Buys Inc. Attorneys
ICT Law Blog
 
 
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
 
  ICASA rules in Telkom’s favour
ICASA has ruled that Telkom is not in breach of the ADSL Regulations regarding the provisioning of uncapped local bandwidth.

Monday, December 17, 2007
 
  What's Your iPersonality?
Want to know everything you need to know about your iPod? Try iPod: The Missing Manual. O'Reilly Media has released the sixth edition of the book packed with new features, including the new iPod touch. The manual goes way beyond loading music. Users can become experts in podcasts, loading videos and photos and creating customized playlists.

Linux: Success or Failure? Return of Sage Circle, Cisco's Possible Future, Product of the Week
Throughout my career, one of the most painful and critical parts of my job has been to raise my hand and say, 'the emperor has no clothes.' Doing this successfully has both provided me with my biggest opportunities and created the biggest problems for me. I'm expecting more of the latter because the beliefs surrounding this offering are stronger than most and the folks protecting those beliefs are harsher than most.

Judge Won't Force Man to Reveal Encryption Passphrase
A federal judge in Vermont has ruled that prosecutors can't force a criminal defendant accused of having illegal images on his hard drive to divulge his PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) passphrase. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Niedermeier ruled that a man charged with transporting child pornography on his laptop across the Canadian border has a Fifth Amendment right not to turn over the passphrase to prosecutors.

Crackdown on Child Porn Online Intensifies
An increase of Internet-fueled child pornography has triggered a new federal crackdown. Cybercrime, the majority of which involves child pornography, is now the FBI's third-highest priority, behind counterterrorism and counterintelligence.

Chinese Company Sues Google Over Name Translation
A Chinese company has taken Google's China operations to court over what it says is an infringement of the Chinese translation of its name, 'Guge,' according to court documents. Beijing Guge Sci-Tech Co. was officially registered at the Beijing Municipal Industrial and Commercial Bureau on April 19, 2006, but Google didn't register the name 'Guge' in China until Nov. 24 of that year, according to court arguments.

Study: Young adults now find porn more acceptable - USATODAY.com
College students, including young women, are far more accepting of pornography than their parents, a shift that might be related to easy access to porn on the Internet, a study reports today.

Malware Targets E-Banking Security Technology - Security Fix
A new class of malicious software contains a feature specifically designed to thwart online security technology implemented by Bank of America and many other financial institutions that allow their customers to monitor and make changes to their accounts via the Internet. A new class of malicious software contains a feature specifically designed to thwart online security technology implemented by Bank of America and many other financial institutions that allow their customers to monitor and make changes to their accounts via the Internet.

Quantum computing
Silicon electronics are a staple of the computing industry, but researchers are now exploring other techniques to deliver powerful computers. Silicon electronics are a staple of the computing industry, but researchers are now exploring other techniques to deliver powerful computers.

Music copyright in the spotlight
Internet law professor Michael Geist examines a legal row which could have grave implications for anyone and everyone serving an online audience.Internet law professor Michael Geist examines a legal row which could have grave implications for anyone and everyone serving an online audience.

The writing is on the wall for ads
Like it or loathe it, adverts are going to be helping to support the online world for a long time to come, says Bill Thompson. Like it or loathe it, adverts are going to be helping to support the online world for a long time to come, says Bill Thompson.

Microsoft buys UK mapping service
Microsoft has bought online mapping company Multimap to expand its web business, the US firm said.

Microsoft unveils hands-on vision of the future - CNN.com
Software giant Microsoft unveiled some of its future technology at its fourth annual Innovation Day in Brussels on December 4.

Uncovering the world of 'hidden tech' - CNN.com
The last time Amy Zuckerman, 53, entered a workplace as a full-time employee was February 1992. Once a journalist, she is now an author, freelance writer, consultant and owner of her own content and marketing business.

Digital wanted posters help find fugitives - CNN.com
Between ads for hamburgers and liposuction, the giant digital billboards flashed an image of Oscar Finch's face taken by a surveillance camera. The young man wasn't selling anything. He was running from police.

ITWeb :Cops bust computer thieves
Detectives from the police's Organised Crime Unit, in Pretoria, have arrested two men who were in possession of suspected stolen computers and parts worth an estimated R1.5 million.

Cape IT firms must ‘wake up'
Cape-based ICT companies were told to “wake up” and move out of their comfort zones if they want to become major players on the world stage.

Whistleblowers' haven
Whistleblowers have a new outlet to share government and corporate documents anonymously with the world.

Google's WikiPedia
Google is working on a new internet encyclopedia that will consist of material submitted by people who want to be identified as experts and possibly profit from their knowledge.

Rogue servers point users to impostor sites [printer-friendly] | The Register
Researchers have uncovered a large network of rogue servers that threatens end users by silently feeding them counterfeit versions of trusted websites.

Stolen laptop holds private information
Sutter Lakeside Hospital (SLH) reported Monday that a laptop computer containing personal and medical information of approximately 45,000 former patients, employees and physicians has been stolen from the residence of a contractor. It has not been recovered.

UK.gov loses driver ID data [printer-friendly] | The Register
Unencrypted computer discs containing the names and addresses of 6,000 Northern Ireland motorists has gone missing in the post.

Microsoft patches DirectX, Internet Explorer
Microsoft released seven patches to fix 11 vulnerabilities on Tuesday, including two critical flaws in the software giant's DirectX graphics library and four issues in its popular browser.

Two sentenced in Italy for massive phishing operation - washingtonpost.com
Two people have been sentenced for their participation in a massive phishing operation busted up by Italian authorities in July.

Dutch civil servants charged with hacking press agency computers - Europe
Four people - three of whom current employees of the Netherland's Social Affairs Ministry - are to be charged with hacking into the computer system of Dutch press agency GPD, the country's public prosecution office said Thursday.

DA slates ECA Amendment
"South Africa would not have faced a problem with a lack of competition in the infrastructure layer now if the Electronic Communications Act had not contained the one section we opposed in that law,” Dene Smuts said when the EC Amendment Bill was passed in the National Assembly in November.

Friday, December 14, 2007
 
  Chief execs in firing line over e-disclosure | OUT-LAW.COM
Company chief executives are ignorant of rules about the storing of electronic information despite the fact that they will pay the penalty for failures to preserve information as evidence in disputes, according to an industry survey.

Black lawyers elect a sparrow, not a legal eagle
Association’s first female boss seems meek enough to leave the men in charge, writes Chris Barron.

Thursday, December 13, 2007
 
  Weerloos teen die boelie blogger
LARISSA MEACHER is 39 jaar oud en woon in Johannesburg. Sy is dol op skoene en het een keer met vyf pare skoene uit ’n skoenwinkel gestap. Die binnekant van haar huis is rooi en pers geverf. Die buitekant was eers “Toskaanse” geel, maar dis nou ’n koue grys.

SMEs need e-mail policies too
Small and medium enterprise must take proactive action to protect against the liability that arises out employees' abuse of e-mail, says Buys director, Reinhardt Buys.

As Facebook teen jou draai
Teen dié tyd is almal wat die internet gebruik al bewus van die risiko dat skelms, bekruipers en hul vyande hulle in die kuberruim kan dophou.

Facebook makes code available
Facebook has announced that the architecture for its developer platform will be made available to other social networking sites, potentially dealing a huge blow to Google's yet-to-launch OpenSocial initiative, reports CNet News.com.

The overconnected
Chances are that you’re one of a growing number of people who find it hard to disconnect. Does it matter?

Microsoft Taps British Map Provider to Set New Course
'I think Microsoft is beginning to recognize that within the paradigm of regular Web searches, Google has things pretty well locked up, so now it's trying to move quickly into other areas,' said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. 'They did a great job with their mapping service -- now it's just a matter of bringing it to users and enabling the advertising opportunities.'

Green Technology Revolution, Part 2: Easing the Burden With Virtualization
'While virtualization does mean a greener IT, my understanding is that not many organizations pursue it keeping environmental concerns in mind. Rather, they look at the plain economics of running their data centers. With virtualization, it's always less expensive to run them, and in the process they end up contributing to a greener IT,' said Ravi Shekhar Pandey at Springboard Research.

Amazon.com Ordered to Stop Free Delivery in France
Amazon.com may not offer free delivery on books in France, the high court in Versailles has ruled. The action, brought in January 2004 by the French Booksellers' Union (Syndicat de la librairie française), accused Amazon of offering illegal discounts on books and even of selling some books below cost.

Lawmaker Wants Google to Answer Privacy Questions
A top Republican in the House of Representatives is demanding that Google answer a barrage of questions about privacy, some of which are related to the company's proposed purchase of the DoubleClick advertising firm. Rep. Joe Barton, who has positioned himself as a privacy advocate and previously criticized the merger last month, complained in a letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt that the company had initially agreed to let his aides visit the so-called Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif. but then didn't confirm a date.

Police launch hunt for bogus bobbies [printer-friendly] | The Register
The Metropolitan Police have released more details of the data centre robbery in King's Cross last night.

Bank details on stolen laptop
Personal details of up to 60,000 people have been lost by Citizens Advice, it was revealed.

Tricare data breach affects 4,700 families - Air Force News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Air Force Times
Letters are in the mail to about 4,700 households who submitted claims through the Tricare Europe office since 2004 about a data breach involving their personal information — a month after the breach was reported.

Skype update plugs critical bug
Users running older versions of Skype risk attack from a newly disclosed vulnerability.

Chat bots latest Russian malware threat
A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools.

Net connections 'hijacked by extortionist' | Herald Sun
A MAN who allegedly tried to extort money by hijacking the internet connections of unsuspecting users to send threatening emails has been arrested in an undercover police sting.

SANS Institute - Federal Successes - Case Studies
What Works in Implementing the US National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace Case Studies of Success in the War on Cybercrime and Cyber Espionage

Five Tech Trends to Watch in 2008
As 2008 approaches, WiMax is at a crossroads. Will it become the most popular next-generation wireless WAN transport that supporters envisioned, or will it wither on the vine? 'WiMax will gain a great deal of acceptance in underserved countries, but will not be as popular in industrialized nations like the U.S. and Europe,' analyst Craig Mathias told TechNewsWorld."

More Personal Data Stolen in 2007 Than Ever
Thieves are systematically pilfering sensitive personal data from companies, government agencies, colleges and hospitals like never before. More than 162 million records have been reported lost or stolen in 2007, triple the 49.7 million that went missing in 2006, according to USA TODAY's analysis of data losses reported over the past two years.

Companies battle to stay ahead of cyber crooks
NO MATTER how smart your information technology workers are, somebody out there is even smarter. Which spells trouble for companies as cyber criminals develop increasingly sophisticated ways to tap into corporate secrets and syphon cash from their customer s’ bank accounts.

Tiger's wife wins damages from magazine - Breaking News - Sport - Breaking News
An Irish magazine has apologised to Tiger Woods's wife Elin Nordegren and agreed to pay the former model 'substantial' damages after it published fake nude pictures during the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club.

Santa putting children's information at risk, warn experts | OUT-LAW.COM
Santa Claus could be breaking privacy laws in his collection and use of data about British children, experts have warned. Yuletide cheer-bringer Claus could be putting the personal data of millions of children at risk.

Blogging sub-editor to battle dismissal : Mail & Guardian Online
Axed Sowetan sub-editor Llewellyn Kriel will on Monday appeal against the findings of the disciplinary hearing that led to his dismissal and made him the first South African fired for blogging.

Politician takes on Wikipedia
A left-wing German politician has filed charges against online encyclopaedia Wikipedia for promoting the use of banned Nazi symbols in Germany.

Software Vendors Accuse Prestigious Law Firm Of Piracy -- Software Piracy -- InformationWeek
A Philadelphia law practice recently ranked among the nation's top 200 firms has been accused by a software industry group of stealing business applications made by Adobe, Symantec, and other vendors, InformationWeek has learned.

Kunene in Bethlehem court, case postponed : Mail & Guardian Online
The man caught up in the national hoax email saga, Muziwendoda Kunene, briefly appeared in the Bethlehem Magistrate's Court in the Free State on Tuesday.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
 
  -mail hoax accused to answer to murder, kidnapping
Hoax e-mail accused Muziwendoda Kunene was yesterday whisked from an Atteridgeville court to the Free State, where he is to face charges of murder and kidnapping.

Nando’s vs MTN
Feathers are flying as South African cellphone giant MTN and the fast-food chain Nando’s clash over a multimillion-rand advertising campaign.

Monday, December 10, 2007
 
  Cops intensify e-crime fight
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is implementing e-crime workgroups to gain a better understanding of ICT-related crimes and how to combat them.

Standard, MTN point fingers in fraud case
Standard Bank says more vigilance on the part of the client and her cellular service provider would have left the organisation none the poorer. But MTN says it too is not to blame.

London Calling: Software Developers in Demand
'The escalating demand for field service and installation engineers with an awareness of customer service techniques reflects a continued focus by the IT sector on adding customer value, a competitive edge and identifying new business opportunities through field service operations,' said Chris Short, managing director of IT recruitment firm Concept IT.

Things You Should Know Before Switching to a Mac
Mac hardware is beautifully designed; the strikingly thin all-in-one iMac desktop, for example, has an anodized aluminum frame and glossy glass cover. The underlying software is polished, robust and secure, with see-through menus and fanciful icons that spring to life when you click on them. BUT....

Verizon Sued for Copyright Infringement in FiOS
The Software Freedom Law Center filed a lawsuit in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Verizon on behalf of open source software developer BusyBox. The suit alleges that Verizon has infringed on BusyBox's copyrights in distributing the Actiontec MI424WR wireless routers to Verizon's FiOS broadband customers.

German Politician Withdraws Charges Against Wikipedia
A left-wing German politician withdrew charges against online encyclopedia Wikipedia for promoting the use of banned Nazi symbols in Germany. Katina Schubert, a deputy leader of the far-left Left party, said she had spoken to Wikimedia Deutschland, which promotes the Internet lexicon in Germany, and had decided not to pursue the case even though she still believed neo-Nazis could take advantage of such sites.

Syria Blocks Facebook, Fearing Israeli "Infiltration"
Syrian authorities have blocked Facebook, the popular Internet hangout, over what seems to be fears of Israeli 'infiltration' of Syrian social networks on the Net, according to residents and media reports. Residents of Damascus said that they have not been able to enter Facebook for more than two weeks.

Law Enforcement Investigating Blogger in Suicide Case
A woman linked to an online hoax played on a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide and has been vilified for it may be the subject of a deception -- someone on the Internet is posing as her and blogging about the case. The St. Charles County sheriff's department is investigating who is behind the blog postings on Blogger.com to see if a crime has been committed, a spokesman said.

Security Firm Warns Users of Russian Chat Forums
A program that can mimic online flirtation and then extract personal information from its unsuspecting conversation partners is making the rounds in Russian chat forums, according to security software firm PC Tools. The artificial intelligence of CyberLover's automated chats is good enough that victims have a tough time distinguishing the 'bot' from a real potential suitor, PC Tools said.

Duke Law School Say Hackers Breached Database
Duke Law School has contacted nearly 1,400 people who requested information about the school to warn hackers may have obtained their Social Security numbers. School officials said they discovered Nov. 29 that hackers had breached a data base of prospective applicants who provided personal information, including Social Security numbers.

Hackers Break Into Two U.S. Science Labs
Hackers have succeeded in breaking into the computer systems of two of the United States' most important science labs, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. In what a spokesperson for the Oak Ridge facility described as a 'sophisticated cyber attack,' it appears that intruders accessed a database of visitors to the Tennessee lab between 1990 and 2004, which included their Social Security numbers and dates of birth.

Students should use Wikipedia
Students should be allowed to use the online encyclopedia Wikipedia as it has become more accurate and trustworthy, its founder Jimmy Wales said in comments published by BBC Online today.

Technology issues that will demand attention in 2008
2008 will also be the year where what would traditionally not be considered pure technology will consume a growing portion of the IT budget.

Do people have a right to broadband?
Many people commenting on this website leave the impression that access to broadband must be free! The reason: it drives the economy. Is that the real motivation? Or a good reason for gaming and downloading music and movies free of charge?

Sacked blogger to appeal
The Sowetan's axed sub-editor Llewellyn Kriel on Monday will appeal the findings of the disciplinary hearing, which led to his dismissal and made him the first South African fired for blogging.

Cape Town to build R 300m fibre network
The City of Cape Town says it has committed itself to a R300m investment in a city-wide fibre optic network.

Companies battle to stay ahead of cyber crooks
NO MATTER how smart your information technology workers are, somebody out there is even smarter. Which spells trouble for companies as cyber criminals develop increasingly sophisticated ways to tap into corporate secrets and syphon cash from their customers’ bank accounts.

Most popular online products revealed
The most popular online products in South Africa have been unveiled with new research from Jump Shopping and World Wide Worx.

Friday, December 07, 2007
 
  TV producer can't compete for three years, says High Court
A television producer who forgot about a three-year golden handcuffs deal caused a breakdown in the employer employee relationship before the employer did, the High Court has ruled. The producer must wait the three years before working for a rival.

Business should fund domain name police, says expert
A technology law expert has called on the business world to set up a policing outfit to tackle cybersquatters. The call came as Dell raised the stakes in the fight against domain hoarders, demanding compensation of $1 million per name in a lawsuit.

Thursday, December 06, 2007
 
  A year of promise but too many 'kinkels in die kabel'
Broadband is the issue that remained on the 2007 shopping list, followed by lots of promises of action to reduce the cost of telecommunications.

Google 'must be stopped'
Google, the world's largest internet search engine, is on several fronts a danger that has to be stopped, a study released by Austria's Graz University claims.

Microsoft unveils ’the future of computing’
Everybody wants to be in the sweet spot: a seat on the halfway line for a big game, the parking spot near the front entrance at work.

Facebook's CEO Apologizes for Advertising Program
Facebook's CEO apologized on the social network's blog amid a firestorm of criticism over the much ballyhooed new advertising program, Beacon. In what's likely a humiliating concession, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is now letting users turn off Beacon completely.

Teacher Arrested After Blog Comments Praising Gunmen
Bloggers and free speech advocates are calling on prosecutors not to file charges against a teacher arrested for allegedly posting an anonymous comment online praising the Columbine shooters. Some were disturbed by the post police say James Buss left on a conservative blog, but other observers said it was a sarcastic attempt to discredit critics of education spending.

Nielsen Service to Monitor Media Content Online
The Nielsen Co. and digital rights management company Digimarc Corp. are launching a new service that will monitor and manage media content across the Web. The service, called Nielsen Digital Media Manager, will enable media companies to track their content throughout the Internet using digital watermarking and fingerprinting technology.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007
 
  IT will bring change to law profession
The South African legal profession is undergoing significant and permanent change – and much of it is driven by the consumer and business experience of the Internet, says ICT lawyer Reinhardt Buys.

How much is your website worth
There are often questions as to how much a website is worth or what the value of a certain domain name or web service is. Recent acquisitions in the online space – typically YouTube and MySpace – have highlighted the importance of accurate website appraisal methods

Microsoft kills switch on Vista
Microsoft is abandoning a so-called 'kill switch' in its Vista operating system that was designed to hobble pirated versions of the top-selling software, the company said Tuesday.

New e-scam hits Absa
Fraudsters once again pounced on Absa clients with a somewhat more sophisticated scheme than the previous 'phishing' attempts.

MySpace to showcase music and sell performance videos | CNET News.com
MySpace, the social-networking site where people create home pages and embellish them as they would a dormitory room, plans today to start positioning itself as a top destination for buying exclusive musical performances.

Websites sell secret bank data and PINs - Times Online
Security breaches that are allowing the financial details of tens of thousands of Britons to be sold on the internet are to be investigated by the country’s information watchdog.

Free at last: the next web revolution
Amid the shockwaves caused by Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, one significant policy shift attracted relatively little attention. When the ink finally dries on the deal, one of Murdoch’s first moves will be to remove the ‘pay wall’ from the Journal’s website. The news that WSJ.com will henceforth be free may come as a pleasant surprise to its many loyal users, but it isn’t so great for other entrepreneurs who are trying to make money via online subscriptions.

Tech Law Practice Center
A federal judge on Dec. 3 threw out an antitrust lawsuit that the operator of the LimeWire online file-sharing service filed against a coalition of major record labels. U.S. District Judge Gerard E. Lynch in New York ruled that Lime Group LLC failed to make its case that it has been harmed by the recording companies' business practices, and he granted the companies' motion to dismiss the claims.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
 
  Pirated DVDs: Now you have a constant reminder
Two movie industry groups plan to issue 200 000 refrigerator magnets bearing Chan's image and an anti-piracy message to buyers of authentic DVDs in China, where piracy is rampant.

ITWeb :Trojans come first
Trojans (25%) and adware (23%) caused most computer infections in November, according to data gathered by Panda Security.

ITWeb :ISPA elects new committee
The Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (ISPA) has elected a new management committee (mancom) for the next 12 months.

Online bullying a growing part of US teen life
US researchers warn that bullies are taking their hurtful ways from real-world schoolyards to the “cyber” world by targeting teens with nasty e-mail, text messaging, and online chat.

Yahoo's top searches in 2007
A review of Yahoo searches reveals global warming, celebrity meltdowns, social networking and a literary boy wizard's final adventure captured mankind's attention in 2007.

Incredible Connection software claim ‘misleading’
David Gorelick lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) about what he described as misleading advertising from Incredible Connection.

ADSL Regulations – Is Telkom in compliance?
Telkom guaranteed ICASA earlier this year that it would be in full compliance with the ADSL regulations by the end of November 2007, over a year after the regulations came into effect.

France Slams Gavel on eBay Over Customer Protection
After studying eBay.fr for more than three years, French regulators compiled a list of complaints. In one case, a buyer who expected to purchase an 18th century painting actually received a piece of wood with a photocopy pasted onto it. In other cases, sellers advertised pieces they did not actually own -- using pictures cut out from auction catalogs, it said.

Court Gives LimeWire Lemons
Major record labels emerged victorious over file-sharing service operator LimeWire, which sued the labels for what it said were anticompetitive practices. LimeWire alleged that the labels harmed it by seeking to monopolize the online distribution of music and refused to license their works to the company in an effort to put it out of business. The judge did not agree.

Privacy Flap Bedevils Facebook
'In much the same way as traditional gold mining releases cyanide which poisons the surrounding environment, the Beacon's spotlight on private e-commerce transactions is poisoning the goodwill that Facebook has built with its users, even as it unlocks a treasure trove of marketing power,' said Jeff Greenhouse, president of Singularity Design, an interactive marketing agency.

The Key to Shopping 2.0 Success: Empowering Customers
Even the titans of online retailing struggle with how to tackle the challenge of delivering personalization. Most techniques for generating personalized product recommendations involve identifying which items tend to be purchased together. While this approach effectively groups products by interest, it doesn't get to the heart of treating each consumer as an individual.

Online Ad Targeting Digs Deeper Into Personal Data
'At the end of the day, if behavioral targeting is being used and consumers get annoyed, they are going to take it out on the advertiser or the publisher that placed the ad,' said Michael Cassidy, chief executive of Undertone Networks, which contracts with a network of third-party sites to run ads.

Will the Vista Migration Path Become the Road Less Traveled?
Forty-four percent of businesses would consider moving to an operating system other than Microsoft Windows in order to avoid moving to Vista, according to systems appliance management firm Kace. The reluctance to step into Redmond's latest OS could prove to be a boon for competitors like Linux and Apple, not to mention makers of virtualization applications.

Companies Get Smarter About Online Brand Protection
Shielding a company's brand from early or negative exposure has become a business unto itself. On the advice of digital brand-management services and lawyers, many companies register thousands of names to protect themselves.

Court Drops Suit Over Writers' Rights Online
A federal appeals court threw out a hard-fought agreement between publishers and freelance writers to pay the writers for electronic reproduction of their work. In a 2-to-1 decision, an appellate panel ruled that the courts had no jurisdiction over the copyright dispute and that a lower court erred in accepting the writers’ lawsuit and approving the settlement.

Sunday, December 02, 2007
 
  Is security software becoming a risk?
Is the software we’re using to protect ourselves from online attacks becoming a liability?

Outfaced yet again
Barely a week after the software giant inked its deal with Facebook, archrival Google has changed the game with the launch of OpenSocial.

Search engine optimisation
IF YOU HAVE Internet access, the chances are that you use search engines such as Google or Yahoo! on a daily basis. Those search engines form the backbone of locating information on the Internet and for website owners getting a high rank on a Google search is a vital part of creating a successful website.

Saturday, December 01, 2007
 
  Should IT security workers become professionals?
Lawyers, doctors and engineers are professionals. Now, with public confidence in IT ebbing as data thefts dominate headlines, its time for security workers to debate becoming a self-managing group.

30,000 Dutch Telsell-customer creditcard details stolen from Telsell computers, Telsell claims not their responsibility
Customers of the television-sales organization TelSell can not only tele-shop while relaxing in their lazy chair, they also have a good chance to be robbed, while in that same chair.

Dishonest Certegy employee strikes plea agreement for selling 8.5 million people's information
Certegy wasn't the largest data breach reported this year, it only compromised a mere 8.5 million people.

Insider charged with hacking California canal system
A man has been charged with hacking a computer used to control water canals in California.

NZer questioned in hacking case - 30-Nov-2007 - NZ Law and Order news
A New Zealander is being interviewed by police as part of an international hunt for large-scale computer hackers.

Visa fines bank for role in TJX data theft - The Boston Globe
Fifth Third Bancorp, the Ohio bank that was fined $880,000 by Visa for its role in the customer data security breach at TJX Cos., the largest ever, also paid fines and compensation totaling $1.4 million following the loss of data from BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. several years ago, a court filing shows.

Daft users and insecure web apps dominate threat index [printer-friendly]
Facing improvements in system and network security, crackers have two new prime targets that allow them to evade firewalls, anti-virus, and even intrusion prevention tools: users who are easily misled and custom-built applications, according to the latest annual threat landscape report by the SANS Institute.

Telling lies to a computer is still lying, rules High Court
A person can be guilty of deceit when he lies to a machine rather than a human, a judge has ruled. Renault sued over abuse of a discount scheme and won the deception-by-computer argument. But its case was thrown out because it profited from the abuse.

Amazon surrenders on One-Click shopping monopoly
Amazon.com has proposed changes to its controversial patent for shopping with a single mouse click that will narrow its monopoly to websites that also offer a shopping cart model. It follows a successful campaign by a New Zealand performance artist.

Change your passwords for Computer Security Day |
Most people keep the same password for too long and use it for too many purposes. So if you do one thing to mark Computer Security Day on Friday, change your passwords. If you do two things, change your passwords and vacuum your computer.

Seven Tips for a Successful Startup
Your customers or clients should always feel that they are getting a bargain for their money. It should be more than just perception. They should actually be getting a superior product or service at a very reasonable price. This is one of the elements that will distinguish you from your competition, as well as maintain loyal customers.

Cyber Spying Set to Explode
While there appears to be a general consensus that cyber espionage is on the rise, there's less agreement on whether it is approaching the level of cyber warfare. 'Warfare means there is death and economic devastation,' commented Dmitri Alperovitch, principal research scientist with Secure Computing. 'The events we have seen thus far do not come close to that.'

The Key to Shopping 2.0 Success: Empowering Customers
Even the titans of online retailing struggle with how to tackle the challenge of delivering personalization. Most techniques for generating personalized product recommendations involve identifying which items tend to be purchased together. While this approach effectively groups products by interest, it doesn't get to the heart of treating each consumer as an individual.

Confession Sites Expose Secrets, Cause Confusion
On the Internet, confession may be good for business, as well, judging from the proliferation of websites where reading about the errant ways of others provides both online therapy and a bit of voyeuristic entertainment. At least two dozen sites are active, many launched in the past few months; some give a nod toward repentance, but others are akin to soft porn.

Porn Site Download Threatens Ongoing Pop-Up Ads
Online pornography hunters' Internet adventures are already fraught with danger from malicious code many porn sites use to commandeer visitors' machines or steal personal data. Now comes a scheme some researchers say amounts to extortion: One site's threat to disable visitors' computers with relentless pop-up ads if they don't pay for a subscription they were automatically signed up for after a free trial.

Company Sees "Huge Jump" in Microsoft Software Flaws
The past year has seen a massive increase in the number of flaws found in Microsoft software, according to vulnerability-scanning company Qualys. Between 2006 and 2007, there was an almost threefold rise in Microsoft flaws, Qualys said.

2.5 Million PCs Victims of "Botnets," FBI Says
Hackers have remotely controlled about 2.5 million computers of unsuspecting owners to commit crimes using computer robot networks called 'botnets,' the FBI said. The bureau in 2005 launched Operation Bot Roast to stop this emerging type of cyber attack, which the FBI estimates has resulted in $20 million in losses and theft, including one scheme that bilked a Midwest financial institution out of millions.

2.5 Million PCs Victims of "Botnets," FBI Says
Hackers have remotely controlled about 2.5 million computers of unsuspecting owners to commit crimes using computer robot networks called 'botnets,' the FBI said. The bureau in 2005 launched Operation Bot Roast to stop this emerging type of cyber attack, which the FBI estimates has resulted in $20 million in losses and theft, including one scheme that bilked a Midwest financial institution out of millions.

"Cyber Cold War" Called Threat to Security
A 'cyber cold war' waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade, according to a report. About 120 countries are developing ways to use the Internet as a weapon to target financial markets, government computer systems and utilities, Internet security company McAfee said in an annual report.

 

 

 

  BUYS LINKS

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
BUYS INCORPORATED WEBSITE
CONTACT US
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER
SYNDICATE VIA RSS FEED
VIEW OUR LATEST EVENTS
RECENTLY SUSPENDED DOMAINS
WHO GOT HACKED IN SA TODAY


GUIDES

INTERCEPTION ACT GUIDE
TOP 5 ICT RISKS
CONVERGENCE BILL GUIDE
JUDGMENTS 1998 - 2005


ONLINE SERVICES

ORDER PAIA MANUAL
REQUEST WEBSITE AUDIT


BLOG ARCHIVES
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009