Microsoft

Expanding its measures to combat software piracy, Microsoft will require users who want to download local language add-ons to Windows to first validate their copy of the operating system as legitimate. Microsoft offers versions of Windows XP in 24 languages at present. It supports an additional 20 languages with free operating system add-ons, called Windows XP Language Interface Packs. The add-ons do not offer complete translations of the Windows XP user interface, but cover many of its common features.

Jeffrey Lee Parson, the teen convicted of writing a variant of the MSBlast worm, won't have to pay $500,000 in restitution.

The damages were to be paid to Microsoft for the teen's actions, which temporarily downed the software giant's Web site in 2003. The tech behemoth has asked that the 19-year-old's punishment be converted from the fine to 225 hours of community service.

The community service must not involve the Internet or computers.

Microsoft Corp. will build software for managing identities into Windows in order to beef up security by giving users more control over their personal information, the world's largest software maker said Tuesday.

The ID technology called "info-cards" will give users more control over their own personal information in order to shop and access services online, said Michael Stephenson, director in Microsoft's Windows Server division.

MICROSOFT will tackle the growing fear of identity theft in its upcoming version of Windows, codenamed Longhorn, with a technology it calls ‘info-cards’, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The scheme bears a resemblance to the Passport scheme Microsoft tried reasonably unsuccessfully to introduce to its online services like MSN and Hotmail, as it relies on users being willing to hand over their personal data to 'trusted' companies.

Although the European Commission's statements are diplomatic to the point of opacity, there's no mistaking what it thinks of the latest turn in the Microsoft antitrust saga. The Commission doesn't think Microsoft's trying hard enough, and it has canvassed widespread industry support to bolster its position. From a Microsoft document unearthed by ZDNet, and still available here [PDF 450kb], we can see why even long time Redmond partners are losing their patience.

SOFWARE GIANT Microsoft, has released a white paper detailing how the anti-spyware it bought recently works.

According to Information Week, the white paper, with the catchy title "Windows AntiSpyware (Beta): Analysis Approach and Categories", tells the usual story about how things are not black and white and how people have to get used to seeing things in shades of grey.

When dealing with spyware, there is a lot of it out there that is neither bathed in the light of divine beauty or spending its holidays in the lower planes of hell, the paper said.

I have a problem: I can't seem to find a good host-based firewall for my Windows servers. In fact, people constantly ask me what I recommend and I find myself with no good answer.

Password are only as secure as you make them. In the case of many users, that's not very comforting. Whether it's due to keyloggers, Post-It Notes, or pet names, passwords can be easily compromised and used to wreak havoc.

L33tdawg: Props to spoonfork for the linkage to the story.

Since it first revealed a month ago that it was pulling a U-turn by releasing a new version of Internet Explorer independent of Longhorn, Microsoft has been unwilling to share many particulars about its forthcoming browser.

Will Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0 have tabs? Will it comply with the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) 2.0 standard? Exactly how will it make browsing more secure? Will it ship in 2005? Microsoft's answers? No comment.

Microsoft has revealed at a security panel at CeBIT that it is preparing to dump passwords in favour of two-factor authentication in forthcoming versions of Windows.

Detlef Eckert, the senior director in charge of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing initiative, did not specify which form of two-factor authentication would be used in the next edition of the company's operating system, codenamed Longhorn.

But he said that the code would have vastly improved handling of technologies including smartcards and security tokens.