News: Nokia Confirms N-Gage Cracked

By | November 24, 2011
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 Nokia has confirmed a story doing the rounds yesterday: that hackers have cracked the copy-protection codes for its newly launched N-Gage gaming device, allowing copied games to be downloaded over the Web, according to Reuters.
 
 
Nokia has high hopes for N-Gage, aiming to challenge market leader Nintendo’s Gameboy Advance. A vital part of the revenue from N-Gage will come from games, which are sold separately, but Nokia said it did not expect the illegal downloads to become widespread. The cracked versions of the games can in principle be installed and played on any phone that uses the same basic operating software, Series 60, used in N-Gage. Other models include Siemens’s SX1.

News: The Explanation Behind All Those Attacks?

By | November 24, 2011
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 It seems that there’s a purpose behind the viruses we’ve all been getting: old-fashioned extortion. Reuters reports that extortionists — many thought to come from eastern Europe — have been targetting casinos and retailers, but one recent high-profile victim was the Port of Houston. The attacks, which can cripple a corporate network with a barrage of bogus data requests, are followed by a demand for money. An effective attack can knock a Web site offline for extended periods.
 
Online casinos appear to be a favorite target as they do brisk business and many are located in the Caribbean where investigators are poorly equipped to tackle such investigations. Police said because of a lack of information from victimized companies, they are unsure whether these are isolated incidents or the start of a new crime wave.
 
Last week, the online payment service WorldPay admitted to suffering a major DDoS attack that lasted three days. WorldPay, owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, has been fully restored. The NHTCU spokeswoman said the investigation into the WorldPay is ongoing.

News: Say Goodbye To Popups

By | November 24, 2011
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 Pop Up ads are doomed, now that Microsoft will make blocking them part of its browser, Internet Explorer. Explorer, ZDNet says, joins other web browsers by doing it, but because of its huge market share, it’s likely to kill off the concept entirely. No bad thing, you may say, but it will also hit advertising revenues and may kill off more than a few ventures that depend on ads.
 
The moves by Microsoft and others are the result of deep consumer loathing of pop-ups. About 88 percent of broadband users and 87 percent of dial-up users in North America find that pop-ups interfere with their Web surfing experience, according to Forrester Research.

News: Trademarks, Slaps In The Face and McJobs

By | November 24, 2011
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 An interesting tale that is not that technology-oriented, but illustrates how stories now tend to unfold in real time, in front of everyone, leaving less and less wiggle-room for companies and institutions involved. Merriam-Webster, The Register says, is revising a web page for its online Collegiate Dictionary after a McDonalds executive complained about the inclusion of the word ‘McJob’. The publisher, however, insists that the two events are not related, and says the word remained in the dictionary and would be restored online.