Experts warn of cyber catastrophe

Computer-based network attacks are slowly bleeding US businesses of revenue and market advantage, while government faces the prospect of losing in an all-out cyber war, experts told Senators in a hearing on Tuesday, states CNet.

"If the nation went to war today in a cyber war, we would lose," said Michael McConnell, executive VP of Booz Allen Hamilton's national security business and a former director of national security and national intelligence. "We're the most vulnerable. We're the most connected. We have the most to lose."

The US will not be able to mitigate the risk from cyber attack until the government gets more actively involved in protecting the nation's network, which may not occur until after a "catastrophic event" happens, McConnell said in testimony during the hearing.

China has tightened controls on Internet use, requiring anyone who wants to set up a Web site to meet regulators and produce ID documents, writes the BBC.

The technology ministry said the measures were designed to tackle online pornography, but Internet activists see it as increased government censorship.

A number of Web sites are now being registered overseas in an attempt to avoid controls.

Transport for London (TfL) hopes to cut its carbon emissions by 40% and save £90 000 per annum on utility bills, with a newly-unveiled green power plant at its head office that includes the UK's largest hydrogen fuel cell, says Computing.co.uk.

TfL and the London Development Agency, which is housed in the same building, also announced last week that they plan to sign up for the 10:10 energy efficiency campaign from this April.

As a result, they have committed to reduce carbon emissions by a further 10% and cut energy bills by £400 000 over the next financial year.

Adobe Systems has patched a critical vulnerability that could be exploited to remotely install malicious files on end-user PCs when they install or upgrade Reader and Flash applications, writes The Register.

When combined with a flaw on Adobe's Web site, the bug in the Adobe Download Manager made it possible for attackers to install malware on Windows machines simply by leading victims to a special link on the adobe.com domain.

The download manager is invoked when people download Flash or Reader from Adobe's Web site. It is typically removed as soon as a computer is restarted.