fake software

The Internet is a little less jammed with spam after a cybercrime group blew the whistle on one of the biggest offenders. HostExploit, an alliance of volunteers who work at Google, McAfee and Arbor Networks, has been tracking and documenting cybercrime activity and its latest effort slashed worldwide spam by 50 percent and junk e-mail by 75 percent.

PC users in China running illegal versions of Microsoft Windows were greeted recently with black computer screens. It was a result of Microsoft putting some muscle behind its anti-piracy initiative in China.

A validation test is being used to determine if a Chinese computer is using fake versions of Windows and Microsoft Office. Once Microsoft initiates the test, a user's computer screen will turn black every 60 minutes if it fails validation, according to the Shanghai Daily.