Security

A startling report from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently revealed details on what appears to be a domestic-spying program that was banned by Congress in 2003 known as the 'Total Information Awareness' (TIA) program. As noted by the American ... Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Orwellian program was shut down by Congress because it represented a massive and unjustified governmental intrusion into the personal lives of citizens. Despite the fact that Congress shut down the program, security agencies under the Bush administration pushed ahead anyway. The National Security Agency (NSA) has ... (view more)

Hackers have already found a way into the newest iPhone software, just three months before it's officially launched to the public. The new edition of the software is officially titled version 1.2, though will get the snazzier sounding '2.0' tag on ... its formal launch. Hackers got hold of the software because it's included in Apple's new Software Development Kit (SDK). The main gripe between Apple and the hackers is that, while the firm encourages independent development of features to run on the phone, it wants tight control over how this is done. Apple is demanding they become the exclusive ... (view more)

When you're king-of-the-hill, everybody wants to knock you off. Google has opened a new assault on Microsoft by going after the software giant's SharePoint program, an application that provides a collaboration platform for groups of workers. ... Google's new application, labeled Google Sites, will be added to the existing suite of Google Apps. It was originally developed by start-up JotSpot, which was acquired by Google in late 2006. A key difference between Google Sites and Microsoft SharePoint is that the Google service will be free. (Source: nytimes.com ) Essentially, Google Sites is a "wiki" ... (view more)

A New Zealand-based security consultant has released a tool that can unlock a Windows computer in seconds without a password. The hack, which involves Windows XP computers but has not been tested with Windows Vista, was first demonstrated by Adam ... Boileau at a security conference in Sydney in 2006. Microsoft has not developed a fix for it yet. (Source: com.au ) The tool released by Boileau can unlock Windows machines or login without a password by plugging in a Firewire cable and running a command. Boileau did not release the tool in 2006 because Microsoft was cagey about whether Firewire ... (view more)

Hackers have been at it again, and this time they made their millions with a French Canadian accent. Quebec authorities recently broke up a ring of seventeen hackers responsible for $45 million in damages. According to police, the hacking ring ... operated primarily from Quebec small towns Notre-Dame-du-Portage, Jonquieres, and a few others. With their headquarters in rather remote and certainly unexpected locales, the group of reportedly very young (17 to 26) computer experts took control of thousands of systems from Poland to Brazil. (Source: canada.com ) In total, police suspect this group is ... (view more)

Researchers from Princeton University have found a simple way to crack popular encryption software, including the FileVault feature built-in to Apple's operating system and BitLocker, which is included in Windows Vista. The software aims to store ... data in a scrambled form making it indecipherable if in the wrong hands. Both programs use a federally approved algorithm that encrypts the information when it is written to, or read from, a hard disk. However, the keys allowing the computer to unscramble data are stored in the computer's memory. In theory, any information in a computer's memory ... (view more)

Plans for the first major update to Windows Vista are experiencing hiccups. A mini-update had to be withdrawn after causing PCs to endlessly reboot, while Microsoft has had to warn that several popular programs will no longer work once the major ... update is complete. Service Pack 1, the first major revision of the Vista system, is expected to be available to customers next month. It's an important step as many users, particularly those in businesses, wait for the first such update before upgrading to a new operating system (in this case, from Windows XP). The problem came with an automatic ... (view more)

Finally, the American consumer believes the Internet is a useful and convenient shopping tool and a good way to save time. However, there are still major obstacles between reaching the comfort zone for consumers. Concerns over privacy and credit ... card security remain a large issue to many would-be buyers. At least, this is what the Pew Interent Project Survey for September 2007 has concluded. Among the findings: Shopping on the Internet has become routine. A large majority of Internet users (93%) have done some Internet task related to e-commerce. e.g. they have bought something, researched a ... (view more)

The annual "X-Force" report, recently released by Internet Security Systems ( ISS ), part of IBM Corp., says 6,437 security flaws were acknowledged in 2007 by network and software vendors, down 5.4 percent from 2006. (Source: com.au ) While computer ... security vulnerabilities decreased last year, security researchers are cautioning that there has been no improvement in web safety. ISS Chief Technology officer Chris Rouland said that in at least 10 years of counting he had not seen that figure drop. Rouland suggests that the 2007 number of vulnerabilities reported would have been higher if a ... (view more)

One of the 'big' features reportedly discussed in the early speculation surrounding Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was a kernel upgrade that would supposedly bring Windows Vista into line with the Longhorn kernel used in Windows Server 2008. ... Little if any mention has been made by Microsoft about the kernel update, even as Vista SP1 goes RTM (released to manufacturing). The kernel was updated, but Microsoft appears to be more keen to promote the improvements and enhancements to Vista rather than placing emphasis on a kernel upgrade, which might be seen as a risk to stability. Windows Vista ... (view more)