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Issue no. 7, 2001 Published: Sep 28, 2001
Microsoft defends IIS despite Gartner recommendation
Sun leads challenge to Microsoft's Web ID system
New dot-info domains added to Internet
German investors win landmark Infomatec ruling
Hacking could become an act of terrorism
India's IT and telecoms ministries to merge
Study: Mobile phones to overtake fixed lines by 2006
'Mobile phones speed up brain'
Japanese make super-storage disk
Proof Linux can replace Windows 2000?
Researchers develop 'Robo-roach'
Coming soon: the sensitive, caring computer

Microsoft defends IIS despite Gartner recommendation
Microsoft says its Internet Information Server (IIS) is as secure as comparable products from other vendors. This follows a Gartner recommendation that enterprises hit by both the ''Nimda'' and ''Code Red'' worms look at alternatives, such as iPlanet and Apache. According to the advisory from Gartner the success of the worms ''highlights the risk of using IIS and the effort involved in keeping up with Microsoft's frequent security patches''. Gartner's advisory was issued in the aftermath of last week's attack by the mass-mailing Nimda worm which spread via network-based e-mail, as well as through contaminated Web browsers and exploited back doors left behind by previous malicious codes as Code Red and Sadmind. ''The Gartner recommendation overlooks the fact that security is an industry-wide challenge and that serious vulnerabilities have been found in all Web server products and platforms,'' a Microsoft spokesman said. The emphasis should be on ensuring safe security practices and making sure that all recommended patches are installed, he added.
CNN / IDG Sep 28, 2001	back to top

Sun leads challenge to Microsoft's Web ID system
Sun Microsystems on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping alliance of companies that have banded together to establish common standards for Internet identity that will facilitate Web commerce and pose a challenge to Microsoft's Passport initiative. The group, code-named the Liberty Alliance, intends to develop an open technology that is not controlled by a single company and can be used to authenticate users through a single login. The system will work with any device that plugs into the Internet, whether it be a PC, cellular phone, television, car or credit card machine, the alliance said. Last week, Microsoft announced it would make its 2-year-old Passport authentication system open to other companies. The Sun-backed alliance said Microsoft has been invited to participate, but has not yet responded.
Nando Times / Financial Times / AP Sep 28, 2001	back to top

New dot-info domains added to Internet
More than 52,000 domain names ending with the suffix ''.info'' were activated last weekend in the Internet's first major address expansion since the 1980s. Afilias, the company running ''.info'', expected to enter another 250,000 names into the master directories this week. The first batch of 52,245 names were claimed by trademark holders. The second round of names will be selected from about 700,000 applications submitted before Friday's deadline. When there are duplicates, Afilias will choose one at random, leaving about 250,000 unique names.
Nando Times / AP Sep 25, 2001	back to top

German investors win landmark Infomatec ruling
A German court set a potentially far-reaching precedent on Monday when it ordered two managers of a Neuer Markt company to cover DM100,000 (E51,129) in losses incurred by one of their shareholders. The decision against Gerhard Harlos and Alexander Haüfele, two former board members of software maker Infomatec, marks the first time damages are granted to a shareholder because of a misleading statement by a German company. The law firm representing the shareholder said the decision might persuade the defendants and other companies in similar cases to settle out of court. The claimant in the Infomatec case had bought shares in May 1999 after the company issued a so-called ''ad-hoc'' announcement - the system used by listed companies to disseminate market sensitive information - claiming it had secured a DM55m order that later proved to be worth DM9m.
Financial Times Sep 25, 2001	back to top

Hacking could become an act of terrorism
Hackers and privacy advocates everywhere were stunned to hear that the US may be pressing for legislation which would make computer crime a terrorist act. The result would be that convicted hackers could face life imprisonment with no chance of parole. Meeting on Capitol Hill this week, the US Justice Department is apparently urging the Bush administration to rush the Anti Terrorism Act through Congress. The 25-page proposal gives the Government extended powers for conducting electronic surveillance and accessing records, with an extra emphasis on the ability to detain ''terrorists'' suspected of using such technologies to further their plans. The document proposes a list of ''Federal terrorism offences'' which includes extracts from the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, effectively making it a terrorist act to break into a computer for the purposes of damage, sabotage, or obtaining information of value, or to release a malicious program that intentionally damages a system, like a virus.
VNUnet UK Sep 27, 2001	back to top

India's IT and telecoms ministries to merge
India said on Thursday that it would merge its information technology and telecommunication ministries in a move to increase government efficiency and streamline the development of the IT industry. Reforming the telecoms sector has long been an important priority of the government. While other reform measures, particularly privatisation, have been stalled, liberalisation of telecoms continues to move forward. Telecoms are crucial for the development of India's IT industry, which is expected to earn the country $11.2bn this year from exports and attracts badly needed foreign investment as well as international prestige Despite a recent slowdown the National Association of Software and Service Companies, the IT industry umbrella organisation, predicts that the IT sector will generate $50bn in revenues by 2008.
Financial Times Sep 28, 2001	back to top

Study: Mobile phones to overtake fixed lines by 2006
The number of cell phones worldwide could eclipse the number of traditional land lines by 2006, according to a report issued by California research company The Carmel Group. With Asia and Europe leading the way as heavy adopters of wireless technology, by 2006 there will be 1.6bn cellular phone subscribers and just 963m fixed-line subscribers, according to the report. This shift toward a highly mobile world could increase the productivity of workers around the globe, as users will have almost immediate access to many forms of information no matter where they go. But users will need to learn new ways to use the quick feed of information for the technology to be effective, The Carmel Group warned.
CNN / IDG Sep 26, 2001	back to top

'Mobile phones speed up brain'
Mobile phones may cause damage to health by speeding up the brain's response times, according to Dr. Alan Preece, head of Biophysics at Britain's Bristol Oncology Centre. As consumer concerns mount that prolonged mobile phone use could lead to tumours, a recent study showing an alarming rate of brain cancer in some cellphone users is helping swing scientific opinion in Britain. Dr. Alan Preece is among a group of scientists becoming increasingly convinced that radiation from cellphones triggers chemical processes in the body that may be harmful. Six separate studies now indicate that response times speed up because of stress proteins when people are exposed to radio frequency signals from mobiles phones. Other research from Sweden and Switzerland has indicated that radiation from mobile phone calls disturbs sleep.
Yahoo / Reuters Sep 24, 2001	back to top

Japanese make super-storage disk
Sharp, TDK and the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) are on track to make available a 12-centimeter optical disk which holds 125Gb of data, or 25 times more than a 4.7Gb DVD disk. They claim to have developed a technology which uses a red laser beam, similar to those used for making optical disks. The researchers believe if they are able to make the dot size smaller, they can put more dots on the disc and it will hold more data. The size of laser spot has been narrowed by using heat generated by the laser beam without changing the laser's wavelength. Until now, engineers needed to use shorter-wavelength lasers to get smaller dots. The Japanese team said they have succeeded in registering a dot size as small as 85 nanometers, using a common red laser beam. And the same type of laser would create a 400-nanometer dot, according to AIST. The researchers expect commercialisation to be possible in about four years.
VNUnet UK Sep 25, 2001	back to top

Proof Linux can replace Windows 2000?
In light of the ongoing debate over the increased security of Linux, and the readiness of the open source OS for the desktop, Thai IT consultant Rob Valliere has set out to answer the question: ''Can Linux be used as a replacement for Windows 2000?.'' After an intensive hands-on Linux project lasting several months, he claims that Linux Red Hat 7.1 can serve as an alternative to Windows 2000. Effectively rolling out Linux across a network containing one server and 24 clients can potentially save as much as $10,000. Linux offers desktop applications for corporate usage in much the same vein as Windows. The graphical OS can run on ageing Pentium computers with 64Mb or more of RAM. As an alternative to Microsoft's Access database application, a fusion of Apache Web server, MySQL database and PHP scripting facility was used. The full report, along with details of the pitfalls encountered, can be found at http://www.robval.com/linux/desktop/index.asp.
VNUnet UK Sep 24, 2001	back to top

Researchers develop 'Robo-roach'
Japanese researchers at Tokyo University are developing a remote controlled cockroach that could be used to carry a miniature camera and microphone. The 'Robo-roach' could be used in any number of environments ranging from searching through rubble for disaster victims to acting as a tiny spy in espionage missions. Working under a $5m grant from the Japanese government, scientists have managed to implant tiny microchip backpacks onto the insects allowing them to be controlled with a remote handset. The pulse-emitting backpack sends signals to the host cockroach through electrodes, causing it to turn left, right, run forward or back. Only the American cockroach, Perplaneta Americana, can be used in the research because it is the biggest and hardiest of the species, capable of carrying 20 times its own weight. The microchips are implanted surgically after the cockroaches have been anaesthetised with carbon dioxide, and their wings and antennae are removed.
VNUnet UK Sep 26, 2001	back to top

Coming soon: the sensitive, caring computer
Experts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab are writing programmes that can reduce ''computer rage'' by responding with soothing words to the user's shouts of anger, facial expressions or skin changes caused by emotions. It is thought that, eventually, computers will be built with their own independent ''emotions'' and use them to improve their performance, assessing the emotional or psychological impact on humans of their mistakes. Computer games will be able to react to the player's emotions and express their own fear or anger. The technologies could improve safety by allowing computers to detect whether a train driver or airline pilot had fallen ill or stopped concentrating. It can also help in warfare. The latest development in computerised battle simulation used by the US military is to program emotions into their virtual soldiers.
The Independent Sep 24, 2001	back to top