Online shopping threat exaggerated - report

Online shopping is not quite as fraught with risk as some would have us believe, according to online retailers in the UK. A recent APACS (Association for Payment Clearing Services) report showed card-not-present (CNP) fraud, which includes online shopping, added up to more than ?90m - an increase of 29 per cent - during the first six months of 2005. However, Internet fraud itself only rose five per cent, although it remained the largest part of CNP fraud. ...more

BT plugs talking SMS into landlines

Owners of standard landlines can now receive SMS messages via a new BT service. SMS messages are converted to automated speech using a mechanical-sounding female voice. Likewise speech can be converted to text. ...more

Sony DRM burrows into rootkit code

DRM software included on some Sony CDs includes a monitoring utility that is difficult to discover, almost impossible to remove and offers an easy hiding place for malicious code. Mark Russinovich, writing in the Sysinternals blog, details how he uncovered rootkit code on his computer that originated from a Sony music CD he owned. A rootkit installs itself in Windows systems in such a way that it tells the operating system to quite literally blindly accept its activities. ...more

Apple's share price takes a tumble

Apple's share price fell by more than five per cent yesterday amid concerns that the company is overvalued. Bear Steams analyst Andy Neff lowered his rating on the stock which was trading at roughly 33 times the forecast average earnings per share. In contrast Dell stock is trading at 19 times earnings and HP's at 14 times. ...more

Google expanding with 60 per cent profit growth

Google has published its first quarter financial results and beaten analyst expectations, showing a 60 per cent increase in profit and outlining future expansion plans. Google reported revenues of $2.25 billion, for the quarter ending 31 March - an increase of 79 per cent on the $1. ...more