FTC settles with TJX, LexisNexis

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has settled data-breach complaints against retailer TJX and data broker Reed Elsevier, requiring both companies to establish comprehensive information security programs and submit to biennial data security audits over the next 20 years. ...continue reading 'FTC settles with TJX, LexisNexis'

EC opens in-depth probe of Nokia-Navteq deal

Fears that Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer, might muscle out rivals in the burgeoning market for GPS navigation devices, the European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation of the Finnish company's plans to acquire Navteq, an American producer of digital maps, the regulator said Friday. ...continue reading 'EC opens in-depth probe of Nokia-Navteq deal'

With thousands of sites affected, Adobe to patch Flash bug

Adobe is working on an update to its Flash Player software that will address a widespread vulnerability found on hundreds of thousands of Web sites. ...continue reading 'With thousands of sites affected, Adobe to patch Flash bug'

Researchers: GSM mobile security on the ropes

The security of the most widely used standard in the world for transmitting mobile phone calls is dangerously flawed, putting privacy and data at risk, two researchers warned at the Black Hat conference in Europe on Friday. ...continue reading 'Researchers: GSM mobile security on the ropes'

Votes roll in for ballot on OOXML standard

Ballots are rolling in for the final ballot to decide whether the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopts a file format based on Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) as an international standard. Countries previously against adoption or abstaining, such as the Czech Republic, Denmark and Finland, are now voting in favor. ...continue reading 'Votes roll in for ballot on OOXML standard'

Gone in 2 minutes: Mac gets hacked first in contest

It may be the quickest $10,000 Charlie Miller ever earned. He took the first of three laptop computers -- and a $10,000 cash prize -- Thursday after breaking into a MacBook Air at the CanSecWest security conference's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest. ...continue reading 'Gone in 2 minutes: Mac gets hacked first in contest'

Study sees Microsoft brand in sharp decline

Microsoft's brand power has been in sharp decline over the past four years, an indication the company is losing credibility and mindshare with U.S. business users, according to a recent study by market research firm CoreBrand. ...continue reading 'Study sees Microsoft brand in sharp decline'

TomTom says Tele Atlas merger held up by EU investigation

TomTom's acquisition of mapping company Tele Atlas has dragged on longer than expected, held up by an investigation by the European Union's antitrust authority, which must approve the merger. TomTom has extended its offer for another two months. ...continue reading 'TomTom says Tele Atlas merger held up by EU investigation'

Analyst: Money will fuel mobile spying programs

Spying programs for mobile phones are likely to grow in sophistication and stealth as the business around selling the tools grows, according to a mobile analyst at the Black Hat conference on Friday. ...continue reading 'Analyst: Money will fuel mobile spying programs'

NTT DoCoMo takes a step towards bio-sensing cell phones

Researchers in Japan have demonstrated one part of an envisaged molecular level system that might one day enable cell phones to keep a regular watch on their owners' health. ...continue reading 'NTT DoCoMo takes a step towards bio-sensing cell phones'

Google: Web sites slow to fix serious Flash flaws

Two months after Adobe Systems patched a serious flaw in its Flash development software, there are still hundreds of thousands of Web pages serving up buggy Shockwave Flash (.swf) files that could be exploited by hackers, according to a Google researcher. ...continue reading 'Google: Web sites slow to fix serious Flash flaws'

Comcast/BitTorrent agreement raises questions

Thursday's announcement that Comcast and BitTorrent will work together to solve network management problems won praise from some quarters, including members of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, but some net neutrality advocates said the deal doesn't diminish the need for new government rules. ...continue reading 'Comcast/BitTorrent agreement raises questions'

Microsoft renames CRM Live to 'CRM Online'

Microsoft is changing the name of its on-demand CRM (customer relationship management) offering to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, according to a company official. ...continue reading 'Microsoft renames CRM Live to 'CRM Online'

Google's paid search growth soft again in February

For the second straight month, a comScore report suggests that Google's revenue engine is slowing down, highlighting again the perils of the company's overwhelming dependence on a single type of online advertising to fuel its business. ...continue reading 'Google's paid search growth soft again in February'

Beleaguered BitTorrent search engine shuts down

Expensive legal battles have caused TorrentSpy, the search engine for the BitTorrent file-sharing service, to shut down. ...continue reading 'Beleaguered BitTorrent search engine shuts down'

Oracle buying Web app test tools from Empirix

Fresh off a strong third-quarter earnings report, Oracle announced Thursday that it has agreed to acquire a set of Web application testing products from Empirix for an undisclosed sum. ...continue reading 'Oracle buying Web app test tools from Empirix'

Waste Management sues SAP over ERP implementation

The trash-disposal giant Waste Management is suing SAP, saying top SAP executives participated in a fraudulent sales scheme that resulted in a failed ERP (enterprise resource planning) implementation. ...continue reading 'Waste Management sues SAP over ERP implementation'

Microsoft vs. Apple: Who patches 0-days faster?

Apple's teasing commercials that imply its software is safer than Microsoft's may not quite match the facts, according to new research revealed at the Black Hat conference on Thursday. ...continue reading 'Microsoft vs. Apple: Who patches 0-days faster?'

YouTube rolls out usage analytics

YouTube account holders will now be able to access usage statistics for the videos they upload, such as where viewers are geographically located and how they found the clips. ...continue reading 'YouTube rolls out usage analytics'

Comcast, BitTorrent to work together on network management

Comcast, under fire for slowing some BitTorrent traffic, will work with the P-to-P (peer-to-peer) vendor to come up with better ways to address media downloads and network management, the companies announced Thursday. ...continue reading 'Comcast, BitTorrent to work together on network management'

Amazon adds resilience to cloud computing service

Amazon Web Services is adding new features to its hosted service platform Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) to improve availability. ...continue reading 'Amazon adds resilience to cloud computing service'

Asustek's new Eee PC to sport multi-touch trackpad

The next generation Eee PC laptop by Asustek Computer will come with a multi-touch trackpad in addition to the larger screen, better Web cam and increased data storage, a company representative said Thursday. ...continue reading 'Asustek's new Eee PC to sport multi-touch trackpad'

Microsoft prepares 'Albany' to compete with Google

Facing pressure from hosted productivity suites such as Google Docs and Google Apps, Microsoft is planning a new package of low-end productivity software and hosted services through a secretive project code-named Albany. ...continue reading 'Microsoft prepares 'Albany' to compete with Google'

Hacker Super Bowl pits Mac OS vs. Linux, Vista

It's the most anticipated matchup in the hacker world: Linux versus Mac OS X versus Vista. Who will get hacked first? ...continue reading 'Hacker Super Bowl pits Mac OS vs. Linux, Vista'

Apple ships updated security update

Apple has issued Security Update 2008-002 v1.1 (Leopard) and Security Update 2008-002 v1.1 Leopard (Server), recommending these revised security patches to all users. ...continue reading 'Apple ships updated security update'

AMD introduces new Phenom chips

Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday announced new Phenom chips, including quad-core chips and its first triple-core processors for desktop PCs. ...continue reading 'AMD introduces new Phenom chips'

Nokia and Samsung winners with Motorola split

While Motorola is in disarray as a result of its split into separate companies, Nokia and Samsung will be able to grab market share, analysts agree. ...continue reading 'Nokia and Samsung winners with Motorola split'

MySQL-GlassFish bundle surfacing for developers

The GlassFish and MySQL communities have announced that an optimized bundle of the open-source application server and database management system (DBMS) is coming together, just weeks after Sun Microsystems completed its $1 billion acquisition of MySQL. ...continue reading 'MySQL-GlassFish bundle surfacing for developers'

Mozilla fixes 10 Firefox flaws, half seen as 'critical'

Mozilla Corp. Tuesday patched 10 vulnerabilities, half of them marked 'critical,' in its open-source browser as it updated Firefox to version 2.0.0.13. The new Mozilla Messaging Inc. spin-off, however, was not able to provide a matching update to its Thunderbird e-mail client, which shares five of the Firefox flaws that were fixed. ...continue reading 'Mozilla fixes 10 Firefox flaws, half seen as 'critical''

Sales of Wi-Fi phones take off

Sales of Wi-Fi phones increased by more than 60 percent last year, according to Infonetics Research, as vendors have done more to support wireless IP (Internet Protocol) telephony. ...continue reading 'Sales of Wi-Fi phones take off'

Motorola to split in two

Motorola will split into two companies, one making mobile devices and the other making network infrastructure, the company announced Wednesday. ...continue reading 'Motorola to split in two'

Hackers seize on Excel vulnerability

Researchers at Symantec said late Tuesday they've spotted a Web site that tries to exploit computers lacking one of the recently issued patches for versions of Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program. ...continue reading 'Hackers seize on Excel vulnerability'

Nvidia to make graphics chipsets for Via processors

Graphics chip vendor Nvidia will produce graphic chipsets designed to work with Via Technologies' processors, including its upcoming Isaiah chip, according to a source familiar with the situation. ...continue reading 'Nvidia to make graphics chipsets for Via processors'

IBM pushes cloud computing to universities

IBM on Wednesday said it was teaming up with two U.S. universities on initiatives that the company hopes will improve the self-healing and self-managing features of physical and virtual servers in a broad-scale computing environment. ...continue reading 'IBM pushes cloud computing to universities'

Czech Republic gives nod to OOXML

The Czech Standards Institute (CSI) has voted to make Microsoft's Open Office XML format a standard, the organization said Tuesday. ...continue reading 'Czech Republic gives nod to OOXML'

Microsoft offers way to share data with social networks

Microsoft is opening up its Windows Live platform to allow users to share their contact lists with five social-networking sites, some of which until now have been accessing such data through the back door. ...continue reading 'Microsoft offers way to share data with social networks'

ODF editor: ODF loses if OOXML does

The editor of the Open Document Format (ODF) standard has written a letter that strongly supports recognizing Microsoft's Open Office XML (OOXML) file format as a standard, arguing that if it fails, ODF will suffer. ...continue reading 'ODF editor: ODF loses if OOXML does'

Google, Yahoo, MySpace team up on OpenSocial

Google and MySpace have formed a foundation to promote the OpenSocial platform as a neutral, community-governed specification for building social-networking applications, the companies announced Tuesday. ...continue reading 'Google, Yahoo, MySpace team up on OpenSocial'

EnterpriseDB open-sources GridSQL

EnterpriseDB announced Tuesday that it is open-sourcing GridSQL, its grid product for data warehousing and business intelligence (BI) applications, under the GPLv2 license. The product works alongside EnterpriseDB's main offerings, a PostgreSQL-based open-source database and an application server. ...continue reading 'EnterpriseDB open-sources GridSQL'

FaceTime security product scans Skype's encrypted IM

Security vendor FaceTime Communications has released the only security product on the market allowed to look at encrypted instant messages sent between Skype users. ...continue reading 'FaceTime security product scans Skype's encrypted IM'

BBC says its Web site is unblocked in China

The BBC says its English-language Web site now appears fully available to Internet users in China after years of being blocked. ...continue reading 'BBC says its Web site is unblocked in China'

Samsung launches touch-screen, haptic cell phone

Samsung's Anycall Haptic, launched in South Korea on Tuesday, looks like a thinner version of Apple's iPhone, but adds a new dimension to the touch interface. ...continue reading 'Samsung launches touch-screen, haptic cell phone'

Criminals target CA's BrightStor in new attack

Just days after Microsoft warned of attacks targeting its Jet Database Engine software, cybercriminals have found a new program to attack: CA's BrightStor ARCserve Backup. ...continue reading 'Criminals target CA's BrightStor in new attack'

Sirius, XM given green light to merge by USDOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has ended its investigation of the proposed merger between satellite radio operators Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, saying their tie-up will not harm competition and will likely result in cost benefits for the resulting company. ...continue reading 'Sirius, XM given green light to merge by USDOJ'

Xerox tool calculates environmental impact of printers

Many businesses want to jump on the green IT bandwagon, but don't know where to start. But a new software calculator can suggest how offices can reduce the environmental impact of printers, copiers and other devices. ...continue reading 'Xerox tool calculates environmental impact of printers'

Google's Performics problem

Companies that provide services for improving Web sites' search-engine rankings and running effective search-engine ad campaigns have a new competitor: Google. Bundled in the DoubleClick acquisition came Performics, which provides search-engine marketing (SEM) and search-engine optimization (SEO) services. ...continue reading 'Google's Performics problem'

Google suggests safe harbor for wireless mics

Google has asked the FCC to carve out a set of off-limits channels for proposed wireless devices that could operate in unused television spectrum bands, in hopes that the proposal will help the FCC approve the use of so-called 'white space devices.' ...continue reading 'Google suggests safe harbor for wireless mics'

3Com OKs merger with eye on breakup fee

3Com shareholders overwhelmingly approved a merger offer on Friday that had been cancelled the day before. ...continue reading '3Com OKs merger with eye on breakup fee'

VMware focusing on higher tolerance for hardware failure

VMware plans to improve virtual infrastructure through technologies such as high availability, automatic restart, better tolerance and masking of hardware failure, and site disaster recovery, the company's chief scientist and co-founder, Mendel Rosenblum, told reporters in Bangalore on Monday. ...continue reading 'VMware focusing on higher tolerance for hardware failure'

Forrester: AJAX-powered Web apps disappoint power users

Most power users are disappointed with the performance of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) based on Asynchronous JavaScript with XML, or AJAX, according to a new research report from Forrester Research Inc. ...continue reading 'Forrester: AJAX-powered Web apps disappoint power users'

Microsoft offers free support for Vista SP1 installs

Microsoft Corp. is offering free support to any Windows Vista user experiencing problems with installing Service Pack 1 (SP1), according to a company spokesman. ...continue reading 'Microsoft offers free support for Vista SP1 installs'

Marathon extends fault tolerance to VMs

Marathon Technologies announced Monday that everRun VM, a product it says can provide high-level fault tolerance for virtual machines, will ship in April. ...continue reading 'Marathon extends fault tolerance to VMs'

March's coolest gadgets

March's coolest gadgets
By Martyn Williams

We kick off this month's review of cool new products with a welcome update to the Asus Eee PC. This is the miniature laptop that impressed at least year's Computex show in Taipei with its neat design, good looks and low price. Now there's a new version on the way with a bigger screen and more storage space. ...continue reading 'March's coolest gadgets'

Fujitsu plans speedy 320GB laptop drive

Fujitsu plans to begin selling in late June a new range of high-performance hard-disk drives for laptop PCs that offer more storage space than current models. The 'MHZ2 BJ' series of drives have disks that spin at 7,200rpm and will be available in capacities up to 320GB, the Tokyo company said. ...continue reading 'Fujitsu plans speedy 320GB laptop drive'

Dell plans significant investment in China

Calling China one of the world's fastest-growing economies, Michael Dell said his company would purchase $70 billion of hardware components from Chinese companies between last year and next year. In 2006, Dell purchased about $18 billion in technology components and related products from suppliers in China. ...continue reading 'Dell plans significant investment in China'

Sony yanks bloatware removal fee from laptops

After causing controversy for charging $49.99 to remove trial software from hard disks of new laptops, Sony has backtracked from imposing the fee on customers. ...continue reading 'Sony yanks bloatware removal fee from laptops'

FBI looks at Chinese role in Darfur site hack

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into a possible China connection in the hack of a nonprofit group created to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in western Sudan's Darfur region. ...continue reading 'FBI looks at Chinese role in Darfur site hack'

Microsoft warns of new Word attack

Microsoft on Friday warned that cyber criminals may be taking advantage of an unpatched flaw in the Windows operating system to install malicious software on a victim's PC. ...continue reading 'Microsoft warns of new Word attack'

Study: Voters prefer e-voting, but tech has limits

Voters generally prefer electronic voting machines to paper-based alternatives, but some e-voting machines have error rates of 3 percent or more, according to a study released Friday. ...continue reading 'Study: Voters prefer e-voting, but tech has limits'