Microsoft

Joanna Rutkowska has always been a big supporter of the Windows Vista security model. Until she stumbled upon a "very severe hole" in the design of UAC (User Account Control) and found out - from Microsoft officials - that the default no-admin setting isn't even a security mechanism anymore. Joanna Rutkowska

Rutkowska, a hacker with a track record of defeating Vista's security mechanisms, believes UAC has a major flaw in the way it automatically assumes that all setup programs (application installers) should be run with administrator privileges.

Microsoft Corp. issued six "critical" security patches on Tuesday to fix flaws in its software products that the company warned could allow attackers to take control of a user's computer.

Microsoft, whose Windows operating system runs on more than 95 percent of the world's computers, issued the patches as part of its monthly security bulletin. There were no patches issued in the update for the newest version of Windows, called Vista.

Coming off a good quarter for Symantec's consumer businesses, CEO John Thompson warns against viewing Windows Vista as a solution to security woes.

Symantec ended 2006 with three months in which revenue for its consumer business grew 24 percent year over year. The company is planning to release its new flagship security tool, Norton 360, in the coming weeks and has a new identity management product, Norton Identity Manager, lined up as well.

Microsoft Tuesday unveiled a dozen security updates that patched 20 vulnerabilities, including one found in every security product of its consumer and enterprise lines, including software either bundled with or able to run on the new Windows Vista operating system.

More than half of the 20 patches--11 total--were labeled "Critical," the highest rating in Microsoft's four-step threat scoring system.

Among the updates are several that tackle long-standing problems in numerous editions of Microsoft Office, including six patches for Word, and one each for PowerPoint and Excel.

As a special correspondent in London in the mid 1990s, I tried to interview Microsoft's owner during one of his visits to Britain. It was to no avail. The corporation's press service made it clear: Bill Gates wanted nothing to do with Russia, the nursery of intellectual piracy.

That was a long time ago. At the end of 2006, Gates chose to personally come to Moscow to present the new operating system Windows Vista, which is to replace the widespread in Russia and elsewhere Windows XP. He even delivered a lecture on the humankind's digital future to a Moscow audience.

Microsoft's Ben Fathi has a new job now that Vista has shipped, but the man who led the company's Security Technology Unit is still focused on keeping the bad guys away from your PC. Fathi is now corporate vice president of development with the Windows Core Operating System Division, and is in charge of building the guts of the OS--things like the kernel, networking, and security. IDG News Service sat down with him recently to discuss the future of Windows security.

Vista is only just out the door, but that hasn?t stopped a Microsoft executive saying that the software company plans to deliver its next operating system in just two years time.

While you're busy waiting for Apple to launch software updates or Microsoft to release its first service patch, the company is actually busy building the next version of its operating system.

Microsoft Corp. plans a launch this spring of its next-generation operating system for wireless devices, Windows Mobile 6, which is important for the company's efforts to grab market share beyond the desktop.

Microsoft is expected to disclose details of Windows Mobile 6 on Monday at a telecommunications conference in Barcelona, Spain.

MICROSOFT has unveiled a new version of its Windows operating system for mobile devices, making it look more like Windows Vista.

Called Windows Mobile 6 and available in the second quarter of 2007, it introduces the ability to view emails in their original HTML internet format with live web links from smartphones.

Windows Mobile 6 also includes Windows Live, which allows instant messaging with more than one person at a time and can send a file or image, or record and send voice notes.

Microsoft has quietly released a patch aimed at improving the performance of Internet Explorer 7's phishing filter ahead of the company's regular patching schedule, which occurs on the second Tuesday of every month.

The update was made available last week on on Microsoft's Web site, according to a blog entry on IEBlog, which is written by the IE team at Microsoft.