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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Sony to resume PlayStation gaming

1 May 2011 Last updated at 02:50 ET

Sony has said it will resume some services on its PlayStation Network, which was shut after the theft of personal details of about 77m users.

Sony officials said they had boosted the security of their computer systems after user names, email addresses and log-in details were stolen.

Executives, including Kazuo Hirai, the head of Sony's PlayStation unit, apologised for the security breach.

The theft has prompted legal action and investigations in the US and Europe.

"The organisation has worked around the clock to bring these services back on line and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks," said Mr Hirai in a statement.

He is seen as the frontrunner to take over as head of Sony Corp.

Deep bow

"These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security," Mr Hirai's statement said.

Later, at a news conference, Mr Hirai and two other Sony executives apologised and bowed deeply.

"We apologise deeply for causing great unease and trouble to our users," he said.

PlayStation users got their first indication that something was wrong with the service when it became unavailable on 20 April.

In the following days, Sony issued three brief statements asking users to be patient while it investigated an "external intrusion", or hack.

The full extent of the security breach became apparent on 27 April.

In a statement posted on the official PlayStation blog, the company said user account information for the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services had been compromised following an "illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network".

Sony said that although credit card data was encrypted and there was no evidence it was stolen, the theft of the data could not be ruled out.

The PlayStation network allows gamers to download software and play with other users.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Cyber-stalking laws review urged

30 April 2011 Last updated at 21:06 ET By Samantha Fenwick Reporter, 5 Live Investigates

A senior police officer is calling on the government to review whether laws governing cyber-stalking in the UK are fit for purpose.

Greater Manchester Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan wants police to be given more powers to seize computers used to harass victims online.

It is hard to prove who committed stalking even though it is easy to establish which computer was used.

The Home Office says it is investigating the issue.

Mr Shewan, who is the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) leader on the issue of stalking and harassment, met ministers at the Home Office last week.

He said: "The legislation is 12 years old and I don't think anyone envisaged 12 years ago the extent that the world wide web would open up opportunities to harass and stalk people via the internet."

Cyber-stalkers can currently either be charged under the Protection from Harassment Act or the Malicious Communications Act, but charities and academics say neither is sufficient given the expansion in technology in recent years.

300% increase

As the number of people using computers has increased, so has the ability to tap into personal information online.

Mr Shewan wants it to be easier to seize computer equipment from a suspect and to get internet providers to hand over the unique identifier of each computer - the IP address.

Cyber-stalked by a stranger

Award-winning photographer Robin Cracknell was cyber-stalked by a stranger for four years.

Christopher John Hobby, aka Kris Manalien, set up bogus websites in Mr Cracknell's name and claimed online he was a paedophile.

Last month Hobby, who is also an artist, was jailed for six months for harassment.

Mr Cracknell said: "Being stalked, harassed and blackmailed by a stranger for four years is psychologically very draining."

Collectors and gallery owners searching for his award-winning work online found fake blogs and offensive Youtube clips about him instead.

His professional reputation was damaged and he was devastated to find his 12-year-old son could see the paedophile allegations on the internet.

Mr Cracknell said: "I refuse to feel like a victim but I have had my integrity and credibility damaged and am still coming to terms with the financial and psychological consequences."

Professor Carsten Maple, who heads the National Centre for Cyber-stalking Research at Bedfordshire University, said it was easy for those in-the-know to track down information.

He said Trojan spyware can be used to hack into anybody's computer, access their personal files and even secretly switch on their webcam.

Trojans are viruses which pose as harmless programmes and can be sent into computers via e-mails and other methods.

Yet currently police find it difficult to seize computer equipment unless they can prove there was an intention to cause fear or distress.

Prof Maple added his voice to calls for a review of the legislation.

He said: "The lack of power to seize computers makes it difficult to prove who is responsible for stalking, even if it can be shown beyond reasonable doubt that a particular device was used to commit a crime."

Jane Harvey from the Network for Surviving Stalking said 77% of stalking victims waited until more than 100 incidents had happened before going to the police.

She said when they finally took that step it was vital their allegations were taken seriously and the situation investigated fully.

"This is a devastating crime - being stalked online can ruin people's lives," she said.

"We urge the government and the police to do everything possible to ensure those affected by cyber-stalking get proper access to justice."

Prosecutions under the Malicious Communications Act have soared to an all-time high and increased almost 300% in five years to 899 last year.

Charges under the Protection from Harassment Act have risen from just under 12,000 to 12,549 in five years.

Separate figures from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) show that last year 33% of stalking incidents were by e-mail, 32% by text message and another 8.4% through social networking sites.

A Home Office spokesman said it was working with the police, Crown Prosecution Service and charities to try to improve the police response and make sure there were robust prosecutions.

He said: "Cyber stalking is a crime. As with all other forms of stalking we take it very seriously and we expect other agencies to do the same.

"The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and the Crown Prosecution Service are currently working together with victims and support charities to discuss whether the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and its enforcement has been effective in providing an appropriate response to stalking."

You can hear the full report on 5 live Investigates on Sunday 1 May at 2100 BST on BBC Radio 5 live. You can also listen again on the BBC iPlayer or by downloading the 5 live Investigates podcast.

Send your comments and stories to 5 live Investigates

Friday, April 29, 2011

The royal World Wide Wedding

29 April 2011 Last updated at 19:01 ET

By Iain Mackenzie Technology reporter, BBC News

The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton was an event for the internet age.

Great traditions of state were celebrated by the modern institutions of the web.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube were all given over to the royal wedding.

And, like the streets around Westminster Abbey, cyberspace was buzzing with talk of the big day.

Leading the online celebrations was the British monarchy's own royal wedding website.

Visitors were directed to the official Clarence House Twitter feed, the royal Flickr photo account, and the wedding "event" page on Facebook.

Royal tweets

Throughout the ceremony, @ClarenceHouse tweeted updates:

"The Archbishop of Canterbury begins the solemnization of the marriage #rw2011"

"The Fanfare plays! Congratulations to The Duke and The Duchess of Cambridge! You can use our hashtag #rw2011 to send a message #royalwedding"

"The view of the couple arriving at Buckingham Palace from where we are based #rw2011 http://twitpic.com/4qxlhn"

"The Duke and The Duchess of Cambridge appear on the balcony #rw2011"

"Find out about the food being eaten at the lunchtime wedding reception http://bit.ly/jUHKup #rw2011"

Thursday, April 28, 2011

PlayStation credit cards were encrypted

28 April 2011 Last updated at 14:05 ET

Sony has revealed that credit card details held on its PlayStation Network were stored in securely encrypted files.

The news offers some hope to users worried about their personal data after the online system was hacked.

Sony had previously warned that card numbers and expiry dates may have been among the stolen data.

However, other information, including dates of birth and home addresses, did not have the same level of protection.

The full extent of the security breach was revealed on Monday, following a week-long investigation by Sony.

The company said that up to 77 million PlayStation Network members may have had their personal information taken during an "external intrusion".

The FBI confirmed to BBC News that it was now involved and had been in contact with Sony in the United States.

One of the main concerns for users has been the issue of card security.

In a question and answer blog, posted on the PlayStation website, the company said: "The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken.

"The personal data table, which is a separate data set, was not encrypted, but was, of course, behind a very sophisticated security system that was breached in a malicious attack."

The company has not revealed the type or strength of protection given to credit card information, and Graham Cluley from security firm Sophos warned that "encryption" could mean almost anything.

"Some are as weak as tissue paper, and others can take millions of years to crack," he told BBC News.

"For instance, you could have an encryption that made every 'A' a 'D', every 'B' an 'E' etc, but that would be trivial to crack."

Unusual transactions

Sony suggested that users should keep a close eye on their financial statements and alert their card issuer about any unusual transactions.

That advice was echoed by Visa Europe, the company behind the Visa payment system. It explained that if card data was found to have been stolen and used to make unauthorised payments, users would not have to pick up the bill.

"Cardholders who are innocent victims of fraud will get their money back, subject to the terms and conditions of their bank," it said in a statement.

PlayStation Network members were urged not to cancel their cards at this stage.

A spokesman for Barclaycard said that such action was unnecessary until it was known if card numbers had fallen into the wrong hands.

If that proved to be the case, Sony would need to hand over the information to the UK Payments Administration - the umbrella body that oversees financial transactions including bank transfers and card payments.

The card numbers would then be identified and passed to relevant banks who could block them from use or elevate the level of monitoring for unusual activity.

YouTube founders buy up Delicious

28 April 2011 Last updated at 07:24 ET

The founders of video-sharing site YouTube have bought bookmarking service Delicious from Yahoo.

Chad Hurley and Steve Chen will use Delicious as a key part of their next net venture called Avos.

The startup is thought to be based around tools that help people get to grips with the vast amount of information generated by web sites and services.

How much the pair paid to acquire Delicious has not been revealed.

Data deluge

Delicious describes itself as a social bookmarking system in which members flag and tag sites, articles and media they find interesting. These can then be shared with other Delicious users.

Its name derives from its desire to find the "tastiest" bookmarks on the web.

Delicious was acquired in 2005 by Yahoo and in late 2010 the web giant decided to sell it off or close it down if no buyer came forward.

Now Mr Hurley and Mr Chen have acquired Delicious to form part of the technology underpinning their new firm Avos.

Details about Avos and what it will do are scant. A statement from Chad Hurley following the Delicious acquisition said the company will aim to help people manage the information gushing from the web services they use.

"We see a tremendous opportunity to simplify the way users save and share content they discover anywhere on the web," Mr Hurley said.

The pair sold YouTube to Google in 2006 for $1.76bn (�1.06bn). Steve Chen left YouTube in 2008 and Mr Hurley quit working for Google in late 2010.

Delicious will continue in its current form until July 2011. Users are being asked to login to the service and agree to let Yahoo move their account to the new owners.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Apple 'not tracking' iPhone users

27 April 2011 Last updated at 11:45 ET

Apple has denied that its iPhones and 3G iPads have been secretly recording their owners' movements.

In a website posting, the company said it had never tracked user location and had no plans to do so in future.

Security researchers claimed to have found a hidden file on the devices containing a record of everywhere they had been.

Some users managed to extract the data and plot it on maps.

More than a week after the issue came to public attention, Apple released an online question and answer document.

It said: "The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it's maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested."

Planned fix

The document also addresses the fact - as some users discovered - that data going back months and even years was being stored.

"It shouldn't. This is a bug, which we plan to fix shortly," said Apple.

Ian Fogg, principal analyst at Forrester Research, said that the company was being uncharacteristically open about the functioning of its devices.

"I do not think that that the other [makers of mobile operating systems] have been as black and white about what they are doing with location data," he said.

While Mr Fogg believes that Apple is trying to do the right thing, he said that the company may have inadvertently created a security risk.

The fact that the location data file is stored on users' computers in an unencrypted form made it vulnerable to hackers.

Mr Fogg suggested that owners of Apple devices should go into their iTunes settings and select the option to encrypt their backups.

7,000 employees to go from Nokia

27 April 2011 Last updated at 06:05 ET

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has announced it will shed 7,000 jobs as part of a plan to refocus the company on smartphones.

The firm said 4,000 jobs worldwide would be cut - including a total of 700 jobs from Nokia's UK sites.

Nokia will also transfer a further 3,000 employees to outsourcing and consultancy group Accenture, which will take over Nokia's Symbian software product.

The plan will take effect from 2012.

Nokia is hoping to increase its capacity for smartphone development.

The firm recently confirmed a deal with Microsoft to jointly develop smartphone technology.

Under the terms of that deal, Nokia agreed to start using the Microsoft's operating system on its smartphones instead of its own Symbian platform.

"With this new focus, we also will face reductions in our workforce," said Stephen Elop, Nokia president.

"This is a difficult reality, and we are working closely with our employees and partners to identify long-term re-employment programmes for the talented people of Nokia."

Nokia's response to the smartphone threat from competitors such as Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android system has been long been a key investor concern.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

PlayStation hacker took user info

26 April 2011 Last updated at 16:58 ET

Sony has warned users of its PlayStation Network that their personal information, including credit card details, may have been stolen.

The company said that the data might have fallen into the hands of an "unauthorised person" following a hacking attack on its online service.

Access to the network was suspended last Wednesday, but Sony has only now revealed details of what happened.

Users are being warned to look out for telephone and e-mail scams.

In a statement posted on the official PlayStation blog, Nick Caplin, the company's head of communications for Europe, said: "We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network".

The blog posting lists the personal information that Sony believes has been taken.

Name
Address (city, state/province, zip or postal code)
Country
E-mail address
Date of birth
PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords and login
Handle/PSN online ID

Mr Caplin added: "It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained".

Credit cards

Sony admitted that credit card information, used to purchase games, films and music, may also have been stolen.

"While there is no evidence that credit card data was taken at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility," Mr Caplin said.

"If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, to be on the safe side we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may also have been obtained."

Sony to launch Android tablets

26 April 2011 Last updated at 06:13 ET

Sony has announced that it plans to launch two tablet computers running Google's Android operating system.

The devices, codenamed S1 and S2, will go on sale towards the end of the year.

Android is currently the fastest growing mobile platform and is expected to claim a 38% market share by 2015.

Sony's entry into the tablet market was much anticipated, but comes relatively late in the day compared to other manufacturers.

Apple launched its first version of the industry-leading iPad in April 2010.

Its iOS system is expected to remain dominant for several years to come, albeit with a diminished share of sales.

Sony said that its first tablets would come in two form factors: one will have a conventional 9.4 inch touchscreen, while the other will feature dual 5.5 inch displays that fold closed.

In addition to the base Android Honeycomb operating system, Sony will add several of its own features, including the ability to transmit video and music to TVs and stereos using the DLNA wireless streaming standard.

The company suggested that there would also be some form of integration with its PlayStation network and the possibility of gaming functions.

Branding questions

The strength of the Sony name will likely help the electronics giant to gain some traction in the fragmented tablet market.

Faced with scores of similar devices running the same Android software, recognised brands have become an important way of differentiating quality.

However, Gartner tablet analyst Carolina Milanesi expressed surprise at the company's decision to identify the devices as purely Sony.

Participants gather around the Google Android stand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Spencer Kelly from BBC Click looks at how manufacturers differentiate their tablet devices

"It is interesting that they come in with the Sony brand rather than Sony Ericsson," she told BBC News.

"That raises questions about what they are going to do to link their tablets to their smartphone operating system because tablet users are going to want that same experience."

Ms Milanesi suggested that Sony's tablet success would depend on whether the technical specifications looked as good when the devices eventually launch as they do now.

She said that several manufacturers, including HP, had fallen into the trap of announcing machines that bested their competition, only to find that they looked less than competitive by the time they went on sale.

Sony takes on Apple in tablet war

26 April 2011 Last updated at 02:14 ET

The Japanese electronics maker Sony has announced its first foray into the popular tablet PC market, unveiling two new devices.

The gadgets will use Google's Android operating system, according to the company's deputy president Kunimasa Suzuki.

Sales of tablet PCs have been booming globally, led by the success of Apple's ipad.

Sony has said it wants to become a leading player in the market.

The success of ipad has seen many consumer electronics companies, like Samsung and HTC, launch their own versions of the tablet PC in an effort to capture a share of the growing market.

'Ambitious goal'

According to research firm Gartner, sales of tablet PCs are likely to quadruple in the next four years to almost 294m units.

Sony aims to become the second largest player in the segment behind Apple within one year.

However, analysts say that the electronics giant will find it tough to achieve that target.

"They don't have the starting advantage," said Manoj Menon of Frost & Sullivan.

"It is going to become an increasingly crowded market place and given the players, it is a fairly ambitious goal," he added.

World News | Latest News

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Sony to resume PlayStation gaming

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Cyber-stalking laws review urged

Cyber-stalked by a stranger

Friday, April 29, 2011

The royal World Wide Wedding

Thursday, April 28, 2011

PlayStation credit cards were encrypted

YouTube founders buy up Delicious

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Apple 'not tracking' iPhone users

7,000 employees to go from Nokia

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

PlayStation hacker took user info

Sony to launch Android tablets

Sony takes on Apple in tablet war

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