Madoff gets 150 years for biggest financial fraud

Bernard Madoff, the mastermind of biggest financial fraud in American history, was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison, the maximum sentence possible.

New York Judge Denny Chin said the 71-year-old Madoff's $65-billion financial fraud that affected hundreds investors around the world was "unprecedented in this century".

His victims, nine of whom testified in the New York court ahead of the sentencing, called him a "beast" and "monster" and demanded the maximum punishment. His attorneys had asked for 12 years due to his advanced age.

Madoff in his own testimony said he would "live in a tormented state" for his crime, which cost more than 1,000 investors their life savings or considerable chunk of them.

"I left a legacy of shame for my family and I will live with that for the rest of my life," Madoff told the court.

Turning directly to face the victims present in the court, he said: "I apologize to you, my victims. I'm sorry."

The sentencing, while providing some closure to victims, will still leave many fighting to recover some of their lost money.

That recovery came one step closer Friday when the New York court ruled that Madoff's wife Ruth must give up the bulk of the family's estate.

The family will have to surrender numerous villas, yachts and cars worth $80 million, Judge Denny Chin ruled. She can keep about $2.5 million.

Madoff ran a pyramid "Ponzi" scheme for years, faking earnings by continuously drawing in new investors. The system collapsed late last year when investors began to withdraw funds amid the financial crisis.

Madoff was first arrested in December and pleaded guilty to the crime in March.

Michael Jackson Death Stops the Web, Causes Wikipedia Editing Chaos

Music icon Michael Jackson died Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital, causing millions of fans to overwhelm traffic servers and dominate the conversation of the most popular applications online, including Twitter.

Early news reports had reveled the so-called ‘King of Pop’ had suffered a cardiac arrest in his home prior to being rushed to the hospital. This caused many sites to announce the singer’s death hours before the hospital or the family had made any official statements. One of the biggest problems facing publishers online is enforcing strict source-based quality control over the news, especially when anyone is a simple blog sign-up away from spreading lies.

This is especially true when not-sourced allegations get into increasingly legitimate information resources, such as Wikipedia. As news of the singer’s stroke came in without true, a few volunteer editors of the web encyclopedia overrode protocol and kept changing Michael Jackson’s page to include his date of death. As CNet noted, opposing editors tried to keep the page lie-free, noting they were “premature edits,” and some pleaded for responsible web behavior: “ONCE AGAIN, HE IS NOT DEAD, JUST STOP.”

Once Jackson was rushed to the hospital and passed away, most of the comments were gone and his final date on the site was established.

But many blogs around the net didn’t wait for the official word, either. TMZ.com was the first site to publish the singer’s death, about 3 hours before any major site. It received so much traffic that it went down a few times throughout the day.

Jumping off from TMZ.com’s lead, people logged on to social networks en masse and crashed several sites. Within three hours of the heart attack news, nine out of ten terms on the trending topics on Twitter were about Michael Jackson. Most tweets expressed sadness and grief over the news, while many used the service to publish links sending out users to other Jackson-related news around the net. In a statement to the New York Times Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said the site saw “double the normal tweets per second the moment the news broke—the biggest increase since the US presidential election.” According to many users, the site crashed many times throughout the day.

News aggregators also reached very high levels of participation. On Digg, news of the singer’s death reached over 12,000 diggs within four hours.

PC World reported that instant messaging service AIM appeared to have more problems than most dealing with influx of traffic. Around 2:30PM PST, the service was blocked and failed to work for a long period of time.

In addition, Google noted earlier this morning that there were so many searches for ‘Michael Jackson’ that the site’s crawling robot believed it was under attack by a malignant bug. The company said that when the site receives a large volume of similar requests, CAPTCHA and malware-protection programs are automatically launched. This led to many people landing on a user-alert search page, instead of the news they were seeking.

And of course, video and music sites saw a huge spike in Jackson-related content. By the end of the day yesterday, Jackson’s Thriller album was the top album on iTunes and his videos on YouTube (including coverage from TV feeds) led the site on page views.

Michael Jackson was a child prodigy who became famous along with his brothers as part of the R&B group The Jackson Five. Later on as a solo-artist, he recorded Thriller, the best-selling album of all time with sales of more than 100 million. He was 50 years old at the time of his passing.

Experts Call Out Google Over E-mail Security

'Critics say Google isn’t doing enough to protect its Gmail users.’ -

Google is under fire from critics questioning why the No. 1 search engine in the world doesn’t make its e-mail service even more secure.

The letter was drafted by Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University student Christopher Soghoian, and was signed by security experts and professors from Purdue University, SRI International, Harvard University, BT Group, among others.

Security experts, lawyers and privacy advocates recently wrote an open letter to Google’s Eric Schmidt, questioning why Gmail users “needlessly” face security risks.

“As more of us end up using insecure Internet access — such as Wi-Fi in coffee shops, libraries, and so fort — there’s a real risk of session hijacking,” according to Ben Edleman, Harvard Business School assistant professor and letter signatory.

Gmail already uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), but Google has it disabled by default with very few users aware of how to turn it on, the letter claims.

Google responded by saying it will test several different security methods in the future, including HTTPS, but didn’t say when users can expect the increased security features to become permanent.

Gmail users interested in enabling HTTPS before Google can do so by logging into their Gmail account, then click on the “Settings” tab, scroll to “Browser connection,” and then click on “Always use HTTPS” so the security feature will be enabled.

Yahoo Mail, Microsoft Hotmail, Facebook and MySpace also use HTTPS when logging a user into the service, but don’t have the security feature available once a user is logged in, according to security experts. Normally only sites such as banks and credit card web sites have permanent HTTPS connections, but there is growing pressure for e-mail services and other sites to support HTTPS at other times besides log in.

Free Microsoft AV Suite Beta to be Released Tuesday

Priced at free, this one should be a hot seller.’ -

Microsoft is putting consumer antivirus makers on notice Tuesday, when it will release the beta of its Microsoft Security Essentials, a new anti-malware suite. Unlike its predecessor, Live OneCare suite, a subscription service which is being phased out, the new software will be offered for free to consumers.

Like traditional antivirus software, the new software detects changes to the file system resulting from operations such as copies, installs, or downloads. If the file signature matches a known threat, the operation is blocked and the user is warned. The new service features dynamic communication with Microsoft’s Dynamic Signature Service, which update the malware signature list regularly. It also request copies of code that it suspects may be a new piece of malware. Alan Packer, general manager of Microsoft’s Anti-Malware team says the service publishes new signatures three times daily.

He describes, “The hope is that people who install Security Essentials and enable auto updates in their Windows configuration will be protected. We don’t see Security Essentials as a direct competitor to other free products and suites. We’re targeting people who aren’t protected (already).”

The service is also designed for efficiency, running major scans when the computer is idle and saving memory during times of active use. Mr. Packer suggests users with an antivirus program skip the new software, which could interfere with the third party AV software. Unlike its non-free competitors and the former OneCare suite, the new service will not provide managed firewalls, performance-tuning, backup and restore, printer-sharing and multi-PC management.


Screenshot from the new Microsoft Security Essentials, a free software suite which will be released in beta form Tuesday on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, shows the software’s output when it detects threats. (Source: Microsoft)
AVG, maker of the current most widespread antivirus freeware, also does not offer these features, but says its software is still better than Microsoft’s. It says that its products can work on a variety of OS’s, not just Windows, and that unlike Microsoft it was founded as a dedicated security company.

The new Microsoft software will run on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 computers. It currently supports English and Portuguese (in support of a deployment in Brazil). A Simplified Chinese language version will be released later in the year.

According to a discussion with CNET, Microsoft doesn’t have big plans to offer similar services for its upcoming Windows Mobile 7, for smart phones. States Mr. Packer, “In general, the way we look at mobile from a security standpoint is that you are better off preventing the malware from getting on a mobile device rather than trying to run anti-malware or antivirus software. We haven’t targeted mobile antivirus software because we felt that’s not the right approach.”

Windows 7 Upgrade Tool Released

New tool is intended to help businesses and customers quickly assess which systems are ready for Windows 7.’ -

With every OS launch a certain number of customers with older hardware will inevitably be left behind. For novice users, or for professionals administering large deployments, the confusion of figuring out which hardware will meet the upgrade requirements can be a headache. With Microsoft’s hot new OS, Windows 7, set to release on October 22, Microsoft is looking to remove any such obstacles that might put a damper on the launch.

Microsoft has released the beta version of a toolkit which will help users determine whether their computers are Windows 7 worthy. The tool, the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit, version 4.0, will also look at your machine’s compatibility with Windows Server 2008, and other software products, including Microsoft Office 2007. The tool also provides advice about virtualization, power saving opportunities, and security vulnerabilities.

Baldwin Ng, senior product manager at Microsoft elaborates, “It performs key functions that include hardware and device inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for migration to most major Microsoft technologies.”

MAP is available via the TechNet website. Limitations include only being available for a limited set of newer Windows OS’s — Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows XP Professional Edition (if you don’t have one of these on a bootable partition, you can’t run the tool). The tool provides reports in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish.

Currently, users can also check their compatibility by downloading the Windows 7 Release Candidate and installing it for free. The RC build will work until June 1, 2010.

Windows 7 sports an improved interface, new features, more speed at many common tasks, and a smaller memory and disk footprint. Microsoft is hoping the slick new OS will wash away the critical attitude the public developed for Windows Vista. DailyTech has detailed many of the hardware and software changes showcased in the Release Candidate build.

Google Wave Blends Video, Facebook, and More

‘Google wants to build communication and collaboration.’ -

Google is previewing a new web application to developers that may eventually supplant Gmail. Google Wave goes beyond the basic capabilities of email in order to let people communicate and work collaboratively in real-time with text, photos, videos, maps, gadgets, and social networking feeds from other sources on the internet.

A “wave” is equal parts conversation and document. A user starts off by creating a wave and adding people to it. Everyone on a wave can insert a reply or edit the wave directly. It is being billed as concurrent, collaborative rich text editing, where you can see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave. That means Google Wave is well suited for quick messages as well as for persistent content. A “playback” function is also available to rewind the wave and see how it evolved.

The project is being headed up by Software Engineering Manager Lars Rasmussen, who joined Google with his brother Jens after their tiny mapping startup named “Where 2 Tech” was bought by Google. Technologies from that company eventually became a part of Google Maps.

“Everyone on your wave can use richly formatted text, photos, gadgets, and even feeds from other sources on the web. You see on your screen nearly instantly what your fellow collaborators are typing in your wave,” stated Rasmussen in a blog post.

The code for Google Wave will be open source, with developers given freedom to modify it as they wish. Google Wave can be thought of as being comprised of three layers: the product, the platform, and the protocol.

The Google Wave product is now available as a developer preview, and is the web application portion that people will use to access and edit waves. It is a HTML 5 application built on Google’s Web Toolkit, and includes a rich text editor and other functions like desktop drag-and-drop, which will enable users to drag a set of photos into a wave.

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Google’s first preview shot of Wave

Google Wave can also be considered as a platform. It is being developed with a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that will allow developers to build new extensions that work inside waves. Developers will also be able to embed waves in other web services.

The underlying format is the Google Wave protocol, used as the means of sharing and storing waves. It includes the live concurrency control, which allows edits to be reflected instantly across users and services.

“Developers are going to see the potential of Google Wave as a platform; we hope they’ll leap on it,” said Wave engineer Adam Schuck. “They’ll be able to integrate it with existing systems they use today, or produce new tools that allow people to improve and manage their communications.”

The ideas behind Google Wave came from a project by Jens Rasmussen codenamed “Walkabout”. His basic idea was that the two most successful forms of digital communication were originally designed in the 1960’s to imitate analog formats. Email was designed to mimicked snail mail, and instant messaging mimicked phone calls. However, many different forms of communication had been invented since then, such as blogs, wikis, and real-time collaborative documents. Walkabout was proposed as a new communications model that used all these advances as a starting point. Greater capacity on the internet and fast internet connections make this new paradigm possible, along with computers that have lots of memory and capable of playing several concurrent video streams.

Google Wave’s prototyping started with a five-person team in Google’s offices in Sydney. An expanded team has been working on bringing about a public release for the last two years.

No launch date for a public product has been set. “We’re inviting developers to add all kinds of cool stuff before our public launch,” wrote Rasmussen.

New Study Gives Blackberrys High Scores on Security

‘iPhone, WinMo phones not quite as secure, says the study.’ -

The chic iPhone may have snatched Research In Motion’s smartphone sales crown in 2008, but RIM charged back with its Blackberries topping sales charts this year, thanks in part to Verizon’s “Buy one get one” promotion. Both phones are vying for business customers, as are a plethora of Windows Mobile (WinMo) phones. So how do all these phones stack up in security, one of the most critical considerations in business tech adoption?

A new study by Lopez Research, founded by President Maribel Lopez, a former Forrester Research analyst tackles this question, looking at these three top competitors in the smart phone arena. The study was broken down into three categories — device, network, and transmission. It gives a score of 0 to 4 (highest) to each competitor for each category.

Its results may surprise some. It blasts Apple’s iPhone with an overall score of 1 out of 4. Apple’s worst performance came in the device category in which it earned a zero. Ms. Lopez notes that the underlying OS X build is easily compromised, that the system lacks over the air security updates, and that its encryption options are lacking.

Networking was Apple’s strongest category. The reason why it performed well, according to Ms. Lopez, was that the iPhone “uses the same active directory based on authentication methods as Windows Mobile.”

As this quote might imply, Windows Mobile 6.5 scored quite well, earning an overall 3 out of 4. Ms. Lopez praises, “Microsoft’s solution leverages the existing infrastructure, such as Active Directory, to manage Windows Mobile capable devices, meaning IT can manage the system with familiar tools and capabilities. It also recently achieved common criteria certification EAL 2+ for Windows Mobile 6.1 in August of 2008. The combination of MDM and a VPN provides a reasonable security solution for firms that would like to use Windows Mobile devices.”

Microsoft earned a lower mark — 2/4 — on devices as its encryption was lacking, despite having over-the-air updates.

Sales leader RIM, though, took the cake, earning a perfect mark. States Ms. Lopez, “RIM offers strong security protection across the device, transmission and the network domains through tight control of the device, its software and its application control policies. While other vendors have stepped up security efforts in the past year, RIM offers the most robust security solution.”

Ms. Lopez points out that it’s important for all of these companies to continue their efforts as large corporate deployments will likely see a mix of handset makers and OS’s. For those worried about bias against Apple, given its poor mark, it can be noted that the Lopez Research site, which the report is available on, was built on a Mac.