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28th July 2010 Archive

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  • Russian gang uses botnets to automate check counterfeiting

    Black Hat Old-school crime with 21st century twist

    A researcher has uncovered a sophisticated check counterfeiting ring that uses compromised computers to steal and print millions of dollars worth of bogus invoices and then recruit money mules to cash them. The highly automated scheme starts by infiltrating online check archiving and verification services that store huge …

    Malware 28 Jul 02:24

  • Sony Walkman NWZ-A845 media player

    Review Thinnest Walkman yet

    If you can live without support for FLAC or Ogg Vorbis, then Sony's Walkman PMPs have long been the obvious choice for anyone concerned about sound quality but not wanting to chance lesser known players from Cowon or iRiver. Thin sound? Sony's NWZ-A845 Walkman Sony also tends to bundle decent earphones which is another …

    reghardware 28 Jul 07:02

  • Toshiba intros second-gen Cell tellies

    3D ready with 2D-to-3D conversion

    Toshiba has been talking up tellies based on the Sony PlayStation 3's Cell chip for years, and today unwrapped three new models due to go on sale in October. That's the launch day for the Regza Cell line in Japan, with European and US introductions following "in due course", Toshiba said today. Since Toshiba showed off the …

    reghardware 28 Jul 07:50

  • Software emulation copyright case bumped to ECJ

    SAS provisionally pwned

    A small software company did not infringe copyright in analytical software giant SAS's software by writing a program that emulated its functions, the High Court has provisionally ruled. The Court has asked the European Court of Justice, though, to check that its interpretation of laws based on the EU's Software Directive and …

    Law 28 Jul 08:02

  • MoD increased annual IT spending by £240m

    Defra outlay up £7m

    The Ministry of Defence has revealed that its annual ICT spending rose from £1.15bn in 2007-08 to £1.39bn in 2008-09. Defence minister Andrew Robathan said in a parliamentary written answer that the costs include both operational and non-operational IT, satellite and telecommunications. It spent £852m in 2008-09, as well as £ …

    Government 28 Jul 08:09

  • Government goes after outsourced staff T&Cs

    No less favourable could mean just a bit less

    The government is considering ending the right of workers at outsourcing firms to expect broadly similar working conditions to those enjoyed by their co-workers who previously worked in the public sector. The change is not about TUPE - which regulates the initial transfer of staff - but subsequent recruitment. A voluntary code …

    Government 28 Jul 08:17

  • HTC says sorry for Orange Hero Android 2.1 update delay

    Mea culpa

    HTC may have posted the very long awaited Android 2.1 update for its Hero smartphone last month, but it's been taking Orange rather longer to release a version for its own-brand Hero. And yesterday the network operator said that HTC had said sorry for the set-backs and promised that the update will arrive next week. “We …

    reghardware 28 Jul 08:18

  • Apple posts Magic Trackpad drivers for Windows

    Only Boot Campers need apply

    Windows users keen to make use of Apple's Magic Trackpad, announced yesterday, can now do so - possibly. Apple has posted 64-bit and 32-bit Windows drivers for the gadget. Aimed at Mac users who have also installed Windows on their hard drives courtesy of Apple's Boot Camp dual-boot system, the drivers' .exe self-installer …

    reghardware 28 Jul 08:49

  • VMware automates volume discounting

    Keep buying, keep getting discounts

    I love when IT vendors simplify things and make them more consistent. Because when they do, that is the surest way to know they have made something more complex for reasons they will never explain to customers. So it is with VMware's new Volume Pricing Program for its desktop and server virtualization products. With pricing …

    Virtualization 28 Jul 08:58

  • Sage expects to fall into line after improved Q3 growth

    Biz software biz buzzes

    UK-based software maker Sage reported this morning “improving organic growth trends” in its third quarter, and said that its full-year results would be in line with market expectations. The company’s CEO Paul Walker said Sage’s second half of the year looked set to follow on from the good performance it had put in during its …

    Applications 28 Jul 09:31

  • SanDisk launches Cruzer Blade USB thumblet drive

    Fits in a thimble

    SanDisk has launched what it calls a paperclip-size USB thumb drive, designed to fit on a key ring and store from 2GB to 16GB of data. The Cruzer Blade is not the smallest-ever thumblet drive but is about half the size of an ordinary USB thumb drive. Traxdata claims to have the world's smallest thumb drive, the MICRO USB. …

    Storage 28 Jul 09:39

  • Mariposa mastermind arrested in Slovenia

    Cybercrime toolkit suspect cuffed

    Investigators have released more details on the arrest of a Slovenian hacker suspected of creating the code behind the infamous Mariposa botnet. The 23-year-old suspect - known only by his hacker handle of Iserdo - was arrested in Maribor, Slovenia 10 days ago, five months after Spanish police arrested three suspects who …

    Crime 28 Jul 09:44

  • WIN a Belkin Play Max ADSL wireless router

    Giveaway State-of-the-art kit could be yours

    Belkin's latest line of broadband modems and wireless network gadgets are finally shipping, and Reg Hardware has one to give away. The Play Max has an integrated Torrent app, and other clever stuff to allow you to share printers and hard drives across the wireless network, and to organise your digital media for home sharing …

    reghardware 28 Jul 10:02

  • Watchdog rules on Hull Daily Mail 'porncoder' exposé

    Mild wrist slap for smut website scandalmongery

    The Press Complaints Commission has issued a mild wrist slap to the Hull Daily Mail for its coverage of Paul Smith - the man behind local news site HU17.net who was discovered to have a bit of previous form knocking together smut websites. Back in March, the Mail ran a series of stories headlined "Town website publisher's porn …

    Small Biz 28 Jul 10:10

  • Carphone Warehouse overcomes 'dread' in Q3

    In your glum face, Dunstone

    Smartphone sales and American connections are keeping Carphone Warehouse healthy, with the CEO telling investors that things are only going to get better for Blighty. The company, now split from TalkTalk, still owns half of Best Buy Europe which has already opened three UK stores and plans to open another three later this year …

    Mobile 28 Jul 10:15

  • Brits trump Ruskies with flying horse

    Parasailing donkey? Pah

    We're delighted to report that the RAF have shown Russian donkey dangler Vasily Gorobets - the man responsible for the Sea of Azov airborne ass - just how it's really done. Gorobets defiantly laughed in the face of international outrage at his asinine parasailing stunt, and declared: "I'm a hero. Nobody has ever flown a …

    Bootnotes 28 Jul 10:25

  • Virgin Media survives World Cup, buys back shares

    Back of the net

    Did the World Cup bring any sunshine to Virgin Media? The company today announced profits of £80m on increased turnover of £964m in its most recent quarter. But long-suffering shareholders take precedence over customers - Virgin will spend £375m buying back shares. Buy-backs usually have the goal of raising the share price. …

    Financial News 28 Jul 10:53

  • Chilean tarantulas menace Bolton

    Greater Manchester on arachnid alert

    The RSPCA has warned the good burghers of Bolton to keep a sharp eye out for Chilean Rose tarantulas after a couple of the eight-legged critters were spotted in local gardens. The organisation reckons the two may be from a larger batch of arachnid escapees and, if the Telegraph's headline is to be believed, it could be just a …

    Biology 28 Jul 10:54

  • Firefox 4 beta 2 preaches tabs-on-top love to fanbois

    Bookmarks toolbar relegated to right-side button

    Mozilla’s second beta for Firefox 4 arrived yesterday and, as expected, it now sets its Chrome-like tabs-on-top feature as default for Mac fanbois. Windows lovers already saw that interface tweak in the first beta of Firefox 4 that was released earlier this month. The stripped-back look is supposed to make Mozilla’s latest …

    Applications 28 Jul 11:28

  • DreamWorks signs cloud computing deal

    How to train your HPC dragon

    DreamWorks SKG has signed a multi-year deal with Cerelink for cloud computing access. Instead of rendering movies like How To Train Your Dragon on thousands of its own computer cores, DreamWorks will use elastic compute resources housed in Cerelink's supercomputing-class facility at the New Mexico Applications Centre (NMCAC …

    HPC 28 Jul 11:32

  • UK.gov's phone and net snooping hits record high

    We have ears everywhere

    The expansion in official snooping on communications records has continued with a record number of requests last year for details of who is talking to whom. In the 12 months to 31 December, authorities made 525,130 requests to phone companies and inernet providers for communications data, the Interception Commissioner Sir Paul …

    Policing 28 Jul 11:45

  • Reboot key Brit 'ready to save internet'

    Seven keys to BIND them all

    The Brit charged with holding one of seven digital keys necessary to re-establish a system of trust in the highly unlikely event of a collapse of the DNSSec (DNS Security Extensions) system has spoken of the practicalities of his responsibility. Paul Kane, chief exec of CommunityDNS and chair of the DNS Infrastructure …

    Enterprise Security 28 Jul 11:57

  • Vodafone fronts €150,000 for mobile start ups

    Planned, or realised

    Vodafone has launched another round of its Mobile Clicks compo, offering €100,000 to the best mobile startup - even if it hasn't actually started up just yet. The competition will be judged on economic and financial viability, the quality of the management team and the functionality offered to end users – this is about …

    Mobile 28 Jul 11:59

  • UK bans Nintendo DS homebrew code installer

    King R4 uncrowned

    The R4 card, a Nintendo DS add-on that allows users to transfer Rom code to the handheld, has been banned in the UK. The high court in London ruled that the gadget may not be imported into the UK and sold here, and it must not be advertised here either. The court agreed with Nintendo's claim that the device contravenes laws …

    reghardware 28 Jul 12:02

  • Samsung Galaxy S

    Review The Android iPhone clone that has it all?

    The Galaxy S is Samsung's hero handset for 2010 and one the company clearly has high hopes for. It's the closest thing to an iPhone the Korean firm has yet produced, and packs in Android 2.1 OS, multi-touch screen, powerful 1GHz processor, 5Mp camera, GPS, an updated TouchWiz UI, social networking and Samsung's own App store in …

    reghardware 28 Jul 12:04

  • Adobe to buy Day Software

    Dips stick in Web2.0 content wasteland

    Adobe Systems has agreed to buy Switzerland-based Day Software Holding AG for around $240m in a clear move to bump up the Flash and Photoshop company's Web2.0 portfolio. It said Day shareholders would get 139 Swiss francs per share (£81.80) in a deal valued at around 255m Swiss francs or £154.6m. Adobe said the planned buyout …

    Applications 28 Jul 12:34

  • Hypnotic illusions at the Wikileaks Show

    Analysis Greasepaint - check. Factoids - check.

    There's a theatrical quality to the publication of the Wikileaks Afghan logs that's quite at odds with what they contain. You'll recall that Wikileaks obtained a large number of classified field reports from US forces in Afghanistan and gave three media outlets, the New York Times, Der Spiegel and the Guardian, advanced copies …

    Music and Media 28 Jul 13:05

  • Smart meters pose hacker kill-switch risk, warn boffins

    Who turned off the lights?

    A leading computer scientist has warned of the security risks of using smart meters in controlling utility supplies. A programme is underway to replace Britain’s 47 million meters with smart meters that can be turned off remotely. Utilities welcome the move because it will greatly simplify the process of collecting meter …

    Enterprise Security 28 Jul 13:50

  • Apple Safari extensions hit 5.0.1 deck

    About time too

    Apple has updated its Safari web browser today, less than two months after it landed with a bump for some fanbois in early June. Cupertino has switched on extensions in Safari 5.0.1 for the pleb set, and Apple has also debuted its Extensions Gallery for the browser. It initially kept extensions away from the Safari 5 party to …

    Applications 28 Jul 15:09

  • Tight-lipped Apple fixes Safari autosnoop bug

    Black Hat Black Hat talk preempted

    Apple has fixed a flaw in Safari that exposed user names, email addresses, and other sensitive information when the browser visited booby-trapped websites. The update, which included an unrelated fix for a separate information disclosure vulnerability in Safari, comes a day before security researcher Jeremiah Grossman is …

    Security 28 Jul 16:30

  • Adobe fights exploits with MAPPs

    Black Hat Microsoft's advanced vuln notice

    Following a path first taken by Microsoft, Adobe Systems plans to provide security partners with information about upcoming security patches to give providers of antivirus products and intrusion prevention systems a head start in warding off attacks that target the flaws. Rather than create the program from scratch, Adobe will …

    Security 28 Jul 16:33

  • Google brews (another) Facebook rival, says report

    'Beyond' Buzz

    Google is in talks with various online gaming companies as part of an effort to develop (another) Facebook competitor, according to a report citing people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is in discussions with Playdom Inc. (recently purchased by Disney), Electronic Arts's Playfish, and the …

    Music and Media 28 Jul 17:45

  • Swiss do lady-friendly iPhone 4 launch

    Mildly diverting breakfasty promo shenanigans

    The iPhone 4 gets its Swiss launch on Friday, with an odd choice of attendant gender-related promotional faff. The "Orange at Globus" stores will be opening at 06.00 and offering coffee and croissants to girls, but blokes hungry for the latest Apple handset will need to find a female accomplice or look good in drag - they won' …

    Mobile 28 Jul 18:12

  • Convirture goes open core with 2.0 virt tools

    vCenter for KVM and Xen

    Convirture has unveiled a management tool for open source hypervisors. It's been clear from the beginning of the server virtualization wave that eventually the hypervisor would become commoditized and that the real action, in terms of functionality as well as in money, would come with the management tools that wrap around the …

    Virtualization 28 Jul 18:38

  • X Prize offers cash for oil spill cleaners

    Today the Gulf, tomorrow the world

    This Thursday, the X Prize Foundation will announce its next competition: a challenge to inventors and entrepreneurs to find ways to clean up after such environmental disasters as BP's Gulf gusher. The effort won't encompass the entire mess that BP has made, nor will it target all the oil released in future underwater …

    Environment 28 Jul 18:57

  • Microsoft biz stars won't shine in Wall Street web show

    Offline schmoozing for tired buns

    Microsoft watchers and stockholders scratching their heads over the recent cloud re-org, Bing's continued losses, and potential prospects for Office 2010 will have to personally trek to Redmond this year if they want to hear from those directly in charge about what's going on. That's because Microsoft has shaken up its annual …

    Business 28 Jul 19:15

  • Lara Croft, the Way in Derby

    Ring-road opens

    Lara Croft Way, part of a new ring road in Derby, officially opened this week, with a Tomb Raider look-a-like posing for photos. As any Tomb Raider fan would know, Ms. Croft was conceived in Derby, so the voluptuous star was a natural choice, topping an online poll to choose the road name. Sign, she's all over you.. …

    reghardware 28 Jul 20:15

  • Apple fanbois not as data hungry as Big Phone says

    Verizonites munch more

    When AT&T's wireless service buckles and chokes, defenders say that Big Phone's infrastructure is being overloaded by iPhone users — but a new study shows that Jobsian handheld owners' data hunger is handily eclipsed by that of users of Verizon data plans. Average monthly data dining for Verizon smartphones is 421MB, versus …

    Mobile 28 Jul 21:12

  • Facebook beta joins web Q&A craze

    Ask 500 million people a question...bitch

    Facebook has unveiled a limited beta of its long-rumored question-and-answer service, a tool that lets you toss questions at people who spend lots of time on Facebook. The service is dubbed, yes, Facebook Questions. "Millions of people ask their friends questions on Facebook every day. What new music should I listen to? Where …

    Music and Media 28 Jul 22:32

  • Scareware victims seldom fight back

    Too embarrassed or too ignorant?

    Victims of rogue anti-virus scams rarely attempt to claw back fraudulent credit card payments for worthless software packages, according to new research. Security blogger Brian Krebs contacted victims of scareware scams after coming into possession of a list of users duped into buying rogue anti-virus packages. The data came …

    Malware 28 Jul 22:50

  • Lonely boffins share Inception-style dreams

    Stuck on a rock without a totem?

    What with Inception tearing up the cinema box office, this is unlikely to be the last you'll hear of this particular story. A dream diary kept by biologists marooned on the Farrallon Islands, a barren rocky outcrop some 20 miles off the Northern California coast, shows they often shared the same dreams. Boffins isolated there …

    Science 28 Jul 22:52

  • Citrix fluffed by XenDesktop virt in Q2

    Pumped for the future

    That $500m investment in XenSource from three summers ago is starting to pay off for Citrix Systems. The virtual desktop wave that helped lift Citrix in the first quarter continued to swell in the second quarter as the company booked $458.4m in revenue, up 16.7 per cent, and net income rose to $47.6m, up 11.8 per cent. In the …

    Financial News 28 Jul 22:58

  • Purdue puts HPC cluster in HP PODs

    Boilermakers of a different kind

    Purdue University, the engineering school known by the nickname "The Boilermakers", has tapped Hewlett-Packard to build a 1,000-node HPC cluster for scientific research. Rather than put the cluster into a traditional data center, Purdue is stuffing the machinery into HP's POD containerized data center. HP gave El Reg a peek of …

    HPC 28 Jul 23:04

  • Armed with exploits, ATM hacker hits the jackpot

    Black Hat 'Game over' vulns spew cash on demand

    A startling percentage of the world's automated teller machines are vulnerable to physical and remote attacks that can steal administrative passwords and personal identification numbers to say nothing of huge amounts of cash, a security researcher said Wednesday. At the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, Barnaby Jack, …

    Security 28 Jul 23:56