Russian computers may be susceptible to a new virus concealed in bitmap images

The virus is a Trojan - named Agent - that infects computers running the Russian edition of Windows 2000 with IE 5 and 5.5 when the victim clicks on a bitmap image attached in an email. Microsoft has yet to issue a patch for the flaw in the handling of bitmap images, according to Kaspersky - a Russian antivirus company - and it has been exploited as a direct result of the leak of part of the Windows source code. ...more

You can bet on money being laundered online

The next time you're about to blow all your wages on red number seven, battling with Roulette in some online casino, just pause for thought - you could be participating in a front for international money-laundering. The link between online gaming and criminal gangs looking to launder money has been traced by an international body set up to combat money laundering, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The task force has released its FATF report on money laundering trends for 2000-2001 and it highlights the role of the Internet, with its ease of access, potential for anonymity and high-speed transactions, and particularly the role of online gambling. ...more

Apple announces Final Cut Pro 4

Apple has announced the release of Final Cut Pro 4, a 'major' upgrade of its editing software for film, HD, SD and DV. Final Cut Pro 4 has more than 300 new features including RT Extreme, for real-time compositing and effects, powerful new interface customization tools, new high-quality 8- and 10-bit uncompressed formats and for the first time in an editing system costing less than $100,000, full 32-bit floating point per channel video processing. Final Cut Pro 4 also includes three completely new integrated applications-LiveType for advanced titling, Soundtrack for music creation and Compressor for full featured batch transcoding. ...more

HP lifts lid on new Compaq tc4000 Tablet PC

Delegates of HP's Mobility Conference in San Jose were given a rare chance to examine the tc4000, the company's new Tablet PC. Unlike HP's previous Tablet, the tc4000 is a convertible. This means it can be used as a conventional notebook, or the screen can be swivelled around and folded back upon itself to create a slate. ...more

UK gamers look but don't touch on games sites

Games sites are attracting visitors by the truck load in the UK, but only a small proportion are actually playing online, says monitoring firm NetValue. According to figures, 20 per cent of UK surfers visit games sites, but only around eight per cent of those actually participate in multi-player gaming. In the US, 28 per cent of surfers visit games sites and 20 per cent of those play online. ...more