Computer users already anxious about viruses and identity theft have new reason to worry: Hackers have found a way to lock up the electronic documents on your computer and then demand $200 over the internet to get them back.
Security researchers at Websense uncovered the unusual extortion plot when a corporate customer they would not identify fell victim to the infection, which encrypted files that included documents, photographs and spreadsheets.
A ransom note left behind included an e-mail address, and the attacker using the address later demanded $200 for the digital keys to unlock the files.
The FBI said the scheme, which appears isolated, was unlike other internet extortion crimes. Leading security and antivirus firms this week were updating protective software for companies and consumers to guard against this type of attack, which experts dubbed "ransom-ware."
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MSN Maps: Seeking an edge on Google in localized online search, Microsoft previewed a geo-mapping service featuring aerial photographs and satellite images.
Under an exclusive deal with Pictometry International, MSN Virtual Earth will offer photos that look down on buildings from a 45-degree angle.
MSN Virtual Earth will include actual glimpses of the pizza joints and coffee shops rather than just the rooftop views satellite images allow.
The free service will be available this summer, but it won't include the aerial pictures right away. High-fidelity images captured by a fleet of small planes will be added to the service in the fall.
The service will start out offering images in 15 or so major U.S. cities. Microsoft did not release a list of which cities would be featured at first.
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Book scanners: A group of academic publishers called Google's plan to scan millions of library books into its internet search engine index a troubling financial threat to its membership.
The Association of American University Presses said in a letter to Google that the online search engine's library project "appears to involve systematic infringement of copyright on a massive scale."
The association of nonprofit publishers is upset by Google's plans to scan copyright-protected books from university libraries at Harvard, Michigan and Stanford.
The association, which represents 125 nonprofit publishers of academic journals and scholarly books, asked Google to respond to a list of 16 questions seeking more information about how the company plans to protect copyrights.
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Approved podcasts: Apple Computer will support and organize podcasts in the next version of its iTunes and iPod software, the company said.
Podcasts, which are sound files and audio content such as radio shows, have surged in popularity and do not require an iPod to listen to them on the go. Any digital MP3 player will work.
Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, demonstrated how Apple's podcasting organization and downloading process would work at a Wall Street Journal technology conference, said Tim Bajarin, an analyst at market research firm Creative Strategy.
"From the demo, we saw you could put podcasts under categories," Bajarin said. "It makes it much easier to have, access, organize and sync podcasts to an iPod."
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Compiled by David Cohn. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
