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Web 2.0 technologies and services offer a great deal of potential to organisations, providing they ensure that security measures are put in place.

That’s according to Gartner, which highlighted the gains in creative productivity that could be achieved through the business use of Web 2.0 tools.

Its report also pointed out that the use of some technologies, such as mashups, is already established and so firms should look to promoting security, rather than banning use.

“Strategies to contain and protect the use of new technologies will always be more effective in the long run than security approaches that rely solely on blocking,” said John Pescatore from Gartner.

He pointed to service-level agreements with content providers as one way of improving security, as well as boosted vulnerability assessments to take into account the risks posed by external use of company content.

A recent study from MessageLabs found that in February, organisations filtered almost 47 per cent of websites falling outside policy parameters, an increase of just under 13 per cent.

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More than 400 million downloads of Mozilla’s Firefox browser have been made since it launched three years ago.

In an announcement on the spreadfirefox.com website, the firm recapped a history that saw 25 million downloads of the open source browser being made within the first 99 days of its availability, rising to 50 million in under six months.

About 200 million downloads of the browser, which is perceived by many as being more secure than its competitors, have taken place in the last 12 months, Mozilla stated.

“Firefox has reached 400 million downloads and demonstrated that not even the world’s most powerful companies can keep people from a better, safer and faster web experience,” the statement said.

Mozilla also offers the Thunderbird email client and is working on a number of other projects, including a calendar application and an open source version of the Eudora email software.

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Researchers have developed a new form of biometric identification that could phase out the use of passwords, pin numbers and credit card numbers.

Scientists at the University of Houston have developed facial recognition software that recreates faces in three dimensions, providing a completely unique identifier.

The URxD application could be used to help people obtain access to secure facilities and authorise credit card transactions, according to the researchers, led by Professor Ioannis Kakadiaris.

‘Pins and passwords are not only inconvenient to memorise, but also are impractical to safeguard,’ he commented, adding: ‘The solution is to be able to tie your private information to your person in a way that cannot be compromised.’

A recent report by research firm Global Industry Analysts suggested that the worldwide market for electronic access systems, including biometric applications, will grow to $6.1 billion (£3 billion) in the next three years.

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Trojans have topped threat lists during the first six months of the year, according to a new report.

Security firm BitDefender Labs says that Trojans were the most popular form of malicious threat in the first half of 2007, along with mass mailers.

The Netsky worm also continued to keep its place in the top ten threat list, with all of the malware in the table accounting for two-thirds of total web viruses.

Viorel Canja, head of BitDefender Labs, called the shift from viruses to Trojans ‘an interesting trend’.

‘Although the popularity of mass mailers is slowly receding, variants are still present and pose a very real risk to computer systems used by consumers and small businesses,’ he added.

A recent report from information security services provider SecureWorks revealed that the number of hackers targeting banking institutions has soared by 81 per cent since 2006, with attackers using the Gozi, Prg and BBB Trojans in particular.

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