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Google unveils Chrome OS
Google is developing an open-source operating system targeted at Internet-centric computers such as netbooks, the company said Wednesday. The OS will carry the same “Chrome” name as the company’s browser, and will begin appearing on netbook computers in the second half of 2010, Google said. At the heart of Chrome OS is a Linux kernel. Applications for it can be written in standard Web programming languages, and will run inside the Google Chrome browser in a new windowing system. Such applications will also run inside the Chrome browser on Windows, Mac or Linux machines, meaning that a single application could run on almost any computer, Google said.
Botnet attacks U.S. and South Korea government sites
A botnet composed of about 50,000 infected computers has been waging a war against government Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea. An updated version of the five-year-old MyDoom virus is responsible for the attacks, according to Korean computer security company AhnLab. Security experts have credited the attack with knocking the Web site of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offline for parts of Monday and Tuesday. Several other U.S. government Web sites have also been targeted. South Korean sites were first hit on Tuesday, several days after the U.S. portion of the attack kicked off. Most of the targeted sites in the U.S. appeared to be working normally on Tuesday.
Dell sorry over Taiwan snafus
Dell apologized Wednesday for online pricing snafus that have hit its Web sales in Taiwan over the past week, and shut down sales on its Taiwan Web site until it can clear up the issue. The island’s fair trade commission has launched a probe into the matter. Dell could face fines of up to 25 million Taiwan dollars, about three quarters of a million US dollars, for the errors, in which Dell priced 19-inch LCD monitors and Latitude laptop PCs at a fraction of their normal price, and then cancelled orders at the lower price.
Accussed scammer pleads not guilty
An Indian man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he hacked into online brokerage accounts in order to manipulate stock prices. One firm lost more than 2 million dollars because of the scam. 34-year-old Jaisankar Marimuthu of Chennai is one of three charged with hacking into online brokerages or creating new accounts using stolen identities. Another of the men has already been sentenced, while a third is still at large.
And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I’m Peter Sayer in Paris. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.