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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Third of adults 'use smartphone'

3 August 2011 Last updated at 19:01 ET

One in three adults in the UK now uses a smartphone, according to a report by the telecoms regulator Ofcom.

Apple's iPhone was said to be the most popular brand. However, teenagers appeared to favour RIM's Blackberry devices.

The report notes that the increased uptake of smartphones has led to a dramatic rise in mobile internet use.

Facebook was the most visited website on handheld devices, with 43 million hours spent on it in December 2010.

Ofcom's annual Communications Market Report combines the regulator's own research with work carried out by other industry analysts.

The 341-page document provides a comprehensive snapshot of the UK's TV, radio, internet and telecommunications consumption.

On mobiles, it said that 58% of adult males owned a smartphone compared to 42% of females. Among teenagers the trend was reversed with 52% of girls using smartphones against 48% of boys.

Although Apple's iPhone was a favourite device for 32% of adults, among teens its popularity was dwarfed by the Blackberry, which 37% of young people identified as their preferred brand.

Trending online

Ofcom's analysis of the country's online habits is based on a survey of 2,481 adults who have access to a broadband connection.

Among those who took part, the most popular use of the internet was sending and receiving email (89%).

More people turned to their computer to do online banking (61%) than used it to watch television (45%).

And younger people were the least likely to be worried about their privacy while going online. Among 16 to 24-year-olds, 6% said they had concerns.

The figure rose among older users with 13% of 55 to 64-year-olds expressing reservations.

Winners and losers

The report also examines the type of websites or online services that people are spending their time on, based on research carried out by UKOM/Neilsen.

The biggest growth area, between April 2010 and April 2011, was games, which increased by 23%.

News websites took a 33% dive on the previous year, as did adult sites whose use fell by 13%.

Away from the internet, there were also noteworthy changes around the use of broadcasting technology.

Time-shifted TV viewing, using digital video recorders, made up 14% of all viewing time in 2010, 1% lower than the previous year.

Sales of 3D capable televisions appeared to be relatively sluggish, with 125,000 sets sold in 2010, compared to 1 million internet-enabled TVs.

Radio fared well, according to Ofcom, as total listener hours hit 1.04bn per week, up 2.1% on 2009.

By the beginning of 2011, a quarter of radio listening was done on a digital platform, said the regulator.

US snares global child porn ring

3 August 2011 Last updated at 16:47 ET

The US has charged 72 people it alleges were part of a global child pornography network used to share photos and videos of sexual abuse.

Announcing charges after 20 months of Operation Delego, senior US officials said some 600 users of a site known as "Dreamboard" had been investigated.

Attorney General Eric Holder said some images on the site showed the abuse of infants and young children.

The US has 43 of those charged in custody, with nine held overseas.

The 20 others charged as part of the US probe remain at large, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, and are known only by their internet pseudonyms.

'Demented dream'

Ms Napolitano described the amount of pornographic material seized as equivalent to 16,000 DVDs.

"Start Quote

This was nothing short of a nightmare"

End Quote Eric Holder US Attorney General

Authorities have arrested people in 13 other countries: Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hungary, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Members of Dreamboard traded graphic images and videos of adults molesting children aged 12 and under, often violently, the US Department of Justice said.

Collectively the members of the site created a massive private library of images of child sexual abuse.

"The members of this criminal network shared a demented dream to create the pre-eminent online community for the promotion of child sexual exploitation," Mr Holder said.

"But for the children they victimised, this was nothing short of a nightmare."

Of the 52 individuals arrested under the US investigation, 13 have pleaded guilty, a justice department statement said, including two bulletin-board administrators in Canada and France.

Operation Delego represents the largest prosecution to date in the US of those who have participated in an "online bulletin board conceived and operated for the sole purpose of promoting child sexual abuse, disseminating child pornography and evading law enforcement", the statement said.

Dreamboard was created in 2008 and shut down in early 2011 when it became evident the US government had launched a probe into the online network.

The charges being handed to members of the website carry sentences ranging from 20 years to life in prison.

Germans question tagging privacy

3 August 2011 Last updated at 13:17 ET

Facebook is being accused of violating German privacy laws with its facial recognition system.

Hamburg's privacy commissioner said that the technology was collecting users' biometric information and ordered the data be deleted.

The commissioner has the power to levy a fine of up to 300,000 euros (�261,000).

Facebook said it would be considering the claim, but rejected the accusation that it had broken the law.

In a statement, a company spokesperson added: "People like the convenience of our photo tag suggest feature which makes it easier and safer for them to manage their online identities."

Private database

Facebook introduced facial recognition to its photos application in June. The system suggests the identity of users' friends while they are tagging images.

The site came under fire at the time based on the erroneous belief that the technology could be used to identify strangers.

In reality, it is restricted to a user's friends.

However, the concerns of Hamburg's information commissioner, Dr Johannes Caspar, centre around the fact that the social network is building a private database of faces.

"The risks of such a collection of biometric data is immense," said Dr Caspar.

The commissioner's office told the BBC that it would be seeking an explanation from Facebook and that if no satisfactory response was received it would pursue an official hearing.

It is not the first time that Dr Caspar's office has tackled Facebook over privacy-related issues.

In July 2010 the commissioner initiated legal proceedings over the use of email addresses belonging to people who hadn't joined Facebook. Their contact details were being uploaded to the site by friends who were members.

As a result, Facebook changed the feature in Germany to notify users that the site might use the contacts to send unsolicited messages to their friends.

'Biggest' cyber attack revealed

3 August 2011 Last updated at 08:45 ET By Daniel Emery Technology reporter, BBC News

IT security firm McAfee claims to have uncovered one of the largest ever series of cyber attacks.

It lists 72 different organisations that were targeted over five years, including the International Olympic Committee, the UN and security firms.

McAfee will not say who it thinks is responsible, but there is speculation that China may be behind the attacks.

Beijing has always denied any state involvement in cyber-attacks, calling such accusations "groundless".

Speaking to BBC News, McAfee's chief European technology officer, Raj Samani, said the attacks were still going on.

"This is a whole different level to the Night Dragon attacks that occurred earlier this year. Those were attacks on a specific sector. This one is very, very broad."

Dubbed Operation Shady RAT - after the remote access tool that security experts and hackers use to remotely access computer networks - the five-year investigation examined information from a number of different organisations which thought they may have been hit.

"From the logs we were able to see where the traffic flow was coming from," said Mr Samani.

"In some cases, we were permitted to delve a bit deeper and see what, if anything, had been taken, and in many cases we found evidence that intellectual property (IP) had been stolen.

"The United Nations, the Indian government, the International Olympic Committee, the steel industry, defence firms, even computer security companies were hit," he added.

China speculation

McAfee said it did not know what was happening to the stolen data, but it could be used to improve existing products or help beat a competitor, representing a major economic threat.

"This was what we call a spear-phish attack, as opposed to a trawl, where they were targeting specific individuals within an organisation," said Mr Samani.

"An email would be sent to an individual with the right level of access within the system; attached to the message was a piece of malware which would then execute and open a channel to a remote website giving them access.

"Once they had access to an organisation, they either did what we would call a 'smash-and-grab' operation, where they would try and grab as much information before they got caught, or they sometimes embedded themselves in the network and [tried to] spread across different systems within an organisation."

Mr Samani said his firm would "not make any guesses on where this has come from", but China is seen by many in the industry as a prime suspect.

Jim Lewis, a cyber expert with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying it was "very likely China was behind the campaign because some of the targets had information that would be of particular interest to Beijing".

"Everything points to China. It could be the Russians, but there is more that points to China than Russia," Lewis said.

However, Graham Cluley - a computer-security expert with Sophos, is not so sure. He said: "Every time one of these reports come out, people always point the finger at China."

He told BBC News: "We cannot prove it's China. That doesn't mean we should be naive. Every country in the world is probably using the internet to spy.

"After all, it's easy and cost-effective - but there's many different countries and organisations it could be."

Mr Cluley said firms were often distracted by the very public actions of LulzSec and Anonymous, groups of online activists who have hacked a number of high-profile websites in recent months.

"Sometimes it's not about stealing your money or publicly leaking your data. It's about quietly stealing your information, which can have a very high political, military or financial value.

"In short, don't let your defences down," he added.

Internet Explorer story was bogus

3 August 2011 Last updated at 06:50 ET

A story which suggested that users of Internet Explorer have a lower IQ that people who chose other browsers appears to have been an elaborate hoax.

A number of media organisations, including the BBC, reported on the research, put out by Canadian firm ApTiquant.

It later emerged that the company's website was only recently set up and staff images were copied from a legitimate business in Paris.

It is unclear who was behind the stunt.

The story was reported by many high profile organisations including CNN, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and Forbes.

Questions about the authenticity of the story were raised by readers of the BBC website who established that the company which put out the research - ApTiquant - appeared to have only set-up its website in the past month.

Thumbnail images of the firm's staff on the website also matched those on the site of French research company Central Test, although many of the names had been changed.

The BBC contacted Central Test who confirmed that they had been made aware of the copy but had no knowledge of ApTiquant or its activities.

Research claims

ApTiquant issued a press release claming that it had invited 100,000 web users to take IQ tests and matched their results with the type of browser they used.

It also supplied extensive research data.

The results claimed to show that Internet Explorer users were generally of lower intelligence.

The BBC sought alternative views for the original story, including Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University's Statistical Laboratory, who said: "I believe these figures are implausibly low - and an insult to IE users."

No-one on ApTiquant's contact number was available for comment.

Graham Cluley, senior security consultant at Sophos examined the source material for the BBC after concerns were raised.

"It's obviously very easy to create a bogus site like this - as all phishers know it's easy to rip-off someone else's webpages and pictures," he said.

Mr Cluley also looked at the pdf file containing the data that many people had downloaded from a variety of sources and said it did not appear to contain malware.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Content ripping 'to be legalised'

2 August 2011 Last updated at 20:05 ET

Soon it will no longer be illegal to rip CDs or DVDs for personal use.

The government is poised to announce the change as it accepts some of the recommendations of the wide-ranging Hargreaves Review of UK copyright law.

The review was intended to identify legislation that has been outdated by technological change.

As well as legalising "format shifting", it also suggested relaxing rules on parody and creating an agency to licence copyrighted content.

Business secretary Vince Cable is set to announce the official response to the Hargreaves Review at a press conference.

The government is widely expected to accept and pledge to implement many parts of the review.

'Not very good law'

Millions of people regularly convert movies on DVDs and music on CDs into a format that they can move around more easily, although most do not realise that it technically illegal.

"The review pointed out that if you have a situation where 90% of your population is doing something, then it's not really a very good law," said Simon Levine, head of the intellectual property and technology group at DLA Piper.

"Start Quote

It's about riffing off, not passing off"

End Quote Susan Hall Cobbets LLP

Legalising non-commercial copying for private use would bring the UK into line with many other nations and also meet the "reasonable expectations" of consumers, said the government.

The change would not make it legal to make copies and then share them online.

The legal anomaly preventing personal "ripping" was one of many identified by Professor Ian Hargreaves in the review as stifling innovation.

One technology caught out by the law was the Brennan JB7 music player that lets owners copy their CDs onto a hard drive that can be accessed from around a home.

The Advertising Standards Authority demanded that Brennan advise customers that using the JB7 breaks the law.

Copycat

Some legal experts believe that the acceptance of format shifting, combined with relaxations on manipulating works for the purpose of parody, paved the way for creative people to use content in different ways.

Susan Hall, a media specialist at law firm Cobbetts LLP, said the changes would give many artists "room to breathe" and remove the nervousness they might feel when using another work as inspiration.

One example that would be tolerated under the new regime is the Welsh rap song Newport State of Mind which was based on Jay Z and Alicia Keys's song Empire State of Mind.

Despite winning many fans on YouTube, the track was removed following a copyright claim by EMI. It is still available on other websites.

"There are all sorts of things that are genuine artistic works which are nevertheless based on parody, caricature and pastiche," said Ms Hall.

Updated laws on copyright could have a profound effect on the popular culture that can be created, albeit one that was hard to measure, she added.

One example is that of Doctor Who writers Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat who began their careers writing fan fiction about the time lord.

Such creative synergies could become more common in a more tolerant copyright climate, suggested Ms Hall.

"Rights holders are often very nervous about things like this but when you come down to it, it's the people that buy everything who also go to the trouble of writing and creating more," she said.

"It's about riffing off, not passing off."

Data of Sun website users stolen

2 August 2011 Last updated at 05:52 ET

Thousands of people who entered competitions on The Sun website have been warned that their personal information may have been stolen.

The paper's publisher, News Group, said the data was taken when the site was hacked on 19 July.

Some of the details, including applications for the Miss Scotland contest, have been posted online.

The company said it had reported the matter to the police and the Information Commissioner.

News International, News Group's parent company, issued a statement that said: "We take customer data extremely seriously and are working with the relevant authorities to resolve this matter.

"We are directly contacting any customer affected by this."

The stolen information is believed to include names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses and phone numbers.

No financial or password data was compromised, the company said.

Patent row hits Galaxy Tab launch

2 August 2011 Last updated at 06:28 ET

Samsung has delayed the Australian launch of its Galaxy tablet because of its patent dispute with Apple.

Apple and Samsung are suing each other in courts around the world over technologies used in tablets.

As part of the negotiations over the Australian leg of that dispute, Samsung agreed to delay the launch of a US version of the Galaxy Tab.

Apple wants to see imminent Australian versions of the Tab 10.1 to see if they differ from those already made.

In a court hearing on 1 August, Apple claimed that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 infringes on 10 of its patents most of which cover the touchscreen interface.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the agreement to suspend the 11 August launch was reached by the two firms' lawyers at the court hearing.

Talks between the two firms were ongoing, said Samsung, and if an agreement was reached, the Galaxy could be launched in Australia. The two companies are next due in court in Sydney on 29 August.

Samsung was continuing work on a version of the Galaxy made specifically for Australia which would be released in the "near future" and was not covered by the legal deal.

"This undertaking does not affect any other Samsung smartphone or tablet available in the Australian market or other countries," said the firm.

Global row

Samsung's decision not to fight the ruling blocking the launch could be significant for the wider row between the two firms, said patent analyst Florian Mueller.

"...the fact that Samsung didn't just stand up to defend the US version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 serves as an indication that Apple's allegations probably have some merit," he wrote in a blog post on the decision.

Mr Mueller said that Apple and Samsung now faced each other in eleven courts in nine different countries.

The row began in April when Apple sued Samsung in a US court alleging that tablets and phones made by the Korean company were "slavish" copies of the iPad and iPhone.

In retaliation, Samsung launched legal action in Asia and Europe before counter-suing Apple in America.

A US judge is scheduled to decide on Apple's original lawsuit in mid-October.

iPhone maker to employ more robots

2 August 2011 Last updated at 02:33 ET

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, which assembles products for firms including Apple, said it would sharply increase its use of automated equipment in its factories.

The company plans to have 300,000 robots by next year, Chairman Terry Gou was quoted as saying by local media.

Foxconn currently has 10,000 machines doing basic manufacturing work.

The company has had major labour issues in the past such as wage disputes and worker suicides.

Mr Gou's comments were made at a staff gathering in Longhua and were first reported by the China Business News and the Financial Times newspaper.

The company has since released a statement, saying that Mr Gou wanted to move 1 million employees "higher up the value chain".

In the statement, Mr Gou added that the move towards automation was aimed at shifting "workers from more routine tasks to more value-added positions in manufacturing such as research and development, innovation and other areas that are equally important to the success of our operations".

Rising salaries

The bulk of Foxconn's manufacturing is done in mainland China and wages have been on the rise.

Foxconn, as well as other manufacturers, have tried offsetting this increase in costs by moving factories and production bases inland, where labour, land and energy are often cheaper.

Some analysts say that the automation could be another way to cut costs.

Alistair Thornton, China analyst for IHS Global Insight in Beijing, said that the company was "leading the way in the next phase of automation for low-cost production".

"It's no longer easy to double production by doubling your work force, it might be now cheaper to buy a new machine in the long run," he added.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Teen in court over hacking attack

1 August 2011 Last updated at 07:33 ET

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Jake Davis leaves court in London

A teenager from the Shetland Islands charged over alleged computer hacking has appeared in court.

Jake Davis, 18, is accused of unauthorised computer access and conspiracy to carry out a distributed denial of service attack on the Serious Organised Crime Agency's website.

He appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday

District Judge Howard Riddle released him on bail until a Southwark Crown Court appearance set for 30 August.

Davis wore a denim shirt with black T-shirt underneath and only spoke to confirm his personal details.

His arrest on Wednesday by the Metropolitan Police's e-Crime Unit was part of a police investigation into hacking groups known as Anonymous and LulzSec.

LulzSec has also been linked to hacking attempts on the NHS, Sony, and The Sun newspaper, the court heard.

The UK Serious Organised Crime agency took its website offline for several hours on 20 June after it appeared to be a victim of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. LulzSec claimed responsibility for the attack.

DDoS is where large numbers of computers, under malicious control, overload their target with web requests.

Ryan Cleary, 19, of Wickford, Essex, was charged last month with five offences under the Criminal Law and Computer Misuse Acts, including an alleged hacking attack against Soca's website.

LulzSec has previously also claimed responsibility for hacking attacks on the US Senate, Sony, the CIA and the Sun newspaper.

A 16-year-old boy from south London was arrested and bailed last week, while the international investigation has also led to sixteen arrests in the United States and four in the Netherlands.

World News | Latest News

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Third of adults 'use smartphone'

US snares global child porn ring

"Start Quote

Germans question tagging privacy

'Biggest' cyber attack revealed

Internet Explorer story was bogus

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Content ripping 'to be legalised'

"Start Quote

Data of Sun website users stolen

Patent row hits Galaxy Tab launch

iPhone maker to employ more robots

Monday, August 1, 2011

Teen in court over hacking attack

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