Google security researcher discovered an ancient bug in Windows, which involves a utility that allows newer versions of Windows to run very old programs and exploit this utility in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 as well as Windows Vista and Windows 7. This bug dates from the DOS era! This bug will be patched by Microsoft in its February security update for Windows. The update also tackles bugs in Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2004 for Apple Macintosh machines. Read full story »
The official website of Tata Consultancy Services, TCS.com, has been hacked. The homepage says “This domaine name is for sale. Please contact us for further informations. abed_uk@hotmail.com”. We have accessed the hacked website at 2:30PM, 7-Feb, in India. It is rumored that, the hackers have made changes to the DNS settings of the website. TCS is maintaining many of the government websites and this case points out the immaturity of TCS. Let us hope that, this will be an eye opener for major Indian software firms. Read full story »
A computer security expert has uncovered a flaw in the Oracle Database that could let hackers remotely access sensitive information in corporate and government databases via the Internet. It allows an attacker without a user ID and password to take complete control. All firewalls become irrelevant. This is revealed at the Black Hat hacking conference in Washington. The researcher believes about nine out of every 10 Oracle databases are vulnerable to attack. Read full story »
The Chief Justice of India said that there was an urgent need to ban websites that circulate pornography. Do you agree with the CJI? Will this be against the freedom of speech and expression? Is it like Talibanism, if implemented? I agree that nobody should be shown online porn or porn advertisements without their permission.If someone is wants to browse a porn site, they should be given a warning message for the first time before they enter inside the adult-only website. Read full story »
Mr M K Narayanan told The Times that his office and other government departments were targeted on December 15. A ‘Trojan’ virus was embedded in an e-mail PDF attachment. The virus was detected and officials were told not to log on until it was eliminated. This was not the first instance of an attempt to hack into India’s computers. People seem to be fairly sure it was the Chinese. China has denied any role in the hacking attacks. Read full story »
