IBM sets trap for worms

In a bid to tackle the increasing problem of worm infestation on corporate networks, IBM has come up with a detection tool which appears to the invading code like a tempting target. However, the tool can detect, identify and quarantine the attacker before it can do any further damage. The modus operandi of many worms is to scan networked servers at random until they are able to place a harmful program on a server using a maliciously crafted request. ...more

New computer game violence warning

A new game depicting violence and football hooliganism has caused outrage before it has even reached our shores. The game, by Dutch software group The Thirteenth Production, shows skinhead hooligans battling against each other at football matches, and some scenes depict their beaten victims, bruised and bloody after an ambush, outside a train station. Jason Gerber, director of the software company responsible for Hooligans: Storm Over Europe, is adamant that the game does not encourage violence. ...more

Leadtek announces WinFast K8 Series Motherboard

Leadtek Research Inc has claimed a world's first in the announcement of three new motherboards to support the Athlon 64 aimed at the high end gaming and multimedia markets. Each motherboard is based around the Nvidia nForce 3 chipset. The WinFast K8NW/Pro, for workstation/gaming, and the WinFast K8N FX/Pro for high-end 3D gaming platforms both feature the new AMD 64-bit socket 940 Athlon 64 FX, AGP Pro 8X, and up to 8Gb of RAM. ...more

Cryptography break threatens digital signatures

Researchers in the field of cryptography have been successfully breaking the hash functions that are used to secure the privacy of electronic communications, threatening the integrity of digital signatures, according to a report on Slashdot. Details from the Crypto 2004 conference indicate that one Antoine Joux has broken the hash function used within the SHA-0 algorithm, and there are rumours that somebody is about to announce a partial break of the SHA-1, which is one of most popular cryptographic hash functions (CHF). As well as potentially undermining secure email web connections, such breakthroughs threaten the integrity of digital signatures. ...more

Sun signals closer technology ties with AMD

Sun has announced its quarterly product lineup, with new chips, support for AMD's 64bit Opteron and new servers. Sun is taking a broad approach, focussing on using its own technologies and those of its partners to create comparable products to its competitors, but paring down the price and offering better performance. It is attacking the low-end server market - the new Sun Fire V20z takes advantage of the new alliance with AMD. ...more