USB 'will continue its reign'

A technology market research company has published the results of its investigation into the future of USB and concluded that the new, faster version - USB 2.0 - 'is poised to successfully succeed the first generation USB standard'. USB 2. ...more

UK hacker headed back to court after CMA found wanting

A teenager freed under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act (CMA) after being accused of bombarding a former employer with millions of emails is facing a retrial after an appeal decision ruled that the judge had been wrong to clear him. David Lennon, now 18, was cleared last November by District Judge Kenneth Grant at Wimbledon Magistrates Court when he ruled that the sending of some five million emails in order to take down an email server did not constitute unauthorised access or modification of computer systems, with which he was charged. However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed the decision and the Royal Courts of Justice decided yesterday that Judge Grant was wrong to conclude there was no case to answer. ...more

Cryptography break threatens digital signatures

Researchers in the field of cryptography have been successfully breaking the hash functions that are used to secure the privacy of electronic communications, threatening the integrity of digital signatures, according to a report on Slashdot. Details from the Crypto 2004 conference indicate that one Antoine Joux has broken the hash function used within the SHA-0 algorithm, and there are rumours that somebody is about to announce a partial break of the SHA-1, which is one of most popular cryptographic hash functions (CHF). As well as potentially undermining secure email web connections, such breakthroughs threaten the integrity of digital signatures. ...more

HP launches 8x write speed DVD burners and new Media Center PCs

HP has launched an armada of new kit in the UK including 8x write speed DVD burners and more Media Center PCs. The DVD drives start at ?129 for the internal IDE drive, ?179 for the external and ?219 for the new Movie Writer dc4000 which includes all the ports, wires and software you need to back up your VHS tapes too. The m400 series of Media Center desktops cost either ?1,199 or ?1,299 depending on specification although both are based on Hyper Threading P4s and offer large disks for storing media files. ...more

Apple schedules another special media event

Apple has scheduled another special media event, the third in the space of six weeks. The invitation-only event will take place in New York on 19 October, the day before the PhotoPlus Expo kicks off in the city. As ever Apple is giving little away, saying only that it will unveil its 'latest pro innovations'. ...more