TRENDS | Pay-as-you-go cards for PCs

The mobile industry has it, so why not the PC industry?

That's what Microsoft was thinking when it introduced a PC rental schememodeled on a pay-as-you-go package.
It's called FlexGo, and is a framework that allows suppliers to rent out PCsactivated by pre-pay cards. Consumers buy access to the machine for a certainperiod of time; then when the card is out of credit, the PC refuses accessuntil the user buys more runtime.

Simple and easy to understand for consumers; and it could be a hit in regionswhere people just can't afford to buy PCs and can't get a loan to buy one either.Trials have already started, prior to Microsoft's announcement this week.

Apparently, pay-as-you-go PC schemes have been successful in Brazil, Mexico,Russia, Slovenia, Vietnam and more to come.

Another benefit of the FlexGo technology Microsoft is adopting is that itenables subscription models, which could allow ISPs to provide customers withPC access on top of the Internet time purchased. The possibilities are exciting.Some, though, may be concerned by the point that users could end up paying theprice of a PC after several months of use.

But that won't be the case for most users, only for the ones who don't havethe common sense to realize that buying a PC with that kind of heavy use is abetter idea.

This initiative by Microsoft comes at a time when several international companies and bodiesare working towards cheaper computing for the masses, as part of aim ofbridging the digital divide between rich and poor countries.

Earlier this month, Intel unveiled its 'budget' laptop PC initiative incooperation with MIT, which is a $100 laptop!

Hewlett-Packard has similar ideas now brewing and companies like Sun aredonating PC to labs in universities and schools across the world, includingJordan!More social responsibility from ICT giants is a welcome development and whereby communities that become computer literate may become better marketsfor their products.

It's a long-range view, and the foundation of corporatesocial responsibility schemes.Which makes it ridiculous for critics, who have already raised their voices,to say that Microsoft is launching this initiative to push its own software onthese PCs.

To be fair, Microsoft has many on-going initiatives aimed at less fortunateusers; whether it\'s free or low priced software for libraries and schools indeveloping nations, or actual donations in millions to good causes.

This latest initiative will be viewed from different angles, and some peoplewill treat it with suspicion.

The bottom line is that the end user will benefit. If Microsoft achieves anybusiness gains in the coming years because of it, so be it!

zanasser@gmail.com

DIGILIFE | Cyber-blackmail on the rise

Blackmail SCHEMES are starting to be reported in Europe and US, by which hackers steal personal or corporate information then blackmail their victims into paying money to prevent them from spreading it or using it.

It is frightening when you consider the implications of such actions on a world that puts every bit of its information on computer networks.

Governments, financial institutions, the military, intelligence services and many organizations hold information and records that cannot and should not be compromised; but might be without proper network security, or through a determined and skillful penetration attempt.

And that seems to be the main problem today, skill coupled with determination.

Apparently, security specialists are being challenged everyday, with breaches. Systems thought to be secure turn out to have loop-holes and vulnerabilities.

The situation now has reached a stage where every security system is presumed vulnerable, awaiting a hacker smart enough to breach it. The trick nowadays is to hire these hackers to find the loop-holes for you, so you can close them!

Back to some of the blackmail stories being reported in the media, a Moscow-based crime organization spread a virus across the Russian banking system a few months ago, which would encrypt data or corrupt the system information, the require a ransom to be paid to de-crypt or fix the problem.

The demands reported varied from $50, in some cases, to as much $2,500 in others.

This marks a shift from the typical virus attacks, which brought little benefit to virus writers other than destroying target organizations or networks.

Coordinated attacks for profit, using malicious software such as viruses, spyware and adware, has become common nowadays and has grown exponentially in the past four to five years.

Police and investigation agencies need to step into this domain more aggressively, but one of the main problems is the multi-country nature of these attacks and sorting out the jurisdiction issues.

If an attack originates in Russia for example, how can a Western European investigations bureau get in there without cooperating with a local authority; who’s serious about cyber-crime or has time to worry about it with every other type of real-life crime rampant! Not every country views digital crime in the same way, thereby safe-havens for these criminals.

Another dangerous development is that criminals cooperate and create groupings to implement these schemes. Virus writing groups infect networks, turning them into zombie-style servants; then rent out a service to carry out attacks or steal information through these networks for crime organizations, who then blackmail the victims or sell and pass on the information to other crime organizations or simply to corrupt business people who had hired them to hire the virus writers to begin with!

Confusing, isn’t it? Imagine how police and authorities feel about it. They better start planning ways to counter it.

zanasser@gmail.com

(published in The Star newspaper)