Archive for the ‘Security’ Category
The Dell XPS One will hit retail on November 19 according to
this teaser on Dell.com. Apparently no one told Dell that everyone and their grandmother has already seen what the XPS One looks like, both inside and out. Still, we’re with Engadget in pretending to be totally surprised. [Via
Engadget]Sony Ericsson’s much-anticipated announcement today turned out to be an utter disappointment. Only three phones were announced, all of which were leaked well before the announcement. You can read all the specs and details at
GSMArena although we don’t see anything “new” or “special” about these devices. SE is recycling designs and new phones within a product class carry identical feature sets. The only bright spot is the revelation that the W890i will come with version 3 of their Walkman software. Oh and the K660 and W890 actually come with both EDGE and 3G. Amazing!
In SE-related news that is interesting however, we’re hearing rumors about a successor to the P990i and P1i in the form of the P5i. For all we know, this device could be in the fantasies of those SE-fans on eSato but we’re hoping for the best!
If you’ve always wanted an email address ending with @live.com, then boy are you in luck. Microsoft has opened up registration for @live.com email IDs for good and you can snag yours at http://get.live.com [Via CNET News]
Apple updated Quicktime to version 7.3, fixing seven bugs in the process. Six of these bugs can allow hackers to gain access to a PC as they can bypass QT’s security layer altogether. Recommended update if you use Quicktime. [Via TG Daily]
Popularity: 44% [?]
- By Vivek on Nov 7, 2007
What is up with all these slow news days? No seriously, what happened to the news? Yeah sure, Leopard came out today and everyone is basically spooging all over it. Anyway, let’s get this short post over with. And don’t forget to check out our Recommended Reading link at the end!
It seems like Nokia is gearing up to announce some new phones on November 2. We know they’re having an event next week and some
spy shots of the rumored N82 phone were released today. It’s worth noting that Symbian-Guru leaked the N81 and N82 a few months back and the N81 was indeed for real. The spy shots coupled with the fact that an official event is coming indicate that the N82 does exist. It’s rumored to come with 5MP camera, GPS, QVGA display, Wifi, Bluetooth, and a Series 60 OS. [Via Mobile-Review]
Sticking with leaks, Video Games Blogger has what they’re calling the final setlist for Guitar Hero III. Ordered by difficulty. We don’t know about you, but European Invasion has some very awesome songs. The final tier is sure to bring a lot of pain on higher difficulty levels. The big surprise? DragonForce have been relegated to the bonus tracks! Read the full list here. [Via PC World]
With the DS and the Wii minting money for Nintendo, the company has said that the Wii will not be getting a price cut any time soon. And we don’t blame them. It’s already the top current gen console at $250. The profit margin for Nintendo is pretty sweet and so why would they cut prices? [Via Yahoo! News]
If you keep track of security-related news, you ought to have heard of the Storm worm. Well, it seems like the worm is making its way out. But worms don’t go away that easy, do they? The worm is mounting DDoS on researchers as it can use its botnet to retaliate against anyone trying to probe the worm. Don’t malware authors have nothing better to do? What kind of a loser do you have to be to gain sadistic pleasure from making other people’s lives miserable? [Via ArsTechnica]
Recommended Reading: Run Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) from a USB Flash Drive
Popularity: 40% [?]
- By Vivek on Oct 27, 2007
Is it ironical that a website called “Monster” was the target of an attack? Or are we being too harsh? Especially considering that personal data of hundreds of thousands of users were compromised?
The BBC is reporting that a computer program used stolen login credentials and accessed personal user data such as email addresses, phone numbers, residential addresses, etc. It’s interesting to note that data were exposed because the program logged in to the employers’ section of the website. Already, the information is being used to send out phishing and spam emails.
The stolen data came from a remote web server that stored 1.6 million entries with personal information belonging to hundreds of thousands of employment-seekers, mostly from the US.
BBC
Popularity: 7% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 21, 2007
 
According to PC World, a Yahoo Messenger security hole has been discovered which allows unwanted code to be executed on a user’s PC. The type of vulnerability discovered is a heap overflow which occurs if someone accepts a webcam invitation from another YIM user.
The vulnerability affects Yahoo Messenger version 8.1.0.413 and users are advised to avoid accepting webcam invites until a patch is issued. While no exploit code has been published yet, users should be careful. They could also block port 5100 which is used by the program.
PC World
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- By Vivek on Aug 15, 2007
Hackers managed to deface the United Nations website over the weekend and left messages accusing the US and Israel of killing children. Messages were taken down quickly but the UN had to stop updating its website while systems were being analyzed and assessed. The hackers targeted pages reserved for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Other pages that came under attack were those belonging to the Economic and Social Council and also the Paris website of the U.N. Environment Program.
REUTERS
Popularity: 9% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 14, 2007
Tomorrow, Microsoft will release nine patches for its products out of which a whopping eight are related to remote code execution. Out of these eight, six are tagged critical by Microsoft.
The patches will be released for various Windows operating systems such as 2000, XP, Vista, and Server 2003. Other software to be affected are IE, Office, Office 2004 for Mac, Visual Basic and XML Core Services.
ArsTechnica
Popularity: 10% [?]
- By Vivek on Aug 13, 2007
That’s right! A new worm that goes by the name of Deletemusic will delete all your MP3 files should your computer be infected. The worm spreads through removable devices and executes as soon as the infected drive is accessed. It also copies itself onto all media, removable or not and executes when you boot into Windows.
Symantec rates it as a low-risk malware. Maybe this has something to do with the RIAA?
TheRegister
Symantec
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- By Vivek on Aug 1, 2007
Chinese authorities working with the FBI (WTF?) have seized $500 million worth of software from pirates in China. The pirates operated out of Shanghai and Shenzhen and sold most of the software online. Further, the FBI and Chinese authorities have arrested a total of 25 people involved with piracy since 2005. The software found was mostly Microsoft and Symantec products (surprised?) and apparently 70 percent of it was sold to people in the US.
ArsTechnicaÂ
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- By Vivek on Jul 24, 2007
Microsoft’s June 2007 security bulletin is now out and of the six patches released, four are deemed Critical by Microsoft. Of the four critical patches, two affect Vista, one affects Internet Explorer while the last one is meant for Microsoft Office. Of course, as usual, Microsoft recommends that you use Windows Update to download these patches immediately. The full bulletin can be found at CNET News.
Popularity: 4% [?]
- By Vivek on Jun 13, 2007
A group by the name of Privacy International has released preliminary results of an intensive, six-month study it conducted and Google is ranked lowest when it comes to
privacy. This, in spite of recent Google efforts to improve the privacy situation by anonymizing server logs and other similar pro-privacy moves. As we understand, these were the results of the top companies:
eBay – Blue Bar
Amazon – Yellow [Notable Lapses]
Microsoft – Curry-Colored Bar [two ranks above Google; Serious Lapses]
Google – Black Bar [Dismal]
Apparently, no company managed to score the top mark in this study. Final results will be published in September. Google was taken to task for various issues such as tracking Google Toolbar users on the web, maintaining search logs, not providing a way for users to expunge personal data, etc.
[Via ArsTechnica]
Popularity: 4% [?]
- By Vivek on Jun 13, 2007
