Thursday
31st January 2002
MICROSOFT RELEASES WIN2000
SECURITY FIXES
Microsoft
announced today that it will release a 17Mb "Windows 2000 Security Rollup
Package" - a cumulative collection of all the security fixes the company
has issued since its last Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 release in May last
year. The move has been welcomed by analysts who've become increasingly critical
of the company's poor track record in security - but has come too late for
luckless users of the Transurban
Citylink web site in Melbourne. It emerged yesterday that as many
as 500,000 credit card numbers may have been hacked off the company's
web site, which runs on IIS 5.0/Windows 2000 - the same Microsoft
software combination that has lain behind the majority of the Net's most
embarrassing security breaches over the last year. While Transurban were
quick to deny that their web site had been hacked, the company nonetheless
took the site offline for several hours when news of the security breach
broke. And by late yesterday afternoon Victorian Transport Minister Peter
Batchelor was informing the media that affected consumers will be unable
to sue the company for negligence because it's protected by the CityLink
Act, which restricts lawsuits to $10,000 fines against any individual who
discloses or misuses CityLink information. Investigations on how the credit
card numbers came to be stolen are continuing.
Wednesday
30th January 2002
PRIVACY GROUP ATTACKS
PASSPORT
The US-based
Electronic Privacy Information
Centre (EPIC) today asked 50 state attorneys-general to examine
Microsoft's Passport online identity service, saying that it exposes consumers
to fraud, identity theft and junk email. In
a
damning letter published on its web site today, EPIC claim that Microsoft
are sharing the information collected from Passport users with an expanding
range of US corporations, yet provide users with no way to opt out of the
system nor any clear indication about what happens to data they provide.
They also assert that security holes in the company's Passport. .Net, Hailstorm
and related web products - including one demonstrated last November which
proved so glaring the company had to close down its Wallet service - mean
that Microsoft's assertions that its web services are secure amount to unfair
and deceptive trade practice under US law. EPIC allege that they've twice
called on the US Federal Trade Commission to act on the matter, but it has
so far failed to do so. In related Passport news: A security
glitch in Microsoft's online gaming site The Zone yesterday sent hapless
users to a bogus HotMail account instead. Although the error didn't expose
Hotmail account information to others, messages erroneously sent from the
HotMail account could be read by others.
Tuesday
29th January 2002
DOMAIN NAME BOOM TAPERS
OFF
Domain name speculators who
acquired millions of .COM domain names during the height of the Internet
bubble may have been badly burnt. According to US registrar
VeriSign, the total number of
registered domain names only grew by 2% last year after more than tripling
in 2000 and more than doubling in 1999. VeriSign estimate that there were
28.8 million domain names registered at the end of last year (up only slightly
from 28.2 million registered at the end of 2000) but of these, 10.8 million
were completely new domains - that is, domains that had not been acquired
from speculators - and most of the remainder were renewals of legitimately-used
domains by their owners. VeriSign also report that the total number of registered
domains hit a peak of 32.4 million in June 2001 but dropped back significantly
as the year progressed and the number of new registrations failed to keep
pace with the number that expired and were not renewed. VeriSign attribute
the failure to renew domain names to speculators who've begun to realise
that most of the domain names they've been squatting on are unlikely to have
a high resale value.
Monday
28th January 2002
TELSTRA CAUGHT RIGGING
ONLINE POLLS
According to a report in
ZDNet
Australia, Australia's largest telco Telstra has been caught
red-handed deliberately rigging online polls critical of the firm's pricing
and service levels - twice. ZDNet reported over the weekend that investigation
of two polls the firm ran on their site last week disclosed that both were
being manipulated by an automatic program that ran from somewhere inside
Telstra's marketing department, turning formerly unfavourable poll results
firmly in the telco's favour. When confronted by ZDNet, a Telstra spokesman
allegedly confessed that it did appear that the polls were being rigged by
someone inside the company's ranks and said that such behaviour was not "a
Telstra endorsed initiative". The poll-rigging incident bears a close resemblance
to a similar one in the UK several weeks ago when Microsoft were caught rigging
a poll which compared their .Net products to Java, with most respondents
giving .Net a firm "thumbs down" until Microsoft staffers intervened.
Friday
25th January 2002
ENGLISH DECLINING ON
NET
English is gradually losing
its dominance as the principal language of the Internet according to a new
study by Global Reach
(GR). The firm report that as of December 2001 only 43% of the world's online
population were native English speakers. A further 32% were native speakers
of European languages, while 24.7% had an Asian language as their mother
tongue. GR report that - after English - the next biggest language group
are Japanese speakers, who now comprise almost 9% of the world’s online
population. The next most common languages are Chinese (8.8%), German (6.8%),
Spanish (6.5%), Korean (4.6%), Italian (3.8%), French (3.3%) and Portuguese
(2.6%). English seems set to decline even further in the future. GR estimate
that the world's total English-speaking population is around 860 million
- but 26.8% of these already have Net access and this population only accounts
for a third of the world's economy. By contrast, non-English speakers number
5,340 million people; account for 67% of the world's economy; and only 5.7%
of these are presently online. GR estimate that even excluding poorer 3rd
World nations, the non-English speaking portion of the world who speak a
European language as their mother tongue are likely to match English speakers
by 2003, and to account for a similar slice of the world's economy.
Thursday
24th January 2002
IDENTITY THEFT TOP COMPLAINT
IN 2001
Identity theft was the leading
consumer fraud complaint in the USA last year, according to
a new report
released today by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Of the 204,000
complaints compiled by the FTC in 2001, 42% involved identity theft. The
figures come from a government database that collects complaints from more
than 50 law enforcement and consumer groups. Other top consumer fraud complaints
were problems with Internet auctions involving goods that were delivered
late, not at all, or items less valuable than advertised (10%); deceptive
trial offers and charges for Internet and computer services (7%); and
shop-at-home and catalog offers that failed to deliver or honor guarantees
(6%). The hijacking of someone's identity information - such as credit card
or other data - to steal money or commit fraud is now one of the fastest-growing
crimes in the USA, the FTC says. Worse, the number of consumers victimized
by identity theft may now be as high as 750,000 a year.
Wednesday
23rd January 2002
NETSCAPE SUES
MICROSOFT
In the latest twist to the
long-running Microsoft anti-trust case in the USA, Netscape Communications
filed suit against Microsoft today alleging that the software giant's unlawful
business practices crushed the company's browser. Netscape (now owned by
long-time rival AOL) has based its lawsuit on earlier court findings delivered
in 1999 and 2001 that Microsoft's business practices in the 1990s violated
two sections of the USA's tough Sherman Antitrust Act. Netscape will seek
an injunction that could include forcing Microsoft to sell a stripped-down
operating system that doesn't include a browser. In addition, the company
will seek triple damages based on the Clayton Act and the District of Columbia
Code, as well as interest and attorneys fees (though the initial plaint doesn't
specify any particular amount). Microsoft was dismissive of the suit today,
accusing AOL of attempting to undermine a settlement that the company reached
in November 2001 with the US Justice Department and 9 of the 20 states that
originally brought the company to book over its behaviour. Microsoft also
face more than 100 private lawsuits in the USA over their anti-competitive
conduct in the marketplace.
Tuesday
22nd January 2002
TELSTRA TO HIKE PRICES...
AGAIN
According to documents leaked
on the Whirlpool chat room site last night, Australia's largest telco
Telstra is about to increase
its prices for the 3rd time in two months - and this time around, it's Internet
users who'll be hit in the pocket. The documents allege that Telstra plan
to increase the monthly fees for cable users on its popular 3Gb plan from
AU$67 to AU$87.95 per month (a rise of close to 31%) while users of the company's
ADSL network will see their own monthly bills rise from AU$105.50 to AU$111.45
per month (an increase of close to 6%). In late November last year, the telco
increased its mobile phone fees to the highest flagfall in the country following
the demise of competitor One.Tel. Last week it drew the ire of the Federal
Government and Australian competition authorities by introducing a new pricing
system for mobile phone users with a hidden $150 charge for early contract
termination. Telstra initially refused to comment on the documents but this
morning a spokesperson confirmed on ABC Radio that a "price review" for its
high-speed Internet services is currently underway. The company has so far
refused to be drawn on whether the price hikes might also extend to users
of its dial-up services. In many parts of Australia, Telstra still enjoys
a monopoly position in the provision of telecommunications.
Monday
21st January 2002
AOL TO BUY RED
HAT?
According to a report in the
Washington Post over
the weekend, media giant AOL-Time Warner (AOL) has begun talks to acquire
Red Hat, distributors of the increasingly popular Linux operating system.
While both companies have since refused to either confirm or deny the rumour,
the acquisition - if true - would give AOL another alternative to Microsoft's
products (the company already owns the
Netscape browser) and further
strain relations between the two companies. Red Hat was founded in 1994 and
went public in 1999 during the dot.com boom. It reported a loss of US$15
million last quarter, an improvement on the US$55.3 million it had lost the
quarter before. The firm recently announced a partnership with IBM in which
Red Hat would provide Linux software and services for IBM's eServer line
of business web servers. Linux is already widely used to operate web servers,
many handheld portable computers and an increasing variety of appliances.
Friday
18th January 2002
MICROSOFT TO FOCUS ON
SECURITY
Stung by an embarrassing and
seemingly never-ending series of high-profile security gaffes, Microsoft
chairman Bill Gates announced today that in future his company will focus
on security rather than enhanced functionality. Further, employee pay rises
and bonuses will be directly tied to how secure the company's products actually
are. In an initiative dubbed "Trustworthy Computing", Gates announced
that all operating system development efforts will cease in February while
the company's 7,000 systems programmers are sent to a "security boot camp"
to undertake special training. Over the last year the security of the company's
products has become an increasing source of concern for many large corporations
and Governments around the world, with the Gartner Group advising its own
clients last year to abandon the firm's web products and swap to Unix
immediately. Recent discoveries of major security flaws in XP - touted as
Microsoft's most secure operating system "ever" - and the firm's inability
to deliver updates and patches to customers for several days last week appear
to have been the final blow. Security analysts are skeptical about the
announcement, however, cautioning that only time will tell whether the initiative
will lead to genuine security improvements in the firm's products.
Thursday
17th January 2002
NET NOW MAJOR "AT WORK"
MEDIA
According to a new study by
the Online Publishing
Association likely to have strong parallels in Australia, the Net
is now the primary media used by US office workers and has fundamentally
changed workplace behaviour. The study found that at-work Internet users
now spend 34% of their total daily media minutes on the Internet, 30% watching
TV, 26% listening to radio and 10% with print media. Most respondents reported
that using the Net reduced the frequency of many non-work distractions during
the work day - in particular, running errands and taking phone calls - and
71% said they felt at-work use of the Net had increased their productivity.
However, many respondents also reported that increased use of the Net has
led to a noticeable decline in their consumption of other media with 25%
saying they now read newspapers and magazines less often; 24% saying they
read books less often; and 15% saying they watch TV and listen to radio less
often. The study also found that at-work users are more likely to visit retail,
financial, computer/software and travel related sites more often than at-home
users . As a result, office hours now constitute the Net's "prime time".
Wednesday
16th January 2002
OPPOSITION QUERIES MISSING
COMPUTERS
The ALP announced today that
it will press the Australian Federal Government to explain how sensitive
Government agencies like the Tax Office, the Department of Defence, the Attorney
General's Department and the Health Department managed to "lose" more than
$1.5 million worth of laptop computers and an additional $230,000
worth of computer equipment last year. The Opposition revealed today that
more than 541 laptop computers were reported as either lost or stolen from
Federal agencies during 2001 and raised concerns that highly classified defence
and cabinet information could have been compromised by the thefts. Opposition
IT spokesperson Kate Lundy said today that she was concerned that the Departments
involved had not answered questions about the disappearances and said that
the resumption of Senate Estimates committees on February 18th this year
would give the Opposition the opportunity to probe the issue more deeply.
This morning Attorney-General Daryl Williams (whose own Department
and agencies had 17 laptops go missing last year) told the ABC that while
the losses were regrettable, the missing equipment and information was protected
by sophisticated encryption technologies which would make it "almost impossible"
to access.
Tuesday
15th January 2002
SPAM DOUBLING EVERY 4.5
MONTHS: STUDY
According to a new study by
the Australian-based Coalition Against
Unsolicited Bulk Email (CAUBE), the volume of spam on the Net is
now doubling every 4.5 months and is likely to begin causing serious disruption
soon unless world-wide legislation is brought in to stamp out the practice.
CAUBE has been monitoring the growth of spam on the Net since 1999 using
special email addresses seeded into public areas, then counting the average
number of spams received. They estimate that the volume of spam grew
6-fold during the course of 2001 - a trend that will render most email
accounts effectively unusable within a few years if the growth of spam continues.
CAUBE also report that the last 5 weeks have seen the worst flood of spam
to date. In just the first 10 days of 2002, they report, their test email
accounts were assaulted with almost 30% of the total number of spams received
for all of 2000. The group now intends to study received spams to determine
their origin. Last month the European Union voted to ban spam as part of
a draft law on privacy in electronic communications after a study by the
European Commission estimated that Net subscribers worldwide were unwittingly
paying AU$15.5 billion a year in connection costs for receiving junk
emails.
Monday
14th January 2002
AUSTRALIAN NET GROWS
6.7%
The Australian Internet continued
its upward growth during December 2001 according to the search engines we
poll to construct our monthly
Australian Internet Growth
Index (which has been attempting to measure the number of
live Australian web sites - as opposed to the number of registered
domains - since January 1996). Growth ranged between a modest 5.5% in Canberra
to a high of 17.9% in Perth - but the overall national average for the month
was around 6.7%. We estimate that there are now anywhere between 146,000
and 160,000 live Australian web sites. The January 1st figures (with December
1st figures in brackets) are as follows:
Australian
Internet Growth Index December 2001
(Figures Show Estimated Live Sites) |
-
Brisbane - 11,477
(10,588)
-
Sydney - 49,437
(48,137)
-
Melbourne - 43,413
(40,649)
-
Adelaide - 8,354
(7,728)
|
-
Perth - 9,945
(8,435)
-
Hobart - 3,874
(3,564)
-
Canberra - 8,493
(8,051)
-
Darwin* - 10,712
(9,372)
|
NB: The Darwin figure includes
rural Australian sites |
|
During December 2001 Australian
Cybermalls hosted 71,466 visitors, a fall on November's 80,767 as
our visitors took a break for the Festive Season. Our visitors viewed 276,866
page displays from our servers, which in turn consumed 13.59 Gb of bandwidth.
Our December 2001 traffic summary
can be viewed
here.
|
