Multiple Windows Vistas on the Horizon?

Multiple Windows Vistas on the Horizon?

Microsoft executives used their annual financial analyst meeting last week at the Redmond campus to describe in broad terms, some of the upcoming products and services ideas that have appeared on the Microsoft roadmap since this time last year. On that timeline are plays in new technology areas, such as high-performance computing, as well as expanding the company’s base of existing products. “These are areas in which we will introduce new products, but perhaps as significantly, we will also introduce higher-value versions of existing products,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Given that the bulk of Microsoft’s income still comes from the company’s core products -- Windows, Office, and its main servers, like SQL Server and Exchange Server – the company will introduce “new SKUs,” Ballmer told the audience. (SKU, or “stock keeping unit,” is a retail term that roughly translates as...

Phishers hack eBay

Phishers hack eBay

A flaw has been discovered on eBay’s website that would have allowed fraudsters to successfully redirect the sign-on process to a phishing site.

Reported by British anti-phishing outfit Netcraft, the clever scam apparently started with fraudsters sending e-mails asking eBay users to update their accounts. So far so normal, as such fake eBay e-mails are currently one of the phishing world’s persistent lines of attack.

For the rest of the story, click Here

Wireless hijacking under scrutiny

Wireless hijacking under scrutiny

A recent court case, which saw a West London man fined £500 and sentenced to 12 months' conditional discharge for hijacking a wireless broadband connection, has repercussions for almost every user of wi-fi networks. It is believed to be the first case of its kind in the UK, but with an estimated one million wi-fi users around the country, it is unlikely to be the last.

For the rest of the story, click Here

Hosting sites help hackers recruit 'zombies'

Hosting sites help hackers recruit 'zombies'

Web sites offering free hosting services are increasingly being used by hackers to store and distribute malware, according to Internet security firm Websense. The company said yesterday it had noticed an "alarming" increase in the first two weeks in July in the use of free Web space services for distributing malware such as keyloggers, Trojan horse downloaders and spyware.

For the rest of the story, click Here

UEFI Formed to Replace BIOS

UEFI Formed to Replace BIOS

Leading technology companies have formed the Unified EFI Forum, Inc., a non-profit Washington corporation.

The Forum will assume responsibility from Intel for the evolution and promotion of the EFI Specification, which details an interface to hand off control of a system from the pre-boot environment to current and next-generation operating systems. EFI is already supported by a number of 64-bit operating systems and platforms, and is an emerging interface for 32-bit operating systems. The inclusion of UEFI in operating systems and platforms will advance interoperability between platforms and add-in cards and pave the way for improvements in boot performance and robustness. The Forum will review the present EFI 1.10 Specification for any required changes, and intends to publish the first Unified EFI Specification by the end of 2005. The Forum will also make available test suites for the UEFI Specification based on...

Microsoft Unveils Official Name for "Longhorn":

Microsoft Unveils Official Name for "Longhorn":

Today Microsoft announced the official name of its next-generation Windows® client operating system, formerly code-named "Longhorn."

Microsoft also announced that Beta 1 of Microsoft Vista, targeted at developers and IT professionals, will be available by August 3rd 2005.

www.microsoft.com

Ten year old becomes MCAD

Ten year old becomes MCAD

Arfa Karim Randhawa, aged 10, has become the youngest person to be certified as a Microsoft engineer. Randhawa passed her Microsoft Certified Professional examinations last year. She met Bill Gates this week and was taken on a tour of Microsoft's Redmond campus. The 10 year-old, from Faisalabad in Pakistan, asked Gates why children were not allowed to work for Microsoft and was told that they should concentrate on their school studies.

For the rest of the story, click Here

Windows flaw could spawn DoS attacks

Windows flaw could spawn DoS attacks

A newly discovered and as-of-yet unpatched security vulnerability in Windows XP could let an attacker remotely crash computers.

The flaw affects the Windows Remote Desktop Service, which lets users access their Windows PC from a remote location. An attacker could remotely exploit the problem to crash a victim's PC in what's known as a denial-of-service attack, according to a posting on the Security Protocols Web site earlier this week. The user would then see the Windows "blue screen of death."

Microsoft knows of the security flaw and is working on a patch, a company representative said on Friday.

For the rest of the story, click Here

No budget for upgrades? Microsoft can help

No budget for upgrades? Microsoft can help

At the Worldwide Partner Conference 2005, Microsoft took the wraps off Microsoft Financing, a payment program that customers can use to get the Windows technologies they need to develop their IT infrastructures. Microsoft's financing program gives customers a way to foot the bill for an entire infrastructure upgrade -- hardware, software and consulting services -- that many companies find hard to do at one time. Customers can also choose to finance software only.

For the rest of the story, click Here

Desktop port proliferation a security risk?

Desktop port proliferation a security risk?

Software maker Opera's decision to support BitTorrent has added to some security experts' worries that applications which require open connections through firewalls are becoming increasingly popular. Last week, the Norwegian company revealed that its latest technical preview adds support for downloading BitTorrent files, or torrents. BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer protocol that speeds files sharing by allowing every client to serve up pieces of a large file, requires that firewalls allow connections to the client software.

With the adoption, the alternative Internet browser is the latest application to ask users to open ports, the numerical addresses that software applications use for communication. Some voice-over-Internet applications also require a direct connection to the Internet and need ports to be open if the hardware is placed behind a firewall. If such applications grow more popular,...