Symantec blames yesterday's code for today's security flaws

Legacy code is still a factor in the security problems facing modern software. Internet users are facing cyber attacks from flaws in software that are discovered at the rate of seven a day, according to Symantec's Internet Security Threat report for the latter half of 2003. The report reveals the trend is rising - in 2003 the company recorded 2,636 new vulnerabilities compared with 2,587 for 2002. ...more

LaCie unveils fastest 500GB FireWire drive

LaCie has introduced a new FireWire hard drive that it claims is faster than most internal drives. The 500GB drive employs a FireWire 800 connection to deliver a sustained throughput of 88MB per second. The company says it is ideal for video editing, VideoRAID and 2D and 3D image work. ...more

Microsoft contract win put down to Linux skills shortage

Microsoft may find a monopoly on developers will help it maintain its grip on the software market in the face of Linux alternatives. Redmond is currently touting the roll-out by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) of Microsoft's server and back-end technology in its e-commerce driven online portal as a win over Linux, the platform on which the site originally ran. But Richard Carlson, Head of Business Systems, RICS, said that the decision to go with Microsoft was taken very early on before the job was put out to tender - on the basis that RICS' in-house developers were in the main Microsoft coders. ...more

Renaissance cam

Fujifilm launches digicam that records 6 megapixel images and offers full VGA movies. The FinePix M603 camera including 512MB IBM Microdrive will cost you less than ?700 on the high street when it is launched in November, but it's the first digital stills camera to add a truly useful movie mode. While DV camcorders can take stills, they can't compete in quality to the huge dedicated CCDs of digital cameras. ...more

One million euros awarded to Web inventor

Is Sir Tim Berners-Lee the greatest living Briton? The Finnish Technology Award Foundation certainly thinks so - it has awarded its Millennium Technology Prize and €1mn to the inventor of the World Wide Web. 'Many people have already benefited by Berners-Lee's innovation,' said Pekka Tarjanne, chairman of the International Award Selection Committee. 'The Web is encouraging new types of social networks, supporting transparency and democracy, and opening up novel avenues for information management and business development. ...more