Hacker targets secure sockets layer

Web site encryption has sustained another body blow, this time by an independent hacker who demonstrated a tool that can steal sensitive information by tricking users into believing they're visiting protected sites when in fact they're not, says The Register.

Unveiled this week at the Black Hat security conference in Washington, SSLstrip works on public WiFi networks, onion-routing systems, and anywhere else a man-in-the-middle attack is practical.

It converts pages that normally would be protected by the secure sockets layer protocol into their unencrypted versions. It does this while continuing to fool both the Web site and the user into believing the security measure is still in place.

Growing pressure on the government to cut its multibillion-pound IT spending bill means it is increasingly likely that major public sector contracts will be awarded to offshore IT service providers, reports Computing.co.uk.

A new cross-party parliamentary group was introduced last week to stimulate India-UK trade and investment opportunities, and IT is an important part of the plan.

MPs met bosses of offshore firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, HCL and Infosys to discuss ways to overcome barriers to Indian service providers bidding for public sector IT contracts.

A new professional gaming league opens its doors to new gamers today, reports the BBC.

The United Kingdom eSports association has set up four professional and 22 amateur leagues.

Players can compete using a PC, Xbox 360, Wii, or PlayStation 3 on up to 14 different titles, including Counter-Strike: Source, Fifa 09, and Call of Duty 4.

A class action lawsuit alleging Microsoft deceptively authorised computer manufacturers to label their machines “Windows Vista Capable” has been nixed by a judge, leaving plaintiffs to pursue their claims individually, says Consumer Affairs.

Judge Marsha Pechman of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled the plaintiffs had not proven class-wide causation, a critical element in any class action suit, and decertified the class, which had originally been approved in February 2008.

It was only a few weeks ago that lawyers were claiming Microsoft might have to cough up as much as $8.5 billion to settle the case. They estimated there were 15 million consumers eligible to participate in a settlement.