Google beefs up patent arsenal

Google has added to its ammo dump in the patent hostilities, buying over a thousand more of IBM's patents, reports The Register.

The search engine behemoth bought 1 023 patents from IBM in August, according to records filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, and originally reported on the SEO by the Sea blog.

This batch of patents adds to the 1 030 Google already snagged from IBM, and the 17 000 or so the company will get from Motorola Mobility to make a tidy little arsenal in Google's fight-back against the “hostile, organised campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies” described by David Drummond, senior VP and chief legal officer, on the Google blog.

The FBI is investigating computer hacking attacks on celebrities after photos, which appear to show Scarlett Johansson nude, were posted online, says the BBC.

The images, apparently taken by the actress, follow the leaking of naked photos of stars including Jessica Alba. The FBI said it was investigating “the person or groups responsible for a series of computer intrusions involving high-profile figures”.

A spokesperson for Johansson was not available for comment. Hacked photos of Justin Timberlake and his Friends With Benefits co-star Mila Kunis have also appeared online, according to reports.

The BlackBerry company admitted yesterday that social media could be used for “malicious purposes”, but the vast majority of users were law-abiding, during a grilling by British lawmakers on August's riots, writes AFP.

Stephen Bates, MD of Research In Motion in Britain and Ireland, insisted social media was generally a “force for good”, a position backed by executives from Facebook and Twitter during the hearing in London.

“There's no dispute that... social media was used for malicious purposes,” Bates told Parliament's home affairs committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the four nights of unprecedented riots in English cities.

Supermodel and TV host Heidi Klum was yesterday named as the most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace, inviting malware and viruses to flourish on computers, according to Reuters.

Internet security firm McAfee said searching for downloads and screensavers for the “Project Runaway” judge and former Victoria's Secret model runs a nearly one in 10 chance of landing on a malicious Web site with spyware, spam, phishing and other viruses designed to steal personal information.

CNN talk show host Piers Morgan, also a judge on “America's Got Talent” and a former British tabloid newspaper editor, was the most dangerous male celebrity in the survey, produced annually by McAfee.