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Massive Mariposa Botnet Dismantled, Mario to Social Network (But Skips Facebook)

by Warren Riddle on March 3, 2010 at 11:50 AM


Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....
  • The Mariposa botnet originated in Spain in 2008, and subsequently spread to corrupt over 12 million PCs in almost 200 countries. Among those were consoles used in hundreds of Fortune 500 companies and more than 40 major banks. Spanish authorities have now arrested the three primary suspects behind the operation, which relied predominantly on peer-to-peer sharing and dummy links in direct messages. [From: The News Tribune]
  • Cammie Dunaway, a big time suit for Nintendo, recently discussed the state of gaming with the New York Times, and she demonstrated great confidence in the future of the Wii, the DS and the DSi. Dunaway also hinted at a Nintendo social networking platform. When asked about the absence of Mario on Facebook, she responded, "We will continue to save Mario for our own platforms. It's one of the secret weapons we have." [From: The New York Times]
  • Some very intriguing BlackBerry photos have been discovered, and the shots apparently depict a new, previously unseen slider model. The Web is rife with speculation, including theories that the mobile might be the new Storm 3, or that it could just be an unmarketable prototype. [From: Engadget]
  • Sony experienced a PlayStation meltdown earlier this week, and this morning it was apparently Verizon's turn. The company endured a mysterious "nationwide" outage, but reports indicate that the problem has already been remedied. [From: Engadget]
  • Facebook is launching yet another round of changes, but these upgrades should be universally welcomed. The site will soon allow larger, 720-pixel photos, the new maximum representing a 20-percent increase from the previous specs. [From: The Facebook Blog]
  • TiVo has revealed a new line of impressive gear, including its upgraded Series 4 models, the Premier ($299) and the Premier XL ($499). The new boxes will feature a slew of features, including an enhanced Flash-based HD interface. The company has also designed an impressive QWERTY-slider remote control, but price and availability have not been announced. [From: Zatz Not Funny and Engadget]

Tags: blackberry, botnet, cammie-dunaway, facebook, mario, mariposa botnet, MariposaBotnet, morningxtra, nintendo, peer-to-peer, rim, tivo, tivo series 4, TivoSeries4, top, VerizonWireless

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