Proofpoint, argued that revelations such as this about the NHS could trigger tighter legislation to regulate the security of IT systems.

"Patients will demand this - they won't tolerate their data not being treated correctly," he added. "Creating more productivity and efficiency in the [NHS] will be important and using email makes sense, but it needs to be done securely. "

Rosetta Stone sues Google over trademark violation

Angelica Mari — 2009-07-13T10:21:00.000Z

Angelica Mari, Computing, Monday 13 July 2009 at 10:21:00

Software firm claims AdWords policies are misleading potential clients

Software firm Rosetta Stone is suing Google for selling the right to use its trademark to third parties under the search firm's AdWords advertising programme.

The trademark violation suit was filed on Friday and concerns the use of terms such as "global traveller", "dynamic immersion", and "adaptive recall", which the company claims to have registered.

The filing also states that "many of Google's sponsored links draw people away from Rosetta Stone web sites".

"Google's search engine is helping third parties mislead consumers and misappropriate Rosetta Stone trademarks by using them as 'keyword' triggers for paid advertisements and by using them within the text or title of paid advertisements," said Michael Wu, Rosetta Stone's general counsel.

In a similar case in the UK, flower delivery firm Interflora decided to sue Marks & Spencer and online florist Flowers Direct last year, over the use of its brand name and sponsorship of misspelled occurrences of its name on AdWords to lure customers to their web sites.

Commenting on the Interflora row, Alex Weston, a specialist IT and intellectual property lawyer at Langleys Solicitors, said that while trademark owners should be alert to how their brand is being used, prospective keyword buyers should also tread carefully.

“Until the European Court of Justice makes its ruling, trademark owners should regularly monitor use of their trademarks to see if competitors are using their trademarks as sponsored links,” said Weston.

“If trademarks are being used as sponsored links then, in my experience, a solicitor's letter to the competitor will usually result in the sponsored link being removed. It can also be possible, in certain circumstances, to make a complaint to Google or other search engine operators,” he said.

“If you are considering purchasing a competitor's trademarks as a sponsored link then I would advise you to proceed with caution and to ensure that you do not use the registered trademark in the sponsored link – either in the hyperlink or in the text.”

118800 mobile number directory crashes

Phil Muncaster — 2009-07-12T12:51:00.000Z

Phil Muncaster, V3.co.uk, Sunday 12 July 2009 at 12:51:00

Controversial service overwhelmed by users rushing to go ex-directory

The controversial 118800.co.uk mobile phone directory service has crashed, after thousands of users flocked online to remove their numbers from the site, according to reports.

The site, which launched last month, now displays a holding page which reads: "Service suspended while we make improvements."

The firm obtained up to 16 million mobile numbers from market research firms and online businesses that require customers to leave their contact details, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Although it does not hand out phone numbers to those who pay to use the service, it will connect a caller to the person they are looking for, leading some campaigners to complain that it is an invasion of privacy.

However, UK data protection watchdog the Information Commissioner's office (ICO) has given a green light to the service, which includes a simple ex-directory opt out on the web site. Connectivity, the company behind the service, said that it only bought customer information which was already in the public domain.

The Twittersphere has been awash with posts from angry users who are unable to get on the site to make themselves ex-directory, some calling for either Ofcom or the ICO to reappraise the fairness of the service.

The message currently displayed on the site says that it is undergoing major developments and will be "back as soon as possible with the new improved service ".

"All ex-directory requests made by people in our directory to date are being processed," it adds. "There will be no need to resend these requests. And we will take further ex-directory requests when the service resumes. We will not be taking ex-directory requests by phone or text whilst the service is not operational."

Ofcom consumer panel raises concerns over 'broadband tax'

Dinah Greek — 2009-07-10T16:08:00.000Z

Dinah Greek, Computeractive, Friday 10 July 2009 at 16:08:00

Care has to be taken to ensure the vulnerable and people on low income are not adversely affected says Ofcom

The Government must carefully assess the impact that the proposed broadband levy may have on people on low incomes, warned the head of Ofcom’s Communications Consumer Panel (CCP).

Anna Bradley said the Panel had already heard rumblings of discontent from consumers about the proposed charge and believed that, to avoid paying, some people may disconnect their landline phone.

Speaking at the Westminster Media Forum yesterday, Ms Bradley voiced her concerns about how well the levy had been thought out. She told Computeractive that: “We haven’t seen the Government’s assessment of this yet and want to examine it to understand how it reaches its figures.

"It may be the only way to raise the funds but there could be other means, so it has to be carefully investigated; especially with the current economic problems. Some people may be badly affected by such a charge; even though it is a small amount.”

The charge Ms Bradley was talking about was proposed in last month’s Digital Britain report headed by Stephen Carter. In the report Lord Carter suggested a £6 per year ‘tax’ on the phone lines to people’s homes.

The aim is to start a fund that would help pay for the infrastructure necessary to deliver next-generation broadband to areas of the country internet service providers (ISPs) feel are commercially unviable.

The report said it could raise about £150- £175m per year, for the Independent Next Generation Fund. This will be administered by Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator and operators could bid for to roll out super-fast broadband - with speeds of up to 100Mbits/sec.

Ms Bradley said that the CCP would be looking carefully at the proposal over the coming months.

Government replies to EU legal challenge on Phorm

Tom Young — 2009-07-10T10:44:00.000Z

Tom Young, Computing, Friday 10 July 2009 at 10:44:00

Two ISPs have abandoned the technology since the EU's move

The government has replied to a legal challenge from the European Commission (EC) over the online advertising technology Phorm.

Phorm provides a model that allows advertising to be targeted at users online.

In April, the EC told the UK to ensure there were procedures in place to ensure clear consent from the user for his or her private data to be used in this way.

"Technologies such as internet behavioural advertising can be useful for businesses and consumers, but they must be used in a way that complies with EU rules," EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said at the time.

Two ISPs – BT and TalkTalk – have since dropped plans to use Phorm.

Although the government did not disclose the text of its response to the EC, David Hanson, a junior minister in the Home Office, wrote to Parliament this week.

"The Home Office expressed an informal view about targeted online advertising and RIPA [Regulatory of Investigatory Powers Act] in response to a number of requests. That note concludes that targeted online advertising systems might be lawful if consent was expressed appropriately," he wrote.

The Information Commissioner has said that the technology does not infringe privacy as long as consent is given on the basis of an opt-in system – which means that people must agree to use it.

The EC is now considering the government's reply.

The European Union Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications requires member states to ensure the confidentiality of communications and related traffic data. States must, it says, prohibit interception and surveillance unless the users concerned have given their consent.