Chip-and-PIN under attack

The security of chip-and-PIN-equipped ATMs is being questioned, following a demonstration at Cambridge University that the devices can be cracked, reports Computing.co.uk.

Two widely deployed models of PIN entry devices (PEDs) fail to protect customers' card details and PINs adequately, according to the researchers.

By attaching a recording device to the PED, criminals can record account details and use the information along with counterfeit cards.

Apple has introduced new models of its consumer-level MacBook and high-end MacBook Pro laptops, adding the newly unveiled Penryn chips to its portable line and boosting processor speeds, says Macworld.

In addition, the MacBook Pro adopts the MultiTouch trackpad, first introduced in Apple's MacBook Air laptop.

The MacBook Pro comes in three configurations: a 15-inch model with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip, a 15-inch 2.5GHz offering, and a 17-inch 2.5GHz system. A 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo chip is available as a $250 build-to-order option for the MacBook Pro.

An effort at damage control has snowballed into a public relations disaster for a Swiss bank seeking to crack down on a renegade Web site for posting classified information about some of its wealthy clients, reports The Associated Press.

Documents from Bank Julius Baer containing information about several bank clients, including San Diego venture capitalist Jonathan Lampitt, were posted last month on Wikileaks.org. The site purports to discourage unethical behaviour by corporations and governments by putting leaked documents online.

The Web site claimed the documents showed tax evasion and money laundering schemes at the bank's Cayman Islands branch. Lampitt's lawyer says his client was interviewed and cleared of any wrongdoing by the FBI in 2005 after a former Bank Julius Baer employee allegedly circulated the same documents that appeared on Wikileaks.

Already facing questions from the Federal Communications Commission regarding Comcast's managing of its network, the New York attorney general's office subpoenaed the communications giant, whose 13 million subscribers position it as the second largest Internet service provider in the US, says CRN.

Comcast said it plans to cooperate with the attorney general's office. A Comcast spokesperson said the company has been and continues to cooperate with the attorney general's office.

This latest development comes after harsh questioning from FCC chairman Kevin Martin, who is attempting to determine if Comcast has been "unreasonable" in the way that it manages the flow of data across its network.

A number of European crime-fighting agencies will have limited access to the national identity register, Home Office minister Meg Hillier told the Home Affairs Committee yesterday, reports Computing.co.uk.

Individuals will only be told if their details have been shared if they make a specific request to the "custodian" of the database. All access will be carefully controlled, said Hillier.

"The intention is that organisations will only have access to the specific data requested, and only when they can prove they need it as part of an ongoing investigation," she said.