Microsoft wins big US order for cellphone software

Microsoft has won its biggest contract ever for mobile phone software, an order from the United States Census Bureau for 500,000 handsets.

Bloomberg News reports in The New York Times (5 April) that Microsoft plans to unveil the deal as early as today, Scott Horn, a general manager for the company, said in an interview. Microsoft expects to increase its mobile unit's sales to US$1 billion in one to three years, from US$337 million last year, and break the dominance of the Research In Motion BlackBerry wireless e-mail device.

According to the report, Windows Mobile software enables phones to link to the internet, run Office, read e-mail and play music.

Sales of handsets with Windows are expected to double to 20 million in 2007 on the strength of corporate sales, a Microsoft spokesman said, reports Bloomberg.

The company declined to disclose the value of the Census Bureau contract for Windows Mobile devices, which will be used to collect information in door-to-door canvassing during the 2010 census.

Microsoft has already won contracts to supply software for the Palm Treo and the new Motorola Q, the NYT reports.

{mospagebreaktitle=RIM to add Yahoo web services to BlackBerry}RIM to add Yahoo web services to BlackBerry

Research In Motion will put such Yahoo web offerings as search, e-mail, instant messaging, and news on its BlackBerry devices, and will start rolling out the service in 60 countries in about two weeks, the two companies said on Wednesday, reports Reuters (5 April).

According to Reuters, the deal greatly expands RIM's relationship with Yahoo, the operator of one of the web's most-visited sites. Ontario-based RIM is seeking to widen its sales to include everyday consumers and enhance services to its existing, mostly corporate, base.

The Reuters report adds that parts of the service, including Yahoo's instant messaging and communications service, will be rolled out to new and existing BlackBerry users over the next two weeks, as RIM starts making it available to 160 carriers in 60 countries.

{mospagebreaktitle=Apple releases software for Macs to run Windows}Apple releases software for Macs to run Windows

Apple Computer on Wednesday rolled out a software patch that enables its Intel-based Macintosh computers to install and run Microsoft's Windows XP operating system.

Reuters reports that Apple said that the new software, called "Boot Camp" is available as a download.

According to Reuters, California-based Apple said in June 2005 that it would shift to microprocessors made by Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, from those made by IBM. 

{mospagebreaktitle=Trojan-powered scam network dismantled}Trojan-powered scam network dismantled

Banks, telecos, hotels, airlines and international betting services were among those affected by the creation and sale of Briz Trojans, a malware-creation-for-hire scam recently uncovered by security researchers.

The Register reports (5 April) that analysis of the data stolen by one of the customised Trojans on sale to cybercrooks through the computer underground by Spanish anti-virus firm Panda Software includes financial data that could damage affected companies. Panda is contacting affected firms to make sure they protect themselves and their clients.

According to the report in The Register, the racket was exposed following analysis of a recently discovered Trojan, Briz-A, which revealed the existence of a complex system dedicated to creating and selling of à la carte malware designed for stealing personal and confidential data. Panda Software then collaborated with RSA Security's Cyota anti-phishing division to identify and take down several websites used as part of the scam.

The report says that the information stolen by the Trojan was stored in 2,033 files occupying 70.6MB. Of these, 62MB were text files, equivalent to 62,000 printed pages.

{mospagebreaktitle=Infected Windows PC? Just nuke it}Infected Windows PC? Just nuke it

The latest types of malware are so potent that organisations should forget about trying to cleanse infected systems, a top Microsoft security officer has advised.

The Register reports that Mike Danseglio, a program manager in Microsoft's security group, said firms should think about establishing a process for backup and recovering rather than relying on anti-virus tools as a way of recovering from malware infection.

"When you are dealing with rootkits and some advanced spyware programs, the only solution is to rebuild from scratch. In some cases, there really is no way to recover without nuking the systems from orbit," Mike Danseglio, a program manager in Microsoft's security group, told a security conference in Florida.

The Register reports that even though anti-virus technology is improving, Danseglio conceded that traditional approaches are failing in the face of more sophisticated malware and highly-motivated profit-driven virus writers. The threat has moved on from network worms towards Trojans and other forms of more difficult to detect malware.

{mospagebreaktitle=Intel, EMC eye up SMB storage}Intel, EMC eye up SMB storage

Intel and EMC have teamed up to target the SMB storage market, particularly in emerging nations China and India.

The Register reports (5 April) that the tie-up, announced at Storage Networking World, is aimed at pushing Intel's SSR212PP storage solution to small and medium size customers. The Intel kit is based on EMC's Clariion AX150, also unveiled this week.

According to The Register,under the deal, Intel will help EMC improve its storage systems toward greater efficiency and closer integration with chips and servers. Intel's 160,000-strong global reseller network will also be opened up to EMC.

The two companies also mooted further collaborations aimed at mutually beneficial hardware development, says The Register.

{mospagebreaktitle=Legal action over spyware}Legal action over spyware

In the US.,Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of New York has filed a lawsuit accusing an internet company of secretly installing spyware to monitor computer users' online activity and provide a vehicle for sending pop-up ads.

Bloomberg News reports in The New York Times (5 April) that Mr. Spitzer said that the New York-based company, Direct Revenue, remotely installed more than 150 million ad-serving programs, also known as spyware, on consumers' computers, then deluged them with pop-ups.

The company advertised free programs, like screen savers or games, then surreptitiously downloaded the spyware without providing reasonable notice to consumers, the suit contends.

Bloomberg says that the suit accuses the company of deceptive practices, false advertising, trespassing onto computers and computer tampering. Mr. Spitzer is seeking a court order barring the company from secretly installing spyware.

{mospagebreaktitle=Child sex as internet fare, through eyes of a victim}Child sex as internet fare, through eyes of a victim

The sexual exploitation of children on the internet is a US$20 billion industry that continues to expand in the United States and abroad, overwhelming attempts by the authorities to curb its growth, witnesses said at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, reports The New York Times (4 April).

The newspaper reports that the witnesses, who testified at a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, part of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said that sexual predators were preying on victims as young as 18 months by using instant messaging and Web cameras to meet, lure and digitally stalk children and to share pornography.

Internet technologies have the capacity to drive a wedge between children and their families, they said, reports the NYT.

The NYT reports that a witness compared the new forms of online exploitation, which involve constant surveillance of subjects, to security cameras in convenience stores.

According to the report, the lead witness at the hearings was Justin Berry, who was molested as a teenager by people he had met online, and then went on to run a pornographic Web site for five years, featuring images of himself.

{mospagebreaktitle=Disney phone service for kids cellphones}Disney phone service for kids cellphones

In the US., with the help of the Walt Disney Company, parents can make sure it's still a small world for their children, at least when it comes to their cellphone use, according to a report in The New York Times (5 April).

The newspaper reports that the company will introduce a wireless phone service that will allow parents to set limits on their children's cellphone use as well as track them on a map using Global Positioning System technology.

Parents can determine what hours and days of the week children can use phones, blocking school hours for example, and what numbers they can dial. They will also be able to set spending limits on their phone bills, says the newspaper.

The NYT adds that the new service, called Disney Mobile, has not been priced yet. It will be unveiled in Las Vegas at the annual trade show for CTIA, a wireless industry trade group, and will be available in June. The service comes on the heels of Disney's February debut of Mobile ESPN, a service for sports fans.

Disney, like many media companies, is hoping to take advantage of the proliferation of cellphones by offering services of its own, like ring tones and wallpaper