Conficker is a lesson for MPs – especially over ID cards
Our legislators – and more particularly, those who run their computer networks – are getting a short, sharp course in computer security A trio of news pieces for you. The Conficker worm has got into the Houses of Parliament's network and infected computers there. MPs have been told, in a written answer , that use by them of PGP, the commercial encryption system, is "not recommended" on the parliamentary network because it is "not compatible" with its current VPN (virtual private network). And, as I write, the database of MPs' expenses is being hawked around to newspapers, for a high price. If you needed any evidence that our legislators, and more particularly those who run their computer networks, are getting a short, sharp course in computer security, then those bits of information on their own would be enough. Let's start with the fact that any computer that could connect to the parliamentary network was actually able to be infected with Conficker. That's a double failure: first, the machine (a Windows PC, obviously) didn't have its Windows Update system turned on. That means that it's either running a version of Windows XP pre-SP2 (when Windows Update was turned on by default), or that it's one of those accursed "enterprise-managed" machines, where the admins don't like keeping them up to date because it can break custom programs. (Ignore the fact that your system is insecure; updating it is so much more hassle. Until you get hit, and learn just what hassle really is.) But let's be generous. Let's assume it was a researcher's machine or infected USB stick, rather than an internet connection to the network, that brought Conficker in. But that implies a second failure at the network layer: that whatever antivirus system was running didn't detect Conficker, and so didn't protect the rest of the network against it. MessageLabs, part of Symantec, supplies the network security for the parliamentary network. Explanations for how this happened are thin on the ground – in fact, nonexistent – despite numerous requests for enlightenment from the media to both PICT (the parliamentary information and communication technology department) and MessageLabs. I'm sure people are trying to work out who is going to be hung out to dry for this one, and it's a safe bet that MessageLabs and PICT are fighting like cats in a bag to make sure the other one shoulders the blame. If I were a backbench MP, I'd feel worried by this development
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Conficker is a lesson for MPs – especially over ID cards
Meet Second Life’s new ruler, Mark Kingdon
Despite a backlash against its virtual world, the makers have not lost faith - and brought in fresh leadership to rejuvenate the business Two years ago, the virtual world Second Life was everywhere, as pundits and press alike rushed to proclaim it as the Next Big Digital Thing. Inevitably, the backlash began soon afterwards. The company behind it, Linden Lab, lost focus and fans; key staff left. Finally, last March, Second Life's CEO, creator and visionary, Philip Rosedale, announced that he was taking on the role of chairman of the board , and bringing in fresh leadership. But against an increasingly dismal background, who would want to step into his shoes? Mark Kingdon, apparently. For seven years he had been chief executive of the leading interactive marketing company Organic, founded in 1993, but was attracted to the job for two very different reasons. "From the time I was six, I wanted to be a fine artist, and I only decided to get into business when I figured I'd be a starving artist. So I look at it through the lens of the designer, and I see [Second Life] as just an incredible platform for creativity." More pragmatically, he adds: "I see what a phenomenally brilliant business model Second Life has. If you're a social media property today, your biggest challenge is figuring out how to monetise it. Because the experience and the economy are so closely linked, Second Life doesn't have the problem that other social media properties have." As a result, Linden Lab "is a company with an extraordinary balance sheet, a great and profitable revenue stream." Engineer a solution As well as Kingdon's general experience in running a large company, Rosedale was interested in one aspect in particular: "I come from a user experience background," Kingdon says. "In order to make Second Life a more broadly accepted experience, we have to make it a lot easier to use." Kingdon is addressing this problem by bringing in top engineers from companies such as Adobe, Intuit and Pixar. Altogether, he's hired 100 people since joining Linden Lab last May. He claims that the results are already showing. "We reduced the hours lost to downtime by 50%, and I think we'll do the same again," he says, an important issue when many users were frustrated by the frequent non-availability of the service. Engineering improvements have also led to a growth in the number of concurrent users. When Kingdon joined last May, the maximum was 60,000. "It's 86,000 now," he says, "and we're projecting that it will be 100,000 concurrent by the end of the year." He also has ambitious plans for the total number of active users - defined as those who spend more than an hour a month using the service: "I'd like to see a Second Life that, instead of 640,000 active users" - today's figure - "has 6 million active users." Alongside these expansion plans, Kingdon is also reshaping the in-world experience, perhaps most dramatically with a plan to fence off "adult" content. He explains: "Our residents were asking for a more predictable experience." Or, as the official announcement put it: "Some residents are interested in pursuing certain 'adult' activities in Second Life that others would rather not casually encounter." One increasingly important group of users looking for more "predictable" experiences are companies, and it is here that perhaps the biggest turnaround in Second Life's fortunes has taken place
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Meet Second Life's new ruler, Mark Kingdon
House of Commons network hit by Conficker computer worm
Parliamentary computers have been infected by the Conficker worm, like an estimated 10m PCs worldwide - and experts fear next week will see problems worsen The House of Commons internal computer network has been infected by the "Conficker" worm that has also infected millions of Windows PCs around the world, and has had to ban its users from attaching outside storage - such as USB "memory sticks" - in case it gets reinfected. The revelation is an embarrassment for the organisation running the network, which contains nearly 1,000 computers, because Microsoft issued a fix for the weakness that leaves PCs vulnerable in October - meaning that they have been lax in applying necessary security fixes. MessageLabs, owned by Symantec, is understood to be responsible for the antivirus and antispam filtering of communications with the network. A memo sent out in the House of Commons network on Tuesday night warned that "the Parliamentary network has been affected by a virus known as conficker. This virus affects users by slowing down the Network and by locking out some accounts." It instructs users to leave computers turned on - so that they can have the malware removed - and that unauthorised computers be removed from the network. Memory sticks, which can be used to transfer the worm accidentally between computer networks, have also been banned while the system is cleansed. None of MessageLabs, the Parliamentary Information Communications and Technology helpdesk or a spokeswoman nominated by PICT had responded to requests for comment when this story was filed.
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House of Commons network hit by Conficker computer worm
Smartphones seen as industry saviours
Executives from across the mobile phone world will converge on Barcelona tomorrow for the start of the industry's biggest annual trade show. But behind the glitzy exhibition stands and the over-hyped press announcements there is a growing sense of panic as the effects of the global economic downturn start to show. Sales of mobile phones are expected to be at least 10% down this year – according to the world's largest manufacturer Nokia – at little more than a billion, and cash-strapped consumers are demanding ever cheaper deals. Attendance at the four-day Mobile World Congress is expected to be down on last year as companies, cutting staff and slashing costs, balk at the £2,600 price of a delegate pass. Organiser the GSM Association is still hopeful of a last minute rush, but by the weekend 47,000 people had registered, down from 54,000 last year. Even Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone has decided to give the show a miss with his yacht – scene of many an industry party – missing from the harbour. Representatives of the GSM Association will meet many senior figures from the mobile phone networks at a "Leadership Summit" to discuss strategies for meeting the biggest economic challenge the industry has faced in its relatively short life. "The business model of the mobile operators is creaking right now," according to Patrick Bossert from customer service experts Convergys, who has been watching the industry for years. "They are having to look at where new revenue is coming from and they are on the back foot." Research house TNS reckons that in Britain the average spending of customers on monthly contracts has dropped by £4 in the last year as they squeeze better deals from their supplier. Vodafone and O2 have admitted recently that many mobile phone customers are holding on to their existing handsets and 'trading down' to SIM-only packages or even abandoning contracts for pre-pay deals. The traditional heartland of the industry – the mid-range phone market – has all but disappeared in the more mature markets of Europe, while growth in new subscribers is slowing across the world. The glimmer of hope that many in the mobile phone industry see is the paradoxical explosion in the so-called smartphone market in the wake of the arrival of Apple's iPhone a year and a half ago. The number of smartphones – handsets with multimedia functions, web browsers and high-specification cameras – purchased has doubled in the last year, according to TNS. They accounted for about 13% last year according to Juniper Research – but are bucking the overall gloomy trend. This fact, however, means that competition is increasing among manufacturers as electronics companies that have not traditionally made phones move in to grab market share. American electronic organiser maker Palm, for instance, hopes to resuscitate its fortunes with the Palm Pre Smartphone while this year's conference will play host to the release of the first smartphone from Toshiba – with the TG01 touchscreen Windows Mobile device – as well as handsets from Taiwanese notebook producer Acer
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Smartphones seen as industry saviours
Video: Test driving the Canon 5d Mk II
Guardian photographer Dan Chung tests the long-awaited Canon 5D MkII camera, a digital SLR that also shoots HD video
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Video: Test driving the Canon 5d Mk II
Foreign governments attack White House, Obama, McCain campaign systems
Hmm, anyone want to place bets on what "foreign entity" has been hacking into Obama and McCain campaign computers, as Newsweek reports?
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Foreign governments attack White House, Obama, McCain campaign systems
Report: Chinese hack into White House network
Chinese hackers have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions, and obtained e-mails between government officials, a senior U.S. official told the Financial Times.
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Report: Chinese hack into White House network