ATTACK BY RUSSIAN HACKERS HITS BRIT BOOKMAKERS HARD

Attack by Russian hackershits Brit bookmakers hard
MOSCOW -- Russian hackers have cost British bookmakers $70 million in lost business by overwhelming their sites with false requests and then demanding money for stopping the attacks, officials say.
Valery Syzrantsev, chief investigator for the Russian Interior Ministry, said hackers attacked each of nine betting companies three to five times and demanded payments of up to $50,000 to stop. He would not name the bookmakers.
"Two companies, which suffered especially big losses, agreed to pay $40,000 each," Syzrantsev said. He refused to say how the payments were made.
Online bookmakers were the most convenient prey because the attacks could be timed to major sporting events, Syzrantsev said.
British and Russian cyber-detectives traced the attacks to several Russian cities. Russian police arrested two suspects recently and seized computers and software.
The suspects, who face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of extortion, remain in custody. Investigators were working to track down other members of the group, Syzrantsev said.
In a statement Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said the ring also had launched attacks on unidentified British banks, but Syzrantsev refused to comment. Syzrantsev said the ring consisted of well-educated people ages 20 and 21 who had found each on the Internet.
'Play Attention' gamehelps child with autism
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Biofeedback and computers are helping 8-year-old Ricky Stone with his autism and learning disabilities. The breakthrough is an alternative to traditional medicinal treatments: a computer game, "Play Attention," that is all about moving images on a computer screen with one's mind.
Built on technology originally used by NASA and the Air Force, "Play Attention" taps into brain waves through a red bike helmet lined with sensors, which send information to a computer to control scenarios on the screen.
For example, Ricky plays a game in which a whale swims in the ocean. The more Ricky focuses on the whale, the deeper it swims, and Ricky's score jumps. A high score can't get Ricky too excited because, without his full concentration on the whale -- which he nicknamed Shamu -- the whale swims to the surface.
Peter Freer, founder of game maker Unique Logic and Technology Inc., said the game makes attention concrete.
"It's the first time in their life that they actually see an attentive state as it happens," Freer said.
Ricky's mother, Lana Stone, saw her son develop cause-and-effect thinking within months. Now, she said, he understands that if storms out of after-school care, his teacher will call his mother to pick him up.
"Play Attention" costs $1,795 for in-home use, $2,500 for schools and learning centers. It is being used in more than 300 school systems in the United States as well as learning centers and psychologists' offices in China, Singapore and New Zealand.
The company also is in discussions with an unidentified U.S. Olympic team to use the system for improving focus.
Associated Press
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