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Tuesday, May 9
 PortDetective
is a handy piece of software to see what ports are open, in
use or blocked from your computer. If the ports are open,
that's good because that means you can use them to host your
own web server, FTP server, etc. It's also potentially very
bad, because someone might be able to access your computer
over the Internet. Among the port numbers it scans are
137-139, which are used for Windows file and printer
sharing. If those ports are open and you do not need to
share files or printers, it's a good idea to disable Windows
file and printer sharing.
CNET reports from the National
Cable Television Association conference in New Orleans.
Cable modems are already a success and IP telephony may be
just around the corner, but the group has been burned in the
past by the failure of interactive TV.
Larry Ellison, an early advocate of what was once called
the network computer or thin client, is re-entering the
market that has become Internet appliances with the
$199 NIC. The Linux-based computer by New Internet
Computer has 64 MB RAM, a 24X CD-ROM and a 56K modem, but no
monitor or hard drive. Ellison owns a one quarter stake in
the company.
Mixed media
BellSouth
is expanding its satellite TV business through a
partnership with Americom.
Italy
may be the first country where more people get on the net
through cell phones than through PCs.
Sprint is leveraging its considerable licensing
agreements with cell tower operators to re-use
cell towers for high-speed wireless Internet. The towers
will transmit to a fixed, 13.5 inch satellite dish using a
system known as Multi-Channel Multi-Point Distribution
System, or MMDS. Earthlink is a partner in the plan.
Love bug arrests
Police
arrested suspected Love Bug author Reonel Ramones on
Monday, believing that he is the "Spyder" mentioned in the
worm's code. Part
of the evidence was based on caller ID.
In a rapid turn of events, police
released Ramones this morning due to lack of evidence.
He must answer charges on May 19. Police suspect as
many as 10 people with a common link to a Manila
computer school may have been involved in created and
distributing the worm. The AMA Computer College, or AMACC,
is mentioned in Barak, a piece of code Spyder released in
January. Some of the Barak code was used in the downloadable
portion of Love Bug.
Several
virus experts believe the police arrested the wrong
person. One of the experts - Fredrik Björck, who
tracked down the creator of the Melissa virus - believes
the love bug creator is a German male in his twenties named
Michael who lives in the Philippines.
Damage
related the Love Bug worm may reach $10 billion
according to a new report.
Computer security and privacy
MacInTouch has a special report on FileMaker
5 security issues. Blue World Communications is alerting
consumers to three security holes in the Web Companion
software included with FileMaker 5. One flaw allows any data
in a web-enabled database to be viewed over the web, while
another allows anyone to send anonymous or impersonated
email.
Netscape and Microsoft are refusing to cooperate on a
cross-browser
security hole: malicious web sites can run a
Netscape-installed JavaScript via Internet Explorer.
Netscape closed a similar hole in its browser last year.
The Love Bug worm caused a rush on virus update web sites
that overwhelmed many sites. Anti-virus
companies are beefing up their web servers to prepare
for future needs.
Friday, May 12
GlobalStar - the leader in the rarefied satellite phone
market now that Iridium
is bankrupt - reported worse than expected earnings.
GlobalStar
lost $216 million in the first quarter on revenues of
$609,000, posting a loss of 98 cents a share versus
analyst estimates of 80 cents a share. The company has faced
analyst
downgrades and bad news in recent weeks, with Lockheed
considering withdrawing a $250 million loan guarantee.
Rocky road to broadband
 A
Media Matrix study finds that 56K
modem use has surged to 68.1 percent of US homes with net
access, compared to just 34.5 percent a year ago. Use of
broadband technologies such as ISDN, DSL and cable modems
account for just 4.8 percent of the total, with sub-56K
analog modems accounting for the remaining share of the
market.
One factor Media Matrix used to explain the slow spread
of broadband Internet access is the geographic
unavailability in many areas. Internet
Week's Terry Sweeney explains his unsuccessful attempt to
get Covad to take his $800 to provide him with DSL.
CNET
reports on customer service issues affecting cable
companies as they offer Internet access. Cable companies
have lower customer satisfaction rates than satellite
services, phone companies or ISPs, according to research
from Talmey-Drake Research & Strategy.
Following Time-Warner's blackout of ABC on
Time-Warner-owned cable systems, two senators are
investigating whether
cable companies are giving preferential bandwidth to
partners. No such instances are known to have occurred.
Computer security and privacy: major flaws in Internet
Explorer and Office 2000
Peacefire.org has discovered that a
web site can steal cookie information from Internet
Explorer. All versions of IE for Windows are affected.
According to the peacefire.org page, Mac and UNIX versions
aren't affected, but some users report IE on UNIX platforms
is also affected. 56K.COM could not reproduce the problem
with IE 4.5 or 5.0 for the Mac. Netscape is unaffected.
Currently the only solution is to disable JavaScript: from
the IE Tools menu, choose Internet Options, and click the
Security tab. Now select Internet Zone and click the Custom
Level button. At the bottom of the list of options, set
Active scripting to Disabled.
If you don't trust cookies in general, the
San Francisco Chronicle reviews cookie-management
software.
A
file called scriplet.typelib exposes users to serious
security flaws through web pages and email. Systems
running Internet Explorer 5.0 or Microsoft Office 2000.
The
Kak email virus can spread without the user opening an
attachment, by taking advantage of the scriplet.typelib
vulnerability. Microsoft has an
informational page and a
patch for scriplet.typelib. Network Associates
recommends disabling Windows Scripting. The virus isn't
destructive, but the inevitable copycats could be.
By putting appropriate JavaScript code in an email
attachment, Hotmail
email could be stolen. Microsoft fixed the problem after
Peacefire.org discovered the problem.
A
password-stealing trick affects Yahoo!, USA.net,
MailExcite and possibly others. (Microsoft's HotMail
isn't affected, if you can believe it.) Peacefire.org
also discovered this bug and has an
explanation of the hack.
Onel de Guzman, a suspect in the Love Bug case, says
he
didn't write the Love Bug, but if he did he didn't mean
to. Guzman's college
thesis proposal was for a password-stealing Trojan horse
that functioned in a similar manner to the Love Bug.
Weekend update
CERT has issued an advisory that Netscape's
SSL authentication procedures contain a flaw that allows DNS
spoofing. Netscape versions 4.72, 4.61 and 4.07 are
known to be affected, and other versions may be as well.
Upgrading to
version 4.73 fixes the problem.
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