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Submission + - Oracle broadens legal fight against third-party Solaris support providers (computerworld.com.au) 1

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: Oracle is continuing its legal battle against third-party software support providers it alleges are performing such services in a manner that violates its intellectual property. Last week, Oracle sued StratisCom, a Georgia company that offers customers support for Oracle's Solaris OS, claiming it had "misappropriated and distributed copyright, proprietary software code, along with the login credentials necessary to download this code from Oracle's password-protected websites."

Submission + - Security vendors self-censor Target breach details (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: At least three security companies have scrubbed information related to Target from the Web, highlighting the ongoing sensitivity around one of the largest-ever data breaches. How hackers broke into Target and installed malware on point-of-sale terminals that harvested up to 40 million payment card details is extremely sensitive. Now, details that give insight into the attack are being hastily removed or redacted by security companies.

Submission + - Target-related malware was a side job for man living in Russia (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: In a surprising TV interview, a 23-year-old living in Russia said he helped code a software program that experts believe was eventually modified to steal tens of millions of payment card details from Target. Rinat Shabayev, who lives in Saratov, Russia, told Lifenews.ru that the program has a defensive purpose of finding software problems but could have been abused by criminals. The news outlet characterized his work on the program as a side job, quoting him as saying, "I am trying to find work. I want to find a normal and stable job and time to start my own business."

Submission + - Target credit card data was sent to server in Russia (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: The stolen credit card numbers of millions of Target shoppers took an international trip — to Russia. A peek inside the malicious software that infected Target's POS (point-of-sale) terminals is revealing more detail about the methods of the attackers as security researchers investigate one of the most devastating data breaches in history. Findings from two security companies show the attackers breached Target's network and stayed undetected for more than two weeks. Over two weeks, the malware collected 11GB of data from Target's POS terminals. The data was first quietly moved to another server on Target's network and then transmitted in chunks to a U.S.-based server that the attackers had hijacked. Logs from that compromised server show the data was moved again to a server based in Russia starting on Dec. 2.

Submission + - California court dismisses Google Glass traffic ticket (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: A court in Southern California has dismissed what was apparently the first-ever traffic citation issued for wearing Google Glass while driving. Cecilia Abadie was stopped for speeding in late October. When a California Highway Patrol officer approached her, he noticed she was wearing the Google Glass device and issued a second ticket for that. However a court commissioner in San Diego dismissed the Google Glass ticket, saying he could find no evidence that the device was in use while Abadie was driving

Submission + - US government to convert Silk Road bitcoins to USD (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: The founder of the Silk Road underground website has forfeited the site and thousands of bitcoins, worth around US$28 million at current rates, to the U.S. government. The approximately 29,655 bitcoins were seized from the Silk Road website when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) moved to close it in late September. "The United States Marshals Service shall dispose of the Silk Road Hidden Website and the Silk Road Server Bitcoins according to law," wrote Judge J. Paul Oetken, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in a court order that was issued this week. The ruling represents the largest-ever forfeiture of bitcoins. "It is the intention of the government to ultimately convert the bitcoins to U.S. currency," said Jim Margolin, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York.

Submission + - Adobe adds 3D printer support to Photoshop (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: Adobe has rolled out an update to Photoshop that incorporates direct support for 3D printing. According to Adobe, they don't expect most users to directly create 3D meshes in Photoshop. Instead they expect most of the time people will import objects from other applications and then use Photoshop as a finishing tool to tweak and repair meshes — in a similar fashion to how Photoshop can be used to tweak photos before production. The application currently directly supports MakerBot printers and the online Shapeways service. More printer support is coming (printer profiles are editable XML files) and the application can also export STL files that can be copied to a USB drive and used on other brands of 3D printer.

Submission + - Amazon drones are 'fantasy,' says eBay CEO (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: In the race to deliver online shopping purchases faster, drones don't impress eBay's CEO. "We're not focusing on long-term fantasies, we're focusing on things we can do today," John Donahue said in an interview. He was reacting to an interview Jeff Bezos, CEO of e-commerce rival Amazon, gave last weekend in which he said Amazon is investigating the use of drones for package delivery.

Submission + - Encrypted social network vies for disgruntled Facebook users (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: With the look of Google Plus and Facebook-like elements, a new social network named "Syme" feels as cozy as a well-worn shoe. But beneath the familiar veneer, it's quite different. Syme encrypts all content, such as status updates, photos and files, so that only people invited to a group can view it. Syme, which hosts the content on its Canada-based servers, says it can't read it. "The overarching goal of Syme is to make encryption accessible and easy to use for people who aren't geeks or aren't hackers or who aren't cryptography experts," co-founder Jonathan Hershon said in an interview about the service.

Submission + - MenuetOS, an OS written entirely in assembly language, inches towards 1.0 (computerworld.com.au) 2

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: MenuetOS is an open source GUI-equipped operating system written entirely in assembly language that can fit on a floppy disk (if you can find one). I originally spoke to its developers in 2009. Recently I had a chance to catch up with them to chat about what's changed and what needs to be done before the OS hits version 1.0 after 13 years of work.

Submission + - Fuel cell-powered data centres could cut costs, carbon (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: A group of Microsoft researchers believe that using fuel cells to power data centres could potentially result in an "over 20% reduction in costs using conservative projections", cutting infrastructure and power input costs. In addition, using fuel cells would likely result in a smaller carbon footprint for data centres. The researchers looked at the potential of using fuel cells at the rack level to power servers in data centres — although they note there is a long way to go before this could become a reality (not least of the small worldwide production level of fuel cells).

Submission + - Project seeks to build inexpensive 9-inch monitor for Raspberry Pi (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: A Kickstarter project is aiming to bring an inexpensive 9-inch portable monitor to the popular US$25 Raspberry Pi PC, which comes without a keyboard, mouse or monitor. The "HDMIPi" will include an LCD panel that will show images at a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Computers can be hooked up to the monitor via an HDMI controller board that can be wired to the LCD. The display is being made by Raspi.TV and Cyntech.

Submission + - Oracle shareholders vote against Ellison's compensation package (again) (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by angry tapir
angry tapir writes: A majority of Oracle shareholders have once again voted against the company's executive pay practices, including for CEO Larry Ellison. The vote at Oracle's annual shareholder meeting is nonbinding, and follows complaints from some large shareholders and their representatives who say Ellison is overpaid compared to his peers. Ellison is paid US$1 in salary, receiving the rest of his pay in stock options. In Oracle's past fiscal year, that totaled $76.9 million. Shareholders voted against Oracle's executive pay practices at last year's meeting as well.

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