Today's other stories in brief

Software firm wins security start-up heat

Dublin software firm Beyond Encryption has won the European heat of a competition for security start-ups and will now compete in the world final of the Global Security Challenge on November 13th in London.

Beyond Encryption was selected as having the most promising security technology in Europe.

The winning firm selected at the final in the London Business School will receive $500,000 (€389,000) in cash.

Broadband still lags European average

Despite strong growth in broadband subscriber numbers in 2007, Ireland still lags the average penetration in the 30-member OECD.

Figures released yesterday show Ireland had 19.1 subscribers per 100 inhabitants at the end of June compared to an average of 21.3 per cent. That ranks Ireland 21st. Denmark tops the table with 36.7 per cent.

Tyndall joins BT for bandwidth RD

The Tyndall National Institute has entered into a partnership with BT to carry out RD into advanced optical networks which can support high bandwidth services such as high- definition TV and video on demand.

.ie registrations up 23% on last year

The number of .ie internet addresses registered during the third quarter this year was up 23 per cent on the same period last year, according to the IE Domain Registry. A total of 8,197 new registrations took place between July and September and the total number of .ie websites registered now exceeds 110,000.

Impact of full body scanners queried

Airport full-body scanners that show people's private parts are a virtual strip search, EU lawmakers said yesterday.

The scanners "have a serious impact on the fundamental rights of citizens", the lawmakers said in a resolution adopted by 361 votes to 16, with 181 abstentions. The resolution asks the European Commission to assess the impact of using full-body scanners. - (Reuters)