Ryan Naraine

ORLANDO, Fla.—Walking into Steve Ballmers keynote on the first morning of Microsofts Tech Ed conference here, one immediately gets the sense that software updates, patch management and Windows security will be front-burner topics. Even before the Microsoft Corp. CEO officially announced the release of WSUS (Windows Server Update Services), attendees were fiddling with free copies […]

ORLANDO, Fla.—A senior Microsoft executive on Monday confirmed that the upcoming Internet Explorer 7.0 browser upgrade will ship with reduced privilege mode turned on by default to help thwart browser-based hacking attacks. During a strategic briefing on security at the TechEd conference, corporate VP of Microsoft Corp.s Security Business & Technology Unit Gordon Mangione said […]

Anti-virus researchers are sounding the alert for a massive, well-coordinated hacker attack using three different Trojans to hijack PCs and create botnets-for-hire. The three-pronged attack is being described as “unprecedented” because of the way the Trojans communicate with each other to infect a machine, disable anti-virus software and leave a back door open for future […]

Microsoft is finally ready to ship its long-awaited enterprise security patch-management platform. The software giant is expected to announce on Monday that WSUS (Windows Server Update Services), formerly known as SUS (Software Update Services) and WUS (Windows Update Services), has been released to manufacturing. Ziff Davis Internet News has learned that the announcement will form […]

Internet security specialist McAfee on Thursday announced a deal to acquire Wireless Security Corp., a venture-backed startup that sells Wi-Fi network protection to small and midsize businesses and home offices, for $20 million. In announcing the deal, executive vice president of McAfees global consumer business Bill Kerrigan said the immediate plan is to use technology […]

Microsoft Corp. plans to announce as early as next week that it is ready to ship a Windows 2000 Update Rollup, the final security patch for the 5-year-old operating system. The Update Rollup, which replaces Windows 2000 SP5 (Service Pack 5), is a cumulative set of hot fixes, security patches and critical updates packaged together […]

Network security vendor Symantec has released a patch to fix a security flaw in its enterprise-facing Brightmail AntiSpam software. In a published advisory, Symantec Corp. warned that the flaw can be exploited by malicious hackers to bypass security restrictions. Affected software includes Symantec Brightmail AntiSpam 4.x through 6.x. Security alerts aggregator Secunia rates the bug […]

Microsofts Dr. Watson error-reporting tool will undergo a significant makeover in Longhorn, but changes in the way program crash data is collected and transmitted have raised eyebrows among privacy rights advocates. The Dr. Watson program error debugger, aka Windows error reporting, will be revamped to collect more than just the dump of the memory image […]

Network security powerhouse Cisco has rolled out a new enterprise-focused threat advisory service with full support for CVSS, aka the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, the fledgling industry attempt to standardize the way security flaws are rated. Cisco Systems Inc.s MySDN (My Self-Defending Network) marks the first public appearance of CVSS in a flaw-warning service. The […]

E-mail list management vendor L-Soft on Thursday released a new version of its popular LISTSERV software to fix a range of “highly critical” security vulnerabilities. In a security advisory, L-Soft International Inc. said the hole was discovered and patched in the LISTSERV Web interface. Affected products include LISTSERV Maestro, LISTSERV HPO, LISTSERV Lite and the […]

America Online on Thursday confirmed that a bug in its new Netscape 8 Web browser was breaking certain XML configurations in Microsofts IE. The issue first surfaced on Microsoft Corp.s Internet Explorer Weblog, where chief IE developer Dave Massy recommended that users completely uninstall Netscape as a possible workaround. AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein insists the […]

The confusion over Wi-Fi security certification and interoperability has moved into a new gear, with Microsoft shipping a Windows XP update that is not fully compliant with the latest wireless security specification. Microsoft Corp.s update, released earlier this month, promised support for WPA2, aka Wi-Fi Protected Access 2, the newest wireless security specification approved by […]