Microsoft

An unnamed security researcher released information Monday on a discovered Windows vulnerability that could be used to perform remote code execution. Along with bringing the hole to the attention of Microsoft, the researcher posted the proof-of-concept exploit code that triggers a blue-screen PC system freeze.

The vulnerability affects all versions of Windows, with Microsoft cautioning that system servers running as the primary domain controller may be at highest risk, according to the researcher, identified only by the user name "Cupidon-3005."

Microsoft has backtracked on a previous suggestion to put ISPs in charge of computer security, instead backing a "trusted certificate" model.

Last year, vice president of Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney said users should be quarantined by their ISPs if their PCs were infected, for the good of the whole internet.

Microsoft officials unveiled plans to deliver IE9 Mobile as part of the first “significant” operating system update to Windows Phone 7 in calendar 2011.

Translation: Microsoft will be providing to its partners the “Mango” update (Windows Phone OS 7.X) with an IE 9-based browser this summer, so they can get it to users by fall/holiday 2011.

After an already long development path, Microsoft has just released the release candidate for Internet Explorer 9, their attempt at turning the tide. They've looked at an impressive 17000 pieces of feedback for the release candidate, and they made lots of changes.

There are a lot of changes under the hod. The release candidate adds support for CSS3 2D Transforms, HTML5 Geolocation, a set of HTML5 semantic elements, and the HTML5 canvas global­Composite Operation property. They also improved the performance of CanvasPixelArray.

Microsoft has finally decided to push out a Windows update that should stop attempts to exploit AutoRun - a feature of its operating system that fires up any program once a USB or CD is inserted into a computer.

In recent years hackers have increasingly turned to AutoRun, which permits programmers to deliver instructions via Autorun.inf files to run programs without first gaining user permission.

Microsoft has sent the first service pack for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to original equipment manufacturers, with a consumer release to follow later this month.

The news comes several weeks after Microsoft's Russian Windows localisation team had reported the update as being finalised from its first and only release candidate, and released to manufacturers.

Microsoft today issued 12 security updates that patched 22 bugs in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Office and its Internet server software.

An analyst suspected that one of the dozen updates was released to prevent hackers from exploiting Windows 7 in the Pwn2Own contest slated to start in four weeks.

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer plans to extend a management reshuffling aimed at adding senior product executives with an engineering background, two people with knowledge of the decision said.

Changes may be announced this month, said one of the people, who declined to be named because the plans are private. Last month, Ballmer pushed out server division president and 23- year company veteran Bob Muglia, saying the company needed new leadership that could focus on areas such as cloud software.

The company that many consider to be the poster child for proprietary software has publicly welcomed a significant new Federal Government policy which will require departments and agencies to evaluate open source software wherever possible, describing it as "sensible and pragmatic".

Software giant Microsoft has announced that it would release twelve security bulletins on Tuesday to fix as many as twenty-two vulnerabilities.

These security bulletins will fix vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (IE), Windows and the Visio diagramming software. Of the total twelve bulletins, three including the IE patch, have been called "Critical", while the remaining nine have been mentioned as "Important".