Microsoft

A teenage virus writer has been sentenced to three years' probation for committing a denial-of-service attack on Microsoft's homepage.

The teenager released the RPCSDBOT Trojan in August 2003, creating a botnet which waged a DDoS attack on Microsoft, bringing down Redmond's website for around four hours. Due to the virus writer's juvenile status, no information about him or her can be given, although the DDoS attacker was 14 at the time the RPCSDBOT Trojan was released, according to reports.

According to a message posted on February 9th at the MSN Messenger download site, all users on 6.1 and 6.2 are being forced to upgrade to the latest build or be 'blocked' from the service.

The short announcement simply states "This upgrade includes the most robust security measures currently available for MSN Messenger. You will only be able to log onto MSN Messenger if you have upgraded your MSN Messenger software.". A link to the security bulletin provides more information, an excerpt from the page reads:

Microsoft has slammed security researchers for publishing exploit code for a hole in MSN Messenger.

In a statement, the software giant singled out Finjan Software and Core Security Technologies for publishing code to test for vulnerabilities shortly after software patches were released to plug the holes. It claimed the tests were then used to develop working attacks. The statement then cited an increased risk to Messenger and Office XP users.

On Monday Microsoft will announce a deal with Flextronics to manufacture a new line of low-cost cellphones based on the "Peabody" reference design (powered by Windows Mobile Edition) that would work with many networks and be sold by most cellular network operators in the world.

The Windows Mobile platform has gotten quite a bit better since it started years ago. Microsoft has concentrated on higher end models while dipping their toes in a new market. They seem apparently confident enough to go full blown with a low-cost / high volume design.

Microsoft is investigating reports of a Trojan which attempts to disable its AntiSpyware beta product.

The Troj/BankAsh-A Trojan, discovered yesterday, is designed to steal passwords and online banking details.

But the Trojan also tries to disable Microsoft AntiSpyware, attempting to suppress warning messages that the software may display, and deleting all files within the program's folder, according to antivirus company Sophos.

Well not precisely. A new IDC study points out that Microsoft's indemnification of its end users over most types of intellectual property claims is much more protection than one is likely to see any time soon from vendors providing open source solutions.

Microsoft, armed with this study has been this part of its "Get the facts" campaign in an effort to thwart the growing popularity of the open source operating system, Linux.

Microsoft Corp. released eight security fixes Tuesday that carry its highest threat rating and urged computer users to install them quickly because all the vulnerabilities they address could let attackers take complete control of systems.

Seven of the security vulnerabilities Microsoft marked "critical" affect the Windows operating system and related software, including the Internet Explorer browser, media player and instant messaging program. The eighth is with the Redmond software maker's Office XP business software.

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday said it would buy anti-virus software maker Sybari Software Inc. in a direct challenge to Symantec and McAfee Inc., which currently dominate that market.

If Microsoft (Research), the world's largest software maker, bundles anti-virus features into its Windows operating system, security software makers could feel the pressure, analysts said.

"Microsoft's acquisition of Sybari will get them into the (business) anti-virus market specializing in e-mail protection, a negative for Symantec and McAfee," said Sterling Auty, an analyst with J.P. Morgan.

One of the most important figures in Microsoft's history, David Weise, is to leave Redmond after an illustrious career with the software giant. Weise was one of the developers responsible for a technical breakthrough upon which much of Microsoft's success today is founded.

In 1987 IBM and Microsoft were pouring vast resources into OS/2, the successor to MS-DOS. Back then, Microsoft's Windows was a functionally-crippled GUI running on top of an operating system that offered no pre-emptive multi-tasking or long file names and that was limited by DOS's 640kb memory limit.

Until Microsoft makes their official announcement on it, this one is still firmly in the rumor category, but we’ve gotten word from one of our trusted sources that Microsoft has pretty much settled on a name for the next Xbox: the Xbox 360 (let that sink in for a moment, because you’re probably going to be hearing it a lot for the next several years).