Microsoft

Bowing to criticism, Microsoft Corp. plans to modify a key new security feature in its upcoming Windows Vista operating system to make it less cumbersome for users.

The current implementation of the User Account Control (UAC) feature in Vista triggers too many pop-up boxes, requiring users to click on them to confirm things as simple as running regular programs, Steve Hiskey, lead program manager for User Account Control in Microsoft's Windows Security Core group, acknowledged in his blog on the MSDN Web site.

Microsoft today has made public six versions of Windows Vista Beta 2. These versions are available in English, German, and Japanese languages and in both x86 and x64 versions.

Microsoft is expected to launch updated and renamed Antigen e-mail security products, nearly a year after completing the takeover of their maker, Sybari. Meant for use by organisations small and large, the Antigen products promise to cleanse e-mail of spam and viruses. They work with Microsoft's Exchange e-mail server software and are part of the company's strategy to become a player in the security software arena. Last week, Microsoft introduced Windows Live OneCare, a consumer security product.

Security exploits and vulnerabilities are often causes of huge financial loss and disruption of business services. The Computer Security Institute has reported a worldwide financial loss of circa $130 million that resulted from viruses, unauthorized access, and theft of proprietary information in 2005, a $7.3 million loss (compared to $65 million loss in 2003) due to denial-of-service attacks, and an average $355,552 (2005) loss per incident for proprietary information theft in 2003.

Tired of spyware, malicious Internet worms, and worrying about whether your privacy will be compromised when online?

The answer, according to Microsoft, is Vista, the next-generation operating system due out early next year.

While there's no doubt that improved security has moved to the top of the list of priorities for Vista developers - and there are enough security enhancements in Vista to warrant your attention - there's more to Vista than feeling safe.

Microsoft has born the brunt of criticism for its massive domination of the computer desktop since the release of Windows 95. For once, however, it is not Microsoft that has some explaining to do. Microsoft's decision not to include the ability to save files to Adobe's PDF format in its upcoming Office 2007 product, after arguments with Adobe, is bad news for users. Adobe really needs to explain to the world why it has forced Microsoft to do this.

Microsoft is starting a game of hide-and-seek with malicious code writers.

Windows Vista Beta 2, released last week, includes a new security feature designed to protect against buffer overrun exploits. Called Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), the feature loads key system files in different memory locations each time the PC starts, making it harder for malicious code to run, according to Microsoft.

Included in the Windows Update that Microsoft pushed out to XP users at the end of April is a piracy checker that double checks the authenticity of your XP installation. For some odd reason, the update didn't take place on my system until yesterday.

Windows-powered smart phones may be making the transition from executive toy to business workforce tool, but a dearth of management tools, limited upgradeability and inadequate marketing efforts mean Microsoft and its partners still have their work cut out for them, company executives have conceded.

Microsoft is investigating an e-mail that appears to be a security warning from the software heavyweight which patches a vulnerability in the "WinLogon Service".

The e-mail has a spoofed "from" field so it looks like it has been sent from patch@microsoft.com, in reality it is most likely being mass spammed from an army of bots -- PCs that have been compromised and are under the control of a cybercriminal group.