It had never been attempted before: Microsoft, attempting to decapitate a network of computers that send out billions of spam e-mails, filed a restraining order against 276 Web domains that ran the infamous Waledac botnet.
Last week, a federal judge approved the new tactic. Those 276 domains -- URLs such as "discountfreesms.com" -- will likely be permanently transferred to Microsoft for shutdown.
Sometimes I hear a rumor that sounds like it’s landed from another planet. Today’s is Microsoft (MSFT) might buy Symantec (SYMC). Perhaps this is making stocks move and hearts go pit-a-pat, but it sounds like one of the goofiest ideas you could hear.
At first blush — sure, maybe there’s a fit between the company that produces the most widely used PC operating system in the world and a security company. Especially when Microsoft products have the reputation for being the favorite targets of hackers and digital criminals. But let’s use a little reason here.
The war between security researchers (particularly from Google) and Microsoft is heating up, again, over an old bug in IE8 that was reportedly disclosed to Microsoft years ago. Once again, it seems like there aren't any good guys looking out for the users. On Friday, Google security researcher Chris Evans, in a fit of frustration over what he said was Microsoft's lack of action, posted a link to proof-of-concept code for the bug to the Full Disclosure mailing list.
Microsoft is investigating reports of a new bug in Internet Explorer. Redmond's Security Response Team (MSRT) said on Friday that it was aware of a "publicly disclosed issue involving Internet Explorer", and promised an investigation, without going into details.
Circumstantial evidence suggests Microsoft is referring to a post by security researcher Chris Evans, of Google, to a Full Disclosure mailing list on Friday, hours before MSRT's tweet.
While acknowledging the importance of HTML5, Microsoft stressed this week that its Silverlight rich Internet technology extends the Web beyond what HTML5 allows.
Standards-based multimedia features offered by HTML5 have taken the spotlight lately from proprietary technologies, such as Silverlight and Adobe's Flash. But Silverlight still has a purpose in the wake of HTML5's emergence, said Microsoft's Brad Becker, director of product management for Developer Platforms, in a blog entry entitled "The Future of Silverlight."
Microsoft released an updated version of a toolkit today to help developers bring more security to their applications.
With Microsoft's Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit 2 (EMET), developers can bring technologies such as dynamic data execution prevention to bear for security, particularly for older programs that cannot be recompiled to opt-in to the security technologies. The updated toolkit features a total of six mitigations, including two new ones - Export Address Table Access Filtering and Mandatory Address Space Layout Randomization to the release as well.
After revealing that hundreds of Windows applications may be at risk of attack from malicious hackers using rogue dynamic link libraries (DLL), Microsoft has released a "Fix It" solution meant to ameliorate the problem.
Fix Its are automated tools from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) that tweak settings or repair problems -- sometimes security flaws -- that users encounter. Microsoft debuted the Fix It Button technology last year, enabling users to choose to automatically install a bug fix by clicking on a button instead of manually installing it themselves.
It's been only a mere six months since its first unveiling, but Microsoft has already announced that Windows Phone 7 has been released to manufacturing. This means device makers can start tuning the software to their hardware, leaving plenty of time to release devices before the holiday season.
Microsoft is to build another large data center, this time in Virginia, despite scaling back plans for an earlier facility in Iowa.
Microsoft will spend $499 million to build a data center in Mecklenburg County in Southern Virginia, the state's Governor Bob McDonnell announced in a statement Friday. About 50 people will work at the facility.
Windows Phone 7 will cost Microsoft nearly a half-billion dollars in marketing during the smartphone operating system's initial rollout, says one analyst.
"This is make-or-break for them. They need to do whatever it takes to stay in the game," Jonathan Goldberg, an analyst with Deutsche Bank, told TechCrunch Aug. 26. "They don't have to take share from Android or Apple, so long as they can attract enough consumers switching from feature phones."
