Computer Experts Face Backlash
When a group of computer experts last week disclosed a flaw in AT&T Inc.'s website that made iPad owners' email addresses public, some security researchers accused the group of criminal behavior and the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation into the incident.The backlash surprised the experts, who collectively go by the moniker Goatse Security. "We tried to be the good guys," said Escher Auernheimer, a member of the group. Drawing attention to the flaw, he said, "was the only way to get public notification."
For its part, AT&T reached out to iPad users bv email Sunday, blaming the incident on "computer hackers" who "maliciously exploited" an attempt by the carrier to speed the process of logging in to its website.
The comments were the harshest yet by the carrier, which apologized for the security lapse and said it would cooperate with any efforts to investigate or prosecute the breach. Goatse couldn't immediately be reached for comment on AT&T's remarks. More...
06-14-2010 18:05
Adobe reports critical flaw in Flash, Acrobat
Adobe has issued a security advisory about a "critical" vulnerability in its Flash Player and Adobe Reader and Acrobat products that it says could let attackers take control of people's computers.The company said late Friday that there had been reports of the hole actually being exploited and that an official patch was not yet available.
Affected software includes:
Adobe Flash Player 10.0.45.2, 9.0.262, and earlier 10.0.x and 9.0.x versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.3.2 and earlier 9.x versions for Windows, Macintosh, and Unix
The company said that the Flash Player 10.1 Release Candidate does not seem to be vulnerable and that Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.x are confirmed not vulnerable. More...
06-07-2010 21:16
Google phases out Microsoft Windows use: report
(Reuters) - Web search group Google Inc is phasing out internal use of rival Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system because of security concerns following a Chinese hacking incident, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.Citing several Google employees, the FT said the decision to move to other operating systems including Apple Inc's Mac OS and open-source Linux began in earnest in January after Google's Chinese operations were hacked.
Internet security firm McAfee Inc said at the time the cyber attacks on Google and other businesses had exploited a previously unknown flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, which was vulnerable on all recent versions of Windows. More...
06-02-2010 15:10
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