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Microsoft Unveils Free SkyDrive Online Storage Service

Win-Sky

Microsoft on Friday quietly took the wraps off a free online storage service that it says is the final piece of its Windows Live Internet services portfolio.

Windows Live SkyDrive offers users up to 5 GB of free storage in password-protected servers. Users can also create folders accessible to friends, colleagues, or the general public. They can access their folders from any computer connected to the Internet by signing on to their Windows Live account.

SkyDrive had been undergoing testing for the past several months, Microsoft said.

Windows Live now offers a range of online services in addition to SkyDrive, including tools for e-mail, blogging, instant messaging, and social networking.

The effort is part of Microsoft’s attempt to keep pace with Google and acquisition target Yahoo in the growing Web services market.

Google recently launched its Google Apps service — a suite of hosted products that includes a word processor and a spreadsheet, as well as e-mail and calendaring tools. Yahoo also offers free e-mail and messaging services and an online storage depot called Briefcase that offers up to 25 MB of free space.

Windows Live also reflects Microsoft’s recognition that many of the software products that are today sold in boxes on store shelves are migrating to the Web. As a result, the company needs to figure out how to enhance its Web offerings without undercutting sales of its packaged applications, from which it derives the bulk of its revenue.

 source:informationweek

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Google Health Records System; When It’s Going To Release?

G-health

Internet giant Google previously announced Google Health would open its doors in 2008, but the company hasn’t offered any information on expanding its pilot program.

Google has announced it has embarked on a pilot project with the Cleveland Clinic which will involve Google storing the medical records of between 1,500 and 10,000 patients. Participation will be voluntary—patients must consent to having their records handled by Google’s new service. The Cleveland Clinic already operates its own electronic records system called MyChart; however, the Google service will make medical records available to patients using the same passwords they can use to access Google’s other services, like GMail. The records will include details about prescriptions, medical conditions, allergies, and the like, the patients can allow physicians and others to access at their discretion.

“By using the GData protocol already offered in many Google products, and supporting standards-based medical information formats like the Continuity of Care Record (CCR), our health efforts will help you access, store and communicate your health information,” wrote Alan Newberger, an engineer on Google’s health team. “Above all, health data will remain yours—private and confidential. Only you have control over when to share it with family members and health providers.”

Google isn’t the only major computing company looking at health information: Microsoft announced its own HealthVault program late last year, aiming to provide health information as well as secure access to medical records.

 

source:digitaltrends
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Google Scan Password Hunter Hacking Tool

G-hack-tool

The hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow (CDC) this week released a tool that turns Google into an automated vulnerability scanner, scouring websites for sensitive information such as passwords or server vulnerabilities.

CDC first achieved notoriety ten years ago with its backdoor Back Orifice, which demonstrated in a highly public way just how easy it was to take unauthorized control of a Windows PC.

The new tool, called Goolag Scan, is equally provocative, making it easy for unskilled users to track down vulnerabilities and sensitive information on specific websites or broad web domains.

This capability should serve as a wake-up call for system administrators to run the tool on their own sites before attackers get around to it, according to CDC.

The tool is a stand-alone Windows .Net application, licensed under the open source GNU General Public License, that provides about 1,500 customized searches under categories such as “vulnerable servers,” “sensitive online shopping information” and “files containing juicy information.”

The results are displayed as a list of links that can be opened directly in a browser. Example results include tell-tale error messages and Java applets for the remote control of surveillance cameras, according to CDC.

Goolag Scan is based on “Google hacking,” the practice of exposing vulnerabilities via Google, which CDC says has been pioneered by a hacker going by the handle “Johnny I Hack Stuff.”

Goolag Scan is, however, the first time such vulnerability searches have been built into a simple tool, according to CDC.

source:pcworld 

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Apple Updated iTunes To Version 7.6.1

iTune

Apple introduced iTunes 7.6 at Macworld Expo, introducing numerous new features including US film rental services.

The update improves the software’s compatibility with Apple TV 2 and provides several bug fixes, the company reports in notes provided with the 44.1MB patch, which is presently available through Software Update.

It’s possible the update addresses problems reported by some Apple TV users in which synching content using to the updated set-top box takes an age, but this hasn’t been tested here at this point.

source:pcworld 

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Microsoft Plans To Authorize A Proxy Fight To Oust Yahoo

 Micro-yahoo

Microsoft plans to strengthen its pursuit of Yahoo this week when it authorizes a proxy fight to get rid of Yahoo’s board, meaning the 19-day-old acquisition attempt will soon turn a darker shade of ugly, according to The New York Times.

The proxy fight will cost Microsoft between $20 million and $30 million, much less than having to significantly up its offer for Yahoo, The Times reported Tuesday morning, quoting anonymous sources.

The aggressive move would be reliable with Microsoft’s statements hinting that it’s willing to acquire Yahoo via unsympathetic means if necessary. Yahoo’s board rejected unanimously Microsoft’s offer, calling it too low.

source:pcworld 

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Study says 10% Piracy Reduction Worth US$40 Billion In Asia

Piracy

Business Software Alliance  released a new study showing the huge economic, tax and employment gains to be made in the Asian region if piracy was reduced by only 10% over the next four years.

If Australian piracy was reduced by 10% over the same timeframe, the BSA suggest that an additional 3,900 jobs could be created, AUD $2.1 billion in additional economic growth could be achieved, and Federal, regional and local governments could see their tax receipts swell by an astounding AUD $485 million.

On an Asia-wide level, the totals grow even higher – 435,000 new jobs, US$40 billion in economic growth and an eye watering US$5 billion in tax revenues.

That’s because, as the BSA study points out, “for every $1 spent on legitimate packaged software, an additional $1.25 is spent on related services from local vendors such as installing the software, training personnel and providing maintenance services” – essential services that many companies need, while also demonstrating that the true cost of software for companies isn’t just the cost of the software alone.

Spending accounted for 3.0% of gross domestic product (GDP), supported more than 23,500 IT companies with nearly 178,000 IT industry employees, and helped generate AUD $11.6 billion in IT-related taxes – all from a country of only around 20 million people.

Sheryle Moon, CEO of the Australian Information Industry Assocation (AIIA) commented that: “The growth of the Australian ICT industry is reliant on the ability of local companies to reap the benefits of their IP in the globalised marketplace. It is important that such innovation be protected at home and abroad from piracy. Protection would result in increased export revenue for Australia which is imperative to address the ICT trade deficit.”

So, what steps does the BSA suggest Governments can take to reduce software piracy? The study suggests what could well be a 5 point plan:

1. Update national copyright laws to implement World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) obligations;
2. Create strong enforcement mechanisms, as required by the World Trade Organization (WTO), including tough anti-piracy laws;
3. Dedicate significant government resources to the problem, including national IP enforcement units, cross-border cooperation, and more training for local officers;
4. Improve public education and awareness; and
5. Lead by example by requiring the public sector to use only legitimate software.

 

source:itwire
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Symantec’s Online Living Report: Scary Stats For Parents

symantec

Symantec’s first ever ‘Norton Online Living Report’ (NOLR), taking into account Internet users across the globe, is a comprehensive report on the digital lifestyle habits of adults and children.

The survey was conducted online by third-party research firm Harris Interactive and returned a total of 4,687 adult and 2,717 child responses. All respondents spend at least one hour per month online and were surveyed in their native language across eight countries (U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, China and Japan).

Symantec says their NOLR report is the “first multi-region survey-based document to catalogue the migration of offline activities to the online world”.

The report finds that, more than ever, users around the world are turning online for their primary source of personal interaction and emotional connection – including dating, friendship and playing – as well as for information and communication.

For example, an unprecedented number of adult Internet users worldwide have made friends online (54% of Australians) and that many of them (52%) enjoy those relationships more than their offline friendships. This indicates a major shift in how people relate to one other and provides potential clues for the future of human interaction.

Of course Symantec didn’t just create the report for fun, they say that the report was created to “better comprehend how consumers interact with technology on a daily basis in order to understand the mindset of consumers worldwide”, with the detailed data within to be used by Symantec to “hone its products, deliver targeted and streamlined services and to anticipate online threats and trends”.

Another common theme represented through most of the data worldwide reveals that parents perception of what their children are doing online does not reflect the reality of what their children say they are doing. Read more in Itwire.

 

source:ITwire
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New Microsoft Forums

MS-Logo

Microsoft has been running newsgroups and forums to provide community support for its products.. incidentally, many MVPs come from forums where they are TOP contributors to the forums..

but this isn’t about MVPs today 🙂

it is about MS forums… to begin with Microsoft used Community Server from Telligent to host its forums. And now they are revamping the same on to its own code.. in the background, there seems to be an entire Community Platform emerging with blogs, tags, forums & wikis within Microsoft.. (very much in line with MSs focus on community)..

The new forums are available at:
http://forums.msdn.microsoft.com/

http://forums.technet.microsoft.com/

http://forums.community.microsoft.com/

source:reuters 

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Hackers Attack Code For Works Bug Using Microsoft Products

MS-bugs

No sooner had Microsoft issued a massive set of security patches for its software than hackers started posting code showing how to exploit one of the flaws.

The proof-of-concept code, posted Wednesday to the Milw0rm Web site, exploits a bug in the Microsoft Works file converter software that is part of Office 2003 and can be used to run unauthorized software on a victim’s computer.

The flaw also affects Works 8 and Works Suite 2005. To fall prey to the attack, a victim would first have to open a malicious Works attachment.

Hackers have uncovered many of these file-format bugs in recent years and they are generally not used in widespread attacks. In fact, security vendor Symantec predicts that we’ll see fewer of these attacks in the months ahead as online criminals increasingly rely on browser bugs to do their dirty work.

Still, Periman expects criminals to try out this latest attack code. “It’s so simple,” he said. “All you have to do is get someone to open the document.”

The software vendor released 11 sets of patches this week, fixing 17 flaws in its products, but this is the first exploit code to pop up following the updates. A second program exploiting one of these vulnerabilities — this one in an ActiveX control used by the Visual FoxPro database — was posted to Milw0rm in September, months before Microsoft patched the issue.

source:pcworld 

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The Web Is Scarier Than Most People Realize- Google

Hacker

The Web is scarier than most people realize, according to research published recently by Google.

The search engine giant trained its Web crawling software on billions of Web addresses over the past year looking for malicious pages that tried to attack their visitors. They found more than 3 million of them, meaning that about one in 1,000 Web pages is malicious, according to Neils Provos, a senior staff software engineer with Google.

These Web-based attacks, called “drive-by downloads” by security experts, have become much more common in recent years as firewalls and better security practices by Microsoft have made it harder for worms and viruses to directly attack computers.

In the past year the Web sites of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” movie and the Miami Dolphins were hacked, and the MySpace profile of Alicia Keys was used to attack visitors.

Criminals are getting better at this kind of work. They have built very successful automated tools that poke and prod Web sites, looking for programming errors and then exploit these flaws to install the drive-by download software. Often this code opens an invisible iFrame page on the victim’s browser that redirects it to a malicious Web server. That server then tries to install code on the victim’s PC. “The bad guys are getting exceptionally good at automating those attacks,” said Roger Thompson, chief research officer with security vendor Grisoft.

In response, Google has stepped up its game. One of the reasons it has been scouring the Web for malicious pages is so that it can identify drive-by-download sites and warn Google searchers before they visit them. Nowadays about 1.3 percent of all Google search queries list malicious results somewhere on the first few pages.

Google’s Provos has this advice for Web surfers: Turn automatic updates on. “You should always run your software as updated as possible and install some kind of antivirus technology,” he said.

But he also thinks that Webmasters will have to get smarter about building secure Web sites. “I think it will take concentrated efforts on all parts,” for the problem to go away, he said.

source:pcworld