John Blau

It would appear that the German government is sending mixed messages when it comes to computer hacking. After passing antihacking legislation earlier this year to crack down on the sharp rise in computer attacks in the public and private sectors, the government is now floating a plan to develop and smuggle its own spyware on to the hard drives of suspected terrorists through e-mail messages.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has described reports of Chinese hackers breaking into German computers as a matter of "grave concern" and said his country would co-operate with Germany to resolve the matter. Federal security experts discovered Trojan horse programs in computers used in several government ministries.

Although few details are known about the anticipated launch of the iPhone in Europe, analysts agree that Apple Inc. could be forced to pursue a different distribution strategy than it has in the U.S. and may even tweak a technical feature or two.

The PC maker follows up its acquisition of service delivery platform vendor Silverback last month with the purchase of a company that helps enterprises manage their IT assets

Germany will store digital fingerprints in addition to digital photos in passports as one of several biometric security measures planned to fight organized crime and international terrorism.

Law enforcement officials in Germany and Austria are now among the first to have electronic access to each other's fingerprint databases, the German Interior Ministry said yesterday. Support for tough security measures has grown in Germany and other E.U. member states that worry about international terrorism, organized crime and, increasingly, cyber-crime.

Japan is testing a Safety Mobile Phone technology that could help pedestrians avoid being hit by vehicles. In trials backed by the Japanese government, OKI Electric Industry Co. Ltd. says its devices use Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology to rapidly exchange location information about vehicles equipped with the same technology.

Hackers may want to avoid Germany, after the approval of a law that makes their activity a punishable crime. The legislation, which the German government proposed earlier last year and approved Friday with no changes, aims to crack down on the sharp rise in computer attacks in the public and private sectors.