IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 24 August
24-08-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
CAO website suffers DoS attack | HP launches counterbid for 3Par
The Irish Times reports that the Central Applications Office (CAO) is to carry out an internal investigation into a cyber attack that crashed its website for several hours on Monday. Thousands of applicants were unable to check their first-round course offers until 1pm after Cao.ie was targeted in a denial-of-service attack. The majority of visitors to the site were met by a message that the site was undergoing maintenance, and they were unable to accept their course offers. The internal investigation will attempt to identify the source of the attack before a decision is taken on whether to report the matter to Gardai.
The paper also says that DCC is to acquire French electronics distributor Comtrade for EUR11.4 million, with a deferred consideration of up to EUR9.8 million to be paid over three years. Comtrade, a Paris-based company with 65 employees, supplies electronic products such as iPods and MP3 accessories to major retailers in France. It posted an operating profit of EUR3 million for the year ended 31 December 2009, with revenue of EUR65.2 million. The acquisition will see DCC acquire 74 percent of Comtrade's share capital.
The Irish Independent says that prison officers have seized smuggled mobile phones and drugs in a major search operation in Mountjoy jail. The search was part of a crackdown by governor Ned Whelan on the smuggling of contraband into the prison campus. Officers from the Prison Service's operational support group (OSG) recovered 25 mobile phones, a dozen phone chargers, five packets of drugs and syringes.
According to the Financial Times, Hewlett-Packard has launched a USD1.6 billion counterbid for 3Par, following rival Dell's offer for the data storage company. HP executives told the newspaper they had been pursuing 3Par before Dell agreed to buy it a week ago for USD1.15 billion. "HP's proposal offers superior value to 3Par's shareholders. Our global reach, strong routes to market and commitment to innovation uniquely position HP as the ideal fit for 3Par," said Dave Donatelli, general manager of HP's Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking unit. If 3Par accepts HP's unsolicited offer, the deal could close by the end of the year.
The paper also says that weaker-than-expected consumer PC sales are casting doubt on the tech sector's chances of recovery, analysts have warned. Strong consumer demand for PCs last year, even in otherwise depressed economies such as Europe and the US, powered the global technology sector to a rapid rebound. But signs are now pointing to consumers turning away from buying PCs in record amounts, particularly in the US. Acer said its July shipments were 38 percent lower than June's, and on average PC sales in the US were down 15 percent in July, according to Jenny Lai, an analyst at CLSA. Last Thursday HP singled out weak consumer demand for laptops as a trouble spot, which analysts say has been worsened by competition from Apple's iPad tablet.
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