Firefox 2 is CNet’s Editor’s Choice

CNet has awarded Firefox its Editor's Choice award: "Mozilla Firefox 2 is a winner, beating Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on security, features, and overall cool factor and deserving our Editors' Choice award."

Source: C-Net Reviews / Reviewed by: Robert Vamosi, edited by: Katy Sullivan

Mozilla Firefox 2 (formerly known as Bon Echo) builds on the strength and the security demonstrated in Firefox 1.5 by adding several new features. Like Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2 includes built-in antiphishing, but overall, Firefox 2 is much better than Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. Firefox 2 offers forward-looking features, such as Live Titles, as well as practical here-and-now tools, such as search engine suggestions, session restore, and inline spell-checking. Despite its many improvements, Firefox 2, like Internet Explorer 7, still does not pass the Acid2 Web Standards test, although, unlike Microsoft, Mozilla says it is working toward full compliance. Given its many pros and relatively few cons, Firefox 2 receives our Editors' Choice award for best Internet browser. For a look inside, see our Firefox 2 slide show.

You can download Firefox 2 for free, and unlike Internet Explorer 7, Firefox is available on a variety of operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux. There are also a wide variety of localized language versions, including Basque and Byelorussian. Again unlike IE 7, Firefox 2 does not require that you shut down antivirus protection nor does it perform a system reboot.

Unlike IE 7, which has reorganized its toolbar, Firefox 2 changes only the look and feel of its buttons. The new shiny-glass look is much more sophisticated, as are the rounded tabs and the hairline borders around the address bar and the search engine box. Missing, however, is Places, a side panel feature we saw briefly in alpha builds; Places organizes bookmarks, RSS feeds, and history in one place, much like IE 7's Favorites Center. The good news is that Places will return in Firefox 3, which is currently under development.

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Zombies Control Half of Windows PCs

Software giant Microsoft has crowned the "zombie" PC the greatest threat to Windows users.

Source: Internet.com / Ed Sutherland

Of the many forms of attacks uncovered during the first half of 2006, the company said backdoor Trojans which take control of infected computers can be found in almost one out of every two Windows-based systems.

"Attackers, with financial gain in mind, are clearly concentrating a significant amount of development focus on this category of malware," according to Microsoft's Security Intelligence Report, which covers January through June.

The results were gathered from use of the software maker's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT).

More than 43,000 new versions of the malicious software were found making Trojans that turn PCs into cash cows for hackers "the most active category of malware," according to the report.

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Firefox 2.0 to make its debut

Mozilla launched last night Firefox 2.0, the updated version of its browser software.

Source: Webuser Magazine / Ben Camm-Jones

There was confusion day before yesterday as the release was apparently accidentally posted on the Mozilla.org website. It was withdrawn and now reportedly released on Tuesday 24 October at 1700 PST (0100 BST 25 October).

Hot on the heels of the launch of Microsoft's latest browser, Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2.0 presents the biggest challenge to the software giant's domination of this market.

Figures from NetApplications suggest that Microsoft is losing ground in the browser battle. The company said that Microsoft's share of the market had slipped from 84.4 per cent in June to 82.1 per cent in September.

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Easier way to receive online assistance

G*Team-Solutions' online assistance service has improved.

Source: G*Team-Solutions

Some clients meant it were too complicated having to email first before receiving online assistance. You said it, we heard it and reacted.

From now we provide a chat window allowing you to contact an assistant right from our "Get Assistance" page and explain your problem. The assistant online will assign a technician, who's "Get Assistance Now" button you will have to click to connect each others PCs.

Please continue to provide your ideas to improve our service.

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Firefox 2 Review

After eleven months in development Firefox 2 is expected to be released tomorrow. As of this writing, Release Candidate 3 released last week will just be renamed to Firefox 2 and so be it.

Source: 'Mozilla Links' Magazine / Percy Cabello

Since its first release, back in November 1.0, the web browsers landscape has changed a lot. Competition is back and security, performance and features are again topics when talking about web browsers. Internet Explorer 7, Safari 2 and Opera 9 are all playing along and the great winners are of course us, the users.

Without more preamble, let's give a look to Firefox 2.

First look: The visual refresh

Most apparent change in Firefox 2 is definitely its look. It was much criticized during its debut in Beta 2 because of its soft colors and somewhat enhanced for RC1 which is basically what we have here today. In general, we have glossy icons, integrated go and search buttons with their respective location and search bars, a new shape for the refresh buttons, glowing web feed and security icons and more distinguishable active and background tabs. Unfortunately some enhancements didn't make it: integrating the location and progress bars a la Safari, which I would love to see. Another idea that made the round was converting the progress bar into a progress pie inside the throbber, which would make much sense. Other considerations like merging the stop and reload buttons and moving them inside the location bar along with the Go buttons didn't make it either.

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Targeted Trojan Horses Are the Future of Malware

Some of the most dangerous cyberattacks are the least visible ones.

Source: cnet News.com

Widespread worms, viruses or Trojan horses spammed to millions of mailboxes are typically not a grave concern anymore, security experts said at the Virus Bulletin conference here Thursday. Instead, especially for organizations, targeted Trojan horses have become the nightmare scenario, they said.

"Targeted Trojan horses are still a tiny amount of the overall threat landscape, but it is what the top corporations worry about most," said Vincent Weafer, a senior director at Symantec Security Response. "This is what they stay up at night worried about."

The stealthy attacks install keystroke-logging or screen-scraping software, and they are used for industrial espionage and other financially motivated crimes, experts said.

Cybercrooks send messages to one or a few addresses at a targeted organization and attempt to trick their victim into opening the infected attachment--typically, a Microsoft Office file that exploits a yet-to-be-patched vulnerability to drop the malicious payload.

Security technology can stop common attacks, but targeted attacks fly under the radar. That's because traditional products, which scan e-mail at the network gateway or on the desktop, can't recognize the threat. Alarm bells will ring if a new attack targets thousands of people or more, but not if just a handful of e-mails laden with a new Trojan horse is sent.

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New Microsoft License Ties Vista To Hardware

Microsoft may be capitulating to complaints from other software firms and European governments, but it's getting pretty rough with its customers. Perhaps too rough.

Source: Internet.com / Andy Patrizio

Earlier this month it was learned that the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program in Vista would actually lock computers that failed a WGA authentication check.

Now comes word that Microsoft has changed the licensing terms for the retail version of Vista. Customers will only be able to reinstall Vista on a new machine once. After that, they will have to buy a new copy of Vista.

With Windows XP, Microsoft introduced a validation tool that checks with a Microsoft server to make sure the copy of XP hasn't been installed on other computers. However, there was no real enforcement against people who purchased a new computer to retire an old machine and used the same copy of XP.

This is frequently done with "white box" computers, unbranded computers that are built with the same parts that are usually found in computers that carry a fancy brand name. In the five years since Windows XP's release, a person could have gone through three or four computers but the same copy of XP.

But that's not going to happen any more ...

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AT&T Makes Network Neutrality Concessions

T&T is willing to adhere to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) network neutrality principles for 30 months after the official closing of its proposed merger with BellSouth, according to AT&T's latest filing with the FCC.

Source: Internet.com / Roy Mark

The concession is part of a long list of items AT&T put forth late Friday afternoon in hopes of winning over the two Democrats on the FCC who are opposing the merger.

The Department of Justice approved the deal last week with no strings attached.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin also supports unconditionally approving the merger, but he lacks a majority among the three Republicans on the panel since Commissioner Robert McDowell is recusing himself from the vote based on his previous work as a lobbyist for competitive local exchange carriers.

The current 2-2 deadlock at the FCC forced Martin to re-open the proceedings for public comment and reschedule the merger vote for Nov. 3.

AT&T's original Friday response to the new proceedings only conceded the "possibility of further conditions" relating to network neutrality.

After the first letter was sent to the FCC AT&T sent a second letter "within an hour" making further concessions on network neutrality.

The first AT&T letter ran on the FCC site over the weekend, but FCC officials said the agency would update the information later this afternoon.

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BEWARE OF: NSIS Media Extension Pop-Up/Pop-Under

To everyone receiving 'NSIS Media Advertisment' Pop-Ups/Pop-Unders ... this is a virus/worm not yet detected by most AntiVirus software providers!

Did you also receive already these pop-ups/pop-unders named 'NSIS Media Advertisment' although your ad-blocker is activated and you never had troubles with pop ads for a long time anymore? Did you also consider already it might be a virus or worm, scanned your entire PC and have not found anything suspicious yet?

We had the same problem and suspected many software providers already to be the source until we (our entire team) all of a sudden realized new installed software in our PCs software list (Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs) called 'NSIS Media Extension'.

Having researched Google I found a huge list of inquiries for help how to remove this software without duplicating it ... because uninstalling this 'program', which requests to restart your computer, does remove it in first instance from your program list, but re-installs and duplicates it right away. Restoring your PC to an earlier date does the same, it even increases numbers of duplications.

Sophos, an AntiVirus provider, demands to be the only one, who is able to detect and eliminate this adware, virus, worm or whatever this mutation may be; but of course, you would have to download and install their software.

We found another solution to be done online: Microsoft's Live One Care page offers a free online scan of your PC, detects all 'NSIS Media Extension' entries in your PC and eliminates them immediately.

Go to Microsoft's Live One Care page and get rid of your 'NSIS Media Advertisment' NOW!

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AT&T-BellSouth Merger Approval Stalled

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) delayed a vote on the AT&T and BellSouth merger today and rescheduled the issue for Nov. 3.

Source: Internet.com / Roy Mark

After delaying the vote from Thursday to Friday at 11 a.m., the commissioners remained sequestered until after 1 p.m., when FCC Chairman Kevin Martin finally cancelled the meeting.

An hour after the meeting was scheduled to begin, the two Democrats on the five-person panel publicly released a letter asking Martin to open the approval process for public comment.

Martin responded with his own letter, granting the delay.

"The record raises serious questions about whether this combination as proposed would satisfy the public interest," stated a letter signed by Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.

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Skype v2.6 released and Skype 3.0 beta coming soon

Lots of Skype news coming out of Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. First, Skype v2.6 beta was released today ...

Source: VoIP & Gadgets Blog

It has the following new features:

- Click to call ordinary phone numbers on any website (optional install)
- Find and join Skypecasts in the Live tab.
- Share your favorite links in mood message. They’re clickable.
- Search the web with the Google Toolbar (optional install)

Looks like Skype is partnering for the two optional pieces. I haven't seen any announcements stating Google and Skype have partnered on Google Toolbar though. I'll have to install Skype v2.6 when I have a moment to see who the other optional piece is that lets you call phone numbers displayed on your browser.

In addition, I have been told from multiple sources at ITEXPO that the next major release of Skype, Skype 3.0 beta will be launched in mid-November. Skype v3.0 beta will have plugin support. At first I thought, "Wow! Cool. Skype is following the Firefox plugin model, which enables end users to add their own cool little features." Plugins are one reason why Firefox is so popular - due to the developer community it helped to spawn and develop.

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Google Docs Brings Spreadsheet & WP to the Web

Google is scheduled to officially launch Google Docs & Spreadsheets later today at the Office 2.0 Conference in San Francisco.

Source: Internet.com / Nicholas Carlson

Google is scheduled to officially launch Google Docs & Spreadsheets later today at the Office 2.0 Conference in San Francisco.

Docs is a Web-based word-processing and spreadsheet that Google said is designed to make it easier for people to create, manage, and share documents and spreadsheets online.

Google Spreadsheets had been in beta testing since June. Back then, product manager Jonathan Rochelle told internetnews.com the product’s "biggest wow feature" is the ability for multiple users to simultaneously edit spreadsheets and chat.

Rochelle said in time Google would add features to the product beyond its spreadsheet capabilities.

That time has arrived.

Now, with a Google Account, a compatible Web browser, and an Internet connection, users can export and import a wider variety of file formats. There’s now an option to publish the documents to a blog or as an HTML page, too.

Google Docs is available as a free beta starting today at this Web site.

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Net Neutrality Back on FCC's Agenda

Will they, or won't they?

Source: Internet.com

For AT&T and BellSouth, that's the big question ahead of Thursday when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers a possible vote on the companies' proposed $67 billion merger.

It's also the big question for network neutrality proponents, who hope the FCC will attach provisions to the deal requiring equal handling of broadband network traffic if the merger is approved.

"It's a question of whether the FCC will establish meaningful non-discrimination principles," Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president of global public policy, said today at a teleconference organized by network neutrality groups.

The merger would create a telecommunications giant with more than 70 million customers across 22 states. AT&T and BellSouth also jointly own Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless company.

AT&T and BellSouth believe the merger will not reduce marketplace competition since they are not competitors in the local, long distance and video markets.

Verizon and AT&T have publicly stated they intend to charge content providers different fees based on bandwidth consumption to access consumers, but will not block, degrade or impair delivery of the content to consumers.

In approving the mergers of AT&T-SBC and Verizon-MCI last year, the FCC forced the companies to adhere to the agency's network neutrality principles for two years.

The network neutrality groups hope the FCC will impose the same requirements, at a minimum, on the AT&T and BellSouth deal.

"The FCC this week has the opportunity to take real, substantive actions to maintain a free and open Internet," Gigi Sohn, the president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, said Tuesday.

"We recognize that the Commission could use this transaction to add another needed element to its current net neutrality policy."

In August of 2005, the FCC declared that consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice, run applications and services of their choice and plug in and run legal devices of their choice.

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Microsoft ends support for XP SP1

Users of Windows XP will need to make sure they have the second service pack installed on their PCs if they want to receive continued support from Microsoft, the company has warned.

Source: Webuser Magazine / Ben Camm-Jones

As of Tuesday 10 October, Microsoft will not offer any support for Windows XP SP1 (Service Pack 1), meaning that users will have no option but to upgrade.

The second Tuesday of every month is known by Microsoft's observers as 'Patch Tuesday', as the company releases any fixes for flaws in its software that day. It has also chosen that day to end support for SP1.

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Who Owns Your Computer?

When technology serves its owners, it is liberating. When it is designed to serve others, over the owner's objection, it is oppressive. There's a battle raging on your computer right now -- one that pits you against worms and viruses, Trojans, spyware, automatic update features and digital rights management technologies. It's the battle to determine who owns your computer.

Source: Schneier on Security

You own your computer, of course. You bought it. You paid for it. But how much control do you really have over what happens on your machine? Technically you might have bought the hardware and software, but you have less control over what it's doing behind the scenes.

Using the hacker sense of the term, your computer is "owned" by other people.

It used to be that only malicious hackers were trying to own your computers. Whether through worms, viruses, Trojans or other means, they would try to install some kind of remote-control program onto your system. Then they'd use your computers to sniff passwords, make fraudulent bank transactions, send spam, initiate phishing attacks and so on. Estimates are that somewhere between hundreds of thousands and millions of computers are members of remotely controlled "bot" networks. Owned.

Now, things are not so simple. There are all sorts of interests vying for control of your computer. There are media companies that want to control what you can do with the music and videos they sell you. There are companies that use software as a conduit to collect marketing information, deliver advertising or do whatever it is their real owners require. And there are software companies that are trying to make money by pleasing not only their customers, but other companies they ally themselves with. All these companies want to own your computer.

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Home PCs under sustained attack

Windows PCs could suffer from malicious attacks as often as four times an hour, an experiment carried out by the BBC suggests.

Source: Webuser Magazine / Ben Camm-Jones

An unprotected PC, set up by a reporter on the BBC News website, was used as a 'honeypot' for potential attackers. It logged an attack that could have rendered it unusable at least once an hour and during certain periods at four times this rate.


Once the PC was connected to the internet, it was left switched on but not used, so all the attacks logged were not solicited in any way. In the course of seven hours, the 'slammer' worm struck three times, and the 'blaster' worm appeared 11 times.


Another type of attack suffered by the BBC's honeypot PC involved port scanning. This is where another hijacked PC or 'bot' attempted to send data packets to the honeypot PC to assess how many 'ports' - essentially a channel of communication between the Pc and the internet - there were open and how secure they were. A collection of hijacked PCs, known as a 'botnet', is often used to make thousands of these scans on multiple systems at any one time. A vulnerable system could even be recruited to become part of a botnet itself, without the user's knowledge.

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Popcorn.net

We currently recommend that users do not download the version of Popcorn.net Download Manager or its components that we tested, unless the user is comfortable with the level of risk we identify or until the application is updated consistent with the recommendations in this report.

Source: StopBadware.org

We find that the Popcorn.net Download Manager and components related to it are badware because it uses deceptive tactics to persuade users to install adware components without disclosure, as well as components that reportedly behave as a Trojan horse, allowing a third party unrestricted access to the user's computer. In addition, the application could not be uninstalled by conventional means, making it impossible for the average user to get rid of.

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Vista to Downgrade Pirates

Windows Genuine Advantage, the program launched by Microsoft to try and ensure only legitimate copies of the operating system were sold, today got a new name and a few more teeth.

Source: Internet.com / Ed Sutherland

Set to appear in Vista and Microsoft's next-generation server, Windows Software Protection Platform scans for unauthorized systems and downgrades features if a counterfeit is found.

"Customers that use genuine Windows Vista products should expect, and will get, an enhanced set of features that will not work on non-genuine or unlicensed versions," Cori Hartje, Director, Microsoft Genuine Software Initiative, said in a statement.

Set to appear in Vista and "Longhorn," the technology will eventually be added to more Microsoft products, the software maker said.

Microsoft said 35 percent of all software installed worldwide in 2005 was pirated, resulting in $35 billion lost, according to the Business Software Alliance.

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WinAntiVirus 2006

We currently recommend that users do not install the version of WinAntiVirus 2006 that we tested, unless the user is comfortable with the level of risk we identify or until the application is updated consistent with the recommendations in this report.

Source: StopBadware.org

We find that WinAntiVirus 2006 (Unregistered Version) is badware because it makes exaggerated claims of system vulnerability in order to encourage the user to purchase the full version. In essence, WinAntiVirus 2006 (Unregistered Version) belongs to that subset of badware that is often termed "nagware" or "extortionware" -- that is, software that exists solely to encourage (generally through deceptive or annoying means) users to upgrade to a full version of the product. In addition, WinAntiVirus 2006 (Unregistered Version) automatically disables Windows Firewall without notifying to the user. It also fails to disclose to the user that the program will run automatically at start-up, continuously run a process in the background, or download updates without user consent.

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Families need web savvy kids

Parents desperately need the help of their web savvy kids to surf the internet, new research reveals.

Source: Webuser / Veronique De Freitas

Findings from ntl:Telewest and Virgin Mobile show that web savvy kids are the leaders when it comes to new technology, with two-thirds of adults revealing they regularly ask an under 18 year-old to help them with their mobile phone, internet and TV.

According to ntl:Telewest and Virgin Mobile, 100 per cent of under 16 year-old youngsters, which the company describes as Technically Able Noughties Kids (TANKs), think they understand technology better than their parents.

The figures also show that a third of TANKs have an online profile in Myspace and over half of them regularly use YouTube when 82 per cent of adults had never heard of the service.

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