NewsFactor – A researcher at security software firm Kaspersky Labs has uncovered a sophisticated botnet threat that already controls more than 4.5 million Windows-based PCs around the world, with nearly one-third of all infected machines located in the United States. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the latest strain of TDSS uncovered this week — which commands the infected PCs to run malware programs — will be able to evolve over time.

Reuters – Germans are increasingly afraid of becoming the target of cyber-criminals, with 85 percent fearing thieves will steal their credit card data or gain online access to bank accounts.

Digital Trends – According to Kaspersky Lab, a new TDSS rootkit variant called TDL-4 has infected more than 4.5 million PCs worldwide in just the first three months of 2011. The security experts say that this sneaky malware is one of the most technologically sophisticated threats to date.

PC Magazine – An anonymous letter posted to the Web on Thursday, allegedly penned by a senior RIM employee, took Research in Motion to task for a lack of management accountability, poor software tools, and even being too nice.

NewsFactor – A researcher at security software firm Kaspersky Labs has uncovered a sophisticated botnet threat that already controls more than 4.5 million Windows-based PCs around the world, with nearly one-third of all infected machines located in the United States. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the latest strain of TDSS uncovered this week — which commands the infected PCs to run malware programs — will be able to evolve over time.

Appolicious – Apple’s iPhone is performing well in all its forms for being a single device that recently doubled the number of cellular providers carrying it – to two. But Apple’s iOS platform has nothing on Google’s Android, an operating system that currently dominates the market with better than 50 percent of the smartphones on the market running it.

AFP – US business software giant Oracle has reached a deal to buy Pillar Data Systems, a data storage start-up majority owned by Oracle founder and principal owner Larry Ellison.

AP – A year after Hewlett-Packard Co. purchased flailing Palm, the technology behemoth is rolling out the first tablet that uses Palm’s webOS operating system.

NewsFactor – When Apple rolled out a 64-bit version of Final Cut Pro last week, the company promised its latest video-editing software release would revolutionize video editing. However, the revolution under way is hardly what Apple had in mind.

Reuters – As it turns out, Justin Timberlake’s role as Napster founder Sean Parker in “The Social Network” was a wink and nod to the celebrity’s little publicized role in driving Silicon Valley start-ups.