Microsoft Unveils Windows Azure Cloud OSMicrosoft on Monday unveiled Azure, a software and services platform that’s a key part of a strategy that sees the company lessening its emphasis on desktop software and shifting more resources to Web-based offerings that can match Google’s growing portfolio of online products.
At its heart, Azure is designed to allow developers to create so-called cloud-based computing architectures that run off of centralized servers that are operated and maintained by Microsoft.
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October 27, 2008 - 10:55 pm
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 – Critical: Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (958644)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Server service. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an affected system received a specially crafted RPC request. On Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability without authentication to run arbitrary code. It is possible that this vulnerability could be used in the crafting of a wormable exploit. Firewall best practices and standard default firewall configurations can help protect network resources from attacks that originate outside the enterprise perimeter.
This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and rated Important for all supported editions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
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October 23, 2008 - 4:32 pm
Free Wi-Fi: Should Retailers Offer It to Customers?
Wi-Fi hotspot service inside fast-food restaurants, coffee shops, book stores—and any other establishment with tables and chairs—has become a standard fare these days. But what isn’t so standard is whether customers should pay for the wireless connectivity service or businesses should provide it for free—just like napkins and packets of ketchup.
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October 8, 2008 - 11:19 pm
Microsoft To Unleash Windows Cloud
At the end of this month, at its Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft intends to unveil something that CEO Steve Ballmer yesterday referred to as “Windows Cloud.” Ballmer explained that “Just like Windows Server looked a lot like Windows but with new properties, new characteristics and new features, so will Windows Cloud look a lot like Windows Server.”
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October 7, 2008 - 9:45 pm
How to Evaluate BC/DR Consultants
Five questions to help weed out the posers from the real deal. Plus: a checklist of topics a BC/DR consultant should know.
by Stacy Collett,July 11, 2008
Siemens IT Solutions and Services always had a solid business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan in place. But it wasn’t until 9/11 that BC/DR planners truly understood what was lacking.
“We probably had the larger things covered, but on a moment’s notice we were not as well put together as we could have been,” says Debbie Hoppenjans, manager of business continuity planning. “It made us, as a company, really take a step back and look at what we would do.”
So the company began its search for business continuity consulting services. But it wasn’t exactly thrilled with most of its prospects.
“There seem to be a lot of them out there, and from our experience a lot of them are not very good,” says CISO Dave Bixler.
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September 9, 2008 - 3:24 am
Why Can’t Google Stop Malware Ads on Adwords?
There has recently been an unfettered flow of advertising for malicious software on Google’s AdWords networks. How come Google can’t stop the malware?
People make much of technical matters in security, but the most important force behind malware is social engineering, not some vulnerability or bad design. The current hot malware is a textbook case of social engineering and an aggressive marketing campaign.
You must have seen them by now: ads for “Antivirus XP 2008″ or some variant of that name. In fact, here are some of the newer names used for essentially the same attack. The program is not malicious in most conventional senses: It doesn’t spread itself to other systems surreptitiously, it doesn’t steal passwords or anything like that. Instead it claims to be a security program. It performs a fake scan of the system and then claims to find numerous threats which the user can remove by buying a full license to the product (for $49.95).
But the most interesting way this threat has been spread has been is through advertising, most infamously through Google sponsored links.
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August 29, 2008 - 5:36 am
eWeek
Just about the most serious breach of security possible at an OS vendor happened to this company. Red Hat is releasing updated OpenSSH packages to address the compromise of its internal systems. Red Hat has revealed that a compromise of its internal systems included the digital signing keys for its distributions.
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August 23, 2008 - 9:03 pm
