Microsoft

Microsoft has urged Windows users on Monday to install a free piece of security software to protect PCs from a newly discovered bug in the Internet Explorer browser.

The security flaw, which researchers say could allow hackers to take remote control of an infected PC, affects Internet Explorer browsers used by hundreds of millions of consumers and workers. Microsoft said it will advise customers on its website to install the security software as an interim measure, buying it time to fix the bug and release a new, more secure version of Internet Explorer.

According to a blog post by security specialist Eric Romang, a security hole in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser is being used by cyber criminals to infect computers with malware. The vulnerability, which was apparently unknown and unpatched until now, seems to hinge on how IE handles <img> arrays in HTML files. So far, the attackers have only targeted versions 7 and 8 of IE on fully patched Windows XP SP3 systems; it is not yet certain whether the exploit can be used with other software combinations.

Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit was granted a restraining order against criminals behind the Nitol botnet, allowing the company to thwart the spread of more than 500 strains of malware targeting millions of people through unsecure supply chains.

The order, approved Monday by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, allows Microsoft to take over hosting the 3322.org domain, which once was repository of nearly 70,000 malicious subdomains managed by attackers, including the Nitol botnet.

Last week, Microsoft released the latest version of its server operating system, Windows Server 2012, along with a number of related versions and variants. But one member of the new Windows Server family hasn’t shipped yet—Windows Server 2012 Essentials, Microsoft’s version of the operating system for small networks.

Here we are at Day 1 of Intel Developer Forum witnessing some fabulous proof-of-concept designs. The first concept to really catch our eye is Intel’s “Display without Boundaries”, where Intel turns any surface into a fully capable multi-touch screen. That means you can turn any wall, table, or item into a touch-screen device that recognizes multitouch gestures and actions as smoothly as iPad.

Microsoft's controversial Do Not Track privacy feature for the upcoming Internet Explorer 10 web browser will be ignored by the world's most popular web server, the Apache Foundation's open source httpd.

Do Not Track or DNT was developed by W3C's Tracking Protection Group with the intention of allowing users to express their preferences when it came to who can follow them around the web.

 Microsoft this week will release two easy Patch Tuesday bulletins to address four issues in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server and System Center Configuration Manager and address privilege elevation flaws.

"The first patch, rated important, will apply to Visual FoxPro, which is a set of tools used to create and manage high-performance, 32-bit database applications and components," Trustwave SpiderLabs security research director Ziv Madorat said.

It's been 12 years since Chad Ruble's mother suffered a stroke that led to aphasia, a disorder that affects language processing but not intelligence. Most of the one million Americans who have the disorder experience difficulty both reading and writing, according to the National Aphasia Association, and Chad's mother Lindy was unable to recognize text and thus unable to use a keyboard.

So Chad did what any computer-savvy son should: he hacked a Kinect to help her.

Quickly reviewing the HITME data gathered from our global deployment of HoneyPoint continues to show that exposed Terminal Services (RDP) on port 3389 remains a high frequency threat.

In terms of general contact with the attack surface of an exposed Terminal Server connection, direct probes and attacker interaction is seen on an average approximately two times per hour.

Microsoft is giving IT administrators a break next week, with the software giant only planning to release two patches to remedy four vulnerabilities.

Each of the bulletins, to be distributed Tuesday afternoon EST, is rated "important," meaning they do not meet Microsoft's highest-severity designation of "critical," and address issues in Visual Studio Team Foundation Server and System Center Configuration Manager.