HP board sued over Hurd ousting

The first lawsuit on behalf of a shareholder has been filed against Hewlett-Packard in connection to the resignation of former CEO Mark Hurd, reports News.com.com.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on Thursday that a Connecticut law firm is representing HP shareholder Brockton Contributory Retirement System in a complaint against HP's board of directors, Hurd, and interim CEO Cathie Lesjak. The suit accuses the board of breach of fiduciary duties in how it handled Hurd's resignation.

The board on Friday announced that it asked Hurd to resign as chief executive of one of the world's foremost technology companies after he was accused of sexual harassment by former HP marketing contractor Jodie Fisher. Although the HP board's own investigation cleared Hurd of any harassment, it did find that he had submitted inaccurate expense reports. Because of that, the board asked for Hurd's resignation, and Hurd agreed to a severance package worth approximately $28 million.

Research firm Gartner said smartphone sales are up 50% year-over-year, with Android showing explosive growth and topping Apple in the quarter ending 30 June for the first time in the history of the company's survey, states PC World.

Gartner is only the latest in a line of outfits to confirm Android's stratospheric rise.

Growth year-over-year is a stunning 850%. Last year, at this time, Android accounted for only 1.8% of the market. This year its up to 17.2%. That was enough to put it in third place overall.

A server-based botnet that preys on insecure Web sites is flooding the net with attacks that attempt to guess the login credentials for secure shells protecting Linux boxes, routers, and other network devices, says The Register.

According to multiple security blogs, the bot compromises Web sites running outdated versions of phpMyAdmin. By exploiting a vulnerability patched in April, the bot installs a file called dd_ssh, which trawls the net for devices protected by the SSH protocol.

“This bot then conducts brute force SSH attacks on random IP addresses specified by the bot herder,” a user blogged.

In response to an increase in crime in the area, the Dudley policed force has introduced the Digi-Bike, a hi-tech creation broadcasting Bluetooth crime prevention and video messages via 45-inch screens, writes Computing.co.uk.

It is the first time the technology has been used across the Midlands and is part of an operation called Crime Cycle.

The bike will target youngsters listening to Bluetooth-connected iPhones and similar devices with direct messages advising them to keep their belongings safe: "Almost half of all robbery victims since April have been aged 18 years or under, and so we are keen to make those youngsters smarter about keeping their valuables out of sight," says detective sergeant Mark Rushton, who is heading the operation.