US military hit in cyber strike
According to a Pentagon official, a malware-laden flash drive inserted in a laptop at a US military base in the Middle East in 2008 led to the "most significant breach of" the nation's military computers ever, says News.com.com.
The malware uploaded itself to the US Central Command network and spread undetected on classified and unclassified computers, creating a "digital beachhead, from which data could be transferred to servers under foreign control," William Lynn III, US deputy secretary of defence, wrote in his essay in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs.
"It was a network administrator's worst fear: a rogue program operating silently, poised to deliver operational plans into the hands of an unknown adversary," he wrote.
Energy drinks could power gadgets
A researcher says battery-like "biofuel cells" could in the future run on an energy drink or even vegetable oil, reveals The BBC.
A prototype cell has been described at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in the US.
The idea makes use of mitochondria, the power stations that in most living cells turn food into energy.
IE9 interface leaks in Russia
Internet Explorer 9 is getting a stripped down interface, if a screenshot leaked online is to be believed, writes The Register.
The next IE will feature a back button, a combined URL and search box at the top, and do away with "Favorites, "Suggested Sites," and "Get More Add-Ons" items, according to Microsoft watcher Mary-Jo Foley.
The leak came courtesy of a post to Microsoft Russia's Web site on 25 August, which has been removed.
Patient records left at bus stop
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has found Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust to be in breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA), following the loss of more than 100 patient records, reports Computing.co.uk.
An unencrypted CD, lacking even basic password protection and containing the sensitive medical records of 112 patients, was found at a bus stop near the hospital.
Mick Gorrill, head of enforcement at the ICO, said: "The fact that this information was several years old is of no consequence - patients' personal data should always be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act. I am pleased that the Trust has agreed to take remedial steps to ensure such an incident does not happen again."
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