Techno-News Blog

by Frank Munger, Knox News

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is continuing to battle an aggressive cyber attack and, while progress is reportedly being made, a lab spokeswoman said Thursday that it may be the middle of next week before Internet access is restored and systems return to normal. Barbara Penland of ORNL’s public affairs office earlier indicated that the Internet might be available today, then shifted the date to Monday before changing it again. The latest postponement, she said, is due to “an abundance of caution” in dealing with this threat. A team of experts, including representatives from Los Alamos National Laboratory and other government sites, as well as computer companies, is coordinating actions to make sure threats are removed or under control before resuming normal activities.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/apr/21/ornls-internet-access-delayed-amid-cyber-threat/

By Amelia Naidoo, Gulf News Campus Notes

Professionals in civil security are needed as computers take over our everyday lives. Khalifa University launches programmes to help the UAE prepare for cyber-attacks. The future of warfare will no longer involve guns, missiles, spies or hand-to-hand combat. As technology and computers increasingly take over our everyday activities, what nations will fear most is cyber war warned former senior White House Adviser and cyber security expert Richard A. Clarke.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/gearing-up-for-cyber-warfare-1.798141

by Star Tribune – McClatchy-Tribune

Gordon Snow, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, recently gave an update to a U.S. Senate subcommittee on the cyber threats facing the United States and the FBI’s efforts to protect government and private-sector computer networks against savvy cyber criminals. The frugality of modern journalism won’t let me tell you everything Snow had to say. So, in the words of the “Princess Bride’s” Inigo Montoya, “Let me sum up” with some key points: The number and sophistication of cyber attacks has increased dramatically over the past five years and is expected to keep growing. Given enough time, motivation and funding, a determined adversary likely will be able to penetrate any system that is accessible directly from the Internet, Snow said.

http://4g-wirelessevolution.tmcnet.com/news/2011/04/21/5462009.htm

by the BBC

Apple iPhones and 3G iPads are secretly recording and storing details of all their owners’ movements, researchers claim. Location data is kept in a hidden, unencrypted file according to security experts Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden. With the right software, it can be used to map exactly where a person has been. Apple has yet to comment on the revelation, however there is no suggestion that it has been uploading or using the information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13145562

By Katia Moskvitch, BBC

Is it a smartphone, or is it a piece of political propaganda? When the MTS Glonass 945 Android device hit the stores earlier this month it was dubbed “Russia’s answer to iPhone”. But the first ever handset able to receive signals from both GPS and the rival Glonass satellite positioning system appears to be leaving consumers underwhelmed. Some have blamed its 11,000 roubles (£237) price tag. Others question why normal phone owners would need multiple positioning technologies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13104363

by the BBC

Users of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader will soon be able to borrow electronic books from libraries in the US. The retailer is teaming up with Overdrive, which already offers an e-book lending service through 11,000 American libraries. Until now Kindle owners have been unable to download titles because the device uses a unique file format. Overdrive also operates in the UK, however Amazon would not confirm if its plans include Britain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13155967

by the BBC

Latest profits for computer giant Apple have beaten forecasts, helped by higher-than-expected iPhone sales. Apple reported quarterly net profits of $5.99bn (£3.6bn), nearly double what it made a year ago. Revenue was $24.67bn, a rise of 83%. Apple sold 18.65 million iPhones, a rise of 113%. But iPad sales were 4.69 million, below analysts’ expectations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13152294

By Michael Millar, BBC

A 75-year-old Georgian woman who says she has never even heard of the internet is facing a possible prison sentence for single-handedly cutting off the web to an entire country. Hayastan Shakarian is accused of hacking through the cable that cut off Armenia’s internet Georgian police arrested Hayastan Shakarian after she allegedly hacked through a fibre optic cable that runs through Georgia to Armenia, while digging for copper. With one stroke, the pensioner plunged 90% of internet users in Armenia into online darkness for nearly 12 hours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13158351

By Don Reisinger, eWeek

At an earnings call on Apr. 20, Apple said that it has no plans to release another iPad in 2011. The company said its current iPad is selling extremely well, and by the looks of things, it simply wants to see how the market plays out and make a decision on the iPad 3 next year. Although few folks question Apple’s judgment when it comes to releasing new hardware, this decision on the company’s part might not be the best one. With a growing number of tablets hitting store shelves in the coming months and competition increasing from all sides, it might actually be a good idea for Apple to preempt the impact those devices might have and release the iPad 3 toward the end of the year. But it goes beyond that. The iPad 2 isn’t a perfect tablet by any means. And owners have found some shortcomings that Apple might be able to address in the third version of its tablet. Although it might not agree, Apple should release the iPad 3 in late 2011.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Apples-iPad-3-Should-Be-Released-In-2011-10-Reasons-Why-797932/?kc=rss

Health Care IT News

By: Brian T. Horowitz, eWeek

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense have launched PTSD Coach, an iPhone app that allows members of the military as well as their friends, family and caregivers to help manage stress following combat deployment. With the military active in areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, service members and veterans may need help managing the stress that comes with their service.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Health-Care-IT/New-Apple-iPhone-App-Helps-Military-Personnel-Cope-with-Stress-Disorder-785914/?kc=rss

By: J. Gerry Purdy, eWeek

Amazon announced its new Cloud Drive music service last week. It seems innocent enough: You create an Amazon Cloud Drive account and then select the music you already own but want to access with your mobile devices. You upload the selected music to the Amazon Cloud Drive server (five gigabytes are free) and then download an Android mobile player. The Amazon Cloud Drive then streams your music to your Android mobile device (with other mobile platforms likely to follow).

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Amazons-Cloud-Drive-Music-Service-Why-Its-Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time-474334/?kc=rss

By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

Cyber-attackers are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure, such as power and gas utilities, with sophisticated threats like Stuxnet. However, these organizations have so far failed to bolster their cyber-security defenses, according to a new report. Critical infrastructure in the United States, including power and gas utilities, remains vulnerable to cyber-attack, and organizations are unprepared to handle major incidents, a research report found. A survey of 200 IT executives in charge of security at power, oil, gas and water utilities in 14 countries showed that 80 percent of the respondents said their organization has experienced large-scale denial-of-service threats. The study examined the cost and impact of cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, including power grids and oil, gas and water lines.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/CyberAttacks-Targeting-Power-Gas-Utilities-on-the-Rise-Survey-548133/?kc=rss

by the BBC

Almost half of British children aged 9 to 12 are using social networking sites, despite minimum age limits, a report claims. One in five has a Facebook page, even though rules say they must be 13, according to EUKidsOnline. The report’s authors suggest that removing such requirements would make it easier to monitor online behaviour. However, children’s charity Kidscape criticised the idea and warned it would lead to more cyber bullying.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13129150

by the BBC

Apple iPhones and 3G iPads are secretly recording and storing details of all their owners’ movements, researchers claim. Location data is kept in a hidden, unencrypted file according to security experts Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden. With the right software, it can be used to map exactly where a person has been.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13145562

by the BBC

Users of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader will soon be able to borrow electronic books from libraries in the US. The retailer is teaming up with Overdrive, which already offers an e-book lending service through 11,000 American libraries. Until now Kindle owners have been unable to download titles because the device uses a unique file format. Overdrive also operates in the UK, however Amazon would not confirm if its plans include Britain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13155967

Latest profits for computer giant Apple have beaten forecasts, helped by higher-than-expected iPhone sales. Apple reported quarterly net profits of $5.99bn (£3.6bn), nearly double what it made a year ago. Revenue was $24.67bn, a rise of 83%. Apple sold 18.65 million iPhones, a rise of 113%. But iPad sales were 4.69 million, below analysts’ expectations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13152294

By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

Obsolescence is the curse of electronics: no sooner have you bought a gadget than its hardware is outdated. A new, low cost type of microchip that can rearrange its design on the fly could change that. The logic gates on the chip can be reconfigured to implement an improved design as soon as it becomes available—the hardware equivalent of the software upgrades often pushed out to gadgets like phones.

http://technologyreview.com/computing/37406/?p1=MstRcnt

By Kate Greene, Technology Review

A British company called Peratech has announced a new technology for touch screens that registers pressure as well as the position of a finger. This could provide new ways of interacting with apps for touch screen mobile phones and tablets. In addition to adding pressure sensitivity to screens, the company claims that the technology, called Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC) Clear, could make touch screens thinner, more rugged, and more energy-efficient.

http://technologyreview.com/computing/37424/?p1=MstRcnt&a=f

By Kurt Kleiner, Technology Review

Last week the FBI took down the Coreflood botnet—a major network of zombie computers that had been used to steal personal information worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the bust relied on an important weakness of conventional botnets—that they are controlled by a few central computers. Take down those central machines and you’ll disable the whole network of as many as hundreds of thousands of compromised PCs. Researchers warn that this weakness does not exist in botnets that use peer-to-peer communications protocols, whereby messages are passed from machine to machine instead of coming from a central command.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37443/?p1=A3&a=f

By Erica Naone, Technology Review

Today, many websites ask users to take a devil’s deal: share personal information in exchange for receiving useful personalized services. New research from Microsoft, which will be presented at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in May, suggests the development of a Web browser and associated protocols that could strengthen the user’s hand in this exchange. Called RePriv, the system mines a user’s behavior via a Web browser but controls how the resulting information is released to websites that want to offer personalized services, such as a shopping site that automatically knows users’ interests.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37442/?p1=A1&a=f

by Christopher Mims, Mims Bits

CardCloud, a slick, more-functional re-launch of an existing service, aims to do away with business cards altogether. If the number of business card scanners available is any indication, this solution couldn’t have come soon enough. CardCloud’s solution is to simply eliminate the physical card. At base, CardCloud is an extension of the informal replacement for the business card ritual — an exchange of email addresses — but in a few key ways, it goes beyond both traditional business cards and their ad-hoc replacements.

http://technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/26679/