Hackers briefly overwhelmed at least three of the 13 computers that help manage global computer traffic Tuesday in one of the most significant attacks against the Internet since 2002.

Experts said the unusually powerful attacks lasted as long as 12 hours but passed largely unnoticed by most computer users, a testament to the resiliency of the Internet. Behind the scenes, computer scientists worldwide raced to cope with enormous volumes of data that threatened to saturate some of the Internet’s most vital pipelines.

The Homeland Security Department confirmed it was monitoring what it called “anomalous” Internet traffic.

“There is no credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland or our computing systems at this time,” the department said in a statement.

The motive for the attacks was unclear, said Duane Wessels, a researcher at the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis at the San Diego Supercomputing Center. “Maybe to show off or just be disruptive; it doesn’t seem to be extortion or anything like that,” Wessels said.

Other experts said the hackers appeared to disguise their origin, but vast amounts of rogue data in the attacks were traced to South Korea.

Source: AP

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday called on the four major record companies to start selling songs online without copy protection software known as digital rights management (DRM).

Jobs said there appeared to be no benefit to the record companies to continue to sell more than 90 percent of their music without DRM on compact discs while selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system.

“If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies,” he said in a statement posted to his company’s Web site.

Source: Yahoo

Dell is to bundle Absolute Software’s burglar-beating Computrace LoJack for Laptops recovery service with “select” Inspiron notebooks, the PC giant said today.

Absolute’s code listens out for signals sent by the company when it receives notification from the police that a laptop has been pinched. If it receives them - provided the thief or the user he’s flogged the kit to turns the computer on and connects it to the internet - it signals back to allow Computrace and the cops to track it down.

Absolute sells its software and a year’s coverage for $50. Dell said it will include the software and appropriate annual coverage on unnamed Inspirons whose buyers also opt for Dell’s Accidental Damage cover for a period of 1-4 years.

Source: Reg Hardware

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is launching its long-awaited online movie download store, entering a market that has yet to catch on with consumers but is expected to grow rapidly.

A “beta” version of the online video store, set to debut Tuesday, will sell digital versions of about 3,000 films and television episodes from all the major studios and some TV networks, including Fox Broadcasting. Wal-Mart will not initially offer content from ABC, CBS or NBC, although the company said it hopes to add shows from those networks.

The nation’s largest retailer is using its buying power to beat the prices charged by other download services in many cases, offering films from $12.88 to $19.88 and individual TV episodes for $1.96 - 4 cents less than Apple Inc.’s iTunes store.

Source: AP