8144286
submission
nandemoari writes:
When security officials decide to "go after" computer malware, most conduct their actions from a defensive standpoint. For most of us, finding a way to rid a computer of the malware suffices — but for one computer researcher, however, the change from a defensive to an offensive mentality is what ended the two year chase of a sinister botnet once and for all.
For two years, Atif Mushtaq had been keeping the notorious Mega-D bot malware from infecting computer networks. As of this past November, he suddenly switched from de½Âfense to offense. Mega-D had forced more than 250,000 PCs to do its bidding via botnet control.
6429757
submission
nandemoari writes:
T-Mobile is taking a huge financial hit in the fallout over the Sidekick data loss. But Microsoft, which bears at least part of the responsibility for the mistake, is paying the price with its reputation.
As reported earlier this week, the phone network had to admit that some users' data had been permanently lost due to a problem with a server run by Microsoft-owned company, Danger. The handset works by storing data such as contacts and appointments on a remote computer rather than on the phone itself.
BBC news reports today that Microsoft has in fact recovered all data, but a minority are still affected out of 1 million subscribers.
Amidst this, Microsoft appears not to have suffered any financial damage. However, it seems certain that its relationship with T-Mobile will have taken a major knock. The software giant is also the target of some very bad publicity as critics question how on earth it failed to put in place adequate back-ups of the data. That could seriously damage the potential success of the firm's other "cloud computing" plans, such as web-only editions of Office.
6282859
submission
nandemoari writes:
It seems as if the massive phishing campaign reported yesterday was not specific to Hotmail.com as was initially believed. According to a report by the BBC, many Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts have also been compromised.
While the source of the latest attacks has not been determined, many are pointing to the same bug that claimed at least 10,000 passwords from Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail.
Microsoft has done their part in blocking all known hijacked Hotmail accounts and created tools to help users who had lost control of their email. The company posted an online form where those locked out of their accounts can reclaim control of their system and verify their identity. There is also a Microsoft support page available where users can go to learn about the steps needed following an attack.
On their end, Google responded to the attacks by forcing "password resets on additional accounts when becoming aware of [the attacks]."
4479717
submission
nandemoari writes:
Hackers have reportedly infiltrated restricted computer databases at the University of California Berkeley, putting the private data of 160,000 students, alumni, and others at risk.
According to UC Berkeley, computer administrators determined that electronic databases in University Health Services had been breached by overseas criminals on April 21, 2009. Information contained on the breached databases included Social Security numbers, health insurance information and non-treatment medical information such as records of immunization and names of treating physicians.
4424345
submission
nandemoari writes:
Would-be Windows 7 users have been warned to change a default setting which could leave them vulnerable to attack via bogus files. As a result, Microsoft is taking flak for failing to correct a problem found in previous editions of Windows.
The issue involves the way Windows Explorer displays filenames.
In all editions of Windows after Windows 98, the default setting hides the filename extension (which identifies what type of file it is). This means that a Word file titled 'partyinvite.doc' will show up in Windows Explorer as simply 'partyinvite'. The only exception to this rule is if Windows does not recognize the file type.
The reason for this setting is that it makes for a less cluttered look and avoids filling the screen with redundant detail. However, a flaw in the way it works leaves it liable to exploitation by hackers. They can take an executable file (which can do much more damage to a computer when opened) and disguise it by calling it 'partyinvite.doc.exe'.
4050155
submission
nandemoari writes:
T-Mobile is planning to use Google's open source operating system "Android" on devices that blur the line between cellphone and home PC. In addition, Samsung says they will also produce Android phones, but need to work out the kinks, first.
Both announcements come shortly after HP revealed that it is investigating the idea of using Android to power some of its low-cost netbook computers in place of Windows.
3923043
submission
nandemoari writes:
Microsoft has revealed more about Windows 7 and its support for touch screen technology. The system sounds impressive, however, reports suggest it appears to have a high error rate.
In an early version of the system, Microsoft found some problems. For example, both the zoom and rotate functions worked less than 75% of the time, often because the computer confused the two.
To rectify this, engineers redesigned the system so that it only looks out for gestures specifically relevant to the program being used. This made a significant improvement: the zoom gesture was now recognized 90% of the time.
The problem is that even a 90% success rate may be too low. If you can imagine how frustrating it would be if one in ten keystrokes or mouse movements didn't do what you were intended, you can see why touch screen technology will need to be even more reliable if it's to truly improve the user experience.
3806365
submission
nandemoari writes:
When educational technology specialist Kevin Andreyo recently read a report on people search engines, he decided to conduct a little 'people search' on himself.
Andreyo did not expect to find much — so, imagine the surprise when he uncovered the user name and password to his Comcast Internet account, put out there for the entire online world to see.
In addition to his personal information, Andreyo also discovered a list that exposed the user names and passwords of (what he believed) to be 8,000 other Comcast customers. Andreyo immediately contacted both Comcast and the FBI, hoping to find the ones responsible for divulging such personal information to the public.
While the list is no longer available online, analysts fear that the document still lives on in various cache and online history services.
3769265
submission
nandemoari writes:
Russell Wright and his construction company, Stoam Holdings, recently lost a $12 million dollar lawsuit brought by investors.
But lawyers for the firm have complained that juror Johnathan Powell's Twitter comments broke rules when discussing the civil case with the public.
The arguments in this dispute centre on two points. Powell insists (and the evidence appears to back him up) that he did not make any pertinent updates until after the verdict was given; if that's the case, the objection would presumably be thrown out.
If Powell did post updates during the trial, the judge must decide whether he was actively discussing the case. Powell says he only posted messages and did not read any replies. Intriguingly, the lawyers for Stoam Holding are not arguing so much that other people directly influenced Powell's judgment, rather that he might have felt a need to agree to a spectacular verdict to impress the people reading his posts.
3641419
submission
nandemoari writes:
Mozilla may be this year's winner in the "browser battles" as they ready the next beta version of their tour-de-force, Firefox 3.1. Mozilla is resolving eight critical vulnerabilities found in the current version of Firefox --a move sure to garner applause from devoted Firefox users.
As this year's crop of new browsers emerges, enhanced features are becoming secondary to one thing: speed. Mozilla is nearly ready to release the next beta version of Firefox 3.1 to the public for testing and insiders predict that it will outpace even Safari 4, which has been the the fastest browser in wide release since it's beta began last week.
