McAfee downplays service pack failure

A recent McAfee service pack led to systems being rendered unbootable, according to posts on the security giant's support forums, says The Register.

The mandatory service pack for McAfee's corporate Virus scanning product, VSE 8.7, was designed to address minor security bugs, but, instead, tagged Windows system files as malware.

The software update was issued on 27 May and pulled on 2 June, after problems occurred. Users were advised to keep the patch if they had already installed it in a low-key announcement on McAfee's knowledge base.

London hacker Gary McKinnon is making a final attempt to prevent his extradition to the US to be tried for computer fraud against the US government, reports Computing.co.uk.

McKinnon will attend a judicial review at the London High Court today, and a final decision is expected tomorrow.

The former hacker is expected to argue that his extradition will worsen his mental health, and that his diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome in August last year has not been taken into consideration. He has repeatedly discussed the strain he has felt since the UK's National High-Tech Crime Unit arrested him in 2002.

China has defended the use of new screening software that has to be installed on all computers, says the BBC.

Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the software would filter out pornographic or violent material.

Critics have complained it could also be used to stop Chinese Internet users searching for politically sensitive information.

Venture capitalists expect the green technology area to grow faster than traditional areas of venture capital investment in the coming years, reports CNet.

In its annual Global Trends survey of 725 venture capitalists, Deloitte Research and the National Venture Capital Association found that over 60% expect investments in green tech to increase over the next three years. Medical devices, too, offer growth potential, investors think.

More mature industries, such as semiconductors and software, are seeing a slowdown in interest.