Siljaline's Blog : Operating Systems

Canadian copyright law to trump Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:39:00 GMT

Industry Minister Tony Clement, responding to accusations that an international anti-counterfeiting agreement will criminalize everyday activity by Canadians, says any such pact will be "subservient" to copyright rules created domestically....(read more)

Microsoft releases free antivirus software

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:32:00 GMT

Microsoft's free antivirus program, Security Essentials, became available for download from the company's website Tuesday. Microsoft bills the software as providing "high-quality protection" against viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware...(read more)

Tech giants to be rated on human rights

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:38:00 GMT

A group of prominent Canadian researchers has launched an initiative to examine how closely companies like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo follow their own principles regarding freedom of expression and privacy. Citizen Lab, which runs out of the University...(read more)

Microsoft taking half-price pre-orders for Windows 7

Randy Knobloch — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:49:00 GMT

Microsoft is trying to lure Canadians to upgrade to its newest operating system by offering a half-price discount to people who pre-order. Windows 7 won't be released until Oct. 22, but Microsoft is taking pre-orders starting Friday, the company said...(read more)

Conficker worm sends new instructions: grow botnet, then die

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:29:00 GMT

The Conficker worm has begun to update the machines it has infected with a new set of instructions to spread to other machines and then self-destruct, security experts say. Security researchers tracking the worm said some of the infected computers began...(read more)

Windows Vista lawsuit loses class-action status

Randy Knobloch — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:46:00 GMT

A lawsuit claiming people were fleeced by the way Microsoft Corp. advertised some Windows XP computers as capable of running the new Vista operating system is no longer a class action, a federal judge has ruled. The lawsuit, certified last February as...(read more)

Conficker Activity Update

Randy Knobloch — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:48:00 GMT

http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2009/02/12/conficker-activity-update.aspx...(read more)

Microsoft offers another lifeline to XP

Randy Knobloch — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:55:00 GMT

Microsoft Corp. is giving Windows XP yet another reprieve, this time allowing custom PC builders to continue to order the older operating system for their computers until the end of May. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/12/22/windows-xp.html...(read more)

0118.0000 is now available, new definition file for Ad-Aware 2008.

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:03:00 GMT

New definitions: ==================== XLGPrivacyControlCenter Win32.Backdoor.Dreamy Win32.Trojan.Emo Win32.Trojan.Feutel Win32.Trojan.Jakuz Win32.Trojan.Renpwl Win32.Trojan.Virtl Win32.Trojan.Worldonline Win32.TrojanDownloader.JKFQ Win32.TrojanDownloader...(read more)

Microsoft charts security vuln MAPP

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:40:00 GMT

More transparency, better protection Microsoft has announced plans to share additional details about security vulnerabilities in its products in an attempt to prevent attackers from exploiting them before patches are released to its customers. Under one...(read more)

SpyBot Definitions Update 03.09.08

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:19:00 GMT

2008-09-03 Keylogger + Ardamax ++ Win32.KeyLogger.ap Malware ++ 1ClickPCFix + ErrorSafe + Fraud.AntiMalwares ++ Fraud.AntiSpyXP ++ Fraud.Antivirus ++ Fraud.XPAntivirus.gen + Power-Antivirus-2009 + Smitfraud-C.bs ++ Smitfraud-C.ul ++ Virantix (7) ++ WinReanimator...(read more)

Google's Austro-Hungarian ambitions laid bare

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:23:00 GMT

Chrome recruits Maximilian von Hapsburg Our shock revelation yesterday that Google had redrawn the map of Europe to apparently cede several European nations to a Greater Germany provoked a flurry of comments suggesting what on God's Green Earth the...(read more)

Zombie network explosion

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:37:00 GMT

The number of compromised zombie PCs in botnet networks has quadrupled over the last three months, according to figures from the Shadowserver Foundation. Shadowserver tracks botnet activity and the number of command and control servers. It uses a variety...(read more)

Scroll keys belong to Microsoft, in part

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:12:00 GMT

They've been a feature of keyboards since at least 1981, but late last month, the "Page Up" and "Page Down" keys became partly the intellectual property of Microsoft Corp. A patent issued Aug. 19 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark...(read more)

Ad-aware "SE" SE1R284

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:42:00 GMT

http://www.lavasoft.com/support/securitycenter/blog/ http://www.lavasoft.com/single/mirror_download.php?f=948DEWk12 http://download.lavasoft.com/public/defs.zip...(read more)

0117.0000 is now available, new definition file for Ad-Aware 2008.

Randy Knobloch — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:40:00 GMT

0117.0000 is now available, new definition file for Ad-Aware 2008. New definitions: ==================== Adware.Jumpgate AdwareDeluxe SpywarePreventer Win32.Backdoor.Arin Win32.Backdoor.Shodabot Win32.FakeAlert.Wimad Win32.Monitor.AdvancedSpy Win32.Trojan...(read more)

Microsoft's newest browser may block ads

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:56:00 GMT

The next version of Microsoft Corp.'s web browser makes it easier for people to surf the internet without leaving a trace. Companies that sell advertisements online — including Microsoft — can electronically gather tidbits about web surfers'...(read more)

Hijacking huge chunks of the internet - a new How To

Randy Knobloch — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:58:00 GMT

It's easy. Those tubes are busted More evidence that the intertubes are fundamentally broken has been served up by Wired.com in an article laying out a technique to surreptitiously hijack huge chunks of the internet and monitor or even modify unencrypted...(read more)

SpyBot Defintions Update 27.08.08

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:43:00 GMT

2008-08-27 Adware ++ BannerStyles.Optimizer ++ RXToolbar + SmartShopper + Zango + Zango.ShoppingReport ++ MorpheusToolbar Hijacker ++ CoolWWWSearch.Aff.Madfinder Keylogger + Ardamax Malware ++ Fakealert.gen + Fraud.XPAntivirus + Fraud.Antivirus2008 +...(read more)

Security Update for Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP (KB938127)

Randy Knobloch — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:48:00 GMT

Brief Description A security issue has been identified in the way Vector Markup Language (VML) is handled that could allow an attacker to compromise a computer running Microsoft Windows and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing...(read more)