Software-Programming

Oracle has released update 26 for its Java SE 6 platform in order to address a number of seventeen remotely exploitable vulnerabilities, many of which could result in arbitrary code execution.

Of the included patches, eleven apply only to the Java SE client and one only to the server version. The rest affect both of the platform's flavors. Nine vulnerabilities carry the maximum score of 10 on the CVSS scale. This means that they can be exploited remotely with ease and no authentication resulting in a complete confidentiality, integrity and availability compromise.

Tenable has released an Android application for its Nessus Vulnerability Scanner, enabling Nessus users to remotely connect to a Nessus server, launch scans and review reports from their Android devices.

“Network security isn’t a 9-5 job,” said Ron Gula, CEO of Tenable Network Security. “The ability to conduct vulnerability scans and review results anytime from anywhere is exactly what enterprise IT and security professionals expect from their software and service providers, and it’s what they need to keep their networks safe, 24/7.”

Mozilla has released the first beta of Thunderbird 5, its next generation email messaging client.

Mozzarella's popular open source Thunderbird email client has been slipped into the outfit's rapid release schedule, meaning that, as with the Firefox web browser, Thunderbird releases will be fast tracked, avoiding years of development time. Mozilla has said that it will skip version 4 altogether in order to align it with Gecko's versioning scheme.

At the D9 conference today, Steve Sinofsky, President of Windows and Windows Live at Microsoft, gave the first look at the next version of Windows, currently "codenamed" Windows 8. On display was the new touch user interface: an interface designed for tablets and touch computers. For the first time in its life, Windows will receive a true touch interface. Since Windows XP, Microsoft has tried to graft touch capabilities onto its operating system, but has consistently failed to bridge the gap between precise mouse and keyboard interfaces, and sloppy, imprecise, finger-based interfaces.

This weekend was filled with rumors about the fate of OpenOffice. Oracle essentially abandoned OpenOffice, after The Document Foundation’s LibreOffice fork but rumor has it that IBM wants the project to continue. The big question, which is still unresolved as I write this, is, “How?

Google has fixed four flaws – including two critical ones – in its Chrome browser with the release of its latest update.

In addition to the two critical security flaws, a third security flaw was rated high, and researcher Martin Barbella received a $1000 bounty for reporting it. A fourth flaw was rated low. Hackers could use the critical security flaws to break out of the Chrome sandbox, according to French security firm Vupen.

The French "three strikes" policy was put on hold last week after the private company tasked with collecting piracy data, TMG, was hacked and found to be insecure. The hack has allowed the company's data-collecting software to be examined. It turns out that servers weren't the only thing that TMG failed to properly secure; their anti-piracy software is riddled with flaws, too.

Taiwanese smartphone giant HTC has revealed it is considering changing the bootloader restrictions on its Android handsets after it posted a message to its official Facebook page to notify its customers.

HTC’s remarkable u-turn comes after the company came under fire for not allowing Android users to modify the way their devices operated under Google’s open Android mobile operating system.

Aaron Bond designs video game 'Spud Run' by watching online tutorials

Aaron Bond, a 13-year-old schoolboy, has become Britain's youngest recorded iPhone app video game developer. He achieved the feat after creating Spud Run, a 59p game in which users have to navigate a mutant potato through a maze before it is squashed in 40 seconds.

Adobe's latest version of Flash Player, v10.3, is available for Windows, Linux, Android and Mac OSX machines.

The latest version of Flash Player comes with updated security and privacy features. It patches critical holes in version 10.2 which could cause the application to crash and then let hackers to take control of the computer. Users of the new version can specify which privacy and security they want to use on directly from the control panels of machines. Users can also clear locally stored items from within a web browser's privacy settings.