Bill Lindner

A new malware worm that targets Google fans and uses Javascript to attack computers through vulnerabilities in Adobe PDF reader and Flash player is on the loose. According to SophosLabs, the virus known as JSRedir-R blows all other web-based malware ... out of the water. JSRedir-R accounted for 42 per cent of all malicious infections found on websites in a one week period. The malware, also known as 'Gumblar,' infected a new page every 4.5 seconds. (Source: sophos.com ) Infected Redirected via Google Result Pages Google users are redirected to other sites that download more malware onto the user' ... (view more)

Microsoft plans to roll out its new search engine code-named " Kumo " that reportedly improves search results by suggesting more targeted searches capable of bringing users closer to the information they seek. The Kumo team's technology reportedly ... uses open-source software if it's available . (Source: cnet.com ) Kumo to Compete with Google's Storage Engine According to their blog , Kumo developer Powerset decided to turn to hadoop , a Lucene subproject that runs data-intensive applications on large clusters of commodity hardware. Unfortunately, there was no Hadoop equivalent to Google's ... (view more)

Kapersky Labs recently took a new, out-of-the-box M ... (view more)

Researchers at Northwestern University and New York's Yahoo! Research have shown that they can catch spammers by the timestamps of their emails, paving the way for smarter advertisements, better spam filters, and more convenient social networking. ... (Source: wired.com ) The new technique can differentiate people by using only the timestamps in their Sent folders with a snapshot of what they're doing. You can get meaningful information by knowing what time people send their emails. 80 to 90 Percent of the World's Email is Spam Yahoo! is interested in finding a better way to catch spammers. ... (view more)

When news of Windows 7's XP Mode was revealed, there was much rejoicing among those who were concerned about legacy support. However, it appears that XP mode won't do everything many hoped it would, and will be unavailable to many Intel users. ... (Source: theinquirer.net ) Windows 7's XP Mode (also known as "XPM") is a virtualization feature that will allow some users of Windows 7 Premium to run Windows XP apps in a virtual machine. However, it appears that Microsoft may be rushing a technology that is receiving spotty support from chipmakers Intel and AMD. (Source: cio.com ) There is ... (view more)

A government audit has found more than 3,800 vulnerabilities were reportedly found in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) web-based air traffic control system applications. 763 of the vulnerabilities are high-risk and some could put air ... travelers at risk. Congress requested the audit of air traffic control (ATC) computer systems in order to ensure air travelers were safe. (Source: cgisecurity.com ) The FAA has been using commercial software and Internet Protocol-based technologies in order to modernize ATC systems, moving away from the proprietary software the systems were ... (view more)

According to reports, Washington state surveillance firm Veratect Corp. raised the first warning about a possible swine flu outbreak in Mexico more than two weeks before the World Health Organization (WHO) made its own announcement. (Source: ... pnwlocalnews.com ) It also appears as that federal and international health officials had access to the Veratect Corp. warning. Emails relating to the possible outbreak spreading in Mexico were sent to 10 officials of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and prevention. It's not known why health officials didn't act sooner than they did. Data Mining ... (view more)

Hackers have reportedly infiltrated restricted computer databases at the University of California Berkeley, putting the private data of 160,000 students, alumni, and others at risk. According to UC Berkeley, computer administrators determined that ... electronic databases in University Health Services had been breached by overseas criminals on April 21, 2009. UHS electronic medical records, including details of patients' diagnoses, treatments and therapies were not affected in this breach because they're stored on a separate system. (Source: http://datatheft.berkeley.edu ) Social Security Numbers ... (view more)

Over 8 million medical patients' drug prescription records from the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) have been stolen by hackers, who are demanding $10 million to return them. The PMP medical records being held for ransom include drug ... prescription information, social security numbers, and driver's license details for over 8 million Virginia patients. (Source: com.au ) Secure Site Replaced with Ransom Demand On April 30, 2009, the secure site for the Virginia PMP was replaced with this ransom demand: "I have your s**t! In *my* possession, right now, are 8,257,378 patient records ... (view more)

By gradually migrating to a complete open source desktop and web applications, Gendarmerie Nationale, the French national police force with 105,000 employees, has saved millions of euros. The move cuts Microsoft out of the equation, helping the ... French national police force slash its IT costs by 70 percent. Most of the money saved was on proprietary software licenses, beginning in 2004. Previously, the acquired Gendarmerie Nationale acquired 12,000 to 15,000 licenses annually. Gendarmerie National's decision to adopt a strictly open-standards IT policy began in 2002 with the intention of ... (view more)