The amount of money Irish firms spend on network and Internet security lags significantly behind such spending in other countries, the managing director of e-security firm Entropy, Conall Lavery said last week. Lavery was speaking at the launch of the upcoming Trusted Network Security conference, co-hosted by Entropy and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He said security threats form viruses, such as the Nimda worm, are becoming increasingly complex and difficult to avoid unless security is of the highest possible standard. "Business partners and consumers who are using the Internet to conduct business are becoming more sophisticated and are demanding evidence from companies that they are transacting business in a secure environment and that users are safe from intrusion and the misuse of information," he added.
Meanwhile, the maker of the Anna Kournikova computer virus that spread last February was sentenced to 150 hours of community service or to 75 days in jail in the Netherlands last week. The case involving 21-year-old computer shop worker Jan de Wit of Sneek, Netherlands is one of only a handful of such sentences in the world. De Wit also had a CD-ROM containing thousands of viruses confiscated.
NAPSTER AWAKENS: Online music swapping service Napster may be set for a comeback after a proposed settlement in its court battle with the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA). However, lawsuits from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and several large music publishers remain unsettled. The agreement with the NMPA brings Napster a step closer to the launch of its new fee-paying service where music publishers will license music to users. A court order shut Napster down earlier this year. The terms of the settlement include the payment by Napster of $26 million in settlement of damages for past, unauthorised uses of music. The proposed settlement needs to be approved by a judge, the board of directors of the NMPA, and from individual publishers.
BILL PAYING: Bill Gates's net worth fell to $54 billion this year, down from $63 billion last year, largely on the strength of Microsoft's shares. The slowing global economy was reflected in the declining worth of the world's richest people, according to the annual survey by Forbes magazine of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
THE BOOT: Boots pharmacy group has dropped its online photographic service, which enabled users to create a secure online library for their photographs. The service is only one year old. Boots said the withdrawal of the online business would leave it with a one-off cost of £10 million sterling, mainly to cover outstanding contracts. The bootsphoto.com website, which housed the online operation, is also expected to post an operating loss of £7.3 million in the first six months of the financial year, Boots said.
BAD: A promotional version of Michael Jackson's new single has been designed so it cannot be played on a CD-Rom drive, therefore preventing online pirating. The discs for You Rock My World feature a system called key2audio that allows use on a CD player but causes a CD-Rom drive to misread the data. A Sony spokesman told New Scientist magazine: "There are no plans currently to use similar technology on commercial releases of this record". But some industry analysts believe it could be used in the future - preventing even legitimate copying for personal use.
BREAKING RECORDS: An average of 11.7 million Americans visited news websites each day the week after the terrorist atrocities in the US, double the figure for the week before, according to Jupiter MMXI. The online news sector grew 80 per cent during the week ending September 16th, Jupiter said.
ICANN CHANGE: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has decided to change to the focus of its Annual Meeting next month, in light of the terrorist attacks in America. "The events of September 11th have caused institutions worldwide to rethink their plans and priorities", said ICANN CEO M Stuart Lynn. "The Internet is global in reach, as are the threats of terrorism. The events of September 11 offered a stark and tragic reminder of the incalculable importance of a reliable and secure naming and addressing system to support emergency response, personal and other communications, and information sharing. email, instant messaging, and the Web, for example, all played essential roles."
PIRATE CHIPS: The group charged with tracking down people using pirated software has said it is turning its attention to European training organisations. The Business Software Alliance says it believes there is a high concentration of software piracy in Europe's 30,000 training organisations. Julian McMenamin, Chairman BSA Ireland said: "These companies hold an influential position in the community and it's concerning that they are not setting a good example to the people being trained."
CONCERNED?: Concern last week launched an appeal to raise £1 million for the people of Afghanistan, in order to avert a famine situation. An estimated 5.5 million Afghanis are threatened by famine this winter, according to the agency. Donations can be made on Concern's website at: www.concern.ie/home.htm. Donations to the American rescue fund can be made on the American Red Cross webiste at: store.yahoo.com/redcross-wtc2.
WHAT A SITE: A Scottish schoolboy has won an award for a website dedicated to burned-out vehicles. Robert McEwan (14) from Glengarnock in Ayrshire, became fascinated with cars joyriders dumped near his home. His site - featuring photos of the wrecks - has won the Useless Award from an American-based Internet group dedicated to preserving trivia on the Web. www.burnouts.f2s.com attracts 40,000 hits a day.
In Brief
Employment in the Irish software industry is now running at about 30,000, Billy Huggard, Chairman of Irish Software Association said... RealNetworks has unveiled RealOne, which fuses RealPlayer's audio and video- streaming software with RealJukebox's software... Struggling Internet search engine Ask Jeeves has unveiled a new search engine called JeevesOne that it hopes will better accommodate corporate customers and expand its market...
Modem World
www.copvcia.com/stories/sept_2001/bushbin.html
The Web is swamped with conspiracy theories surrounding Osama bin Laden and the United States's offensive against international terrorism.
www.peata.org
Peata is an Irish voluntary association whose main objectives is the promotion, organisation and management of the use of visiting and residential pets
www.directski.com
Book your winter break with the online ski holiday specialist.
Diary
October 5th: Deadline for completed nominations for this year's Software Industry Awards. Application forms are available from Ciaran.Higgins@ibec.ie and are open to Software companies operating in Ireland.
Textbites
"If someone fills in a form online which is then downloaded and processed in the traditional manner by a Government Department then all that has been achieved is the creation of an enormous, remote controlled typewriter" - Jill Mathews of Prospectus Strategy Consultants.
Monitor column compiled by Patrick Logue