420,000 scam emails sent every hour in UK

21/06/2010

Fake bank messages are most common but social network fraud is on the rise. Brits receive over 420,000 scam emails every hour, researchers have found.

According to a study by life assistance company CPP, 3.7 billion phishing emails were sent in the UK over the last 12 months. A quarter of people have fallen victim to online scams, with the average victim losing over £285.

The research found that one person every seven seconds falls victim to fraudsters, with fake bank emails being the most common method (55 per cent). Over half of victims received false lottery or prize draw notifications, while half were targeted by foreign cons.

Cyber criminals are also increasingly targetting social networking sites. Nearly a fifth of Brits have received fake Facebook messages claiming to be from friends or family.

Nicole Sanders, identity fraud expert at CPP, said: "It seems that not a day goes by without a new case of online fraud hitting the headlines. But what's concerning is that consumers are still falling victim.”

Reformed computer hacker Robert Schifreen added: "Staying safe online is easy if you follow some basic precautions. Never type your credit card number, password, or any other confidential information into a web site unless its address begins with https and your browser displays the 'closed padlock' symbol. These indicate that the site is safe and that your data is encrypted.

"Also, make sure your antivirus software subscription is up to date and that your computer is configured to automatically download protective software."

Steve Jobs denies the Mac is dead

11/06/2010

Apple boss responds to speculation the Mac platform is on the way out

Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs has denied that the Mac's days are numbered, following internet reports that the firm has almost completely switched its focus away from its Mac computer business, in favour of the newer iPads, iPhone and iPod operations.

It started when Newsweek published a feature stating Jobs had 'dumped' the Mac platform, following the Apple's World Wide Developer Conference, which had barely any mention of Mac hardware or software at all.

The report was brought to the attention of Steve Jobs, who responded to the article personally, saying: "Completely wrong. Just wait," according to MacUser. While it would be inaccurate to describe the Mac computer as a flagging business (it sales figures have never been higher), it is true that Apple's potent marketing machine has been pre-occupied with its mobile devices for some time now.

HP Launches Cloud Printing

08/06/2010

HP has unveiled a cloud printing technology that lets people send a document to print anywhere in the world using any email-capable device. The print giant has been talking about this new solution for a few months, but officially launched the new devices yesterday in the US.

Documents are sent to the ePrint-enabled printer, which can be programmed to deliver content at specific times, or print direct. Users can therefore use any of their devices to do this – from PCs to smartphones to tablets. The devices connect to the Google Cloud, meaning they can access tools like Google Docs directly. Prices for the e-All-In-One range start at $99.

Amazon UK's biggest online retailer

25/03/2010

Play.com and Apple store also in Hot Shops List top five

Amazon has been named Britain's most popular online retailer, with both UK and US stores appearing in the top five on the Hot Shops List.

The top four websites on the list Amazon.co.uk, Argos, Play.com and the Apple store were non-movers from last quarter, while Amazon.com climbed one place to number five.

According to IMRG and Experian Hitwise, who compiled the list, there was only one new entrant to the top 50, Littlewoods new brand, Very.co.uk. With Christmas and sales shopping mostly out of the way and snow covering much of the country, during January British consumers turned their attention to planning and booking their summer holidays. Seven travel companies moved up the rankings, Experian Hitwise's director of research, Robin Goad, said. The big retailers that managed to extend their sales beyond the immediate post-Christmas week fared well.

The Hot Shops List top ten are:

• 1. Amazon.co.uk
• 2. Argos
• 3. Play.com
• 4. Apple
• 5. Amazon.com
• 6. Tesco.com
• 7. Marks & Spencer
• 8. John Lewis
• 9. Next
• 10. easyJet

Internet Explorer "don't press F1"

03/03/2010

Vendor warns of help page vulnerability in Internet Explorer

Software giant Microsoft has issued a warning about an unpatched vulnerability in XP machines running Internet Explorer.

According to Techworld, the flaw is present in all versions of Internet Explorer and on all operating systems up to Windows XP SP3. It consists of a bug in VBScript that could enable hackers to inject a PC with malware.

The analyst who discovered the flaw said that attackers could exploit a PC by disguising malware as a Windows help file with a .hlp extension, which then attempts to lure users in to hitting the F1 key. Once this is done, the malware infects the victims system.

"I would say the vulnerability is 'high severity," said security researcher Cesar Cerrudo told Techworld. "It's not critical since it needs user interaction, the user pressing F1 key when a message dialog is displayed.

"I would say that there is a high probability a regular user will press F1 key if asked, since an attacker can annoy the user with hundred of messages telling the user to press F1 to continue."

100Mbits/sec broadband rollout

25/02/2010

Virgin Media will begin rolling out 100Mbits/sec broadband across its network by the end of the year.

The company confirmed the speeds will be available to all customers on its cable network, though it would not reveal prices. "We'll have something to say on that closer to the rollout," a spokesperson said.

The increased speed comes courtesy of Virgin's DOCSIS 3 network, which is currently delivering speeds of up to 200Mbits/sec as part of a trial in Ashford, Kent.

Virgin intends to extend this trial to Coventry, where it will "focus on future technologies and applications, such as home teleconferencing and downloading HD programmes on-demand, which are likely to require fast speeds" a statement from the company revealed.

Virgin believes its DOCSIS 3 network is capable of reaching 400Mbits/sec.

The news piles further pressure on BT, which is in the midst of its own fibre rollout. The majority of BT's fibre lines will be up to 40Mbits/sec fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) connections, although as many as 25% of the connections may now deliver fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) speeds of 100Mbit/sec.

Yesterday, sewer fibre firm, Fibrecity, announced the launch of its 100Mbits/sec broadband lines in Bournemouth, which are capable of bursting at speeds of up to 1Gbit/sec.

Brits are biggest online shoppers

25/02/2010

Internet sales expected to increase further this year.

UK consumers spent £38 billion on internet shopping last year, making them the biggest online spenders in Europe.

A study by the Centre for Retail Research and price comparison site Kelkoo found that purchases by Brits made up 30 per cent of the continent"s web shopping. UK consumers also had the largest average individual online spend at £1,102 over the year.

Germany and France were the second and third biggest internet spenders respectively, while Poland had the smallest market.

Online sales grew by 12 per cent in the UK in 2009, representing 9.5 per cent of total retail sales in the country. The report predicts the UK online market will continue to grow, this year rising by 12.4 per cent to £42.7 billion.

Across the continent as a whole, online shopping accounted for 4.7 per cent of all retail sales, and this figure is expected to increase to 5.5 per cent this year - a total sales value of up to £152.8 billion.

Microsoft-Yahoo set to go

22/02/2010

Approval from authorities allows firms to create "more viable" rival to Google

European and US regulators have approved Microsoft's search engine partnership with Yahoo, paving the way for the two firms to take on market leader Google.

Under the 10-year agreement, Microsoft will gain an exclusive license to Yahoo's search technology, and in exchange will become Yahoo's sole internet search and search advertising provider.

According to the European Commission, Microsoft and Yahoo combined make up less than 10 per cent of the online search advertising and search engine markets, with Google's portion above 90 per cent.

"US market participants express support for the transaction and believe that combining the parties' technology would be likely to increase competition by creating a more viable competitive alternative to Google," a statement from the US Department of Justice read. "The transaction will enhance Microsoft's competitive performance because it will have access to a larger set of queries, which should accelerate the automated learning of Microsoft's search and paid search algorithms and enhance Microsoft's ability to serve more relevant search results and paid search listings."

"Although this particular transaction is not likely to cause harm, the department will continue to be vigilant in our enforcement of the antitrust laws in the search and paid search advertising industry."

Steve Jobs: No Flash for iPad

22/02/2010

Apple CEO claims browser plug-in would reduce battery life by 80 per cent

Steve Jobs has slammed Flash, saying that the platform is a "CPU hog" and a source of "security holes".

According to Gawker, in attempt to get the Wall Street Journal to embrace the iPad, Jobs told editors that: "We don't spend a lot of time on old technology.'

He went on to compare Flash to other systems that Apple considered to be obsolete, such as floppy disks, FireWire 400 and CDs. He also claimed that Flash would reduce the battery life of the iPad from ten hours to less than two hours.

Despite the fact that Flash is essential to view content on the vast majority of websites, including one particularly large video sharing site, Jobs seems convinced that it would be a 'trivial' matter for the world to drop Flash. He remains faithful that Flash will soon be replaced by either HTML5 or the H.264 video compression system.