Website promises free credit reference check

Not free credit, but free access to your credit status - this is the promise of annualcreditreport.co.uk and Credit Reporting Agency, the company behind the website. ...more

EU sets up cyber crime unit

The EU has agreed to assemble a European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) to provide a co-ordinated front against security threats to Europe's online infrastructure. Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society said of the decision: 'I'm very pleased that both Parliament and Member States have seen the urgency to get this agency in place and have been able to reach an agreement on the first reading of the proposal. All parties involved in the issues of network and information security have been advocating closer co-operation and the ENISA delivers the infrastructure for this. ...more

Sneak shots found of Google Calendar

TechCrunch has 'exclusive screenshots' of what it claims is Google's forthcoming calendar application. The website says that it is a work-in-progress currently known as CL2. 'The closed beta is ongoing with about 200 participants - people involved are not allowed to invite outsiders to see the calendar and are under strict rules not to share any details with outsiders,' writes Michael Arrington. ...more

RIAA fails in fileshare suit

A US court has dismissed a record industry lawsuit over p2p file sharing, a significant defeat for the industry which has had few setbacks among several thousand attempts to win 'compensation' from alleged file sharers. A federal court in Oklahoma granted the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) permission to withdraw its case against a mother whose only connection to the alleged filesharing was that she was the person who paid for the Internet access. The RIAA decided to withdraw when it was faced with the mother's motion for leave to file a summary judgment motion dismissing the case against her and awarding her attorney's fees. ...more

UK uni puts on hacking course

Budding crackers can now take a degree course in the art of Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures, courtesy of Dundee's University of Abertay. The BSC Hons course makes its debut at the beginning of the new academic year in October, with 30 places up for grabs to study how to attack computers and how to secure them. The university says that students will be vetted in accordance with Home Office guidelines and closely monitored thereafter. ...more