RIM updates BlackBerry Enterprise Server to patch security hole
RIM has issued an update to protect the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) platform against a flaw in the BES Administration API component that could allow servers to be temporarily taken offline. The update will need to be installed on all systems running BES 5.0.3 versions and earlier, and also covers BES Lite and the Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and GroupWise versions of the server platform. An attacker could target the Administration API component on unpatched systems to carry out a denial-of-service attack or access system information. RIM noted that the flaw does not affect any BlackBerry handset, tablet or software platform other than BES.
Chinese smartphone shipments up 53 per cent
Will move 54.1m units in 2011, up from 35.3m in 2010. New research from IHS iSuppli China Electronics Supply Chain service points to the soaring demand for high-range phones in the explosive Chinese economy. And its says many of these devices will be made locally, with ZTE and Huawei shipping 10m and 15m respectively. By the end of 2015, IHS forecasts Chinese companies will ship 111.6m smartphones. The numbers do not include illegal imports of iPhones or phones made by HTC – which contribute around 7m units.
Online map suppressing crime reporting, says survey
More than 5.2 million people have not reported crimes for fear of deterring home-buyers or renters since the Home Office's online crime map was launched in February 2011, according to research from insurers Direct Line. An online poll of 2,685 adults conducted on behalf of the insurance company found that of the people not reporting crimes, nearly 75 per cent had ignored antisocial behaviour such as drug-dealing or vandalism for fear of devaluing the neighbourhood. According to Direct Line, online police crime maps are playing an increasingly important role in property purchase and rental decisions. Nearly 75 per cent of people would use a police online crime map to research a new home and would be deterred by high levels of reported crime, the findings show.
Pentagon reveals 24,000 files stolen in cyber-attack
William Lynn, the US deputy secretary of defence, said the data was taken from the computers of a corporate defence contractor. He said the US government had a "pretty good idea" who was responsible but did not elaborate. Many cyber-attacks in the past have been blamed on China or Russia, and one of the Pentagon's fears is that eventually a terrorist group will acquire the ability to steal data. Mr Lynn disclosed the March attack in a speech outlining a new cyber-strategy, which formally declares cyberspace a new warfare domain, much like air, land and sea. It calls for developing more resilient computer networks so the military can continue to operate if critical systems are breached or taken down. The Pentagon has long worried about the vulnerability of its computer systems. Its concern has grown as the military becomes more dependent, not only on its own computers, but also on those of its contractors including providers of fuel and electricity.
Spotify US premium service hands-on
Like The Beach Boys' Smile and Duke Nukem Forever before it, the US version of Spotify has been elevated to a sort of mythological status by collective anticipation. Music nerds and tech geeks all over this fine nation of ours have waited with bated breath for the service to work out all of its licensing kinks and finally make its way to our shores. In an interview earlier this week, a Spotify higher-up promised us that the service will be pretty much the same as the one that Europe has already come to love -- the question, then, is whether or not disappointment is inevitable after so much waiting. Spotify gave us the opportunity to take the premium desktop and mobile versions of the service for a spin. Check out the result below.
Many sites cookie-track users regardless of opt-outs
More than 10 per cent of companies that promise not to track internet users' online activity for behavioural advertising purposes still do so, according to new research. Publishers and advertising networks use cookies to track user behaviour on websites in order to target adverts to individuals based on that behaviour. A cookie is a small text file that websites store on users' computers to remember their activity on a site. Researchers at Stanford Law School investigated whether companies belonging to a voluntary scheme run by the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) actually complied with the rules they had signed up to. The NAI encourages online businesses to voluntarily adopt a set of rules governing online behavioural advertising. Those rules force member companies to tell users that cookies they store about them could be used to serve behavioural ads. The rules also state that member companies must stop using the cookies to serve ads if asked to by users.
Why can’t my mobile operator talk to my bank when my card declines abroad?
I was going to call this series, “Why operators are lame,” but I have decided to try and adopt a more positive tone with the site. It’s just too easy and far too accurate to call our mobile operators ‘shit’. Too easy. Too accurate. I’m not bothering with names at the moment though. I wanted to get stuck in. This series focuses on changes and enhancements I’d like to see mobile operators make. Today I’m writing about card transactions when I’m abroad. Here’s the problem overview: I’m sure you’re familiar with it. A few weeks ago I got off the plane in Austin, Texas, and hopped in a cab to the downtown Radisson Hotel. I arrived at reception about 20 minutes later and presented both my passport and my Natwest credit card. Having been out of the country for about half the year on business, I’m an old hand at this. I don’t even wait to be asked. I get the card and the passport ready just before I approach the desk. In many hotels now, the receptionist will simply swipe the card without bothering to ask now. It’s how things work. But, there’s a fundamental problem for me — and, I’m sure, you — when I’m traveling. Despite the fact that my credit record clearly shows me going all over America, France, Germany on a routine basis, 9 out of 10 times, my credit card ‘swipe’ fails.
Why hacker group LulzSec went on the attack
Its audacity was brazen and apparently fearless. Among its high-profile victims were Sony, the CIA, the FBI, the US Senate and even the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency. Exposing frailties in government and corporate networks, the group leaked hundreds of thousands of hacked passwords, and in the process garnered more than a quarter of a million followers on Twitter. But after just 50 days, on 25 June, LulzSec suddenly said it was disbanding. Just hours before this announcement, the Guardian had published leaked internet chat logs revealing the inner workings of the group, which appeared to consist of six to eight members. The logs showed that authorities were often hot on their heels, and that after an attack on an FBI-affiliated website two hackers had quit LulzSec as they were "not up for the heat". As media attention mounted, Ryan Cleary, an Essex-based 19-year-old suspected of affiliation to LulzSec, was arrested in a joint UK-US "e-crime" investigation. Had the pressure simply got too much to handle?
How analytics is shaping social games
Picture this. You're deeply engaged in one of the many free-to-play adventure games available online, when you decide to buy a bigger sword. It could be that you made the tactical decision to extend your armoury, or that you panicked when you spotted a gigantic dragon lumbering in your direction; you might not even know why you did it. You just fancied a bigger sword. But that action took you into the barely two percent of free-to-play gamers who actually pay for content – and the game makers want to know why. The freemium gaming business is expanding rapidly. We all know about the Facebook behemoth Zynga, which now claims over 250 million monthly players, and is valued at anywhere between $5-10bn. But online, there are dozens of global companies hawking a range of in-depth gaming experiences. There is the German publisher and portal operator, Bigpoint, which runs massively-multiplayer browser games likeLegend: Legacy of the Dragons and Battlestar Galactica Online and claims over 150 million subscribers. There is Korean veteran Webzen, with its long-running fantasy role-player Mu Online, which alone boasts 56 million users. Beyond these giants, there are dozens of new freemium social, browser and smartphone games starting up every month, looking to gain a foothold in the densely crowded market.
Google+ and the Android Trojan Horse
I was skeptical at first, but I think there is a future in Google+. I’ve been using it this last week, and it’s not perfect, but not bad either. I was skeptical because of Google’s massive social fails in Buzz, Latitude, Wave and +1 (although to be fair +1 on its own is a fail, and starts to make sense in the greater context of Google+), but Google+ is at least usable in a way that the others weren’t. Now let’s extrapolate out a little. Given that Google+ is usable, and that they give you notifications EVERY time you go to Google.com to search, let’s just say it’s going to be big. While it may not ever replace Facebook, it may be the Pepsi to its Coke. Now, Google already has a Google+ Android app (naturally), but they have also submitted an iOS app. I don’t think that it’s a huge leap of faith to assume that Google will start baking Google+ into future versions of Android at the OS level, so you don’t need to install a separate app
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