Traffic redirected to China in mystery mix-up

Workers at Internet network operation centres around the world are trying to figure out why traffic to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook was redirected to servers in China this week.

This glitch gave Web surfers around the globe a glimpse of what Chinese Internet users see when they try to access those blocked sites, reports CNet.

A routing error effectively sent people behind the Great Firewall of China, a strictly controlled network of servers and routers the People's Republic of China uses to filter the Internet and block its citizens from accessing content deemed politically sensitive.

Confessed TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for orchestrating one of the largest thefts of payment card numbers in history, reveals The Register.

The sentence, by US district court judge Patti Saris, is the lengthiest to be imposed in a US hacking or identity prosecution.

Miami-based Gonzalez was also fined $25 000 and still faces restitution charges that could be in the tens of millions of dollars.

According to a survey, consumer preference for mobile banking is on the up and has overtaken branch-based and telephone banking in popularity, writes Computing.co.uk.

Some 37% of UK mobile phone customers use mobile banking, while 25% of US mobile users have adopted the platform, says the research by mobile billing firm mBlox.

The mobile banking platform was rated higher than telephone banking by users in the US and the UK, although by just one percentage point in the UK. Branch banking was cited as the preferred method by only 3% of UK respondents and 2% of those polled in the US.

Police battling the threat of terrorism have unveiled a new tactic - they are targeting Internet caf'es, says the BBC.

As evidence suggests several people convicted of terrorism acts have visited Internet caf'es while plotting their crimes, the Metropolitan Police are testing a new initiative in which owners agree to monitor what customers are looking at, and report any suspect activity to police.

The subsequent visit by two policemen and a community support officer is unannounced - but is not a raid.