Contactless credit cards

No more swiping with this one. Visa International has developed a new payment specification that removes the need to physically insert a card into a card reader. Instead, users can now simply wave the card in the general direction of the terminal. You may not even need your card anymore because the technology works just as well embedded in a phone. It works with a chip embedded in a plastic card or an electronic device like a phone. The chip-holder is then held in front of the reader which picks up its information wirelessly. The technology is essentially the same as the many ID card tags already in existence but it is the first time that it has been put to use for general card transactions. The reader picks up the chip`s information at up to 10cm away. Once the information is captured, the transaction follows the normal payment process with the cardholder providing a signature or PIN number as a means of verification if necessary.

TheRegister reports that a 21-year-old from Surrey in the UK has been arrested on suspicion of writing and distributing the T0rn rootkit. The software simplifies the process of hacking into Linux servers. Scotland Yard`s Computer Crime Unit arrested the alleged hacker under the UK Computer Misuse Act 1990 as part of a joint FBI/Scotland Yard investigation into the creation of the T0rn rootkit. The T0rn rootkit has plagued Linux server administrators since its creation two years ago and was most recently bundled as the backdoor component of the Lion worm that circulated in the middle of last year. The Lion worm attacked vulnerable Linux domain name system servers and forced administrators to reformat their machines. More at TheRegister

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