'Bot Roast' nets cyber criminals

The FBI's operation to combat botnets, dubbed Bot Roast, has succeeded in securing the convictions of an array of cyber criminals, it has been reported.

After commencing in 2005, Bot Roast has moved into its second phase and the FBI has so far discovered over $20 million in losses caused by botnets. It has also announced that it has secured guilty pleas from two hackers, indicted three and sentenced three more.

In addition, a teenager based in New Zealand, who is believed to be the ringleader of a sizable botnet gang, has been arrested. The teenager cannot be named, but is known by his online alias of Akill.

Allegedly Akill and his gang skimmed millions of dollars from those who use online banking. According to the FBI, up to 1.3 million computers were under Akill's direct control. If convicted, the teenager could face up to a decade in prison.

AT&T offers free music for Xmas

To mark the holiday season AT&T is offering a brand new selection of music, games and e-cards to its customers.

New holiday-themed ring tones and answer tones can be acquired by AT&T customers completely free of charge and include favorites such as Jingle Bells, Noche de Paz and the Dreidel Song. Among the answer tones that one can choose from are Rockin Around the Christmas Tree by Cyndi Lauper and Wizards in Winter by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Mark Collins, vice president of consumer data for AT&T's wireless unit, said: "This time of year is traditionally one of the most popular for music and entertainment downloads. "AT&T is excited to offer free and festive holiday favorites for customers to enjoy throughout the season." As well as the music on offer, AT&T has also made available a new game, entitled Santa's Tower Bloxx, by Digital Chocolate.

Meanwhile AT&T's Virtual National Customer Service Center has been named as one of 2007's top ten projects.

Hold The Phone!!! Wait I take that back. YIKES!

LG Phone Battery Explosion Kills Korean

In the first such case in Korea, a 33-year-old man was found dead on Wednesday, presumably killed by a cell phone battery explosion, police said. The cell phone was the product of a LG Electronics.

The man, identified only by his family name, Sur, was found dead by his coworkers at a quarry in North Chungcheong Province where he was employed as a shovel operator, according to the police.

"When I was going up the stony hill to set dynamite, I found a man lying down beside an electronic shovel," said a coworker identified as Kwon. "He was already bleeding from the nose. He had a mobile phone with a melted battery in his left shirt pocket. His shirt had soot on it in the shape of the phone." Prof. Kim Hoon at Chungbuk National University, who examined the body, presumed the death was caused by a phone battery explosion.

"He was injured in the left side of his chest. His ribs and spine were broken. The explosion punctured his heart and lungs, leading to his death," Kim said.

Sur's family and coworkers said he had no chronic diseases.

The death marks the first time that a person has been killed by a cell phone battery explosion in South Korea. In June, Chinese media reported that a person was killed by a mobile phone explosion in China.

Google's Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal

Creates renewable energy Research and Development group and supports breakthrough technologies

Google today announced a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. The newly created initiative, known as RE C, will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies. RE C is hiring engineers and energy experts to lead its research and development work, which will begin with a significant effort on solar thermal technology, and will also investigate enhanced geothermal systems and other areas. In 2008, Google expects to spend tens of millions on research and development and related investments in renewable energy. As part of its capital planning process, the company also anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns.

"We have gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by building efficient data centers," said Larry Page, Google Co-founder and President of Products. "We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper than from coal."

Chinese youth 'addicted' to the internet

Over two-thirds of young Chinese view the internet as an "essential" part of their lives, a new survey from the ad firm JWT and the investment company IAC has found.

Approximately half of the 16 to 25-year-olds surveyed said that their online lives were more rewarding and visceral than their real ones. Young American users of the internet on the other hand were shown to have a more evenly balanced view regarding the internet, the survey discovered. A full 42 percent of the Chinese youth surveyed said they felt addicted to the internet, compared with 18 percent of the Americans surveyed. However, IAC chairman Barry Diller said that he thinks there are advantages to China's embrace of the internet.

He said: "The Chinese people seem to be way ahead of Americans in living a digital life. "More activity online means a more connected and a more evolved workforce - just what China needs as it moves from being the workshop of the world to a developed economy in its own right."

Symantec protects smartphones

Security software company Symantec has launched its new security product for mobile devices.

Dubbed Norton Smartphone Security, the product provides protection for devices which use both Windows Mobile and Symbian OS. As well as Norton Antivirus, the new product also has a firewall and antispam for text messaging. Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec, said: "Smartphones are expanding consumer freedom to communicate and access important information anytime, anywhere.

"However, unsecure public Wi-Fi or network connections can put users at risk. In addition, web and email viruses can directly infect smartphones, enabling hackers to remotely control the device, access sensitive information or disable applications." Mr Trollope added that Smartphone Security "runs discreetly in the background" and provides users the knowledge that they are safe to email, browse the internet or even bank online from a mobile device. Meanwhile, it has been reported that businesses in the Asia-Pacific region are to spend at least $2.8 billion on IT security a study from Access Markets International found.

Hackers target Black Friday

Experts have warned that hackers are preparing to step up their activities to target online holiday shoppers, reports PC World.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, known to retailers as Black Friday, will mark the start of a shopping free-for-all, but will also be the signal to cyber criminals to augment their efforts, Secure Computing has warned. Black Friday is followed by what has been deemed Cyber Monday, when thousands of Americans shop online for gifts from their places of work.

Paul Henry, vice president of strategic accounts at Secure Computing, told PC World: "The holiday season in general is a huge time for hackers ... [and] Black Friday is typically the start. "This year, my biggest concern for consumers is all the web-borne malware out there." He added that online consumers should be especially wary of unsolicited emails which advertise amazing shopping deals. These are often just bait, created by cyber criminals. For more information on digital products and services visit Broadband National.

New Jersey cracks down on internet dating

New Jersey is currently pushing through legislation which will require online dating websites to tell their customers whether or not they have performed background checks on users of the site.

Furthermore, the Internet Dating Safety Act stipulates that if the site does perform background checks, it must then state whether it allows those who have failed the checks to use the site. Sponsors of the bill claim that it would ensure that the websites themselves take responsibility for the safety of dating online.

However, internet dating sites are opposed to the legislation, maintaining that background checks are not reliable enough to be trusted. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson told the Associated Press: "We are charged with protecting the safety of the public we serve and this bill is a major step, even though it's not the perfect bill."

Internet giant Yahoo! is opposed to the act.

Doubts cast on DoubleClick deal

The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been urged by two senators to subject the proposed acquisition of DoubleClick by Google to in-depth examination.

Google wants to buy the internet advertising giant DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, but the deal has been held up while the FTC examines whether it could violate antitrust laws. Now Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah and Senator Herb Kohl, a Democrat from Wisconsin, have both called on the FTC to seriously look at whether the deal could hurt competition on the internet.

The two senators wrote: "While we have not reached any definitive conclusion regarding this issue, we urge that you only approve the merger if you determine that it will not cause any substantial lessening of competition with respect to internet advertising." Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick is only one episode in a recent scramble by the big internet companies to grab a piece of the lucrative internet advertising sector. For information on other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Cyber Monday kicks off spending

This holiday season is set to see a horde of online shoppers purchase their Christmas gifts over the internet and it is all to start in a week, on so-called Cyber Monday.

The Monday after Thanksgiving is the traditional start of the holiday spending scramble and many online retailers have waited until now to offer their best deals. Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org, said: "As more people rely on the internet for holiday shopping, retailers have stepped up their game to compete.

"This year, promotions on Cyber Monday are extremely competitive as online retailers use an assortment of one-day specials to send shoppers online."
Currently over half of US homes have access to broadband internet and the popularity of online shopping has increased yearly of late. A poll, commissioned by Shop.org and carried out by BIGresearch, found that 54.5 percent of office workers with internet access intended on shopping from work in the coming weeks.