Microsoft
escapes MyDoom with little damage
MyDoom crippled SCO Group over the weekend, but Microsoft
seems to be withstanding the challenge. Experts say a variant of the
MyDoom.A virus that knocked out SCO’s web site Sunday was programmed to
fire continuous volleys of debilitating data at Microsoft's site Tuesday.
However, there was no visible impact on the software giant's web site,
which remained unaffected as the MyDoom.B internet worm's trigger time of
8:09 EST passed. On Monday, Microsoft said it was taking a series of
technical precautions to pre-empt any attack. MyDoom.B is a less damaging
version of the original MyDoom.A virus, the fastest-spreading email worm
ever, according to security experts. MyDoom.A has generated a torrent of
spam (as if it weren’t bad enough already) and crippled corporate email
servers, even slowing traffic for some internet service providers.
Utah-based SCO was knocked offline Sunday with a denial of service attack.
MyDoom.B, which was programmed to target both SCO and Microsoft with a
similar attack starting Tuesday, spread more slowly than its vicious
sibling and was not considered a big danger.
Most
recognizable brand? Google, of course.
Google once again topped Interbrand's Brandchannel
ranking of high-impact brands for the second straight year, with Apple
Computer coming in at second place and tiny Mini driving up to third place
from 11th. Google is known for its minimalist interface, lack of
advertising links and speedy searches in 97 languages. The
California-based firm, which is rumored to have plans to go public, offers
a “clean, friendly but credible” path to accessing the internet,
according to Interbrand, which polled 4,010 people from 85 countries via
its brandchannel.com web site. It should be noted that both Google and
Apple both strongly appeal to a tech-savvy segment likely to respond to
internet polls. Mini’s third place finish is probably more impressive,
knocking Coca-Cola, a much more
universal
brand, into fourth place. Samsung came in fifth, followed by Ikea, Nokia,
Nike, Sony and Starbucks.
Study:
Spam's a real online shopper stopper
The exponential growth of unsolicited junk email, or
spam, may hamper the growth of the online economy due to annoyed
consumers, said officials gathered Monday at a global anti-spam meeting. A
survey published by the consumer group Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue
showed that 52 percent of respondents were shopping less on the internet
or not at all because of concerns about receiving unsolicited junk email.
Anti-spam software company Brightmail Inc. reported that spam accounts for
half of all email traffic. Filtering and clearing up email inboxes is an
increasing cost. The spam problem costs European Union and U.S. companies
more than $11.5 billion a year in lost time and productivity, according to
the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU. The United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development estimates that the global economic cost could be
as high as $20 billion. Governments are trying to tackle the problem
through regulations, business codes of conduct and advanced technical
solutions.
Young
& the richest well aware of on-demand
Not surprisingly, it’s the young and the rich who
understand new technology the best, according to a new study from CTAM.
Familiarity with on-demand
is highest among younger people, those with higher household incomes, and
with children in the home. A fifth of all cable customers aware of on-demand who have it available report have used the
service. About half of all respondents are familiar with on-demand or
video-on-demand, but that figure rises to 74 percent among digital cable
subscribers. Sixty-five percent of adults 18-34 are familiar with the
concept, compared to 69 percent with household incomes of more than
$75,000 and 60 percent of kids.
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