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Issue no. 28, 2002 Published: Aug 09, 2002
Microsoft settles Passport privacy case
Japanese ID system reports data leak
European Commission launches cyber-squatter survey
Microsoft to reveal Windows code
IBM makes precise electron microscope
Researchers hide data in passport photos
New molecular technique may lead to improved electronic devices
'E-bomb' may see first combat use in Iraq
Take my picture - and buy my phone?

Microsoft settles Passport privacy case
Microsoft will tighten security around the personal information it collects from users of its Passport Internet services, as part of a settlement reached with the US federal government. An investigation by the Federal Trade Commission concluded that Microsoft made false promises about how secure it kept the consumer information it collected. The FTC also found that Microsoft misled users about the kind of information it was collecting. The FTC said that Microsoft had been collecting information about the day and time consumers logged into participating Passport websites without their knowledge, and storing data for longer than it claimed. The settlement requires Microsoft to stop such practices and to implement a 'comprehensive information security program'. Microsoft agreed to pay $11,000 per day for any future violation and to submit to an audit of its security program every two years for the next 20 years.
CNN Aug 08, 2002	back to top

Japanese ID system reports data leak
Japan's new nationwide identification system reported its first data leak on Wednesday, just two days after the program was launched amid widespread fear it would be prone to breaches of privacy. Personal information from as many as 2,584 people was sent to the wrong people, a spokesman for the Osaka regional government said. He added that it was likely the first leak since Monday's kickoff of the new ID system. The new ID system aims to streamline Japan's cumbersome, paper-heavy bureaucracy by linking local resident registries across a nationwide computer network. People will also receive 11-digit identification numbers that can be used to draw up basic personal information and cut down red tape during various administrative procedures. Widespread protests and opposition have beleaguered the system since its inception with many fearing that it would violate individual privacy and be ripe for abuse.
CNN / AP Aug 07, 2002	back to top

European Commission launches cyber-squatter survey
The European Commission has launched an online survey asking citizens if they feel threatened or worried by 'cyber-squatters'. The Commission fears that cyber-squatters might undermine the launch of the European Union's new .eu internet domain, and says it will use the findings of the consultation to consider taking action. The Commission is banking on the .eu domain to raise Europe's profile as an internet power and to facilitate ecommerce by creating an area undisputedly operating under EU laws. It expects companies and organisations active throughout the EU to register with the new domain name. Citizens have until 31 October, 2002 to complete the online questionnaire, available on the Commission's website at http://www.europa.eu.int/information_society/newsroom/index_en.htm
VNUnet UK Aug 06, 2002	back to top

Microsoft to reveal Windows code
Microsoft will reveal hundreds of pieces of proprietary computer code from its monopoly Windows operating system in the next several weeks to comply with an antitrust settlement it signed with the US Justice Department last year, the company said on Monday. Microsoft said the disclosures are part of its first steps to comply with the settlement that must still be approved by a federal judge and is still opposed by nine state attorneys general seeking stiffer sanctions. Microsoft said it plans to disclose 385 bits of computer code and internal operating rules, which outside software developers can use to write programs to run on Windows. Microsoft said in addition to 272 pieces of code it also would reveal 113 proprietary software 'protocols' that computer server makers can license to make their machines work better with Windows desktops.
ABC News / Reuters Aug 05, 2002	back to top

IBM makes precise electron microscope
IBM has built a more precise electron microscope that could help it build smaller and faster computer chips by allowing it to see more clearly where atoms are located in relation to one another. The microscope will help scientists observe how atoms interact and fix mistakes in tiny semiconductors, such as missing or extra atoms. Scientists previously could only see hints of these problems, and only some of the time. IBM has been working for five years to improve the electron microscope, which uses magnetic lenses to focus electrons into very small beams to look at atoms. The microscope could be used in other applications, such as looking at complex proteins, according to IBM.
Yahoo / Reuters Aug 07, 2002	back to top

Researchers hide data in passport photos
Researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University have devised a way to hide information such as a fingerprint or a signature in colour images which could improve passport security or be used to create invisible product bar codes or designs. The documents can be faxed, scanned and reprinted without the hidden data disappearing. The scientists created an algorithm that converts a fingerprint or signature into a series of numbers which are used to shift the dots that make up a colour picture. Each dot can be displaced slightly without noticeably altering the final appearance of the picture. By scanning the picture again, the computer can reconstruct the hidden data by measuring the displacement of the dots in the picture. If the algorithm is distributed to passport checkpoints the picture can be unscrambled to reveal the fingerprint or signature and checked against the person holding the passport.
CNN / Reuters / News Scientist Aug 07, 2002	back to top

New molecular technique may lead to improved electronic devices
The annoying delay between when you turn your computer on and when it is finally booted up may soon be a thing of the past. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in the US have developed a technique for depositing flat, ultrathin metallic films on oxide substrates. With thinner films, less electric current is needed to produce the variations in magnetic signals that form the basis of computer memory storage. Metals deposited on oxides tend to form bumpy clusters rather than nice, flat layers. But the researchers coaxed cobalt metal into accumulating layer by layer on a sapphire substrate (a form of aluminium oxide) with the help of hydroxyl molecules, which produced a surface chemical reaction that led to the desired laminar growth. The new work could have a significant impact on efforts to develop a new kind of computer memory known as magnetic random access memory, or MRAM, in which data is stored in metal-and-oxide sandwiches that retain their magnetic states regardless of whether the power is on or off. MRAM devices are expected to go on the market in the next few years.
Scientific American Aug 07, 2002	back to top

'E-bomb' may see first combat use in Iraq
Weapons designed to attack electronic systems and not people could see their first combat use in any military attack on Iraq by the US. High Power Microwave (HPM) devices are designed to destroy electronic equipment in command, control, communications and computer targets by producing an electromagnetic field of extreme intensity. One approach to producing the required pulse is a device called an Explosive Pumped Flux Generator. In this a charged bank of capacitors energises a coil wrapped around a copper tube, which itself contains high explosives. On detonation, the explosives expand the tube from the back and moves rapidly forward, forcing the tube to make progressive contact with the coil and causing a short circuit. This crushes the magnetic field and reduces the coil's inductance at the same time. The resultant spike lasts tens to hundreds of microseconds and can produce peak currents of tens of millions of Amps and peak energies of tens of millions of Joules. By comparison, a typical lighting strike produces around 30,000 Amps.
New Scientist Aug 08, 2002	back to top

Take my picture - and buy my phone?
Next time a good-looking young couple asks you to take their picture, beware - they might work for the maker of the camera. Cell phone maker Sony Ericsson has hired 120 actors and actresses across the US to play tourists and ask passers-by to take their picture with the company's new T68i cell phone and an add-on digital camera. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications is running the campaign in seven US cities as part of what one executive called 'reach out and touch the consumer advertising'. The actors are visiting places like malls and nightclubs, tourist hubs where it would not seem unusual for a young couple to want their picture taken. The actors, if pressed for information on what the phone/camera is or where to buy it, would tell the inquiring photographer where it can be found or who makes it and will not make any secret of the fact they work for the company, if asked, according to Sony Ericsson.
CNN / Reuters Aug 03, 2002	back to top