Disney set to use Windows Media DRM technology

Microsoft has gained a major foothold in the film industry with the announcement that Disney is to use its Windows Media digital rights management (DRM) technology to deliver digital media to homes and portable devices. The agreement will see Disney films and TV programmes available for PCs, set-top boxes and portable devices, whether mobile phones, PDAs or even a new-generation of media players. The two companies have emphasised the importance of both secure delivery and the 'seamless flow' of content between devices, which has also been one of the major problems with DRM systems. ...more

Software analyst breaches Internet bank security

Consumer confidence is again tested as another security breach comes to light. A 28-year-old software analyst claims that bank details of more than 200 million account holders were freely accessible from the Internet. Ralph Dressel claimed he came across the information via the Fiserv Web site. ...more

In the shadow of MyDoom, stalks key-logging trojan Stawin-A

Sophos has reported a new key-logging trojan with eyes for your bank account details. While many are concentrating their efforts on combating the rampant MyDoom virus, a new trojan - Stawin-A - has today been discovered. Sophos says the new virus has been seeded in the public domain with a mass-mailout and is already receiving numerous reports from infected users. ...more

Carphone Warehouse on brink of free broadband launch

Carphone Warehouse is about to offer free broadband with its TalkTalk landline telephone service, according to reports by several UK national newspapers and TV stations. The company's Internet ambitions are no secret, since it began investing in local loop unbundling (LLU) - installing its own broadband kit in BT exchanges - last October. The introduction of free ADSL services will almost certainly start a price war which is likely to claim several victims among the smaller ISPs. ...more

Wurmark-D virus tempts users with Happy New Year email

Sophos says it has spotted a new mass-mailer using nudity as the bait to entice victims to run it. The UK security company says that so far, reports in the wild of Wurmark-D have been relatively low. The worm in question arrives as an email with the subject line 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' and the message 'All the best in new year from our family here is a litle attachment to make you smile in new year email me back haha. ...more