News for 2001

MS Does It Again December 22, 2001 2:40 PM UTC
This one is no joke. This one is deadly serious. Microsoft has been playing with your financial security. It's Xmas time and people are buying more than ever online and Microsoft has known for a month now that their Internet Explorer has a GAPING BIG HOLE which gives crooks a carte blanche to commit fraud. They have known this and done absolutely nothing about it. Do not use IE for online transactions until further notice. Preferably never use it again at all.

Shift of Power at Microsoft December 21, 2001 9:10 PM UTC
Microsoft Corporation's new leaders hold press conference, present their credentials and vision of the future of the software giant.

Flash! MS Top 4 Resign! December 21, 2001 2:14 PM UTC
New board to take over - 'stay tuned'!

Mandrake & Harry December 18, 2001 1:24 AM UTC
Thomas C Greene's Linux marathon continues with the smoothest install of any OS yet - including, yea easily surpassing, WinXP.

Back in the USSR? December 14, 2001 12:19 AM UTC
Sklyarov is freed in an attempt to buy testimony against ElcomSoft.

Magic in the Lantern December 12, 2001 11:09 PM UTC
Now that everyone else has denied its existence, the FBI stirs the pot of controversy by claiming they do have a Magic Lantern project in the works after all. Says Paul Bresson, 'It's just a workbench project.'

Microsoft Zones December 12, 2001 7:15 PM UTC
Redmond does it again: 1. forces Passport on people; and 2. sees that Passport for the occasion puts on an impressive royal command performance bug show.

Malantarn December 11, 2001 11:24 PM UTC
Malware as entertainment? Perhaps - if you're not on the receiving end. The authors of this Magic Lantern spoof seem to think so.

RIP Betty December 11, 2001 10:21 PM UTC
One of the founders of computing dies at 84.

Fudding the Fudders December 11, 2001 7:09 AM UTC
Newsbytes and the redoubtable Weld Pond say Online Solutions has found the most severe Internet Explorer security hole ever, but Online Solutions themselves say it's no big deal.

Full Disclosure December 10, 2001 4:10 PM UTC
Or why little boys and girls shouldn't tell lies.

Duck Mislead Obfuscate December 5, 2001 11:14 PM UTC
Or how little boys and girls are tempted to tell lies.

Gone Going Going December 4, 2001 5:14 PM UTC
MessageLabs have already stopped over 20,000 copies; the OIC ('Outlook Idiot Count') for this one might be high.

Goodbye Mr Chips November 29, 2001 11:21 AM UTC
Can't XP inflate the RAM market?

Shields Down? November 26, 2001 7:54 PM UTC
Hackers Banquet @ GRC.

Magic Lantern November 22, 2001 7:34 AM UTC
The FBI is now officially in the virus and worm business - they're going to corrupt your computer.

Voyager Alpha Force November 22, 2001 12:45 AM UTC
A great new DDoS tool is out there, but fortunately it depends on Microsoft sysadmins leaving SQL passwords completely blank, and as we know, sysadmins - and Microsoft sysadmins in particular - are very diligent and very vigilant, so there's really not much danger of this extremely insidious attack tool ever being used.

Anatomy of a Cover-Up November 20, 2001 9:47 AM UTC
Online Solutions' own diary of their dealings with Microsoft over the IE cookie bug. Online Solutions are a Jyväskylä Finland based company and write very good, very lucid English. This is a long page and well worth the read.

Talkin' Nasty November 20, 2001 9:47 AM UTC
Online Solutions discovers yet another MS bug and mentions it and gets called every name in the book.

How To Use Google November 19, 2001 14:10 PM UTC
Seeing is not quite believing.

Happy B-Day 4004 November 14, 2001 12:00 AM UTC
The first single-chip CPU turns 30. See this coverage at the Smithsonian.

Evolution Evolved November 8, 2001 12:52 PM UTC
The long-awaited office suite from Ximian is almost here.

Back to Modems November 7, 2001 12:00 PM UTC
A new survey shows surfers are increasingly abandoning broadband.

IE Bug Can Lead to Strange Search November 7, 2001 10:00 AM UTC
More on the 'porn popupers' from Michelle Delio.

Drive-By Hacking November 6, 2001 1:14 PM UTC
Mark Ward takes a scary ride down The Strand.

Microsoft Passport to Trouble November 5, 2001 2:10 PM UTC
Why you can't trust a fool with your cash. Marc Slemko has been studying the (lack of adequate) security in Microsoft security software for some time, and has now published an admirably easy Hotmail exploit which steals your credit card information in broad daylight from the system Microsoft arrogantly expected the entire world to trust.

DOJ vs. MS: Press Conference Transcript November 2, 2001 8:47 PM UTC
The DOJ's transcript of the press conference announcing a proposed 'deal' between the DOJ, possibly the states, and Microsoft.

Microsoft Leaves Its Wallet Wide Open November 2, 2001 1:57 PM UTC
Software flaws in the Passport authentication system leave consumer financial data wide open.

Host Alert! November 1, 2001 8:00 AM UTC
A free program to combat the insidious stealth 'porn popups'.

Alternate Search Engines? November 1, 2001 12:40 AM UTC
People have seen 'porn popups' lash out at them on their desktops and been clueless as to where they come from. Here is the answer.

Windows XP: EXtra Proprietary October 31, 2001 7:00 AM UTC
'Let's get out of this vicious trap the way we got in: by controlling what we do with our money,' writes Red Hat's CTO for Wired.

Win-XP vs Red Hat 7.2 October 29, 2001 9:42 PM UTC
Thomas C Greene tries out these two user systems and is not pleased with either.

Turku Adopts Tux October 5, 2001 1:23 PM UTC
Finland's second academic city decides to follow the lead of Finnish Customs and jump the MS ship.

Shilling XP September 28, 2001 10:06 AM UTC
'Balanced to positive quotes only please.'

Linux Poised for Desktop September 27, 2001 10:23 AM UTC
So says an MS company channel partner email leaked to The Register.

Gartner Demolishes IIS September 25, 2001 1:35 PM UTC
John Pescatore has never minced words, and now hand in hand with US government agencies he is advising businesses to immediately scrap their dependence on Microsoft's hopelessly bugged web server software.

Barring Access September 21, 2001 5:40 PM UTC
ISPs are cracking down on clueless users - they're barring their access to the Internet.

Mutant Nimdas September 18, 2001 4:00 PM UTC
There's a new worm/virus - guess who it hits.

Carly & Snow White September 5, 2001 12:00 AM UTC
HP buys Compaq for $25 billion. See the NYT story here.

The Company Box September 4, 2001 9:00 AM UTC
As the dot-coms die the out-of-work employees get-going away presents with built-in booby traps.

Katalov in Court August 30, 2001 6:20 PM UTC
Dime's boss turns up in California to challenge the DMCA. On a wider front, it looks like the trial won't begin for several months yet, so Dime and Katalov will have plenty of opportunity to learn to love California Cuisine.

Dime Indicted August 29, 2001 12:52 AM UTC
Along with ElComSoft Ltd. of Moscow Russia. On five counts.

Linux: An Installer's Tale August 25, 2001 7:15 AM UTC
Ivan Noble tests Caldera and SuSE.

Happy Birthday Linux! August 24, 2001 12:26 PM UTC
Mark Ward looks at ten years with the happy penguin.

Microsoft's Basement August 24, 2001 9:00 AM UTC
Microsoft's new Personal Security Advisor might be a welcome relief for customers beleaguered by bugs and worms and rootkits and such, and it may be a smart move to out-flank similar security sites, but when it can tell a diligent hotfixer that there are still several dozen more downloads to go - that's when people start to wonder.

Mitnick He's Not August 23, 2001 9:51 AM UTC
Stuart Kearns presented a four-page typewritten note to a bank teller in Croydon, threatening the collapse of the bank's computer network unless £200,000 be delivered to his van parked nearby, and when apprehended claimed a mysterious stranger had ordered him to do it.

Yes But Will It Fly? August 21, 2001 10:44 PM UTC
In the most creative implementation since the 1000 hours AOL bins at the Big K, Bill Gates and Jim Allchin will stand out on the grounds of the Microsoft campus and sell XP to one another in an attempt to prime the pump for the Xmas rush, all the while helicopters circle overhead. Oasis videos will be shown on a big screen and Sir Elton John will sing a special rendition of 'XP In The Wind'.

Mitnick at Work in Vegas August 21, 2001 3:35 PM UTC
Working by proxy for 'what any good lawyer would charge', the ex-hacker is trying to determine if there really is a secret mafia phreaker ring controlling the Nevada town.

Gibson Says Goodbye August 20, 2001 9:54 PM UTC
Everyone is now on their way to a raw sockets free Gibson-sponsored prayer lake in the GRC mailbox. Read Steve's goodbye, hold hands with the other Gibson Groupies, listen carefully to the Voice of Your Master, and lament the end of the Internet as you know it.

More Holes in MS Software August 20, 2001 12:34 PM UTC
Surprise surprise! You thought XP was peachy now, didn't you?

Hotmail Renamed Holemail? August 20, 2001 6:51 AM UTC
All you sorry advocates of .NET Passport take note: All it takes to crack a Hotmail account is a Visual Basic program.

Code Red All Clear? August 18, 2001 7:35 PM UTC
Not quite, says Thomas C. Greene: The infected machines, be they ever so few, are still broadcasting their vulnerability across the Internet.

The End of Dot Com August 17, 2001 2:43 PM UTC
The Standard files for Chapter 11.

PepsiCo to eEye: Thank You, Here's Some Code Red August 17, 2001 11:54 AM UTC
The launch of the new soft drink now a success, PepsiCo thanks the duo that made it possible.

Felten, EFF Speak August 16, 2001 6:14 AM UTC
Edward's Felten's speech came off without a hitch. The RIAA is denying all its previous harassment of the Princeton professor (natch). And the EFF speaks out here, with a collection of declarations from, among others, Linux kernel daddy Alan Cox.

Two Men in a Boat August 15, 2001 2:14 AM UTC
Tired of drab tech news about major corporations screwing up? About Microsoft screwing major corporations? Take a break - and follow what may become the most exciting journey of the year if not the decade. Royal Marine commandos Dom Mee and Tim Welford have been at sea since 5 May this year - they're crossing the Pacific in a rowboat, with the Golden Gate Bridge their destination. They're almost halfway there.

IBM Readies HTTPR August 14, 2001 10:50 AM UTC
IBM is aiming to send its new Internet transfer protocol standard to the IETF.

Fear Loathing & the Colos August 13, 2001 9:33 AM UTC
On the frontline with war correspondent John Lettice.

Interview With Dime August 11, 2001 4:52 PM UTC
The kidnapped Russian programmer talks with Jennifer Lee.

SocketToMe August 11, 2001 4:14 AM - 7:37 AM UTC
This is lovely.

FBI, MS Bust Piracy Gang August 11, 2001 12:23 AM UTC
$11 million in fake Microsoft programs seized.

Son of Code Red Still a Bachelor August 10, 2001 10:32 PM UTC
The poor lonely worm succeeding his daddy is still forlorn.

Bride of Code Red! August 10, 2001 1:10 PM UTC
Son of Code Red will wed in an IIS chapel sponsored by William H. Gates III.

EB Beats Cactus? August 10, 2001 2:06 PM UTC
The new 'bust yer speakers' CD copy protection on its way to Europe may be beaten already by a two-year old program that works in raw mode.

Code Red Whacks Microsoft August 10, 2001 11:40 AM UTC
A Microsoftie brings in an infected laptop, connects it to MS's internal network - and BOOM.

Who's In Charge of Microsoft? August 10, 2001 9:24 AM UTC
The Bury St Edmunds park bench was wide open to free international calls.

PC B-Day August 9, 2001 4:59 PM UTC
The IBM personal computer celebrated its twentieth birthday at San Jose's Tech Museum last night.

Please Erase Your Hard Disk As A Precaution August 9, 2001 2:14 PM UTC
Your box may not have Code Red, but you should reformat anyway, say SANS, giving Rob Rosenberger the field day he's longed for.

The Code Red Hype Hall of Shame August 9, 2001 12:25 PM UTC
Lemme tell ya 'bout the snakes, the fakes, the lies, the highs...

Code Red Hits Hotmail August 9, 2001 1:33 PM UTC
Microsoft admits their servers are infected.

Reichard Admits Astroturfing August 8, 2001 5:14 PM UTC
After the fallout article in the Linux Journal by former LT editor Paul Ferris, Kevin Reichard today admitted astroturfing in the LT talkbacks. This news is - not surprisingly - causing shockwaves in the Linux and open source communities where people are clamouring for Reichard's immediate resignation.

AOL, MSN Customers Unsatisfied August 8, 2001 4:12 PM UTC
From the Gee-Whiz-What-A-Surprise-Dept.

Microsoft Goes to Supreme Court August 7, 2001 9:35 PM UTC
Microsoft doesn't like the appeals court ruling and doesn't like being spanked.

McAfee Files Security Service Patents August 7, 2001 2:18 PM UTC
The former peddler of 'I AM HIV-FREE!' badges tries again to squeeze the computer virus competition.

Vulture Down August 7, 2001 1:43 PM UTC
A Cisco router and a lost password play havoc with The Register's online presence.

Yorkshire's Nude Net August 7, 2001 1:41 PM UTC
One in ten web users in Yorkshire surf in the buff.

Code Red II Party Crasher August 7, 2001 1:01 AM UTC
Microsoft, Symantec, CA and the US Navy play with TruSecure Surgeon General (sic) Russ Cooper in Canada.

Dime Released August 6, 2001 7:02 PM UTC
Dmitry Sklyarov is released on US$50K bail.

Code Red II Wends Its Way August 6, 2001 1:54 PM UTC
A nasty spinoff of the Code Red worm begins to wiggle across the Internet.

British Park Bench Goes Online August 6, 2001 10:25 AM UTC
A cyber-seat in Suffolk allows up to four people to log on to the web at the same time.

New Worm Infects the Net August 6, 2001 8:52 AM UTC
It works faster and better but won't dog wires like its daddy did.

Son of Code Red August 6, 2001 6:19 AM UTC
A new IIS worm similar to the dreaded Code Red worm emerges over the weekend.

Google Gets New CEO August 6, 2001 2:40 AM UTC
Founders remain, company shows half-year profit.

Code Red II Ausust 5, 2001 1:00 AM UTC
He's back - and he wants revenge. He's smarter and meaner too.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Steve Ballmer August 4, 2001 10:00 AM UTC
If you haven't seen this guy in action before, you're in for a shock. The one-time Harvard head basketball cheerleader shows Adolf has nothing on him, and you have to wonder, with all those billions already in his pocket, what he's getting so excited about. Power? (3.00MB)

Microsoft Still A Bully August 2, 2001 9:00 PM UTC
So says the appeals court which turned down MS's request to have the DOJ ruling reviewed.

Train Crash Not Net Crash August 2, 2001 10:30 AM UTC
A CSX train caused the 19 July Internet meltdown - not Code Red.

Code Red Costs $8.7 Billion? Phooey! August 1, 2001 7:00 PM UTC
Reuters is out for a juicy quote and Thomas C. Greene is out for blood.

First Ever Webcam Star Goes To Auction August 1, 2001 2:00 PM UTC
The Trojan Room coffee pot is up for grabs.

Code Red Flops August 1, 2001 5:54 AM UTC
But the virus experts still hope for disaster.

Code Red Poised July 30, 2001 11:30 PM UTC
There are approximately 6 million outward-facing IIS servers that could be affected in the new attack.

The 2nd Armageddon July 30, 2001 9:00 AM UTC
What are raw sockets when you've got Code Red? Thomas C. Greene reports.

US Govt Runs For Cover July 29, 2001 11:00 PM UTC
CNET now estimates Code Red has spread to 350,000 computers (half a million anyone?) and the US government led by the redoubtable NIPC is planning both a special news conference on Monday and a full retreat.

Le Carre Was Right? July 27, 2001 7:14 PM UTC
It's taken right off the pages of Russia House: MIT physicist Theodore A. Postol accuses the Pentagon of trying to silence him for exposing the use of doctored data to defend missile defence technology that doesn't exist.

Sklyarov Still Not Free, EFF Calls For New Protests Monday July 27, 2001 6:28 PM UTC
After meeting with the US Attorney's Office to discuss the continued incarceration of Dmitry Sklyarov, the Electronic Frontier Foundation decides to rejoin the worldwide protests.

Symantec Can't Detect SirCam Either July 27, 2001 1:00 PM UTC
Norton Antivirus for Gateways lets the worm through, admits Symantec's antivirus research centre.

FBI Cyber-Braniacs Do It Again July 27, 2001 8:34 AM UTC
The NIPC clicked on their SirCam attachments and spread top-secret US government documents all over the Internet, but the fun doesn't stop there, says Thomas C. Greene.

Creepy AOL July 26, 2001 6:19 PM UTC
While wannabes manoeuvre in the DOJ/XP brouhaha, AOL sneaks onto the desktop.

MS/MSN Hotmail/McAfee Can't Detect SirCam July 25, 2001 4:20 PM UTC
Veteran human and computer virus expert and Zone Labs Grey Eminence John McAfee cannot find W32/SirCam and millions of Hotmail users are infected as a result. MS promises a possible AV update by 26 July but really...

The SSH Hits The Fan July 24, 2001 12:04 PM UTC
A vulnerability in SSH Secure Shell 3.0.0 allows hackers to get root on Unix servers. The systems affected are Red Hat Linux 6.1 through 7.1, HP-UX 10.20, HP-UX 11.00, Caldera Linux 2.4, SuSE Linux 6.4 through 7.0, and Solaris 2.6 through 2.8, which is especially vulnerable. OpenBSD, NetBSD and Tru64 are believed to be immune.

Adobe Doing The Right Thing July 24, 2001 4:02 AM UTC
Thomas C. Greene ponders the Adobe whitewash.

Dime Going Home? July 24, 2001 12:50 AM UTC
In a complete about-face, Adobe now says it is doing the right thing by having Dmitry Sklyarov released.

Your Advice July 23, 2001 8:45 PM UTC
SirCam makes the rounds of the Internet and ILOVEYOU stages a spectacular comeback. Wired report by Michelle Delio.

Code Red May Be On 225,000 IIS Servers July 19, 2001 11:18 PM UTC
A worm exploiting the IIS indexing service buffer overflow vulnerability may have already begun its victory march over Microsoft web servers, says CERT/ISA.

FBI Loses 184 Laptops July 18, 2001 11:30 AM UTC
And 449 weapons and...

Code Red Worm Spreads to IIS Servers July 17, 2001 6:14 PM UTC
Full analysis of the Code Red worm complete with commented disassembly and the worm binary.

WPA Cracked! July 17, 2001 1:30 PM UTC
You were worried about Microsoft turning off the faucet? Really? Worry no more.

Shocker: Bug Found in MS Outlook! July 16, 2001 4:06 PM UTC
Yes, readers, it is true. Even the mighty Microsoft can write code with bugs. Novice bug hunter Georgi Guninski accidentally found a security hole of minor importance while checking out all the great features of this seminal email client. Guninski advises the general public to remain calm. 'All the bug can do is allow a malicious website such as an ordinary hackers site to take complete control of your PC, so it's not very serious.' As reported by John Leyden.

Internet Too Sexy for AF July 14, 2001 1:24 PM UTC
They don't have many computers and most areas don't have electricity, but they don't care: The Internet is anti-Islamic, so it's hereby banned.

GRC Plundered July 14, 2001 6:24 AM UTC
While Steve Gibson of GRC.com has been leading his faithful in a march on Redmond hackers have been quietly plundering the computer disks of the self-proclaimed security guru.

Slide for Yahoo July 12, 2001 4:46 PM UTC
The Internet company that couldn't lose money lost it, thanks to its dwindling ad revenues.

The E-Loo is Here July 12, 2001 1:30 PM UTC
British manufacturer Twyford announces the Versatile Interactive Pan.

PR Puffery July 12, 2001 2:45 AM UTC
Wired's Farhad Manjoo reports on Microsoft's latest spin.

New York Raw Sockets Internet Bill Signed Into Law July 11, 2001 9:10 PM UTC
New York Governor George Pataki bans the use of raw sockets on the Internet.

SmartDownload Bad, Says Judge July 11, 2001 5:09 PM UTC
Netscape/AOL gets rap on knuckles in major privacy ruling.

Malicious MP3's Right Around the Corner July 11, 2001 3:52 PM UTC
Security consultants MIS Corporate Defence say maliciously compressed files can be used in denial of service attacks against computer networks.

Microsoft to Allow OEMs to Alter Windows Desktop July 11, 2001 10:29 PM UTC
Oh whoopee. And in a related story Ted Bundy returns from the dead to promise he will never kill again.

A Gnu Gnapster July 10, 2001 2:41 PM UTC
File sharing - including MP3's - is out in the open for good, thanks to the new open source Gnucleus.

MS Backs Off July 6, 2001 8:20 PM UTC
Amidst howls of protests and imminent platform defections from user organisations Microsoft pushes back the deadlines for enrolment to its new licensing program.

Seagate Introduces Silent Drive June 28, 2001 11:46 PM UTC
Seagate's revolutionary SoftSonic™ Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motor makes the super-fast Barracuda® ATA IV drive virtually silent.

Spam from staff@hotmail.com June 28, 2001 3:00 PM UTC
Hotmail account holder gets account canceled for MSN spam.

Storm Cloud June 27, 2001 2:30 PM UTC
Studies show DoD sites are far from secure: Russian hackers have been quietly downloading millions of pages of sensitive data.

Word Bug Can Permit Malicious Macros June 26, 2001 1:54 PM UTC
We need macros that can indiscriminately and without warning wipe hard drives clean? And in word processors? What in heavens name is Microsoft thinking of? Ok, rhetorical question. Dumb question.

Microsoft Zonks DoubleClick June 12, 2001 11:19 PM UTC
In one fell swoop the Redmond monopoly flexes its muscles and eliminates the advertising giant - but critics warn that Microsoft itself might want to fill DoubleClick's shoes.

429 Million on the Internet June 12, 2001 10:54 PM UTC
It's getting crowded all right - maybe it's time to pull out that 64-bit TCP/IP spec?

A Golden Opportunity January 3, 2001 5:54 PM UTC
The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington releases a 73-page study concluding that Microsoft software is so full of security holes, and so poorly audited, that it not only poses a risk to the national security but also cannot be fixed; the websites of most Fortune 500 companies have been cracked, including Microsoft's own; then the NSA creates a 'Secure Linux' which the world in general really needs but which the open source community refuses to touch. Report and comment by Dennis E. Powell.