Yes, We can Change

Vodafone has begun upgrading its mobile broadband network to a theoretical maximum download speed of 14.4Mbps, the operator announced on Thursday. The move makes Vodafone the first British operator to roll out the highest specification for high-speed downlink packet access. HSDPA, a variant of 3G technology, is expected to be superseded by HSPA Evolved (HSPA+), then by the long-term evolution (LTE) of 3G--with each upgrade providing speed boosts. Rival British operators offer much lower theoretical maximum speeds. T-Mobile's mobile broadband tops out at 4.5Mbps. O2, 3 and Orange all advertise up to 3.6Mbps, but are in the process of rolling out technology capable of speeds of up to 7.2Mbps. "Today's network upgrade means customers can be reassured we're consistently enhancing the quality of our network in response to demand," Vodafone UK's chief technology officer, Jeni Mundy, said in a statement. The theoretical maximum of 14.4Mbps will almost never be achie...

Security giant Symantec claims to have found the public release of source code for a Trojan that targets Skype users. Trojan.Peskyspy is spyware which records a voice call and stores it as an MP3 file for later transmission. An infected machine will use the software that handles audio processing within a computer and save the call data as an MP3. The file is then sent over the internet to a predefined server where the attacker can listen to the recorded conversations. Since the call is an MP3 it does not take up too much space, and means that transfer speeds are lower. Symantec admits that the threat risk is low at the moment but that, since the code is publicly available, malware authors are likely to use it as part of a customised snooping package. The downside for the malware creators is that they would need a lot of time on their hands to go through hours of Skype audio files to find anything of monetary interest.