IPv6 creates spam-filtering nightmare

The migration towards IPv6, which has been made necessary by the expansion of the Internet, will make it harder to filter spam messages, service providers warn, reports The Register.

While this expansion allows far more devices to have a unique Internet address, it creates a host of problems for security service providers, which have long used databases of known bad IP addresses to maintain blacklists of junk mail cesspools.

Spam-filtering technology typically uses these blacklists as one (key component) in a multi-stage junk mail filtering process that also involves examining message contents.

The UK may have become dangerously over-reliant on satellite-navigation signals, according to a report from the Royal Academy of Engineering, states the BBC.

Use of space-borne positioning and timing data is now widespread, in everything from freight movement to synchronisation of computer networks.

The academy fears that too many applications have little or no backup were these signals to go down.

The way Web sites track visitors and tailor ads to their behaviour is about to undergo a big shake-up, reports the BBC.

From 25 May, European laws dictate that "explicit consent" must be gathered from Web users who are being tracked via text files called "cookies". These files are widely used to help users navigate faster around sites they visit regularly.

Businesses are being urged to sort out how they get consent so they can keep on using cookies.

A new study has revealed that women who base their self worth on their appearance tend to share more photos on social networking sites, according to Sify News.

The results suggest that females identify more strongly with their image and appearance, and use Facebook as a platform to compete for attention.

"The results suggest persistent differences in the behaviour of men and women that result from a cultural focus on female image and appearance," says University at Buffalo researcher Michael A Stefanone.