Google is going to stop supporting IE 6, since vulnarabilities in this version of the popular web browser caused recent attacks on a lot of companies including Google. The security hole in IE allowed the hacker to install a trojan program on the users computer after visiting certain websites. Previously German anf French government have already called for IE 6 usage ban, and even though Microsoft has reacted to this problem and the security patch has been released three weeks earlier then planned, it didn’t stop Google and now the Google Docs and Google Sites will not work under Internet Explorer 6.
Experts agree that Windows 7 has enhanced security to ward off attacks on vulnerabilities in old software. But what if a money-minded online scammer can persuade you to download malware onto your PC? Social engineering attacks try to trick you into downloading and installing bot malware that poses as a useful program or video. Some attacks combine tactics, as when a scammer sends an e-mail message encouraging you to open an attached PDF file, only to trigger an exploit buried in the file that then hunts for a flaw in Adobe Reader. Social engineering ruses include using a hijacked social network account to send malware lures to friends of the owner, sending a link to a supposed video taken of a friend, and hiding a poisoned URL in a shortened link of the type commonly used on Twitter. Toss in other tried-and-true scams such as videos that instruct you to install a codec file (but instead lead you to a malware download), and phony documents attached to e-mail messages that appear to come from coworkers, and it becomes clear why Windows 7 users can’t let their guard down.
The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team advised mall hte RealPlayer users to apply the new security update for this popular media-playing software. This update has been issued last weak and covers Windows, Mac and Linux versions of the product. Even though CERT considers this patch to be important, RealNetworks stated that there has been no issues or any security porblems with the previous version as the result of the now-remedied vulnerabilities.
Microsoft has recommended all users who have not yet upgraded to IE 8 from IE 6 version to do so now, since the main reason behind the recent attacks on a number of well-known companies was greatly because of IE 6 security hole. IE 8 users have not encountered any problems during this period, may be because IE 8 has some of the security options turned on by default. For Windows XP users it is also recommended to upgrade to SP3 to further enhance security.
Microsoft said it is working around the clock to patch an Internet Explorer 6 software hole through which China-based cyber spies attacked Google and other firms. Microsoft is testing a security fix and will make it available as soon as it is ready instead of following its protocol of releasing security updates the second Tuesday of each month. Revealing the attacks on January 12, Google said they originated from China and targeted the email accounts of Chinese human rights activists around the world but did not explicitly accuse the Chinese government of responsibility.
Google suspects that the recent attacks on the company’s networks might have been done with the help of the company’s employees. The search giant isn’t just negotiating this matter with Chiniese government, but also is investigating the matter theiself. We remind you that Google has decided to leave one of the biggest parts of the internet market because of the “sophisticated” attack whitch led to the loss of the intelectual property of a number of companies, including Adobe, Juniper Network, Symantec, Rackspace Hosting and by some uncomfirmed data – Yahoo.
After Microsoft has agreed that the recent attacks on Google were partly because of the Internet Explorer security breach, German Federal Office for Information Security called to find an alternative browser to replace the world’s most common one. The Microsoft represantative in Germany questions this judgement, saying that attacks on Google were made by very dedicated people with certain purpose, and therefore do not concern the majority of users.
Microsoft is not going to follow Google’s lead in pulling out of China. “We’ve been quite clear that we’re going to operate in China,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in an interview on CNBC. However, his hopes for China to produce growing revenue for the company seem to hinge on a thorny issue: a reduction of piracy and intellectual-property theft. His reference to the problem of IP theft points to bigger challenges Microsoft could face if it decided to leave China. Microsoft has been battling software piracy there for years, and pulling out of the country could amount to it giving up the battle and allowing piracy of its products to flourish unchecked. The issue of censorship or human rights has not been raised in this interview, in contradiction with Google, who considers them as central issues to its new approach to the country.
Adobe Systems has released an update for its PDF creation and viewing software Adobe Acrobat Professional, Acrobat Pro Extended, Acrobat Standard. There is also an update for Acrobat 3D. These updates close vulnerability in system security that could cause emergency system shutdowns and possible access hackers trying to get access to the vulnerable system. The versions 8 and 9 have all been updated to8.2 and 9.3 accordingly.
Companies higher ups have decided to review theire policies in China. As known since 2006 Google has launched it’s Chiniese version Google.cn to match the countries Internet laws, and it was decided that if in the current sircumstances it will be impossible to provide the population of China with open Internet and open information the work in PRC will be reviewed. And this is what actually happened. Google claims that in mid december there have been a lot of cyber-attacks from China, aiming to steal intelectual property of the Company. Mostly these attacks were aimed at getting access to Gmail accounts of chiniese activists and people bringing up the people rights question in China as well as people from other countries with the same tahoughts. With this the search giant announced that it’s work in PRC will be reviewed, as it no longer is going to keep censore on their search engine in China. In the next few weeks they will be discussing how may Google work without results filtering with the government of China, if it will tend to be impossible , the Google.cn will be shut down, as well as probably Google offices in China.