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27th January 2003 Archive

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  • SQL worm slams the Net

    Slammer gobbles Internet bandwidth

    A worm, which takes advantage of a six-month-old vulnerability in SQL Server, is having a significant effect on Internet performance this weekend. The SQL Slammer Worm uses SQL Server Resolution service buffer overflow flaw dating from last July to commandeer vulnerable servers. These serve as drones which randomly scan for …

    Security 27 Jan 2003, 08:33

  • SEC probes Ariba over restatement

    Dangerous distraction

    E-procurement and spend management company Ariba Inc is now the subject of an informal investigation by the SEC following news that the Sunnyvale, California-based company will have to restate its fiscal 2000 figures and 10 quarters of results. Ariba hopes to complete its own inquiry into the figures by the end of February …

    Business 27 Jan 2003, 09:25

  • MMS revenues will disappoint – report

    All is not lost

    Mobile operators relying on multimedia messaging (MMS) for substantial income are in for a disappointment, as it will not deliver the revenues expected. Many operators are aiming to garner 20 percent to 25 percent of their revenues from mobile data, and in particular from MMS, by 2005, but they are likely to fail, Datamonitors …

    Mobile 27 Jan 2003, 09:25

  • Novell slashes Directory prices

    Unexpected headache for Sun

    Aggressive price discounts in Novell Inc's directory and identity management business have caused Sun Microsystems Inc an unexpected headache, placing the former network operating system giant on a par with mighty IBM, writes Gavin Clarke. Barbara Gordon, vice president of Sun's software sales, told ComputerWire Friday …

    Business 27 Jan 2003, 09:27

  • Microsoft preps Firewall upgrade

    'More and more filters'

    Microsoft Corp is preparing a second version of its enterprise firewall Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server, focusing on application-level security and XML web services. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said Friday it is finalizing plans for a second, full version of its firewall nearly two years after ISA …

    Security 27 Jan 2003, 09:27

  • Orange pitches standards-based M2M

    Man to Machine

    Orange Business Solutions has launched a standards-based machine-to-machine (M2M) technology platform to the UK market in an effort to give it a foothold in the emerging mass market for wireless telemetry systems. The package, known as M2M Connect, is intended to supersede existing proprietary wireless telemetry systems …

    Mobile 27 Jan 2003, 09:27

  • PKWare adds RSA crypto across Zip

    Have-nots become Haves

    PKWare Inc, the provider of Zip compression software, will today announce that it has added encryption functions, previously only available on its Windows product, to its entire line of PKZip applications in version 6.0. The company has licensed RSA Security Inc's BSAFE cryptography toolkit for the Windows and Unix …

    Security 27 Jan 2003, 09:29

  • Infineon turns screws on ProMOS

    License? What License!

    Infineon is terminating its technology license agreement with ProMOS, the Taiwanese semiconductor foundry, following court approval in Taiwan. At the same time, the Hsinchu District Court has ordered the immediate re-instatement of two Infineon employees who were, says Infineon, "illegally removed at the Extraordinary …

    Channel 27 Jan 2003, 09:56

  • Beware new Nigerian Bush spam scam

    Well connected autocrat seeks your money

    An unusual twist on the Nigerian 419 email scam has surfaced. So if you receive one of the following in your inbox, on no account take it seriously. IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED: HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL FROM: GEORGE WALKER BUSH DEAR SIR / MADAM, I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA …

    Bootnotes 27 Jan 2003, 09:58

  • Microsoft Data Protection Register entry expires

    Doh!

    Thanks go to our chums at NTK.NET, for spotting that Microsoft Limited's entry in the Data Protection Register expired on January 8. This means that Microsoft Ltd. has to submit an entirely new application. In the meantime, the company is, under UK law, illegally holding personal data. In theory, the Data Protection …

    Media 27 Jan 2003, 10:40

  • Windows NT 4.0 Server gets another year's life

    Security hotfix support to remain until end 2004

    Windows NT 4.0 Server, still the weapon of choice for quantities of the more truculent IT manager, has been given another 12 months to live. Microsoft today intends to announce that paid incident and security hotfix support for the product, previously scheduled to cease at the end of this year, will now run up until 31st …

    Servers 27 Jan 2003, 10:45

  • Bad publicity, clashes trigger MS Palladium name change

    To Labbatts Apollo. Well no, not really...

    Microsoft has abandoned the Palladium name, in favour of the (no doubt deliberately) snooze-provoking "Next Generation Secure Computing Base." The ostensible reasons are twofold. The Palladium name is already used by another company for a product in a similar area, and since its announcement Palladium has received a lot of …

    Software 27 Jan 2003, 11:27

  • Telewest in cut-price self-install broadband deal

    No 'gimmick'

    Telewest has unveiled a new self-install product for its broadband service that makes use of cable modems embedded in its digital TV set-top boxes. The self-installation kit for its blueyonder broadband services costs £12.50 and is available to Telewest's existing digital TV customers. The kit - which is sent out within 48 …

    Broadband 27 Jan 2003, 12:25

  • ATMs, ISPs hit by Slammer worm spread

    Damage reports

    The bandwidth-crunching Slammer worm caused all manner of damage since its appearance on the Net in the early hours of Saturday morning. On Saturday, the spread of the worm was so severe that the majority of Bank of America's 13,000 automatic teller machines "were unable to process customer transactions", the Washington Post …

    Security 27 Jan 2003, 12:26

  • Letter On stats and chatroom paedophiles

    Colin Z. Robertson questions my grasp of statistics: In "Watch out! There's a chatroom paedophile about" you wrote: "According to US research, cited by Donald Findlater, a therapist involved in the rehabilitation of convicted paedophiles, as many as a third of child pornography consumers are, concurrently child sexual abusers …

    Letters 27 Jan 2003, 12:58

  • Child porn list leaked to Sunday Times

    The Great and not so Good

    The Sunday Times has obtained Operation Ore's entire list of UK subscribers to child porn sites. Containing 7,272 names, the list includes 'at least 20 senior executives' and a 'senior teacher at an exclusive girl's public school, services personnel from at least five military bases, GPs, university academics and civil servants …

    Media 27 Jan 2003, 13:37

  • Orange and 02 users able exchange picture messages today

    But will the MMS bug spread?

    Orange and O2 today announced the first Multimedia Messaging (MMS) interconnect agreement in the UK. The agreement, a first step the full interconnection between mobile operators Orange hopes will come this Spring, means that Orange and O2 users will be able to exchange photo messages in much the same way they currently send …

    Mobile 27 Jan 2003, 13:39

  • FoTW: "Look in the mirror, Mr Piranha"

    Flame of The Week It's the public dole for us

    Yes, the Flame of the Week feature has become very irregular recently, but only because we get so few candidates that make the grade. The well has run dry. Even Qualcomm shareholders - a hitherto reliable source of survivalist paranoia - appear to be more interested in making intelligent conversation these days. How dull. …

    Letters 27 Jan 2003, 13:39

  • Paybox scraps m-payment service

    Looking for big companies

    Paybox is scrapping its consumer m-payment service with immediate effect. The company promises an orderly withdrawal in the UK, saying that all outstanding transactions will be honoured. Presumably there are job cuts, as Paybox is withdrawing from the UK market entirely. And from other European countries too - the German-based …

    Mobile 27 Jan 2003, 14:51

  • Firstnet confirms Liberty Broadband buyout

    Like pulling teeth

    Firstnet has finally confirmed that it has taken over Liberty Broadband - the fixed wireless broadband outfit formerly known as Tele2. The announcement was made on Friday afternoon. Financial details were not released. However, the buy-out means that service to Liberty Broadband's 3,000 punters will continue. In a statement …

    Broadband 27 Jan 2003, 15:10

  • Purple Software considers future

    Takes time over wording

    Purple Software, the mobile games specialist, is to outline its future in a statement expected today. Concerns over the company surfaced last week. The UK firm's home page, www.purplesoft.com, has been down for several days. But last week one could enter the site through other pages, an option now closed. So we can tell you …

    Mobile 27 Jan 2003, 15:54

  • Broadband awareness soars

    Eight out of ten cats prefer broadband

    Eight out of ten Net users in the UK know about broadband, according to research published by telecoms regulator Oftel. It’s an improvement to a year ago, when just five out of ten people knew about broadband. Around 30,000 people a week are signing up to broadband. Oftel estimates that around 1.4m people in the UK now use …

    Broadband 27 Jan 2003, 16:29

  • Dealer uproar prompts Sage rethink over price rises

    Line 50 Dancing

    Sage is having a rethink over price rises for its Sage Line 50 and Sage Line 100 accountancy software products, following a revolt of small dealers. The company had originally intended to implement a 30 per cent increase in list prices for Sage Line 50 products on March 1. The new price list would also have seen Sage 100 prices …

    Channel 27 Jan 2003, 16:47

  • Red Hat intros 12 month only support on ‘consumer’ OSes

    Surely not a 'switch to Advanced Server' stick, people?

    Microsoft comes under regular fire for its apparent eagerness to end-of-life its products, making them more difficult and expensive to support, and hence forcing users to upgrade to the next version. But without fanfare Red Hat has quietly introduced its own approach to end-of-life, and compared to this, Microsoft's idea of an …

    Software 27 Jan 2003, 17:10

  • Crooks harvest bank details from Net kiosk

    We have a victim. There may be many more

    Crooks, operating in the Birmingham, area, are preying on people using public access terminals for Internet banking. The scam came to light after a Reg reader discovered to his horror an authorised transfer of £6,300 from the joint account he and his wife hold with Lloyds TSB earlier this month. When he contacted his branch, …

    Media 27 Jan 2003, 21:39

  • BOFH 2002: A Reader's Digest

    Travelling Companion

    BOFH and the VAX cluster bomb Episode 1: Diesel Delight BOFH gets his mobo working Episode 2: Gonna work it on you The Bastard Guide To Writing Software Episode 3: Junket Alert BOFH: SQL for Retards Episode 4: Turning the Tables BOFH: Going Postal Episode 5: Is that a gun in your pocket, or... Bastardman and Robin …

    BOFH 27 Jan 2003, 22:25

  • Register.com rejects ‘inadequate’ hostile bid

    Too much pressure

    Register.com Inc yesterday rejected an unsolicited takeover bid that was launched on Wednesday by a group of investors as "financially and structurally inadequate", claiming the potential buyer was trying to pressure the company to sell cheap, writes Kevin Murphy. RCM Acquisition Co LLC's offer of $4.95 cash per share, …

    Business 27 Jan 2003, 22:31

  • Internet suicide chat room killer held

    Houston police seize would-be sex strangler

    A would-be Internet killer is behind bars and facing 20 years' jail after offering to dispatch a woman he met in a suicide chat room, the Houston Chronicle reports. Edward Frank Manuel, 55, of Houston, apparently arranged to strangle the Wisconsin woman during sex, place a yellow rose on her chest and then bury her in a Texas …

    Media 27 Jan 2003, 22:31