Index: Home Blackberry Has a Vulnerability Hole Intel Invests in US jobs Dell upgrades Tablet PC range IT Graduates struggle for Jobs

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Blackberry has a Hole: IResearch in Motion (RIM) today raised an alarm for a serious security vulnerability in the BlackBerry Application Web Loader, warning that it exposes Windows users to code execution attacks. When a BlackBerry device user browses to a web site that is designed to install the BlackBerry Application Web Loader ActiveX control on BlackBerry devices over a USB connection, and clicks Yes to install and run the ActiveX control, the ActiveX control introduces the vulnerability to the computer. An advisory from US-CERT explains that a malicious hacker could use booby-trapped HTML documents or Web pages to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user. The attacker could also cause Internet Explorer to crash.

Intel investing in the US TOP

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO - Intel Corp plans to invest $7 billion over two years to build next-generation U.S. chip manufacturing plants, unveiling its biggest spending plan for new technology amid a deepening economic recession and huge internal job cuts. Intel, larger rival to Advanced Micro Devices in the business of making computer microprocessors, wants to make faster, smaller chips that consume less energy. Analysts say the spending plan did not surprise markets, as it came on the heels of Intel's announcement it would begin ramping up its operations to produce chips based on 32-nanometer circuitry by 2009's final quarter, and was in line with the firm's annual capital expenditures.

Spokesman Chuck Mulloy said the firm would not raise capital but rely on internal cash to bankroll the plan, which the firm called its largest-ever investment for a new manufacturing process.

Intel, which said in January that its 2009 capital spending would be flat to slightly down from 2008's $5.2 billion, had more than $8.68 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments at the end of 2008.

"You never save your way out of recession. You invest your way," Mulloy said.

The global chip-making industry is struggling through what may be its worst-ever downturn.

AMD, Intel's distant rival, has announced 1,100 job cuts as demand for personal computers continues to crumble. The U.S. firm, which last month posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, is now trying to spin off its manufacturing operations into a foundry -- or chip-making -- firm.

Dell upgrades Tablet PC TOP

IT Graduates to Struggle for Jobs TOP

IT students will struggle to find jobs when leaving university this year, as technology firms look to cut back on their graduate recruitment programmes in reaction to the ongoing economic crisis.

According to the latest biannual study from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), firms in the technology sector expect to post seven per cent fewer vacancies in 2009 than last year.

The outlook is even bleaker for those wanting to enter the financial services sector, unsurprisingly. Investment banks and fund managers expect to recruit 28 per cent fewer graduates than last year.

In 2008, IT roles accounted for seven per cent of all graduate vacancies, making it the fifth highest for graduate career roles after accountancy, investment banking, general management and legal work.

And for those graduates who do manage to land their dream IT job, they are also likely to have to accept a lower salary compared to previous years.

The AGR study revealed that starting salaries for IT graduates are set to fall by four per cent this year, taking it down from an average of £27,000 in 2008 to less than £26,000. According to the AGR's 2007 Winter Review, the median starting salary for IT graduate roles was £28,000 two years ago.

However, this still compares favourably to the average graduate. In 2008, the median starting salary across all sectors was £25,000, and for the first time ever in the history of the study, the AGR said this figure will stay the same - in previous studies it has always increased.

The report also gave an interesting insight into the gender make-up of the IT sector. Technology firms came right at the bottom of the chart, with women accounting for only 22.5 per cent of all new graduate hires. Engineering and construction companies, also often thought of as male-dominated industries, managed a more respectable proportion of females at 32 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.

The AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey 2009 is based on the responses of 245 organisations in the UK, including Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, BA and Waitrose. Across all the participating firms last year, they were responsible for recruiting 21,144 graduates.