John Lister

The IT professionals behind next year's London Olympics are to carry out two simulated cyber-attacks to test their system. However, officials say they aren't aware of any specific threats. The move follows warnings in 2009 by the United Kingdom's ... then Home Secretary (roughly equivalent to head of the Department for Homeland Security), David Blunkett. He warned that without co-ordinated defenses, the system could come under attack. Blunkett suggested this might be a case of attempted disruption of the event rather than attempts to steal money, with criminals targeting ticketing and ... (view more)

Apple has announced it sold more than four million iPhone 4S handsets in the first three days after its launch. However, legal action could put a halt to sales in Japan and Australia. Apple iPhone 4s: Fastest Selling iPhone to Date According to ... reports, Apple racked up the four million sales this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday, making this the fastest-selling iPhone model. While it won't keep that pace up as the initial rush winds down, there's still a good chance it could set a world record. Guiness World of Records is monitoring sales across the next two to three months, paying particular ... (view more)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has accused a 35 year old man of hacking Scarlett Johansson's cellphone and stealing photographs of the actress in a state of undress. Christopher Chaney, of Jacksonville, Florida, has been charged with ... several offenses after allegedly compromising the security of more than 50 people, including other celebrities. The offenses are believed to involve a string of entertainers, including singer Christina Aguilera, actress Mila Kunis, celebrity stylist Simone Harouche and jazz singer Renee Olstead. It's thought the attacks involved both direct access to ... (view more)

A group of German hacking enthusiasts says the country's government is unlawfully spying on people online. It says officials are secretly using a monitoring tool in a way not authorized by the courts. The accusations come from the Chaos Computer ... Club (CCC), a group of hackers who seek to find creative and unconventional uses for technology rather than merely causing disruption by illegally accessing data. Ironically, that's exactly what they say the German government is doing. The claims involve Bundestrojaner, a government-run application that is effectively a Trojan horse, software that can ... (view more)

Microsoft says it is rethinking the way the Start Menu will work in Windows 8. It's partly a response to user behavior and partly a recognition that more people will be using touchscreen devices in the future. By default, the Start Menu appears on ... the left-hand side of the screen, either when the user clicks the Windows logo in the bottom left corner, or presses the dedicated Windows key on their keyboard. Fewer Users Use Start Menu, Says Microsoft The Start Menu menu serves several functions by listing recently used applications, commonly used applications, a complete list of all ... (view more)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has come up with an idea to help rural Americans gain access to broadband. It involves an overhaul of the system that currently guarantees telephone service to virtually all of the population. The current ... system, the Universal Service Fund (USF), relies on a 15 per cent levy on telecommunications services revenue. This money is then used to subsidize telephone line provision in areas where suppliers say it isn't commercially viable to install lines and still make a profit. The fund also covers the costs of making sure schools, healthcare facilities ... (view more)

Microsoft is planning to introduce a rule by which most Windows 8 computers will be unable to run any other system. It should improve security, but could be bad news for users that prefer to have more than one operating system installed on their ... PCs. The new rules will apply to computer manufacturers who want to use the official Windows 8 logo on the machine and in marketing. It's perfectly possible to sell legitimate Windows 8 computers without the logo, but the chances are most major manufacturers will follow the rules. (Source: dreamwidth.org ) Operating System Guarded by Identification ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed that the default settings for Windows 8 won't support web plug-ins such as Adobe Flash. However, unlike Apple's portable devices, such systems won't be completely blocked. iPhone, iPad Don't Use Adobe Flash Devices such as the ... iPhone and iPad currently do not include support for Flash, which is used for a wide variety of website animations and online video. The reason why these devices don't support Flash is simply because Flash is too prone to bugs and uses too much memory to be suitable for Apple devices, particularly given the company's obsession with providing a ... (view more)

Sony is attempting to get gamers to give up their rights to file lawsuits against the company over the breach of its PlayStation Network (PSN) which took place earlier this year. A new update to the PSN terms and conditions says that a user agrees ... that any dispute with Sony must be taken to a neutral arbitrator rather than going to the courts. This includes not only disputes about the terms and conditions themselves, but also any alleged breaches of the law. (Source: pcworld.com ) It's likely many users will simply click to agree the new rules without reading them. Those that do agree are ... (view more)