John Lister

Apple appears to have loosened a policy that previously exempted iPods from warranty cover if they showed signs of water damage. But it's unclear if the change will apply to more expensive devices. iPod Hardware Contains Liquid Sensors Although it's ... a clearly-stated part of Apple's user guides and conditions of sale that the company disclaims any responsibility for damage caused by liquid, most people do not realize that doesn't simply apply to cases where the damage is very visible. Instead, all the company's portable devices have a tiny liquid contact indicator: in the iPod it's at the ... (view more)

Elite hackers and ethical computer security enthusiasts are preparing themselves for the Pwn2Own competition, which challenges participants to break through security of popular software programs (such as web browsers). Once software is breached, it ... is referred to as an "exploit", in which hackers are then able to gain access to other areas of the computer's operating system without restrictions. It's these types of attacks which occur on web sites frequently, where visitors become instantly infected just by visiting a malicious website containing an unknown exploit (also referred to ... (view more)

Microsoft has finally put the brakes on a feature in Windows XP and Vista designed to automatically run applications (and virus infections) on a USB drive. The feature had been open to abuse by virus creators and was blamed for helping the wide ... spread of the Conficker virus, which wreaked havoc PCs back in January of 2009. Back then, it was estimated 9 million PCs were infected with Conficker, which was first discovered only 3 months prior . Automated Virus Infection as Easy as 1-2-3 The exploit involves two separate technologies: Windows AutoRun, which automatically runs a setup program as ... (view more)

Events in Egypt have shown how a citizenry will react when a government attempts to shut off local Internet access . Since then, there's been considerable discussion as to whether this could happen in the U.S., but experts say that even if such a ... move were legally possible, it would be practically unworkable. Connections between Egyptian computers and the outside world were cut off for a little over a week, almost certainly under government orders in an attempt to limit communications between protestors. It led to some creative responses from the public, ranging from using dial-up connections ... (view more)

Google has unveiled two new tools for its Android phone system. One is genuinely useful while the other appears to be an impressive gimmick. The first tool is an extension to the existing Google Translate feature. As well as offering traditional ... translation services, the phones could recognize voices and offer a translation of spoken words. However, as with most automated translation tools and traditional phrasebooks, this was limited in conversations with foreign speakers. That's now been solved by the introduction of a conversation mode. For example: a Spanish user can speak into the phone ... (view more)

For most of us, it's hard to imagine life without access to the Internet. But since late last week, that's been the reality for most people in Egypt. As part of crackdown designed to disrupt organized protests against the government currently in ... power, almost every connection between Egypt's Internet service providers (ISPs) and the rest of the web was cut almost simultaneously during the evening of January 27th. Any suspicion that this might be a mechanical failure was soon eliminated when it became clear that network traffic was still passing through the country. The major set of fiber ... (view more)

Two men accused of scamming PC users into buying bogus security software have agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) an estimated $8.2 million. The money will go towards refunding the victims. Fake security software and similar scams of ... this nature are known as " scareware " -- software which is purposely designed to scare users into making a purchase. The scareware duo were made up of a father and son team. Maurice and Marc D'Souza are reported to have been involved in a massive scam that involved selling more than 1 million copies of fake security software to Windows ... (view more)

An Italian consumer agency is suing Microsoft because it experienced difficulty getting a refund for an "unwanted" copy of Windows 7 which came pre-bundled with a new PC. If it gets as far as a verdict, it could set a legal precedent. The case ... involves Vincenzo Donvito, a man which resides in Florence, Italy. He bought an ASUS Eee PC netbook that came pre-bundled with the starter edition of Windows 7 already installed. Donvito later decided he did not want to use Windows 7 Starter and instead wanted to replace it with an alternative operating system (OS) for his Eee PC. (Source: ... (view more)

Mozilla and Google have both followed Microsoft's lead in giving users a chance to opt out of having their activity tracked by advertisers. But the voluntary schemes may not be effective enough to stave off government action. The changes follow ... Federal Trade Commission (FTC) demands for both website and browser developers to make it easier for users to opt out of tracking. The call was designed to tackle fears that sites were abusing their ability to pass on details about what people do online to advertisers, allowing for better targeted advertisements, which typically command higher rates. ... (view more)

An international report says that the term "cyber war" overstates the genuine security risks that national governments face in the online age. It goes on to note that officials need to plan for accidental incidents as well as attacks. The report, ... from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, says that comparing online attacks to an armed military conflict exaggerates the potential effects. It also argues that a financial crisis or a health pandemic would also be much more serious than cyber attacks. The key finding of the report is that most forms of attack against ... (view more)