Attacks begin on net address flaw

Attack code that exploits flaws in the net's addressing system are starting to circulate online, say security experts.

The code could be a boon to phishing gangs who redirect web users to fake bank sites and steal login details.

In light of the news net firms are being urged to apply a fix for the loop-hole before attacks by hi-tech criminals become widespread.

Net security groups say there is anecdotal evidence that small scale attacks are already happening.

Address list

"We are in a lot of trouble," said security guru Dan Kaminsky who found the flaw in the net's Domain Name System (DNS) in March 2008.

"This attack is very good," he said. "This attack is being weaponised out in the field. Everyone needs to patch, please."

The DNS acts as the net's address system and helps computers translate the website names people use, such as bbc.co.uk, into the numerical equivalents preferred by machines.

If exploited the flaw would allow malicious hackers to direct people to fake sites even if that user typed in the correct address for the place they wanted to visit.

Now security researchers have come up with two separate methods for attacking the flaw.

The code used in the attacks has been added to a popular testing tool called Metasploit used by both good and bad hackers alike to find weaknesses in computer systems.

The attack code was developed following the accidental leaking of the bug Mr Kaminsky discovered. Initially he had planned to release more information in October.

After being discovered in March, information about it was shared with large net organisations such as Cisco, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to give them chance to produce patches and fixes.

Now net supply firms are being urged to get on with the job of updating their systems so customers are not left at risk.

BY-BBC NEWS

Community network sites honoured

A social networking site for young gypsy travellers has won an award for the social use of technology.

The SavvyChavvy site was one of eight projects honoured in the UK's Catalyst Awards that recognise technology used to serve communities.

The site helps younger travellers stay in touch and post blogs and videos about their experiences.

Also honoured in the awards were a virtual nightclub for disabled people and a scheme to help people share cars.

Social action

The Catalyst Awards were set up to champion those using social media, such as the web, to keep communities together and tackle social challenges such as gang culture and poverty.

For its work helping young gypsy travellers communicate SavvyChavvy won the Community award. Chavvy is an old Romany word for "youth".

The site, which is closed to those who are not travellers, is credited with helping to gypsys change the way their community is seen.

CATALYST WINNERS Community Award - SavvyChavvy David and Goliath Award - Liftshare Chalk and Cheese Award - FreqOUT! Enterprise Award - Slivers of Time Revolutionary Award - Wheelies Self-Help Award - School of Everything Individual Hero - Helen Anderson People's Choice Award - Freeconomy Community

Wheelies - a virtual nightclub hosted in Second Life - got the Revolutionary award. The David and Goliath award went to Liftshare - an online system that helps people with spare car seats find passengers.

Helen Anderson won an award for her work to bring broadband to South Witham in Lincolnshire. Ms Anderson was driven to get the project going after her community was ignored by large net suppliers.

The winners of the awards were presented with their trophies by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He said the projects had huge potential to influence lives and communities.

"The worst of Britain can always be challenged by the best of Britain," he said.

The Community Awards for Social Technology (Catalyst) were sponsored by the Council on Social Action, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) and the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform.

Helping to judge entries were the Make Your Mark campaign group; Unltd, which backs social entrepreneurs and Polecat which helps organisations measure their social impact.

BY- BBC NEWS

Mission possible: Film restoration

Spencer Kelly visits the Warner Bros archive in Los Angeles to meet the people painstakingly restoring old films using the latest technology.

How the West Was Won featured many stars, including John Wayne

All film deteriorates, end of the story. The 1962 epic How the West Was Won is a case in point.

The last 46 years have not been kind to the reels of film making up the multi-Oscar winning epic - the colour has faded, the landscape is marred by dirt and scratches, and there are strange vertical lines in every shot.

Ned Price is part of Warner Bros technical operations team and he said he is usually dealing with films which are turning to "powder".

"I'm dealing with film which is dehydrated, shrunken and buckled," he said. "As that happens the film shrinks and warps at an inconsistent rate.

"We're now working on digital techniques to actually record it as it moves and morphs and then digitally, after the fact, sort of stabilise the image itself."

BY-BBC NEWS

Can biofuels solve America's oil crunch?

By Cody McCloy
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A summer with budget-busting gasoline prices seems like the worst time to launch a cross-country road trip from California to Georgia, but this one is different: We're road-testing alternative fuel that might help reduce pollution and break the nation's reliance on foreign oil.

CNN.com producer Cody McCloy will drive this 1978 International Harvester Scout cross-country on biodiesel fuel.

The gasoline alternative is called biodiesel, and it's made from a mixture of diesel gasoline and vegetable oil, such as soy or corn. The vegetable oil is nontoxic and biodegradable.

Most diesel cars can run on it, and it can be found in more and more places around the country. Web developer Brian Hardy and I will begin our two-week journey from California's San Francisco Bay area to Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday at 9:40 a.m. on CNN.com Live.

During our road trip, we'll blog and report about what kind of mileage we're getting with biodiesel fuel and how easy it is to find places that sell it.

Biodiesel is just one of several biofuels powering more and more U.S. cars and trucks. Mesa, Arizona, for example, has switched its fleet of 1,000 municipal vehicles such as fire engines and street sweepers to biodiesel and other green fuels such as ethanol, and compressed natural gas.

Going for a bike ride? Check the Web first

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- With the old gas-guzzler in the garage, you've got your bicycle ready and your sneakers laced up. Now all you need is a map of the quickest, safest routes for riding around town. Well, not so fast.

Cyclists, such as this rider in Philadelphia, are finding more Internet maps showing bike and walking routes.

As more commuters consider ditching their cars to save money on gas, Internet mapping services, cities and community groups are being pushed to lay out the best routes for biking and walking -- just like drivers have found online for years.

Technical and practical roadblocks stand between such a network becoming ubiquitous, but there are signs of progress in this world of $4-a-gallon gas.

Google Inc. just launched a walking-directions service. MapQuest is reporting more use of its "avoid highways" function and offering a walking directions service on cell phones. And some cities have developed detailed online maps to help walkers, bikers and transit-riders find the fastest routes.

"They haven't yet reached the Holy Grail of `I want to go from here to there, show me my options,"' said Bryce Nesbitt, a walking and biking advocate in the San Francisco area.

The first challenge: how to account for factors that make bicycle and walking routes different from driving paths.

Review: Pass on football game for Wii

(AP) -- If the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of "NCAA Football 09" are the starting seniors, then Wii owners might feel like redshirt freshmen with EA Sports' first college football game for Nintendo's popular gaming console.

This screen grab shows an Ohio State back nearing the goal line in the game "NCAA Football 09: All Play."

"NCAA Football 09: All-Play" marks EA Sports' debut of its new "All-Play" lineup, five Wii-specific sports games looking to bring more casual gamers into the mix.

The game offers a friendly, laid-back presentation, arcade-style gameplay and a simplified "All-Play" control scheme that lets novice players simply shake their remotes to punt, pass and kick.

But the Wii-specific version disappoints with a complete lack of online play and graphics that are simply too inferior to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.

Any thoughts that "NCAA Football 09: All-Play" could be classified as a sports sim are quickly quashed by the main menu, which offers "Mascot game" as the top choice. Sure, playing 11 Albert the Alligators versus a team of Sparty the Spartans might be cute, but it's a feature better suited for a hidden cheat code than a game's primary option.

A better choice is "Play now," which can default to your favorite college team playing at home against an arch-rival.

The next step is to choose how much you want to control.

Michigan solar car team wins 2,400-mile race

By Charles Gregg-Geist
Michigan Daily

Charles Gregg-Geist is a writer for the Michigan Daily, the leading news source for the University of Michigan. This article was brought to CNN.com by UWIRE, the leading provider of student-generated content. UWIRE aims to identify and promote the brightest young content creators and deliver their work to a larger audience via professional media partners such as CNN.com. Visit UWIRE.com to learn more.

The University of Kentucky's solar car races along the road, on its way to the finish line.

(UWIRE) -- In the world of higher education, summer is usually the off-season.

But for some students, this summer was the culmination of years of hard work in a 2,400-mile solar car race from Plano, Texas to Calgary, Alberta.

Fifteen teams of students drove photovoltaic-powered cars across the North American Solar Challenge finish line in Calgary Tuesday, led by the University of Michigan Solar Car Team and its vehicle, Continuum.

Placing second was the car Ra 7 from Principia College, followed by the sole European finisher, the German FH Bochum Solar Car Team.

Michigan's victory, which took about 51 hours and 42 minutes on the road, is its fifth NASC championship. The school also won the last NASC, in 2005.

It took Principia almost ten hours more than Michigan to complete the race, in about 61 hours and 38 minutes. Bochum's car took about two hours more, but the University of Waterloo Midnight Sun Solar Car Team was a very close fourth, taking about fifteen minutes longer.

Principia's success may be as noteworthy as Michigan's margin of victory. The college has fewer than 550 students, all of them undergraduates. It's a sharp contrast from the enormous research universities that traditionally win solar car races.

"It's unique, I think, for their college to field a team, (because) they don't have an engineering school," said Dan Eberle, NASC's organizer.

But he noted that small teams have had some success in the past.

"If you can get a group of folks who are really committed, then you can do a lot," he said.