encryption

Intel rolled out a new range of Xeon processor chips Tuesday that are based on the chipmaker's 32nm logic technology featuring second-generation high-k metal gate transistors. Called the Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series, the new server and workstation devices promise to decrease energy consumption in data-center applications even as they boost processing speeds.

VeriSign Inc., whose technology is key to allowing Internet users to access Web sites with names ending in ".com" and ".net," plans to spend more than $300 million over the next decade to upgrade its systems.

The upgrades will allow VeriSign's machines to handle up to 4 quadrillion requests per day from computers trying to reach those sites. That's a thousand times more lookups than the 4 trillion per day that the company can currently handle.

Apple is one step closer to potentially taking a bite out of Nokia's U.S. market share. The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday said it will review the iPhone maker's complaint against the Finland-based mobile-phone giant. The ITC is also reviewing a similar complaint from Nokia against Apple.

Need a secure password for use on your computer? Think up a relatively long sentence. Then take the first letters of the individual words -- and you've got an instant password that even clever hackers will be hard pressed to crack, experts advise.

Each application should receive its own password. The other option is a "software vault" that requires the user to learn only a primary password to then access the rest of the passwords. That solution has a number of flaws, however, the experts at Germany's Computerbild magazine found.

The patent duel between Apple and Nokia is getting decidedly more aggressive in the new year. Both handset makers took swings over the past few days in a legal battle that shows no signs of simmering down before it gets hotter.

On Friday, Apple filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent federal agency that, among other things, directs actions against unfair trade practices involving patent, trademark and copyright infringement. The commission has the authority to order U.S. customs officials to block goods from entering the U.S.

Windows comes with many programs preinstalled, but it's hardly perfect. No software, however good, can satisfy the diverse needs of hundreds of millions of users at once. One good way to tailor the system to your own tastes is to keep a lookout for free utility programs.

Once the domain of PC geeks, little add-on utilities are ready to help a broader audience add a bit of missing functionality to Windows. Here's a selection of favorite programs.

The idea is simple: exchange data among computers and other network-ready devices using the existing electrical wiring in your home. The method is known as Powerline and it's one of the solutions to in-home networking being touted by networking equipment makers today.

A Powerline adapter features a conventional plug on one side and an Ethernet port on the other side to bridge the short distance between adapter and PC. Powerline is considered foolproof, but it can bring some problems of its own.

The cracking of GSM encryption by 28-year-old German security expert Karsten Nohl has sent shock waves through the wireless industry. But the crack should come as no surprise to an industry that has long given short shrift to security, an analyst says.

Nohl -- working with others around the Internet -- has created a guidebook for cracking the Global System for Mobile communication's 64-bit A5/1 algorithm, which was adopted in 1988. 3G networks use 128-bit encryption to protect caller privacy and the new A5/3 algorithm is being "phased in," GSM Association spokesperson Claire Cranton said.

The most widely used mobile-phone technology -- Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) -- has been cracked. The more than 20-year-old encryption, which protects mobile-phone calls and texts from being intercepted, was cracked by a computer hacking group called the Chaos Computer Club.

The encryption based on the A5/1 and A5/2 algorithm offers over-the-air privacy by scrambling the communications link between a handset and a radio base station. Serious weaknesses were discovered in both algorithms.

In a patent drama just getting under way, Nokia has added a new twist in its case against Apple. On Tuesday, Nokia said it filed a new complaint against the iPhone maker for infringing on its patents in virtually all of Apple's mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.