Tech Brief
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• Google Instant Search has got the clickerati debating what it will do the search landscape but, , it will be the makers of fake security software that will do well out of it.
"As a test, I thought I'd search for 'antivirus' and see what suggestions came up. Lo and behold, Antivir Solution Pro, a well known Rogueware infection was amongst the suggested search terms."
Mr Correll thinks the quick tempo of Instant Search will spell trouble for PC users when bad guys, aka blackhats, cash in.
"We know for a fact that most Blackhat Search engine optimisation campaigns automatically query Google's trending topic results and now it seems that Google Instant will be suggesting those trending phrases (verbatim), potentially putting millions of victims directly in cyber criminals' cross hairs."
• On the subject of cyber crime, of the fate of hi-tech thief Viktor Pleshchuk, he of the scam that netted $9.4m (£6m) from RBS World Pay.
"Crooks broke into the computer systems of RBS WorldPay in November 2008 and created counterfeit payroll debit cards using the data they stole. They also succeeded in increasing the daily withdrawal limits on compromised accounts and obtaining PINs needed to withdraw funds. Foot soldiers were then recruited to cash-out the compromised accounts using more than 2,100 ATMs in at least 280 cities worldwide to withdraw $9m overnight in around 12 hours. Pleshchuk allegedly monitored the withdrawals in real-time before unsuccessfully trying to destroy evidence of the break-in."
Mr Pleshuk has avoided jail by turning informant and returning the cash he nicked.
• US scientists are teaching robots to lie. .
"We have developed algorithms that allow a robot to determine whether it should deceive a human or other intelligent machine and we have designed techniques that help the robot select the best deceptive strategy to reduce its chance of being discovered."
• Continuing the theme of robots playing mind games comes work from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. researchers there have created robots that turn themselves into furniture.
"The type of scenario that we envision... is a group of Roombots that autonomously connect to each other to form different types of furniture, e.g. stools, chairs, sofas and tables, depending on user requirements. This furniture will change shape over time (e.g. a stool becoming a chair, a set of chairs becoming a sofa) as well as move using actuated joints to different locations depending on the users needs. When not needed, the group of modules can create a static structure such as a wall or a box"
• We're wasting less energy with rechargers. These take in mains power in one circuit and shift it down to the low voltages our gizmos need in another - and that first circuit is typically squandering power whenever the recharger is plugged in. Manufacturers have implemented quite a few electronic tricks to reduce that lost energy, but Sanowar Khan, a professor of instrumentation and sensors at City University London thinks mobile handets alone still waste something like six gigawatt-hours a year.
Prof Khan has a simple, way to get that "less than before" down to zero: make the act of plugging in the gizmo start the juice in the first circuit. It would be an easy thing for manufacturers of chargers to implement, but don't rush out and make one yourself - that the Prof's got a patent and he's looking for takers:
"Manufacturers are being sought to build the patent and make it as standard. City reckons that as well as the obvious green angle, it'll provide a safety advantage because wires don't remain live, which can be dangerous in case of dodgy insulation or a flood."
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