11th February 2003 Archive

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FalconStor changes tack with IPStor v4

Virtualisation gets the Trotsky treatment

FalconStor is due to announce version 4 of its storage network software IPStor today (11 Feb), yet with a complete lack of the word 'virtualisation', which has almost been airbrushed out of the picture, Stalin-style. Ross Parker, the company's Northern European sales director, admits that although storage virtualisation was a …

Storage 11 Feb 2003, 08:06
'World's biggest Luddite' in Telstra plasma TV row

G'day Sport

Could it be that the man dubbed the "world's biggest Luddite" is actually tuned in and switched on to technology? Australian Communications Minister Richard Alston has admitted accepting a loan of a swish plasma wide-screen digital TV worth an estimated AU$10,000 (£3,600) from monster telco Telstra. Senator Alston claims the …

Bootnotes 11 Feb 2003, 10:32
203 ADSL exchanges hit by snag

Yesterday's problems almost resolved

Almost one in five of BT's ADSL-enabled exchanges were knocked out yesterday following a software upgrade that went wrong. The problems started early yesterday and meant that people in those affected areas had difficulties hooking up to the service. In all, 203 exchanges up and down the country were affected with some problems …

Telecoms 11 Feb 2003, 10:34
Do it with spanners – how the Iraq cyber attack will work

Updated Security expert reveals cunning US plans

It was recently revealed that last July President Bush had signed a secret directive covering the development of cyber warfare systems, and providing guidance on their use. We have no idea why, given that it's secret, we've heard of it, but we'll let that pass - clearly, if we're getting the components of cyber warfare in place …

Music and Media 11 Feb 2003, 10:55
Microsoft deploying work-to-rule for Mac browser?

MSN deemed much more important than IE

In the latest twist in the twenty five year long poker game between Apple and Microsoft, the impeccably reliable Nick de Plume of Think Secret suggests that Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit has halted work on Internet Explorer 6 for Mac OS X. Microsoft's formal five year commitment to produce software for the Macintosh ended …

Software 11 Feb 2003, 10:58
Fresh Europe antitrust complaint aims at WinXP leveraging

CCIA issues 'all of the above' document

The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a serial Microsoft antagonist, has filed a fresh complaint with the European Commission, claiming that Microsoft has perpetrated "new and widespread violations of European competition law," and asking the Commission to intervene to "restore competition to the markets …

Software 11 Feb 2003, 12:13
What's the World's Most Stupid Security Measure?

Name and shame compo

Human rights watchdog Privacy International has launched a quest to find the World's Most Stupid Security Measure. The global competition will identify what the group describes as the most "pointless, intrusive, annoying and self-serving" security measures. The "Stupid Security" award aims to highlight the absurdities of the …

Security 11 Feb 2003, 12:20
Yahoo! UK! admits! scam!

Silence has been deafening

Yahoo! UK & Ireland has finally come clean and admitted that some of its customers have been targeted by fraudsters. The Internet giant has taken almost two weeks to respond to allegations of a scam designed to con its users out of £199. The allegations surfaced last month in a newsletter posted by US-based search engine …

Music and Media 11 Feb 2003, 13:02
NHS patient privacy? What patient privacy!

Trust me, I'm a Doctor

Up to 200,000 requests are made under by investigators under false pretences to obtain health information on British patients each year. And most attempts succeed, according to the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR). This calculation is based upon an old pilot study in one health authority exposed 30 phone calls …

Hardware 11 Feb 2003, 13:25
Mitnick shrugs off ‘welcome back’ hack attack

Your skillz are rusty, chides Web defacer

Web graffiti artists have welcomed Kevin Mitnick's return online in traditional hax0r-style - by defacing his company's Web site. Defensive Thinking's Web site was defaced by hacker BugBear with a picture of three polar bears along with a message poking gentle fun at Mitnick. The message (archived for posterity by Zone-H, …

Security 11 Feb 2003, 15:02
Oftel having a ‘laugh’ over new funding proposals

Get knotted

Plans to force ISPs to pay for the running of telecoms watchdog, Oftel, have been branded a joke by some in the industry. Yesterday, Oftel published proposals based on new European Union legislation that forces any company in the "electronic communications sector" with annual turnover of more than £5m to contribute to the cost …

Music and Media 11 Feb 2003, 15:03
Telewest-NTL merger possible: Burdick

Cable Guys get it on

UK cable company Telewest expects to be cash-flow positive by the fourth quarter, and a merger with NTL could be on the cards, the firm's managing director has said. Telewest boss Charles Burdick has predicted that the company will begin generating money in its fourth quarter, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. …

Telecoms 11 Feb 2003, 15:03
MS patents
.Everything

Kitchen sink umbrella claim fastens .NET

The fact that Microsoft has been in a frenzy of patenting its web services work shouldn't surprise anyone. So has IBM, and to such an extent that Redmond is justified in regarding its own vast list of claims as defensive. But an umbrella claim that protects its .NET APIs, granted last week, highlights the extent of its …

Software 11 Feb 2003, 15:10
Dell ramps up Indian call centres, software development

Global centre for Hyderabad

Dell has reinforced its all-American reputation with the news of a major investment in Hyderabad, targetting export revenues of R220 crore in the first five years of operation, and also establishing a 100 seat tech support centre to deal with customers throughout the world. Yes, we're glad you asked us that. A crore, Hutchinson …

Business 11 Feb 2003, 15:13
Users call for anti-NTL protest

Valentine's Day massacre

Angry NTL customers are trying to drum up support for a public demonstration of defiance against the cableco following its decision to cap its broadband service. Some are calling for a "mass cancellation" of their service on Valentine's Day (this Friday) while others want to use the day simply to disconnect from the service in …

Telecoms 11 Feb 2003, 22:21