Report warns of growing threat of hacking

The threat to computer systems from hackers is getting worse, not better, despite improvements to operating system security, a new report has warned. The SANS Institute in the US reports that 422 new vulnerabilities were discovered in the second quarter of 2005, an 11 per cent rise on the previous three months and almost a fifth higher than last year. The rise reflects hackers' change of focus from operating systems, primarily Windows, which are now considered extremely secure, to applications which access the Internet, chiefly browsers but increasingly other programmes such as Apple's iTunes and RealPlayer. ...more

Intel rejigs Xeon pricing

Intel has rejigged the pricing for its 32-bit Xeon server processor range. The 3.06GHz Xeon, with 1MB of L2 cache, is cut by 34 per cent, from $690 to $455. ...more

MGI releases VideoWave 4 and your editing talent

With camcorders everywhere these days there's no end of would-be film-makers with footage of holidays and newborns. MGI's VideoWave 4 DV Suite has everything you need to start movie-making from your PC. Along with the software, VideoWave 4 comes complete with an IEEE1394 (FireWire or iLink) PCI card sporting three 400Mbit/sec ports and a DV cable to get you started out of the box all for just under ?100. ...more

Change your stock practices, shareholders tell Apple

A filing made by Apple this week indicates that some of its shareholders are asking it to change its stock options practices in light of investigations into irregularities in past grants. Amalgamated BankLongView Collective Investment Fund and Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds have proposed that stock options granted to senior Apple executives should have an exercise price equal to an average of the opening and closing prices of the underlying stock on the grant date. The shareholders have also asked that options grant dates should be set and disclosed in advance, according to an Apple filing with the U. ...more

Sun silent on staff lay-offs

Sun Microsystems has offered no official comment on rumours that it has executed the next phase of its plan to shed up to 5,000 staff. New chief executive Jonathan Schwartz is charged with reducing operational costs by between $480 million and $590 million by the end of the company's 2007 financial year. 'I believe that execution of our strategy to provide innovation and choice will pay off in value to customers and that value will be reflected in business performance,' Schwartz said when the restructuring regime was announced. ...more