Crime-fighting robots with access to citizen databases will be patrolling the streets by 2084, according to an academic at the University of Sheffield.

Robotics expert Professor Noel Sharkey predicts that humanoid robots, that are able to arrest people, will have access to integrated databases of information on British citizens, including bank accounts, tax and movements, to enable them to identify who people are.

The “superior knowledge robots” will, according to Sharkey, be able to use their “super strength and inability to feel pain” to arrest criminals.

They will have human features and will be able to detect weapons including guns, knives and explosives, and recognise drunks and aggressive behaviour in large areas.

By 2070, police will also have the aid of autonomous police cars, which will be able to recognise speeding cars, identify license plates and automatically take fines from bank accounts and add points on driving licences.

The project examined the future of the robot in the UK and how it will be developed to aid police. The research was based on recent robotic developments around the world, and on current ideas and trends from robotics experts.

One laptop is lost every two days by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with 659 reported stolen and 89 lost by the department in the past four years.

The 659th stolen laptop belonging to an MoD official and containing sensitive information was taken from the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool on Thursday.

An MoD spokesman said the laptop was encrypted and Merseyside Police were investigating the theft.

Last week defence secretary Des Browne issued revised laptop figures after “anomalies in the reporting process” were discovered.

He confirmed that 658 laptops had been stolen and 89 lost since 2004, almost double the previous figure released by the MoD. Only 32 have been recovered. The latest theft brings the total number of computers lost by the MoD in the past four years to 748,

The ministry also revealed last week that 121 of its USB memory sticks have been either lost or stolen since 2004.

Information on three was secret and 19 carried data classified as restricted.

Defence minister Bob Ainsworth gave the information on the memory sticks in response to a parliamentary question tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather.

“It seems this government simply cannot be trusted with keeping sensitive information safe. It is frightening to think that secret MoD information can be lost or stolen,” she said.

The MoD has recalled 20,000 laptops to be encrypted. The move comes after last month’s Burton report found that although MoD policies and procedures are “generally fit for purpose”, there are a number of areas in which it “needs to do better” to protect personal data.

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP/Vista/2000/Server 2003/Server 2008 (KB950759)
Security issues have been identified that could allow an attacker to compromise a system that is running Microsoft Internet Explorer and gain control over it. You can help protect your system by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Security Update for Windows XP/Vista/Server 2003 (KB951376)
A security issue has been identified that could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to compromise your Microsoft Windows-based system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Security Update for Windows XP/Vista/Server 2003 (KB950762)
A security issue has been identified that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the affected system to stop responding. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits for Windows XP/Vista/2000/Server 2003/Server 2008 (KB950760)
Security issues have been identified in ActiveX controls that could allow an attacker to compromise a system that is running Microsoft Internet Explorer and gain control over it. You can help protect your system by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Security Update for Windows XP/Vista/2000/Server 2003/Server 2008 (KB951698)
A security issue has been identified in Microsoft DirectShow that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - June 2008 (KB890830)
After the download, this tool runs one time to check your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom) and helps remove any infection that is found. If an infection is found, the tool will display a status report the next time that you start your computer. A new version of the tool will be offered every month. If you want to manually run the tool on your computer, you can download a copy from the Microsoft Download Center, or you can run an online version from microsoft.com. This tool is not a replacement for an antivirus product. To help protect your computer, you should use an antivirus product.

‘Slap in the face’ to UK business, says SEO firm

The hosting of UK government sites such Job Centre Plus and the Pension Service in the US is a slap in the face to UK businesses, according to search engine optimisation firm NetCallidus.

Routine research and analysis performed by the the company discovered a number of .gov.uk sites being hosted in Sunnyvale, California.

“At a time when the UK economy is teetering on the edge of a recession, this is an out and out insult,” said Mark Furber, managing director of NetCallidus.

“There is no good reason why this work should be given to another country. It might save a few pounds, but sends the wrong message about how much the government cares about British business.”

Furber believes that this socially irresponsible and that the work would be better done by a UK business anyway.

“We always advise our clients to host their websites in the country they are aiming at, as it is one of the factors that can influence search engines like Google.”

“These sites are clearly aimed at UK people so should be hosted in the UK to ensure that the highest number of people find them.”

Furber also highlighted issues around latency, security and management as reasons for governments to host public service sites within their own country.

The various departments were not immediately available for comment regarding this issue.

Written by Ian Williams

Virus writers are creating malware that is specially designed to infect users in a specific country

The program is nasty. It deletes pictures and movies from your hard drive and then it teases you: “Even though Mr. Kaneko was found guilty, you are still using Winny. I really hate such people,” taunts an animated woman on your screen.

Welcome to the age of localized malware.

Over the past two years virus writers have increasingly targeted their malicious programs to users in different regions of the globe, creating programs that are specially designed to infect users in countries like Japan, Brazil, China or Germany.

Take the taunting Trojan, which goes after users of the Winny file-sharing program. (Winny creator Isamu Kaneko was convicted of abetting copyright violations in late 2006) Winny is file-sharing software that is incredibly popular in Japan, but virtually unknown outside of the region. Still, it’s been the target of several malware programs, according to Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager for McAfee Avert Labs. “Japan has some really unique factors that we just don’t see anywhere else,” he said. “There are a couple of malware writers in Japan who don’t like people who illegally share content.”

Previously, attackers would write programs that would affect the largest possible number of users, but that’s no longer necessarily the case, Marcus said. “What we’ve noticed over the last couple of years is that a growing amount of malware is localized.”

McAfee believes that there are a few reasons behind this shift. For one thing, writers no longer want the worldwide attention and law enforcement action that was garnered by outbreaks such as Sasser and Netsky.

And with users becoming more wary, hackers have to be crafty with their attacks — creating more targeted malware that victims are unlikely to have seen before. Another factor is that criminals are increasingly targeting their attacks to regions that have weak cybercrime enforcement, McAfee believes.

Regional attacks also cater to regional tastes. Online banking is widely used in Brazil, so much of the malware there tries to steal banking usernames and passwords. In China, online gaming is so popular that Chinese World of Warcraft password stealers are now the second-largest class of malware tracked by McAfee, Marcus said.

These regional attacks are part of an explosion of viruses and Trojan programs that is making life more difficult for people companies like McAfee that track and intercept the malware. In 2006, the company identified 53,537 unique pieces of malware according to data set to be published Thursday in Sage, McAfee’s semi-annual magazine devoted to security issues.

Last year that number jumped 246 percent to 131,862, and it could double again this year. By the end of 2008, McAfee expects to be identifying about 750 pieces of malware per day.

In what was described as the largest hacking scam in Canadian history, Quebec provincial police raided several homes across Quebec on Wednesday and arrested 16 people between the ages of 17 and 26.

The hacking network may have profited by as much as $45 million through the use of phishing sites set up on compromised computers. The majority of computers attacked by the network were in Poland and Brazil, but some PCs in Manitoba and the United States were also hacked, he said. Several government computers were also compromised, but investigators will not say in which country.

A poll by McAfee revealed that while only 2.1% of respondents have ever encountered a virus on their handset and the vast majority had never heard of anyone getting a mobile phone virus, nearly three-quarters of mobile phone users in developed countries are worried about security on their handsets.

The poll, based on 2,000 people in Britain, the United States and Japan, was released at the Mobile World Congress, one of the mobile phone industry’s biggest trade shows. Network operators are hoping that consumers increasingly use their phones to access the Internet, download applications and make transactions, meaning security and protection are set to become big issues for the industry.

The latest research from McAfee shows that the majority of consumers are concerned about the security of their mobile handsets. The McAfee Mobile Security Report 2008 indicates:

• More than 86 percent of consumers worry about receiving inappropriate or unsolicited content, fraudulent bill increases, or information loss or theft.
• More than 72 percent of users expressed concerns regarding the safety of using emerging mobile services.
• Nearly 14 percent of global mobile users have been directly infected or have known someone who was infected by a mobile virus.