5th July 2004 Archive

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UK website flogs forged degree certificates

Cheaper than a student loan...

A British-based website is offering good quality forged degree and A level certificates for just £165. They include a medical degree from Oxford University, a BA from the University of Strathclyde and a complete set of GCSEs. The certificates arrived a few days after order, and included forged signatures, stamps and watermarks …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2004, 08:51
IBM opens RFID test centre

French lab to trial chips, readers and apps

IBM has opened up the doors on a new European test and interoperability laboratory for piloting and proving radio frequency identification technologies. The adoption of RFID will not only help retailers and consumer goods manufacturers better manage their stocks, it will also offer a potential windfall for the likes of IBM …

Security 5 Jul 2004, 08:53
Chip sales soar in May

Best month since Dec 2000

The world continues to buy ever larger quantities of semiconductors, with the chip industry selling $17.32bn worth of them in May 2004, 2.1 per cent more than it did in April and 36.9 per cent more than it sold in May 2003. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), there's usually a jump in chip sales mid way …

Channel 5 Jul 2004, 08:59
Sender authentication is coming

A cure for spam? Sadly not

Sender authentication will almost certainly become a de facto standard part of the Internet's email infrastructure over the next few years, but it will not stop the spam problem by itself. Microsoft, in a refreshing break from its usual standards strategy, has merged its Caller ID For Email specification with that of a …

Spam 5 Jul 2004, 09:12
Intel to tackle Sempron with 'Celeron price cuts'

Stands up to value CPU challenge

Intel will trim the prices of its desktop Celeron chips on 22 August in a bid to fend off AMD's pitch against the value processor line with its own Sempron range. So claims DigiTimes, which reckons prices will fall by up to 13.6 per cent. The cuts take in recently released 90nm Celeron D chips as well as older, 130nm parts, its …

Channel 5 Jul 2004, 09:31
Dunes manages the heterogeneous virtual machine

Service management

In the largest server sector of all, namely those operating on Intel and AMD based processors, the virtualisation of computers has become something of a fashion tidal wave with vendors such as VMware, the major server suppliers and even Microsoft all actively promoting the benefits of this approach to computing. Into this heady …

Servers 5 Jul 2004, 09:51
Beehive pollinates Eclipse

A happy cross-fertilisation for developers

Java's success is based on the write-once, run-anywhere promise. But as the number of development environments increased the view for developers was not as rosy. The development user interface varied by vendor, as did the application development frameworks, which were used to develop Java more rapidly and consistently. This …

Developer 5 Jul 2004, 09:52
Spanish Zombie PC virus author jailed

Two years for Cabronator Trojan perp

A Spanish man was sent to jail for two years last week after being convicted of virus writing. Óscar López Hinarejos, 26, was also ordered to pay compensation to his victims for writing the Cabronator Trojan. Valencia Crown Court heard that Cabronator infected 100,000 machines. The Trojan surrendered control of infected PCs to …

Anti-Virus 5 Jul 2004, 09:56
Dell issues adaptor electric shock warning

Offers free fix to customers

Dell has warned that around 38,000 power adaptors it shipped between December 2003 and May 2004 could cause electric shocks. The problematic product is an Auto/Air Adaptor accessory offered alongside a number of Latitude, Inspiron and Precision notebooks between those dates. According to Dell, the adaptor was sold with the …

PCs 5 Jul 2004, 10:02
Cableco 'inside job' aided Dutch 419ers

Stolen modems drove spam tsunami

The 52 Nigerian 419ers arrested in Amsterdam earlier this year had "inside help" from cable company UPC, the company's security officer Norbert Spekking admitted last week. Someone within UPC provided the scammers with cable modems - a fact which escaped the company because the users weren't registered. Spekking, who testified …

Spam 5 Jul 2004, 10:09
IE workaround a non-starter

Disable Active Scripting, run for the hills

Doubts have been raised about the effectiveness of a workaround issued by Microsoft to guard against a potentially devastating vulnerability in IE. Left unchecked the flaw creates a means for hackers to turn popular websites into conduits for viral transmission. On 24 June many websites running Microsoft's IIS 5 Web server …

Enterprise Security 5 Jul 2004, 10:40
Vodafone's adult filter is go

The world is a safer, cleaner place

Vodafone has implemented its adult content blocker, to rapturous applause from child protection groups, and irritated cries of "Hey, where'd my websites go?" from some of its users. Adult content is not just porn - the definition includes gambling sites, chat and dating services and content and games classified as violent. The …

Mobile 5 Jul 2004, 10:41
Seagate targets rival with import ban demand

Wants no products containing Cornice kit on US soil

Seagate has escalated its legal assault on rival micro hard drive maker Cornice by asking the US International Trade Commission to ban the import into the US of any product that contains a Cornice 1in drive. If enforced the ban could hit the likes of MP3 player makers Aiwa (ie. Sony), iRiver, Element, Rio and RCA (ie. Thomson …

Storage 5 Jul 2004, 10:42
Payment card industry cleans up its act

No service for offensive websites

Apacs, the Association for Payment Clearing Services, has upgraded its guidelines for the kind of websites its members should take payment from. Previous guidelines warned card issuers not to provide services to any site which was likely to bring the industry into disrepute. A spokeswoman for Apacs said the guidelines needed …

Financial News 5 Jul 2004, 10:43
Bank issues cashpoint warning

Watch yourselves out there

First Direct has written to one hundred thousand of its customers warning them of the danger of cashpoint-based fraud. The bank is warning the ten per cent of its customers who use cashpoints most frequently that they are increasing the risk of being a victim of such fraud. A spokeswoman for First Direct told The Register: "It …

Security 5 Jul 2004, 10:49
Daleks invade New York

EX-TOI-MIN-ATE!

New York residents are today contemplating how close they came to "extoimination" after the Sun draped a Dalek in the flag of St George and let it loose in Times Square. The UK tabloid has launched a laudable campaign to demand that the Daleks be allowed to participate in the forthcoming relaunch of Dr Who. Negotiations between …

Bootnotes 5 Jul 2004, 10:49
Software patents under attack

EFF goes after ten most wanted

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has assembled a crack team of software and legal experts to challenge what it sees as ten of the most dangerous software patents ever awarded. It is seeking nothing less than the overturn of all ten. The group says that these patents, including Ideaflood's infamous "System apparatus and method …

Developer 5 Jul 2004, 11:24
US group lobbies for the airborne mobile

Only for games, though

A group in the US is seeking to standardise technology in consumer electronics devices so that people can use mobile phones and PDAs on airplanes. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has said that it wants to develop new industry standards so that people will be able to use certain functions on mobile phones and PDAs …

Mobile 5 Jul 2004, 11:32
UK small.biz rejects outsourcing

Not today, thank you

Nearly nine out of ten UK small businesses do not feel that outsourcing will benefit them, new research has found. A study carried out by NOP World found that just 12 per cent of small firms had decided to move part of their production or administration process out of the business. Just 14 per cent said that they would consider …

Small Biz 5 Jul 2004, 11:43
EU ruling set to can business spam

Opt-out clause

A new European ruling has made it possible for small businesses to block unsolicited emails, telephone calls and faxes, a law firm has claimed. Glaisyers said that under the European directive, firms will be able to op-out from direct marketing campaigns from other businesses. By registering with the Direct Marketing …

Spam 5 Jul 2004, 11:52
BBC faces online shake-up

Five sites culled after government report

A report into the BBC's online activities has recommended that the broadcaster should take a tougher line on its public service remit and stop replicating content which is, or could be, supplied by private companies. The Graf report calls for the closure of some BBC sites. The BBC, which has four months to respond to the report …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2004, 12:35
Credit card details published on Web

It was five years ago today... 5 July 1999

Anyone who has ever used a credit card online must be familiar with that slight twinge of uneasiness, that "what if these details ever leaked out into the public domain" moment. And here's why: Credit card details published on Web after hack attack By Tim Richardson Published Monday 5th July 1999 13:31 GMT The names, …

Enterprise Security 5 Jul 2004, 12:35
UK reseller unveils 'video iPod'

Reg Kit Watch 40GB MPEG 4/MP3/JPEG player comes to Blighty

UK mobile device supplier Peripheral Corner has launched what it claims is the "Swiss Army Knife of gadgets" - a hard drive-equipped portable video player, the PV-330. The unit ships with up to 40GB of storage, ready for MP3 audio, MPEG 4 video and JPEG still photography to be pumped over from a host PC via USB 2.0. Playback …

Mobile 5 Jul 2004, 14:16
Microsoft SA - reasons to comply

Lower fees, mostly

Just over half of businesses renewing Microsoft Software Assurance say the primary reason for doing so is to reduce licensing fees and maintenance costs. The highest priority for 52 per cent of those surveyed was to lower license and maintenance charges. 43 per cent said the primary reason was to ensure licensing compliance. …

Software 5 Jul 2004, 14:24
Shortlist for privacy 'Oscars' announced

Big Brother awards - as in the book, not the TV zoo

The shortlist for this year's Big Brother awards for nasty privacy invaders has been released. The awards include: Worst Public Servant, Most Invasive Company, Most Appalling Project, Most Heinous Government Organisation and Lifetime Menace Award - now renamed the David Blunkett Lifetime Menace Award. Pressure group Privacy …

ID 5 Jul 2004, 14:52
ACI to outsource notebook output to India

Ethos production moves from the UK

UK system builder Allied Computers Industry (ACI) will begin outsourcing notebook production to India with a view to ceasing UK laptop production by September 2005. ACI will begin building its Ethos range of notebooks in the company's plant in Gandhinagar, Gujarat by the end of July 2004, chairman Hirji Patel told reporters …

Channel 5 Jul 2004, 15:35
China adopts mystery Internet Protocol

What the heck is IPv9?

Reports from China that the country has widely adopted a next-generation Internet protocol, called IPv9, have raised eyebrows in the networking community. IPv9 which is "compatible with IPv4 and IPv6, has been formally adapted and popularised into the civil and commercial sector," the People's Daily reports. This was news to …

Data Networking 5 Jul 2004, 21:38
Close the email wiretap loophole

Opinion Linguistic paradox

Last week a Federal District Court in Boston decided that when someone reads your private email without your permission and before you receive it, it doesn't violate federal wiretap law. The ruling perfectly illustrates how we can frustrate the entire purpose of a statute simply by reading it too carefully. The case began when …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2004, 21:59
CSC German military mega deal scrapped over price row

Get your tanks off my contract

A CSC-led consortium has failed to reach an agreement with the German Ministry of Defense over a planned $7.3bn IT and communications outsourcing contract. The failure highlights both the level of caution displayed by the German government toward outsourcing, and the increasing reluctance for outsourcing vendors to take on mega- …

Public Sector 5 Jul 2004, 22:18