IT Security Blog

Patch Up or Lose your Information

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You just have to look at how Microsoft always announces certain patch releases for their software these days. Nothing is definite and safe just yet especially if you consider hackers and computer geeks trying to discover flaws in certain computer software such as an operating system. There will always be something discovered and the loophole can be entirely critical and dangerous.

Unlike in the latter 1990’s, today we rarely see patches being given since they have more or less covered the security threats ranging from viruses to malware today. There are still recommended patched needed. But surely, they are not as rampant and dangerous compare to before. And to make sure that you are using authentic software, they make use of software authenticity codes to know if you are using genuine software or not.

Microsoft can be commended for this but it still remains that there are still a lot of flaws as far as their software releases are concerned. But to make sure that customers do not experience these unfortunate mishaps, a continuous research and development for such threats has to be implemented. We can see these days that something will suddenly break out and if you are not protected, chances are you are missing a patch.

As much as possible, apply these patches. If you are in doubt, read on them or even ask for technical support. Security breaches in the IT world are common and to stay away from such a discomfort, it is best to be updated and make sure you are well-protected.

April 13: Security Patch Day

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Mark your calendars, IT security enthusiasts. April 13, 2010, Tuesday, is the day when Microsoft is releasing patches for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. It is a big day, and it actually has been dubbed as Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday. More than Microsoft, however, Adobe is also planning to release patches of its own. The patches are for Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader. All in all, there will be 27 issues to be addressed by the patches.

Do we have any details about the patches? People can wait for a couple more days, of course, but for those of you who are hungry for information – as I am sure you are – you’re lucky enough to have someone like Amol Sarwate. He’s the manager of the Vulnerability Research Lab of Qualys. He says:

“There are 11 security bulletins that affect a range of Windows operating system components as well as Microsoft Office and Microsoft Exchange. This is a fairly large update and will keep system administrators busy on Patch Tuesday. Out of the 11 security bulletins, five are rated Critical and affect components in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 2003, 2008 and Windows 7. If left un-patched, an attacker could execute code or programs on the victim’s machine and therefore all are categorized as remote code execution.”

Both companies are releasing the patches through their automatic update features. If you’re the safe kind, your auto updates are probably enabled. If you have experienced extreme slowdown because of these updates before and you’ve disabled them, then better turn them on before Patch Tuesday. You wouldn’t want to miss this.

Microsoft to Yahoo…… Let’s Talk Again…… Seriously

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It seems that the shrug Yahoo gave Microsoft a couple of weeks ago seemed as if it were only yesterday and yet, here they are again. They are again making public a willingness to talk to the internet search company as the big “M” is yet to acquire a business that would rival the amount of ad profits as Google’s. The decision to shrug off the bid by Microsoft irked many of Yahoo’s investors that the search company had to pay attention.
What the hell does Microsoft from Yahoo, something to fight Google’s advertising profits through Adsense and AdWords that is driving them crazy enough to engage in another round of talks (even if it means doing it under the tables). This is one avenue that Microsoft has not ventured into and their seeing the profits Google earns from advertising alone is reason enough. Having Google place ads for companies on your sites gets them premium and cheap ad time and space without the company having to shell out many of their hard-earned cash and in this day of recession, everybody wants the easiest way to earn money.
Icahn who has control of around 5% of Yahoo wishes to kick-out Yang (one of the search company’s founders) and is engaging Microsoft in secret talks this week to get the details right and laid out. Upon hearing the news, the company releases the answer that states:

“If Microsoft and Mr Ballmer really want to purchase Yahoo, we again invite them to make a proposal immediately,” Yahoo said in a statement.(BBC)

Microsoft on the other hand is getting competition from Google who has also expressed interest in getting into bed with Yahoo (which might be the reason why Microsoft’s snortin’ like mad back at the table) but is raising concern with US lawmakers who are monitoring their talks due to a successful partnership that would result in over 80% control of the US’s internet search ad market.

Unified Communications under Attack…. So Soon!

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unified.jpgThe move to shift from multi-level communications and incorporating Unified communications such as VoIP and other unified platforms has become the prime targets of hackers who are now turning to IM attacks as their targets. Offices have de-centralized communications and other systems combining them into one system that is capable of handling communications eliminating the need for maintaining several systems each with its specific function. IM or Internet Messaging is cheaper and allows office workers in the field to communicate cheaply with the office and VoIP allows them to communicate cheaply over vast distances.
Unified communications is the next step towards virtualization which is currently being developed and tested by various developers. IM is one of the most convenient means of communications which has the capability to receive mail from all over just as SMS or Text messaging has done in the Mobile Industry. Every user who uses the internet may have one or more IM accounts with the many free mail providers or through their company hosting service. Using the IM allows hackers to send malware, unload their payloads and go on to propagate through the networked system, which if looked at from a business perspective crippling one of the vital communications links. There are still mobile phones and other means communications but being ever present at every desktop, any unsuspecting user can download malware without proper intrusion prevention and detection systems in place. Mobile phones have also suffered attacks from malware that is designed to attack stripped down versions of popular Operating systems, the forays of hackers into unified communications may mean they are keeping pace with the development of new technologies as fast as businesses adopt them and accept them as just part of the game.

Microsoft’s To and Fro

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microsoft.jpgThe news that Microsoft was going to drop everything that has to do with Windows XP came as a shocker to all for not everybody was ready to jump onto the Vista Bandwagon which has nothing to show in the area of reliability and stability that XP has shown. As with their move when they pulled out the plug on Windows 98, many went up and many took up arms to show their disgust. Many saw it as a move to force people to upgrade to a newer operating system even when the old one was still working just fine. Windows XP has reached a level of stability which has exceeded that of Windows 98′ but the company initially saying they were pulling the plug irked quite a lot of people that they decided to have support for it till 2009. They also said that the selling of OEM and packaged XP’s were to be stopped and that they were only to be available to Ultra-portable sellers.
The Up’s and Down’s of their decisions may show that the company is feeling the pressure form the open-sourced community and that it is trying to keep hold of their piece of the pie in the IT market may be in danger of being lessened. Their failed bid to acquire Yahoo as a move to go against Google shows the failure of their company to realize the significance of advertising. They were hoping to acquire Yahoo to use as their internet marketing branch and to get a bite of the search engine market at the same time. They have extended support for XP till 2009, but the problems with XP SP-3 have been so much they had to hold release a week or so back. The update is now available for automatic or manual download from Microsoft’s TechNet and through AutoUpdate.

Microsoft XP 2003 and BEYOND

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xp.jpgYep, Microsoft the every surprise filled software developer who made Vista has now announced that the company will be extending the life of Windows XP till 2010. This overturns earlier announcements that they would be ending support and phasing out(which includes stopping the selling) of the most stable Windows Operating system ever. This is to give way to the newer Windows version, Vista which has again and again disappointed users even with the much promised improvements with SP1 (what…where?????? the improvements….. I see bugs, tons of them) which has failed to impress users from around the world. Big businesses are wary of the new operating system due to stability and support issues (which is only gathered from many years of continuously refining a program like XP, you’d think they’d have learned) which is still quite shaky at best.
The European arena isn’t too impressed either with the many lawsuits the company faced due to unfair commercial practices the software giant has allegedly committed(found Guilty and fined millions of Euros). The move may be a sign of what some bloggers are calling as a “continuing fiasco” regarding Vista’s capabilities which are irking more and more users everyday, having them revert to their old’ reliable XP installations for getting the simplest jobs done. Worst of all, better and improved versions of software from open-sourced communities and organizations is forcing big-M to do something fast for more and more are shifting to them for they are faster and better than Explorer with little overhead that eats up precious memory, hard disk space and video power.
Just hope the company would be more realistic than with their sudden twists and turns such as they have been doing in the last months regarding Yahoo and the announcement of other unusually generous gestures(again) from the company that is big-M.