UK ill-prepared for disaster

UK businesses fail to protect themselves from the threats of high-profile disasters, despite the potential damage from unforeseen events, reports Computing.co.uk.

A study conducted by the Chartered Management Institute and the Cabinet Office suggests 46% of company managers fear the impact of extreme weather conditions, but only 29% have plans for coping in such circumstances.

Three-quarters of organisations in the IT sector regard disaster preparation as being critical to their business, but only 39% have suitable plans in place.

As the US primary race grinds on, the candidates are turning to predictive analytics tools to help find voters ready to support them, reports eWeek.

VisualCalc provides a free Web site that helps citizens analyse the presidential race through a series of dashboards that chart the status and trends of the primary election.

On the flipside, candidates in this year's historical race for the White House have similar tools to provide information that may help them attract those key undecided voters.

Microsoft has slashed the price of its Xbox 360 video game console in Europe in an effort to attract more gamers to the platform and boost sales of Xbox-compatible titles, says Information Week.

Starting Friday, the price for the basic version of the Xbox 360, which includes a 20GB hard drive and one wireless controller, will drop 20% from the equivalent of about $500 to $400. The price for the Xbox 360 Elite, which features a 120GB drive, falls 13% from $600 to $520.

Microsoft also reduced the price of its entry-level Xbox Arcade Console from $400 to $360.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has given 3 000 council employees secure access to corporate systems by using their mobile phones to receive one-time passwords, says Computing.co.uk.

The software, supplied by SecurEnvoy, aims to prevent social engineering and key-logging attacks.

Instead of using secure token devices to authenticate details, remote workers receive one-off passcodes on their mobile phones, which they use in addition to their usual login details. When the passcode has been used, a new one is sent to overwrite it.