Closed Socket Tech News.: 07/01/2004

Man is sentenced to five years for distributing pirated copies of Microsoft software. It really isn't worth skipping the fees when this is the end result. Yet, it continues to happen.
Yahoo! News - German Sentenced to 5 1/2 Years for Microsoft Fraud: "a software dealer from Willich, near Bochum in western Germany, was found guilty of repackaging more than 32,000 copies of software products meant for schools and colleges, a Bochum court spokesman said.
He sold them on through his firm, Dino-Soft, defrauding the world's No. 1 software maker of some 4.5 million euros ($5.53 million), the spokesman said. "

I'm all for the little guy not being run over by the big corporations, but this looks like a pure example of greed. Sueing Microsoft and forcing them to not use Windows Update would be effectively killing all those machines that barely get updates now. There is no way people will update if they make you go find the updates and install thhem manually.
Desktop Pipeline | News | Microsoft, Apple Sued Over Online Updates: "Microsoft and Apple use Web-based services to provide users with security patches and program updates to their users. Windows Update, Microsoft's Web update site and service, is a crucial component of the Redmond, Wash.-based developer's overall strategy to reduce security risks in its flagship operating system, and will rev to a new edition in August when Windows XP Service Pack 2 releases. "

PocketPC devices added to the list of machines that now require Antivirus programs.
Tom's Hardware Guide: Tom's Hard News: "It was just a matter of time, but now it is official: Pocket PC devices have become a potential target of virus writers. WinCE4.Duts is only proof-of-concept code but demonstrates that Windows CE devices are vulnerable to viruses. "

One of the neatest innovations in computer hardware in quite a while. Keeping all the excess power cables out of the system. With this new design, you simply plug in the cables as you need them, increasing air flow and asthetics and decreasing the possiblity of tangle.
Tom's Hardware Guide First Look: Antec Neopower 480 Makes Cable Clutter a Thing Of The Past - A Patent For Cable Clutter?: "The Neopower ATX v2.0 power supply includes a cable management system for which a patent has been applied. The idea is simple and brilliant. Typically, users that have a traditional ATX power supply do not need all the connectors for peripherals. As a result, these connectors are left dangling in the case, unused and potentially hampering air circulation. Things are different, though, with the Antec Neopower power supply. "

Checkpoint has a VPN glossary that covers many of the abbreviations and topics that are relevant to security in general. Nice, quick resource.
VPN Glossary

Nice trick that works when stealthing TCP port 113 (IDENT). Port forward it to an unused IP.
Desktop Pipeline | How-To | 113 Could Be Your Lucky Number: "Though port 113 is rarely used, firewall manufacturers would rather leave it closed as opposed to placing it in stealth mode so customers never encounter the time-outs. If the port is set to the closed state, at least the server gets a response and is likely to grant a computer access without probing for more ID information. "

Microsoft is dealing with the new vulnerability and trojan.
Desktop Pipeline | News | Microsoft Puts Out Trojan-horse Killer: "Similar to previous tools that Microsoft has made available for such worms as Sasser and MSBlast, the Download.Ject Payload Detection and Removal Tool is available free of charge from the Redmond, Wash.-based developer's Web site. It's petite, just 118K in size. "

I'm curious as to what will happen when people start getting spyware infecting their shirt. Could be interesting.
Tom's Hardware Guide: Tom's Hard News: "France Telecom announced that it has developed prototypes of flexible color screens which can be integrated in clothes and display images. "

Things that make you go "hmm...."
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592.

Socket A lives on.
AMD Sempr0n socket A is coming: "The good news is that only a BIOS update will enable Sempr0ns to work on current Socket A boards, perhaps not all but I guess the majority of them. We suspect that you need FSB 400 to have those CPUs work as all K8s are working at FSB 800 or should we say 200 MHz. Yes we know that Hypertransport is AMD's FSB these days. "

For those of us that just upgraded to a high-end AGP video card, the thought of it being non-upgradable within a year is somewhat daunting. The card you have now may very well be the last AGP card you own.
Nvidia roadmap said to tout AGP at high-end well into 2005 | The Register: "At the high end, Nvidia will released NV48e later this year, building PCI Express into its DirectX 9 Shader Model 3.0 GeForce 6800 core. The roadmap list a PCX 6850 part shipping in H1 2004 - an AGP 6800 with a PCI Express bridge - so either Nvidia has delayed it, with a possible knock-on effect on the release of NV48e, or MyHard.com's source roadmap is a little out of date."

MP3 players and thumbdrives pose a very possible venue for attack. System admins should look into ways to look them out, and lock data in. Just another way to get hacked.
vnunet.com - IPods and MP3 players threaten network security: "Gartner warned that the danger comes from back doors being opened by portable devices including any kind of pocket-sized FireWire hard drive, like those from LaCie or Toshiba, or USB hard drive or keychain drives."

The government saying something against Microsoft again? Are we gearing up for another round of anti-trust suits?
Yahoo! News - U.S. Steers Consumers Away From IE: "The Microsoft browser, the government warned, cannot protect against vulnerabilities in its Internet Information Services (IIS) 5 server programs, which a team of hackers allegedly based in Russia has exploited with a Java script that is appended to Web sites. "

What happens when you connect 1200+ gaming machines in the biggest LAN party around?
Tom's Hardware Guide Games & Entertainment: MillionManLAN III Bigs Up - Not Again!: "Before long the 'Three Stooges' from MultiMayhem decided to join this party too. Blaster, Sasser and the Korgo variants were brought in by someone and then trafficked to those on the network that didn't have the current definitions. For many in the crowd this was the case. From start to end, the party underwent Korgo's three new releases. However, despite the added headaches, the network never failed."

TomsHardware launches a new graphics (graphics cards and technology) only version of their site.
Tom's Hardware Guide Graphics Cards: THG's All You Ever Wanted to Know About Graphics and Displays Guide - Introduction: "Welcome to THG's new Graphics & Displays Guide, a standalone Web site dedicated to graphics cards, displays and video technologies. Fully integrated with THG's homepage, Graphics & Displays Guide builds on THG's content by offering even more information, news and reviews on graphics- and display-related topics."

Closed Socket Tech News.

7/27/2004

7/23/2004

7/21/2004

7/19/2004

7/14/2004

7/12/2004

7/9/2004

7/7/2004

7/2/2004

About Me

Links

Previous Posts

Archives