Hack attacks mounted on car systems

Experts say the computer systems used to control modern cars are vulnerable to attack, reports the BBC.

An investigation by security researchers found the systems to be "fragile" and easily subverted.

The researchers showed how to kill a car engine remotely, turn off the brakes so the car would not stop, and make instruments give false readings.

In a letter to users, MySpace's co-president Mike Jones on Monday outlined the company's stance on privacy and its place within social networking, as well as detailing what he calls a "simplified" version of the social network's privacy settings that will roll out to users in the next few weeks, reports CNet.

The announcement comes just three weeks after Facebook's F8 conference, where Facebook introduced, and immediately implemented, new privacy settings that have drawn user and media ire for making profile information too public.

Facebook's new system has also drawn criticism for being overly complex.

The £1.2 billion e-Borders security system flagged more than 48 000 travellers for intrusive background checks last year, reveals The Register.

Those automatically matched against intelligence watch lists are subjected to scrutiny of their criminal and financial records, as well as checks of their known associates.

The system currently covers only air travel, but is scheduled to screen all journeys in and out of the UK in 2014. The previous government approved e-Borders in 2004 amid controversy over wildly inaccurate immigration figures.

Google, Intel and Sony may be close to announcing a long-rumoured partnership to develop Sony television sets that are souped-up with connections to the Internet, letting TV viewers easily watch the vast trove of information and entertainment offerings on the Web, writes Mercury News.

Intel envisions its chips powering an array of new consumer gadgets. During his company's annual conference with analysts and investors last week, CEO Paul Otellini touted the ability of microprocessors to make TVs smart, predicting "the television revolution we are about to go through is the biggest single change in television since it went colour".

In a recent Bay Area News Group interview, Andy Rubin, a Google executive who oversees its mobile programmes, also emphasised that a key strength of its Android operating system was its ability to run on different types of gadgets, including smart TVs.