MEHULENTERPRISE

JPEG Virus

A critical flaw in Microsoft's operating systems and other software that manifests itself while processing JPEG images could let attackers create an image file that runs a malicious program on a victim's computer when a file is viewed. Internet Explorer is vulnerable creating a scenario wherein Windows users may fall prey to an attack by visiting a, website that has affected images. Some experts worry that a virus that exploits the issue may be on its way. A dozen Microsoft applications and operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Office XP, Office 2003, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Project, Visio, Picture It and Digital Image Pro are affected. Windows XP Service Pack 2 is not vulnerable to the flaw. Microsoft has created a separate tool to help Windows users update their computers. Folks visiting Windows Update will be directed to the software giant's Office Update tool and then to the tool that will find and update imaging and development applications. The JPEG processing flaw lets a program hidden in an image file execute on a victim’s system. A sample program hit the Internet on September 22, 2004. This revealed how malicious coders could compromise Windows PCs using the flaw. Security specialists believe that the release of this program heralds a new round of attacks by viruses and Trojan horses incorporating code to circumvent security on non-patched Windows PCs. A tool known as the JPEG of Death creation kit is constantly being updated by its creators and will likely be able to generate viruses soon. HKTL_JPGDOWN.A is a non destructive hack tool that creates a JPEG file that exploits vulnerability in Windows XP. This buffer overrun vulnerability in the processing of JPEG image formats may allow a remote user to execute code on an affected system. This malware is currently spreading infecting computer systems that are running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP.

* Source from Microsft and Trend Micro bulletins. (September 2004)

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2

Three months after the debut of Windows XP SP2, most enterprises continue to delay deployments of the code, yet activity in the SMB market is beginning to pick up. ISVs and partners say large corporations are postponing the second Windows service pack because of application compatibility problems and the extensive amount of testing necessary. What is more, large companies can do without SP2 for some time since they already have enterprise-level firewalls and other security applications, observers say. Gartner Group, for example, advises customers to wait until new ‘No Execute’ (NX) processors ship in 2005.

* Source from Microsft bulletins. (October 2004)

Microsoft Windows XP Hindi Starter Edition

Microsoft to launch Hindi XP Starter edition, the company hopes to penetrate the local language market with a low price, barebones starter pack. Microsoft will be launching a substan¬tially low priced Windows XP Starter edition in the Indian market early next year. Though the company is tight lipped on the pricing of the new product, internation¬al reports quoting industry analysts have estimated the price tag to be between $30 and $40 for each user license of XP Starter. Microsoft India, in a media conference organized in New Delhi, announced that it has included India in its five country Windows XP Starter edition pilot programme.

* Source from Microsft bulletins. (October 2004)

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser

The free Mozilla Firefox web browser, which has chipped away at the market dominance of Microsoft Corporation’s Internet Explorer, has been readied for a full release including new features designed to make it more stable. The Mozilla Foundation, a network of programmers that jointly develops the Firefox browser, said the final release of Firefox version 1.0 will attract more users to the browser and away from Internet Explorer. “Open source projects have a much higher standard,” said Chris Hofmann, director of engineering at the Mozilla Foundation. “It is the engineers that actually build the software that label it as done.” Faced with competition from Firefox, Microsoft’s share of the browser market has declined to 92.9 percent from 95.5 percent in June, according to data released by web usage tracker Web Side Story last week. In the same period, Firefox’s market share increased to 6 percent from 3.5 percent, Web Side Story said. More than 7 million people have downloaded Firefox during its preview release period that started in mid-September, Mozilla said. Mozilla Firefox 1.0 is available for download for the Windows, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems. Unlike Internet Explorer, Mozilla offers users the ability to display several web pages within a single window, a feature called tabbed browsing, and also offers protections against pop-up Internet ads and fraudulent websites. The Mozilla Foundation inherited much of the underlying software code from Netscape, the web browser that was instrumental in the Internet’s growth in the 1990s. Netscape was overtaken by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, sparking the justice department’s landmark antitrust case against Microsoft, which reached final settlement with limited penalties in 2002. Critics of Internet Explorer argue that Microsoft essentially stopped making innovations to the browser after it gained its overwhelming market share. Microsoft has said that it will focus on enhancing Internet Explorer’s security features and on a major upgrade for the next release of Windows, code-named Longhorn, due out in 2006. Why use Firefox? USA Today said, “Beware of spy ware. If you can, use the Firefox browser.” Forbes said, “Better than Internet Explorer by leaps and bounds.” Mozilla Firefox 1.0 empowers you to browse faster, more safely, and more efficiently than with any other browser. Join more than 8 million others and make the switch today, Firefox imports your favourites, settings, and other information, so you have nothing to lose. Popup blocking, stop annoying popup ads in their tracks with Firefox's built in popup blocker. Tabbed browsing, view more than one web page in a single window, is a time saving feature. Open links in the background so that they are ready for viewing when you are ready to read them. Privacy and security, built with your security in mind, Firefox keeps your computer safe from malicious spy ware by not loading harmful ActiveX controls. A comprehensive set of privacy tools keep your online activity your business. Smarter search, Google search is built right into the toolbar, and there are a plethora of other search tools including smart keywords, and the new find bar which finds text as you type without covering up anything. Live bookmarks, RSS integration lets you read the latest news headlines and read updates to your favourite sites that are syndicated. Hassle-free downloading, files you download are automatically saved to your desktop so they are easy to find. Fewer prompts mean files download quicker. Fits like a glove, simple and intuitive, yet fully-featured, Firefox has all the functions you are used to, bookmarks, history, full screen, text zooming to make pages with small text easier to read, etc. Firefox is the most customizable browser on the planet. Customize your toolbars to add additional buttons, install new extensions that add new features, add new themes to browse with style, and use the adaptive search system to allow you to search an infinite number of engines. Firefox is as big or small as you want. Firefox takes just a few minutes to download over a slow connection and seconds over a fast connection. The installer gets you set up quickly, and the new easy transition system imports all of your settings, favourites, passwords, and other data from Internet Explorer and other browsers so you can start surfing right away. A developer's best friend, Firefox comes with a standard set of developer tools including a powerful JavaScript and CSS error & warning console, and an optional document inspector that gives detailed insight about your pages. Read mail, not spam. Thunderbird is the perfect complement to Firefox.

* Source from Mozilla Foundation and Reuters bulletins. (November 2004)

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

The global telephone system is co ordinated by a United Nations agency; countries enjoy sovereignty over phone numbers, have national regulators and license operators. But the internet is managed by a non profit organisation that reports to America's commerce department; national laws are hard to enforce. A fight is on over whether governments should manage the internet more closely. Many countries are dissatisfied with the way the internet's technical standards are set, the policy for things such as domain names and valuable internet protocol numbers used by computers to connect online. Today, the system is run by the ‘Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN). The group was formed in 1998 by America with the help of business and the formal consent of other countries. Governments are represented by an impotent advisory committee. Many countries complain that even though ICANN is expected to become independent in 2006, it will be placed on a private, industry led footing rather than under the oversight of governments themselves. The UN group is thus an attempt to ease control of ICANN away from America and place the internet's underlying infrastructure on an inter-governmental basis, much like today's telephone system. Business community, predictably, prefers the private sector ICANN. It echoes the views of America, that this ensures that the internet's fast pace of innovation is not jeopardised by the politics and bureaucracy which typify UN agencies. Although the internet is decentralised and hard to control, the infrastructure that ICANN manages represents the few levers that governments have to impose control should they choose to do so. Also at stake is money, registering domain names generates about $1 billion annually and assigning new domains, is a power over very lucrative assets. Half the UN working group is comprised of government officials, and half from civil society organisations, academia and industry. It is charged with defining internet governance and recommending what the role of governments and international organisations should be, not a big mystery coming from a group convened by the UN itself. In addition to ICANN, the committee will look at general online issues such as spam, network security, cyber crime and the cost of international telecoms bandwidth. The group's report is due before the second phase of the UN World Summit on the Information Society in November 2005. Most countries oppose the current arrangement. China wants ICANN under the aegis of the UN group, as do most poor countries. European countries once supported America's private sector approach, but are now willing to accept a UN role. Brazil and others want an inter-governmental forum where panoply of internet issues can be discussed, not just ICANN. The central problem is that ICANN is seen as an expression of American unilateralism. Ironically, it was created as a way to internationalise internet technical management, but on a private, non governmental basis. Until 1998, these tasks were done by an American computer science professor under contract with the defence department, the last vestige of the internet's roots as a military research project. An autonomous ICANN grounded in the private sector is still unsatisfactory to other countries because they fear America's technological strength means it will dominate anyway, which is only partially true.

* Source from International News Agencies. (November 2004)