Majority of phishing websites 'assembled from kits'

New research has found that almost all phishing websites are made from off-the-shelf components available from the internet. The study carried out by IBM's Internet Security Systems subsidiary found that 92 per cent of new phishing web sites were kit-based. The company's X-Force research team found that out of 3,544 phishing websites recently identified, 3,256 of them used tools that allow a non-technical attacker to rapidly deploy multiple phishing websites (with multiple DNS host entries for virtual hosts) on a single host (i. ...more

iTunes model key to online music success

Following Apple's successful iTunes model is the key to a successful online music business, according to a new report by Forrester Research. The report argues that the combination of an easy-to-use interface which as well as giving you access to music, lets you organise it, burn CDs and copy songs to a portable player are all necessary elements if rival services are to compete with Apple's. It also stresses the importance of having the right marketing strategy, and praises Apple's strategy of achieving as high a profile as possible, through advertising and setting up alliances with AOL and Pepsi that would not be reached simply by promoting the product through its website. ...more

Dell launches cost-effective multi-functional laser printer

Dell's first multi-functional colour laser printer aimed at small- and medium-sized businesses will be available from Tuesday next week. The Multifunction Colour Laser 3115cn combines standalone and network print, scan, copy and fax functionality and is capable of printing up to 30 monochrome and 17 colour pages per minute. To ease manageability, the new printer comes with Dell's ColourTrack2 printer management software, which controls access rights to who can and can't print colour copies. ...more

China rejects WAPI rejection

China is to continue to promote its WAPI wireless security protocol as a standard despite its overwhelming rejection by the ISO in favour of 802.11i. Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that sources within the China BWIPS (China Broadband Wireless IP standard Group) say it plans to appeal the decision by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to go with the alternative, better established standard from the US IEEE group. ...more

Researcher sacked for Microsoft monopoly attack

A computer security firm has sacked one of its employees for contributing to a research paper which claims that the dominance of Microsoft's Windows operating system is to blame for the increased vulnerability of computers to attack. Dan Geer was principal author of the paper entitled 'Cyber Insecurity: the cost of monopoly' - available as a PDF, which was backed by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). He argues that, 'As fast as the world's computing infrastructure is growing, vulnerability to attack is growing faster still. ...more