USB sticks put data at risk

According to researchers at MWR InfoSecurity, USB sticks have been found to contain a significant security flaw, which could be exploited to break into millions of computers around the world, says Computing.co.uk.

The UK firm claims the flaw could allow the creation of USB sticks that "interrogate a computer and download the contents".

The researchers added that such devices are just months away from development, and are likely to be used by malevolent and sophisticated criminals to steal the contents of entire hard drives.

A confidential memo from one of the most secretive panels in Congress was leaked on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, publicly detailing sensitive probes involving more than 30 lawmakers and aides, reports The Register.

The release of the report was jarring enough that Zoe Lofgren, chairman of the House ethics committee, interrupted a series of House votes to alert lawmakers to the breach. The July document revealed a laundry list of ethics inquiries looking into possible corporate and defence industry influence peddling.

The 22-page report was freely available on an unnamed file-sharing network after a junior staff member working from home stored it on a computer equipped with P2P software, according to a statement released on Thursday night. Lawmakers and staffers are required to protect the confidentiality of all sensitive information. The employee no longer works for the committee.

Icann, the Internet regulator, has approved plans to allow non-Latin-script Web addresses, in a move that is set to transform the online world, says the BBC.

The Icann board voted at its annual meeting in Seoul to allow domain names in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts.

More than half of the 1.6 billion people who use the Internet speak languages with non-Latin scripts.

Researchers are two steps closer to creating a mass-market version of technology called phase-change memory that could change how computers of the future are put together, reports CNet.

Intel and Numonyx, the chipmaker's joint venture with STMicroelectonics, that is focused on flash memory, have built a new type of phase-change memory chip they hope will help fulfil the technology's promise for small size and large capacity.

Its 64Mb capacity isn't momentous on its own, as Numonyx announced a 128Mb device in 2006 and Samsung said in September it is producing a 512Mb chip. But what is significant are the two major advances in making the decades-old idea practical.