A round-up of today's other stories
Intact Software seeks partners for growth
Irish technology company Intact Software is targeting overseas growth, with new partners in North America, Africa and Australia.
The Drogheda company expects to create jobs in the coming year as it drives sales of its business management software Intact iQ. There are eight vacancies here and Ruth McAdam, of Intact, said there are plans for up to 20 per cent growth in Ireland next year.
Intact’s newest partner is Toronto-based TNG Virtual Office Services.
“It’s tough times . . . but for us it’s actually the best time to be in business because of the solution we’re offering,” said McAdam. “Everything comes down to the overview on the financials.”
Cylon wins global award
Irish company Cylon has been honoured by a global network of clean technology clusters, beating more than 4,000 entrants.
The Dublin-headquartered firm, which develops energy management systems and services, won the Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA) 2012 award for lighting/energy efficiency.
Cylon was the only Irish entrant to reach the shortlist of 30, which was judged by a panel of 28 cleantech venture capitalists, investors and serial entrepreneurs over a three-month period.
Managing director Seán Giblin said: “This award reinforces the fact that energy management is a rapidly growing sector and businesses are now prioritising energy efficiency.”
M50 toll firm drives mobile payments
Electronic tolling payments firm Easytrip has partnered with O2 to enable drivers to pay their M50 toll charges with mobile phones.
Open to customers with either bill-pay and pre-pay phones, Charge2Mobile replaces cash payments for the M50 toll bridge. Users sign up online and receive an electronic tag which is linked to their mobile account. The toll will be automatically paid once the electronic tag is read and confirmation sent via text.
“We identified a customer need for the 10,000 or so users of the M50 every day and developed this to meet it,” said Dermot MacEvilly, Easytrip chief executive.
Skype blocks security glitch
Skype has moved to patch up a flaw that put users’ accounts at risk, after it emerged hackers could take control of them simply by requesting a new password.
The company temporarily disabled its password-reset function after a blog detailed how to exploit the vulnerability with step-by-step instructions.
Users only needed the email address to take control of the account and try to set up a new account.
Once the system recognised the email address was already in use, a password reset token would be sent via Skype, which the hacker could then use to take over the account.
Skype said it was working properly again. “Skype is committed to providing a safe and secure communications experience to our users and we apologise.”
