For the record 20 May

20-05-2008

by Bryan Collins

Dot-ie domain registrations pass 100,000 mark | Irish SMEs receiving one virus every two days

The number of dot ie domain name registrations in Ireland has passed the 100,000 mark according to IE Domain Registry. The 100,000th registered site was www.royal-Hospital-kilmainham.ie. The registrant of this site received a free domain registration for the next 100 years. The website was registered with the web hosting and domains re-seller company Novara through its agent, Red Sky. On Monday night resellers, internet community leaders and the Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan, gathered in Dublin to mark the milestone. "It is vital for the advancement of e-commerce in Ireland that companies, organisations and individuals can rely on a secure and trusted online platform from which to conduct their business. The registration of Ireland's 100,000th dot.ie domain is a very welcome development in this regard and one the IE Domain Registry can be justifiably proud of," said Minister Ryan.

Mobile security company, AdaptiveMobile, has warned that cyber bullying of schoolchildren is an escalating international problem. The company issued its warning following the release of a survey carried out by Trinity College Dublin. That survey saw nearly 2,800 secondary school pupils questioned. It revealed that children as young as 12 are being targeted by cyber bullies through various forms of communication, such as mobile phone calls, text messages and e-mails. "My experience of dealing with mobile operators around the world shows me that unfortunately Ireland is one of dozens of countries suffering a growth in cyber bullying especially in mobile phone harassment," said Lorcan Burke, CEO of AdaptiveMobile.

On 7 June the global launch of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition will take place. The game will feature a new online interactive element including a suite of tools known as D&D interactive. This is designed to make managing the game easier and to allow fans to play one another remotely. This new online element consists of some free elements as well as a paid subscription service. Some of the other features include two online magazines, a rules database, a character generator, a digital tabletop, and a sophisticated character visualiser.

Online reservations website hostelworld.com has won the award for best accommodation website at the Travelmole Web Awards, in the UK. Hostelworld.com won the honour after four accommodation sites were shortlisted from 1,200 entries. "We are delighted to have been awarded best accommodation sites. To be recognised as the best is a tremendous honour of which we are extremely proud" said Niamh Ni Mhir, chief marketing officer of Hostelworld.com.

Cable & Wireless has announced the appointment of Sean Mahon as its Irish Business Director. Mahon will be responsible for the Cable & Wireless business operations across Ireland. He will also manage the company's roll-out of IP service for large businesses. Mahon's appointment follows the promotion of Noreen O'Hare to the position of Director of Europe Cable & Wireless. Cable & Wireless employs around 140 people in Ireland.

Citrix Systems has announced the expansion of Citrix Delivery Centre. The two new additions -- Citrix Desktop Receiver and Citrix App Receiver -- are lightweight software clients that run on end-user devices and receive delivery centralised desktops and applications. Both receivers support plug-ins from existing Citrix delivery infrastructure systems as well as third parties. Citrix Desktop Receiver is available from Tuesday for free download. Citrix App Receiver will be made available for free download later this year. "With these options organisations canÂ… customise their virtualisation strategy based upon their physical assets, user locations, security requirements and operational objectives," said Mark Bowker, an analyst with the Enterprise Strategy Group.

Irish SMEs receive, on average, one virus by e-mail every two days, according to research carried out by Irish IT security company Espion. And according to Espion small companies are especially vulnerable to internal fraud and increasingly sophisticated external cyber attacks. Espion' study also showed that 95 percent of the e-mail received by a typical small business is spam, while 3 percent of e-mails received by an average small business employee are phishing attacks. "Criminal minds continue to find a way to exploit our adoption of new technologies to their financial advantage -- at our expense," explains Colman Morrissey, managing director of Espion.