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A zero day exploit circulating in the wild is leaving Windows XP & 2003 systems vulnerable to malicious websites and email attachments that contain specially crafted WMF files. Ensure you antivirus and spyware definitions are up to date to give some degree of protection from these nasties. Don’t open any email attachments with a .WMF extension.

See Trojan alert over unpatched Windows flaw for more details.

This really is a nasty one!

Seems like every month another security vulnerability is discovered in some browser. Some of these allow malicious code to run on your computer just through visiting a webpage. Keeping your system patched up to date, along with any application updates will reduce the risk from these vulnerabilities.

However, how do you know if your browser is vulnerable at the moment? Check out your browser online using the Browser Security Check. This isn’t 100% full-proof but is one tool in the armoury to protect yourself from some of the nasties out there!

Nigel Roberts has won a small claims court action against Media Logitics UK when they sent him unsolicited emails, otherwise known as SPAM. A fuller account of the story as well as the legal position is reported over on the BBC website.

This ruling should make anyone who uses spam like activities think twice unless they wish to be sued. It also should make other companies ensure they have procedures in place that outlaws these types of activities.

The Xbox 360 shouldn’t really be moved when there is a disk inside a powered on unit as this video shows.

Seems like there are some difficult times ahead for Sony following their recent bundling of spyware technology with music CDs. This most certainly contravenes the Computer Misuse Use Act in the UK. Seems ironic that Sony attempts to protect its music by breaking the law and modifying a user’s computer without their permission!

Many Attorney Generals in the US are now very concerned over the corporate giants use, or should that be misuse, of this technology. The Texas Attorney General has an excellent FAQ webpage on the history and actions possible regarding this invasion of people’s privacy by Sony.

For readers not familiar with this saga you may find this story of interest:
New spyware claim against Sony BMG

All the praise for the discovery of this subversive Sony rootkit goes to Mark Russinovich over at Sys Internals.

Final irony, Sony’s actions have made it safer to use pirated versions of their music than the originals - not that we would condone piracy.

In a time long ago, computers weren’t the user friendly devices that we have in our homes and businesses today. They took up complete rooms, output onto printer devices and required special punched cards to program them up. You waited days for your program to run and output the data.

Thankfully, some visionaries saw the potential and envisaged our future. Doug Engelbart is one such individual. He invented many things we take for granted, of which the most significant has to be the mouse.

Channel9 has an interesting interview with Doug. However, a far better resource is the well produced Invisible Revolution website which is dedicated to Doug - the video interviews are really worth a look.

You may have noticed that some websites use the words “All Rights Reserved” in reference to their copyright notice, but in the UK this is and has always been pointless waffle.

See “All rights reserved.” in a copyright declaration is nearly always just chaff and Wikipedia Definition of Copyright law of the United Kingdom for more detailed information on the history and legality of copyright law in the UK.

This Comprehensive Copyright FAQ should answer everything you need to know, although they do give an example of a copyright statement that uses the superfluous waffle previously mentioned!

Ownit, the Creative London Intellectual Property Advice Service, is a fabulous free resource in all matter of intellectual and copyright issues.

What is particularly amusing is all the companies who deliver web technologies, such as websites, that use these very words on their own home pages. If they don’t understand the legality of this simple piece of copyright law then what else don’t they understand?

There have been a number of high profile cases recently when people have fallen foul of something they have written on their blog. No doubt this will have put off a few people from starting one or from placing content online.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has produced an excellent guide on How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else). Well worth a look to ensure your online persona doesn’t cause a nightmarish real-life one!

Another excellent resource is the Committee to Protect Bloggers. The site is packed full of horror stories, possible scenarios for internet censorship and calls to action. Have a browse and realise that blogging is a powerful medium that can under certain circumstances be extremely dangerous and hazardous for the individual!

SecureImage is a Wordpress plugin developed to assist in the fight against comment spam. We’ve just added it to this web resource and you will now notice a security image check, sometimes known as a “captcha”, whenever you try to enter a comment from now on. As a precaution, it is worth copying your comment body just in case you get the security code wrong and need to paste the text back into the comment box.

We’ve also updated the following antispam solutions:

• Bad Behaviour
• Spam Karma 2
• Trackback Spam Solution

A new survey has found that 81% of home users lack one of the three main security components.

CNET.COM has an interesting article that reports on the survey.

Podcasting is really starting to take off big time, but how do you find good shows to download and listen to?

A useful resource we found today is PodcastAlley.com.

A fuller list is available from Wikipedia.

With the ever increasing dangers from all kinds of nasty thing out on the Internet, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) has come under attack for its security problems and lack of functionality and features. Even Microsoft’s efforts to keep this product secure and safe have met with mixed success. The discerning Windows user has been looking elsewhere for a safer and more secure browser to use on the Internet.

“Don’t Click on the Blue E!” has been written to illustrate why using IE is best avoided, thereafter making the case for Windows users to switch over to the open source, free to use browser known as “Firefox”. This initial proposition is further expanded to illustrate the features, functionality and extensibility that are guaranteeing Firefox an increasing market share.

This review is in PDF format. Click HERE to get it.

An interesting online book for .NET developers:

The .NET Developer’s Guide to Windows Security

Mike Pelton of the Developer Products Evangelists group at Microsoft is leaving to become a computer artist.

We wish Mike ever success in his new venture and look forward to seeing and featuring links to his work over the coming weeks and months.