Archive for August 16th, 2007
According to McAfee Avert Labs, there is a zero-day vulnerability in Yahoo Messenger. The discovery marks the second time in a month that security 
researchers disclosed a vulnerability in the instant-messaging client.McAfee researchers first learned about the bug on a Chinese-language security forum on Tuesday, then dug into the report and were able to reproduce the vulnerability on Yahoo Messenger. The conclusion: The flaw might allow for code-execution attacks. But as of Thursday morning, there have been no reports of code exploiting this flaw being published.
“It seems like a classic heap overflow which can be triggered when the victim accepts a webcam invite,” Wei Wang, a security researcher at McAfee, wrote in the company’s security blog. “Note that this vulnerability is different from the recently patched one in June which exploited the Yahoo webcam ActiveX controls.”
McAfee said it reported the issue to Yahoo’s security team. Yahoo could not immediately be reached for comment.
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August 16th, 2007
It’s a busy week over at Electronic Arts. The EA Sports division launched the latest edition of its best-selling football franchise: Madden NFL. Madden NFL 08 hit store shelves on Tuesday.Electronic Arts kept the momentum rolling by announcing new cities in the 2007 EA Sports Challenge Series, a string of gaming competitions taking place across North America over the next several months. And for shoot-em-up fans, Electronic Arts launched a new expansion pack for its popular Command & Conquer 3.
The moves are part of the buzz-building prep for the holiday shopping season, but with the NFL preseason underway, Madden NFL 08 is taking the spotlight this week.
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August 16th, 2007
Get ready to roll up your sleeves. If you are in the I.T. department, you are going to be busy for a while. On Patch Tuesday yesterday, Microsoft issued its second-largest set of updates this year with nine security bulletins altogether.The updates fix 14 vulnerabilities. Eight bugs are rated critical, four are rated important, and two are considered moderate. The patches fix holes in Windows, Windows Gadgets, Windows Media Player, Office, Excel, Internet Explorer, Visual Basic, Virtual Server, and Virtual PC.
“Many of the vulnerabilities addressed by Microsoft’s fixes could be exploited if a Windows user simply visits a malicious Web site,” said Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager at McAfee Avert Labs. “Microsoft’s patches again underline the trend of malware writers seeking out the Web browser as a means of attack and reinforce the need of safe browsing habits.”
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August 16th, 2007
There’s nothing funny about a billion-dollar copyright infringement lawsuit — until now. Google has subpoenaed comedian talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for depositions in the suit Viacom filed against it and its YouTube property in March. Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion last year.Viacom, the entertainment titan that owns Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, and various other entertainment properties, is suing YouTube and its parent company for posting some 160,000 unauthorized video clips.
“When Google purchased YouTube, everybody said the company was buying into a huge lawsuit. Google knew it going in, but this is a big battle because if this goes as far as everyone expects it to, it’s going to define copyright rights for the digital age in a way that hasn’t been done on such a grand scale yet,” said Ilan Barzilay, an intellectual property attorney with Wolf Greenfield in Boston.
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August 16th, 2007
Microsoft will try its best to persuade regulators that it can hook up consumers with high-speed Internet services over unused TV airwaves — without wreaking havoc on television broadcasts.According to the Washington Post, Microsoft plans to file papers with the Federal Communications Commission to dispute the FCC’s recent conclusion that devices operating over unused TV channels pose one of two problems: They either interfere with TV signals or fail to detect those signals to avoid creating interference.
The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology released results of a study on August 2 that found portable , unlicensed devices cause interference to television broadcast signals. This is an assertion that television broadcasters, sports leagues, wireless microphone manufacturers, and others have long made.
The decision was a win for broadcasters, but a blow to high-tech giants hoping to leverage vacant TV airwaves, also known as “white space,” to sell more products and services.
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August 16th, 2007
Patch Tuesday is upon I.T. admins once again, but this month’s update has headache written all over it, according to security analysts. Microsoft is issuing nine patches, six of them rated “critical” and three rated “important.” The patches will plug holes in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and Virtual PC.Although this is not Microsoft’s biggest Patch Tuesday in terms of number of updates, the details of the patches indicate a broad spectrum of exposure, according to Paul Zimski, senior director of Market and Product Strategy for PatchLink.
“This is a target-rich environment for hackers,” Zimski said. “Organizations need to remediate these vulnerabilities as quickly as possible to avoid falling victim to quick turnaround exploits.”
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August 16th, 2007
