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Microsoft to launch SUS 2.0 beta in January

Posted on November 26, 2003December 30, 2021 by admini

The first major improvement is the ability to go beyond the operating system and patch Windows’ application content. This will be done through a feature called Microsoft Update, as opposed to Windows Update, which Microsoft cannot use for this purpose because of the software maker’s antitrust settlement with the federal government.

As Microsoft said earlier this year, the company is boiling down the number of installers it currently uses — from four to two.

Microsoft Installer for Windows (MSI 3.0) is currently in beta and will be released at the same time as SUS 2.0.

In SUS 2.0, administrators can choose the language and content they want, whereas today, anything connected to a SUS Server gets patched. This is one of the main differentiators between the patch manager and SMS, which just began shipping in its latest version earlier this month. “Reducing the size of the package is huge,” said Roger Wilding, a senior technical engineer at CNF, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based transportation and shipping company.

Questions continue to arise about the level of integration SUS will have with SMS 2003. Today, SMS 2.0 and SUS 1.0 are built on completely different architectures, but Microsoft plans to build SMS on top of SUS so there is a common architecture and experience.

More info: [url=http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci938503,00.html]http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci938503,00.html[/url]

Nachi worm infected Diebold ATMs

Posted on November 26, 2003December 30, 2021 by admini

The machines were in an advanced line of Diebold ATMs built atop Windows XP Embedded, which, like most versions of Windows, was vulnerable to the RPC DCOM security bug exploited by Nachi, and its more famous forebear, Blaster.

At both affected institutions the ATMs began aggressively scanning for other vulnerable machines, generating anomalous waves of network traffic that tripped the banks’ intrusion detection systems, resulting in the infected machines being automatically cut off, Diebold executives said.

Though ATMs typically sit on private networks or VPNs, the most serious worms in the last year have demonstrated that supposedly-isolated networks often have undocumented connections to the Internet, or can fall to a piece of malicious code inadvertently carried beyond the firewall on a laptop computer.

January’s Slammer worm indirectly shut down some 13,000 Bank of America ATMs by infecting database servers on the same network, and spewing so much traffic that the cash machines couldn’t processes customer transactions.

More info: [url=http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7517]http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7517[/url]

Microsoft revs its automotive engines

Posted on November 26, 2003December 30, 2021 by admini

BMW, in particular, has gravitated to Microsoft systems, although the company has announced wins with Honda, Volvo and others as well.

Microsoft has kept its car talk to a dull roar in recent months, but is expected to talk more about its effort in January, when Chairman Bill Gates delivers a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Microsoft is just one of many companies offering an operating system for use in automotive electronics, competing against QNX Software Systems, Wind River and Linux makers, among others.

As of this summer, analysts said the company had just about 10 percent of the market for in-car electronics, an industry that itself has fallen short of early estimates. Only about 13 percent to 14 percent of cars are connected to a network today, Magney said, although other cars have systems for navigation or entertainment.

The latest version of its Windows for Automotive software supports Bluetooth connections, allowing in-car systems to tap the power of a cell phone to access information.

More info: [url=http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5111932.html]http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5111932.html[/url]

Half Of Companies Surveyed Suffered Security Breach

Posted on November 25, 2003December 30, 2021 by admini

“Earlier this year, we saw the security budgets in large organization increasing,” said Mark Lobel, the senior manager for security and privacy services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the author of the survey results.

“But we’re seeing these fast-growing companies not spending as consistently as their more mature brethren.

According to the survey, 46 percent of the fast-growing companies polled said they had been the victim of a recent security breach.

Hackers were cited as the source of 61 percent of the attacks, followed by e-mail at 27 percent.

Attacks by unauthorized users and employees, former employees, and competitors, however, accounted for more than 1 out of every 10 attacks.

Of those companies which admitted to a security breach, 83 percent reported at least some monetary loss — ranging from network downtime and lost or damaged customer records to direct financial losses and identity theft.

More info: [url=http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20031124S0008]http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20031124S0008[/url]

Computer security divides Europe

Posted on November 23, 2003December 30, 2021 by admini

It found that French and German firms are most prepared to deal with viruses and their pernicious kin.

But the UK leads the way among nations which see good security as a way of helping their business stand out.

Survey sponsor McAfee warned that many European firms were just reacting to virus outbreaks instead of preparing to beat back future threats.

The survey found that 48% of the European firms questioned see security as little more than a matter of fixing the security breaches that viruses, worms and malicious hackers attempt to exploit.

The damage and inconvenience that all these threats can cause prompted 84% of those in the survey to say that security is a critical concern for their company.

More info: [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3223887.stm]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3223887.stm[/url]

Cyber Crime Investigators Crack Down Illegal Internet Activities in Korea

Posted on November 23, 2003December 30, 2021 by admini

Recently the CCI arrested 11 members of a local hacking clan on charges of stealing personal information since July, 2000 from over 90 websites of mainly online shopping malls, universities and the National Tax Service security server.

Even at this moment these Cyber Crime Investigators are monitoring to track down any irregularities in cyber space to help provide Koreans with a safe and healthy online environment.

More info: [url=http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200311/200311230001.html]http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200311/200311230001.html[/url]