310 arrests over '419` scam

Spanish authorities have arrested 310 people as part of an international investigation into one of the Internet`s most active "419" or Nigerian e-mail fraud rings, reports Techworld.

The raid, carried out in conjunction with the FBI, saw police enter 166 properties across southern Spain, confiscating 2 000 mobile phones, 327 computers and 165 fax machines, and seizing over 200 000 euros in cash.

The large-scale fraud is said to have involved a number of different cons, including lottery frauds and classic e-mail scams where respondents were promised a fee for acting as a conduit for funds.

The group is believed to have had as many as 20 000 victims in 45 countries.

Netscape has released an updated version of its Netscape 8 browser to fix a pair of critical security flaws, CNET reports.

Netscape 8.0.3.1 takes care of two flaws that were previously disclosed and fixed in Firefox, the open source Web browser on which Netscape is based, says Netscape spokesman Andrew Weinstein.

The updated release fixes only the most serious flaws that were fixed in Firefox 1.0.5.

Ten less serious flaws will be dealt with in another update due in the coming weeks, Weinstein says. "We wanted to make sure that we tackled the larger issues immediately."

Hackers are using free personal Web hosting sites provided by nationally and internationally known Internet service providers to store their malicious code and infect users with worms, viruses and spyware, says a security firm.

TechWeb reports that Websense, a San Diego-based Web security and content filtering vendor, has detected a big jump in the use of personal hosting sites.

"The growth of this trend is alarming," says Dan Hubbard, the company`s senior director of security and technology research. "July has seen a major boom. In the first two weeks alone we found more instances than in May and June combined."

In the first half of the month, Websense found more than 500 free hosting sites created to spread keyloggers alone, while more than 2 500 sites have been uncovered since the beginning of the year, Hubbard adds.

Motorola has introduced a range of wireless products ranging from a Blackberry-like keyboard phone to a pair of sunglasses with a phone built into the stems, CNET reports.

Still missing, however, is the iTunes-compatible phone that the company first announced along with Apple Computer a year ago.

In a nod to the eager speculation around that device, Motorola CEO Ed Zander said the product was still on its way, but was not yet ready to officially be unveiled.

"We`re not going to launch the iTunes phone today. Steve Jobs is not going to jump out of a cake...[but] it`s real, and it is happening," he said.

Internet portal Yahoo has acquired Pixoria, a small software company that makes tools that allow computer users to check traffic or weather information via the Internet without having to open a browser window, Washingtonpost reports.

"We think this is where the Web is headed in its next generation," says Toni Schneider, VP of Yahoo Developer Networks.

"For us, it`s great; we can reach beyond the browser, beyond what we can do in a one size fits all Web site."

Yahoo did not disclose terms of the deal.