Neuss, Germany - Toshiba hopes to switch

Berlin  - Sony has expanded its range of projec

Berlin - Germans no longer think twice about paying the rent or auctioning off an old tennis racquet online. The internet is now part of everyday life for 80 per cent of Germans. But a recent survey by Forsa, an opinion research institute, showed that 4 million Germans have fallen victim to computer crime.

They account for 7 per cent of all computer users over 14 years, according to BITKOM, the Federal Association of the Information Industry, Telecommunications and New Media.

Bonn - Internet users are currently being warned too look out for e-mail messages claiming to be from package courier UPS. The messages, delivered in English and in German, actually originate from hackers, the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI) reported recently.

The messages tell the recipient that a package could not be delivered due to a non-existent address. The message then encourages the user to click on an e-mail attachment to check the delivery slip data; anyone who does so allows a Trojan virus to sneak onto their computer.

Duesseldorf - Computer users who fail to properly secure their wireless local area networks (WLAN) run the risk of getting into trouble with the law. One recent case adjudicated by the District Court of Dusseldorf saw a pensioner convicted of music piracy, for example. Whether the man actually committed the crime himself or whether someone else broke into his unsecured WLAN connection was irrelevant, the judge ruled. The user bears the responsibility for his or her connection.