Laser puts record data rate through fibre

Researchers have set a new record for the rate of data transfer using a single laser: 26 terabits per second.

At those speeds, the entire Library of Congress collections could be sent down an optical fibre in 10 seconds, reports BBC News.

The trick is to use what is known as a "fast Fourier transform" to unpick more than 300 separate colours of light in a laser beam, each encoded with its own string of information. The technique is described in the journal Nature Photonics.

Under-fire electronics giant Sony has had its IT systems breached again, this time with hackers breaking in to one of the firm's servers and running a phishing site on its Thai domain, according to security researchers, says V3.co.uk.

Experts at Finnish security firm F-Secure revealed the hack in a blog post on Friday, although they were at pains to point out the hack had nothing to do with the massive breach of Sony's systems in April, which may have led to the exposure of the personal details of up to 100 million customers.

The site itself, running under hdworld.sony.co.th, has been designed to spoof an Italian credit card company, Carta Si. “We know you're not supposed to kick somebody when they're already down... but we just found a live phishing site running on one of Sony's servers,” wrote F-Secure chief research officer Mikko Hypponen.

Cisco Systems designed a surveillance system to help the Chinese government track and ultimately suppress members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, according to a lawsuit the group filed against the network equipment maker, reveals Cnet.

The lawsuit, which was filed last week in Federal District Court for the Northern District of California, in San Jose, alleges Cisco supplied and maintained a surveillance system known as the “Golden Shield” that allowed the Chinese government to track and censor the group's Internet activities.

As a result of Cisco's technology, Falun Gong members suffered false imprisonment, torture, and wrongful death, according to the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of the religious group by the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Law Foundation.

Barclaycard has entered a partnership with mobile operator Orange in which the two will allow customers to use their mobile phones to pay for goods using near-field communication, states Computing.co.uk.

The service, called Quick Tap, allows customers to make purchases of £15 or less throughout the UK by tapping their mobile handset against a contactless reader.

It works as a top-up service. Users can top-up up to £100. People using the service can top-up with a Barclays credit or debit card or with Orange credit cards.