Tech Blog

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Microsoft plugin makes Firefox less secure
It looks like a couple of plugins for Firefox that were pushed to windows users in a regular Microsoft update and patch blast back in February have opened up a security hole:

On Tuesday, Microsoft warned that Firefox users who have not applied a recent Internet Explorer patch were vulnerable to a "browse-and-get-owned attack" because of a bug in the Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant add-on.

"All that is needed is for a user to be lured to a malicious website," Microsoft said. Triggering this vulnerability involves the use of a malicious XBAP (XAML Browser Application).

The good news is that Mozilla (Firefox's developers) have sarted remotely disabling the offending code:

To protect users who may not have installed Microsoft's patch, Mozilla is automatically blocking two add-ons: the Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant and a related plugin called the Windows Presentation Foundation. The open-source browser started blocking the software late Friday night.

Microsoft's Security Essentials hiccup
Ars Technica has an interesting story about a VB Script triggering a false detection in  Microsoft's Security Essentials anti-malware software:

Just by looking at the code, we could tell this was a false positive. That wasn't enough for us to be absolutely sure though. We decided to upload the two files to Virus Total, a service that analyzes suspicious files with multiple antivirus engines. The results are definitely not in Microsoft's favor. The company's security engine was the only one, out of 41 engines, to detect the original script as a threat.

Apple has issues with data loss
Snow Leopard, Apple's much ballyhooed recent update to the OSX operating system, has apparently been forgetting user information and resetting system states:

"when logging into the guest account on their Mac first and then logging into their regular account, some users are finding all their data to be missing and their accounts completely reset."

Is Sony deliberately making PSP Go customers angry?
It seems so, with the number of ways they've 'enhanced' the PSP portable console experience:

Sony promised a UMD program that never surfaced. It reworked the cabling and power system for the PSP Go to make sure none of your existing peripherals would be able to work on the system. The Pro Duo memory sticks used in the PSP, which is a Sony standard, have been ditched. Players will need to buy an M2 Micro card for the PSP Go if they would like to expand their storage. The M2 is, of course, another Sony standard.

And in case you missed it

Balloonboy.

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Your Turn
So, did I miss anything? What online story really got you going this week? Link to it in the comments!

Message Edited by bgrier on 10-18-2009 01:48 AM