Ryan Naraine

A new mass-mailing virus masquerading as a security patch from Microsoft is on the loose and anti-virus experts say it has the ability to steal account information and e-mail server details from infected systems. The W32.Swen.A@mm or W32.Gibe.B@mm (Swen/Gibe) virus couldn’t have come at a worst time for Microsoft and computer users in general — […]

NEW YORK — With just a week to go before the worldwide release of its Windows compatible AMD Athlon 64 desktop processor, AMD chief executive Dr. Hector Ruiz took to the TECHXNY stage to preach the 64-bit gospel, arguing that the removal of “disruptive costs” of technology migration will spur innovation in the IT industry. […]

The FBI, acting with other federal law enforcement agencies, arrested a Minnesota teenager on Friday and charged him with writing a variant of the destructive MSBlaster worm. The 18-year-old, identified as Jeffrey Lee Parson, was taken into custody on Friday morning, FBI and members of the U.S. Attorneys office said at a press conference Friday. […]

Federal authorities successfully thwarted a second-wave attack from the mass-mailing Sobig.F virus over the weekend by taking down 18 computer servers that were being used to distribute a malicious payload. After identifying 20 compromised server IP addresses that were being used to drop destructive code into infected machines, the FBI spent the weekend shutting down […]

The Internet Security Systems’ X-Force unit has sounded an alarm for an increase in hacker activity between July 6-7 to coincide with a contest encouraging defacements of Web sites around the world. ISS raised its current threat level to ‘AlertCon 2’ to coincide with the site defacement competition, which awards prizes to intruders who successfully […]

For the second time in as many months, Microsoft has fixed a security hole in its .NET Passport single-ID application after details were posted to a public mailing list. In published reports, Microsoft confirmed the latest vulnerability could have compromised some older Hotmail accounts but said there was no indication that any accounts were hijacked. […]

NEW YORK — Having invested heavily in Wi-Fi at hundreds of locations worldwide, hospitality giant Starwood Hotels & Resorts is crossing its fingers that the unrelenting promise of a wireless world will justify the million dollar investments. In a frank discussion at the iBreakfast Conference series here, Starwood’s VP of technology business and systems strategy […]

As the debate over the responsible handling of vulnerability warnings continues to grow, the Organization for Internet Safety (OIS) is proposing the use of binding arbitration to resolve conflicts and deadlocks between vendors and researchers. The OIS, a consortium of software vendors, security researchers and consultancies, issued a preliminary draft of best practices for reporting […]

Online security consultancy Spi Dynamics has sparked a new debate over the responsible handling of vulnerability warnings with the release of an alert for multiple security holes in the Sun ONE Application Server 7.0. The Atlanta-based Spi Dynamics issued the warning without the availability of a patch or workaround from Sun Microsystems . A spokesperson […]

Microsoft late Tuesday withdrew a Windows XP software update after thousands of users complained the patch was blocking Internet connectivity. The Windows XP update, first posted on May 21, was issued to enhance the functionality of the Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) and Internet Protocol security (IPSec) on PCs running Windows XP or Windows 2000. […]