The total economic cost of software security flaws has been estimated at about $180 billion a year. A former cryptographer for the National Security Agency and NASA suggests creating a tax on software based on the number and severity of security bugs, even if the cost gets passed on to consumers, in order to hold software manufacturers accountable.
Category: Technology
Gmail has introduced a new privacy feature that will let users see how many computers their account is open on, and also allows them to sign-out remotely.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he had no sympathy for the parents, and that he was tired of “Googlers” who felt entitled to perks like “bottled water and M&Ms”.
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Tech giants team up for patents
“Information technology giants are teaming up in defense against potential patent-infringement lawsuits, the Wall Street Journal said on Sunday” – Reuters
Companies Include Verizon, Google, CIsco, HP and Ericsson and the group is called Allied Security Trust. (via slashdot)
Silicon Valley is experimenting with bacteria that have been genetically altered to provide ‘renewable petroleum’. Genetic alteration of very, very small bugs makes it possible for them to feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw and excrete crude oil.
Come 2Q09 and you’ll find thousands of new top-level domain names (TLDs), from .paris to .pepsi, in one of the biggest shake-ups in Internet history.
Dutch security researchers rode the London Underground free for a day after easily using an ordinary laptop to clone the “smartcards” commuters use to pay fares, a hack that highlights a serious security flaw because similar cards provide access to thousands of government offices, hospitals and schools.
The Dynamic Tower design is made up of 80 pre-fabricated apartments which will spin independently of one another. According to the creators — this building never looks the same, not once in a lifetime; and would be energy self-sufficient and even feed extra power back into the grid!
Fiona Bruce of BBC presents the definitive profile of Bill Gates as he prepares to step down next week from full-time involvement with Microsoft. (Available to view online for 6 more days and dowloadable to view for 30 days).
Note: BBC iPlayer downloads only works in the UK.
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File sharing may get banned in UK
“Internet would be a much better place if sharing of any kind would be stopped altogether – at least that’s what some people seem to think. Lord Triesman, the parliamentary Under Secretary for Innovation, Universities and Skills in the UK government, called on ISPs to voluntarily stop illegal file sharing in their networks, threatening to legislate if they don’t comply.” – Mashable