Microsoft will be releasing an update to Internet Explorer that changes the way embedded ActiveX controls are loaded. The method of loading embedded controls was at the heart of a lawsuit against Microsoft from smaller Eolas Technologies.
Software affected by the patent would include Macromedia Flash, QuickTime, RealOne Player, Acrobat Reader, Sun’s Java Virtual Machine, and Windows Media Player among other applications that embed into Web pages.
There was an article in the last few days about Instant messengers being a tempting new vector for viral infections… Well…. Incidents.org has information on a new AIM worm seen in the wild. It doesn’t travel via a security hole, but uses the good old standby of social engineering to get from place to place.
This is filed under security, but a slightly different angle than the usual computer security articles. I just ran across a link I’ve kept to Zoneminder. Zoneminder is a neat linux application to help you setup your very own DVR (digital video recorder) for a security camera type (CCTV ?) setup. I originally came across the page by way of a livecd that uses the mklivecd tools that I was working with for a couple projects. Typically a CCTV type security camera system can involve some expensive software for the monitoring of cameras.
This kind of get’s glommed into hardware, software and security categories all…. I’ve mentioned DBAN a couple times already (Darik’s Boot and Nuke). I had a chance to sit down this afternoon to nuke a few disks I’ve collected over the last little while and thought I’d pass along some points on the DBAN for securely wiping the contents of hard drives. First, no matter what you do to a drive, there may be a data recovery center that can get something from it. I’m talking clean rooms, 1000’s of dollars and some good forensic recovery techniques. Why?
I saw this earlier this afternoon at betanews.com there seems to be a flaw in the way Internet Explorer deals with css that could put your data at risk. According to this article it is a risk combined with Google Desktop. This can be “fixed” by disabling scripting or using Firefox as your primary browser. Currently Microsoft says it is “investigating the problem”…
Spyware Confidential is writing of complaints from Wrestling fans of several wrestling related sites that have become sources of unsolicited spyware and adware installs. Some of them are aware of the spyware and encourage users to sign up for the ad-free service (pay) to avoid the problem. The spyware in many cases are installs that start without user intervention (or consent.)
I don’t know about this, and will be curious to see what the answer is…. barrapunto.com had the link to a post from a Gmail user who notes… Gmail has the capability to have a feed of your new messages in Atom format. (We’re talking rss feeds here.) That’s all well and good. He went to bloglines though and tried to setup viewing of his feed…. and saw tons of email – NOT HIS.
Another entry from the “how do the good guys keep from getting their pants sued off…” files. Freedom-to-tinker has an entry on their application for a DMCA waiver. (The DMCA (among other things) makes it against the law to circumvent copy protection (or to communicate ways of circumvention)) It sounds like the exemption process is slanted towards not issuing exemptions, but they’re trying. There are some interesting notes from their application.
I really don’t know how a SMALL operation can do any kind of software scanning with all the…. legal challenges to have to answer to. Of course, I suppose some don’t, they just cave and their scanners suffer in effectiveness. Anyway, Sunbelt Software blogs about ANOTHER cease and desist letter they’ve received from the makers of CasinoontheNet, Cassava. I still think there should be class action suits against spyware/malware/difficult to remove-ware/makers that use deceptive practices to get their software installed/make it a nightmare for an end-user to remove and generally wind up COSTING end-users money having their pc’s cleaned.