A low-down on... Digital Signatures

As we become increasingly involved with electronic transactions - whether it be buying, selling or communicating personal information - the role of the digital signature will be central. However, this will not be a lengthy exposition on the principles of cryptography or encryption. Rather, the emphasis will be more practical - on why digital signatures are important and how they can be used. ...more

The UK marks National Work from Home Day

Today is the second annual National Work from Home Day, where employers are encouraged to transform their homes into offices for the day. In addition to making employees happier and therefore more productive through aiding the work/life balance, the ability to work away from the office - even occasionally - lessens the burden on our roads and public transport networks, believes Work Wise UK. 'Although some would suggest this could be an excuse to skive, or to extend the weekend, it has been demonstrated that enabling staff to work from home, even occasionally, increases productivity,' said Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, the not-for-profit organisation behind National Work from Home Day and Work Wise Week, which kicked off on Wednesday and runs until next Tuesday. ...more

Mimail-M sent through home computers

British Internet security firms have alerted users to the presence of Mimail-M, which is already in the wild, thanks to thousands of home computers being used to send it out. Mimail-M picks up from the L-variant with the same pornographic message detailing the various love trysts between Wendy and the twins, and again has an attachment that purports to contain pictures of the encounter. The attachment is a password protected zip file - a ploy designed to hopefully bypass any antivirus software as such programs may not scan zip files by default. ...more

Truant texting gets government backing

The government is giving a helping hand to schools with a bad truancy problem. It plans to give them cash to implement a system that will text, e-mail or call parents automatically if their child doesn't turn up. Around 400 of the worst affected will be given funding for the new text alert system, which links into class registers to monitor unauthorised absences and reacts accordingly. ...more

Sci-fi author slams Steve Jobs over Apple's DRM

Cory Doctorow, science fiction author and Boing Boing editor, has laid into Steve Jobs' infamous Thoughts on Music posting, with his own views on DRM (Digital Rights Management), and Apple's policy of protecting music downloaded from the iTunes store with FairPlay. Writing in Salon magazine, Doctorow describes FairPlay as a tax on switching away from the iPod. 'Although Apple's DRM is wholly ineffective at preventing copying, it does manage to raise the cost of switching from an iPod to a competing device. ...more