New Bagle variants await instructions for control

New Bagle variants have been discovered and while they don't spread, they're just as dangerous as their mass-mailing siblings. Kaspersky says it has seen large numbers of the new Bagles and reports 15 variants of this latest version, differing in most part in the way they are packed, rather than the virus contained within. But F-Secure says there are at least two new variants of the Bagle worm. ...more

Novell backs up Unix claims against SCO

The Groklaw website reports that Novell has filed documents in its defence against SCO's claim of Slander of Title that clearly state Novell was to retain key Unix intellectual property that SCO claims it does not own. The case centres on SCO's belief that Novell is damaging SCO's revenue claims for the use of Unix intellectual property - that Novell is claiming that it never passed them on to SCO when it sold Unix back in 1995. However, the latest filing details minutes of a meeting of the board of Directors at Novell the very day before the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) to transfer Unix to SCO was signed. ...more

Gaming goes wireless

Linksys has released a wireless networking adapter for Ethernet-enabled PlayStations, Xboxes and GameCubes. The Wireless-B Game Adapter (WGA11B) plugs into a console's Ethernet port and can provide both wireless access to the Internet or, if two consoles are enables, wireless gaming between them. The adapter is based on the 802. ...more

Microsoft's Office Open XML format gets ECMA thumbs up

The ECMA organisation yesterday approved Microsoft's Office Open XML as a standard with the recommendation for its adoption under the ISO/IEC JTC 1 process. After more than a year's work by ECMA International and the involvement of the likes of Apple, Barclays Capital, BP, The British Library, Intel, Microsoft, Novell, Toshiba, and the United States Library of Congress, the Office Open XML formats are now deemed 'interoperable by design' and offering developers enough technical details to ensure 'predictable results and high fidelity interoperability'. Standardisation by ECMA gives Microsoft a fast track route to getting Office Open XML approved by the ISO organisation. ...more

Desktop search the new front line for security battle

The IT industry should stop worrying about PDA and mobile phone malware and should instead be preparing itself for an onslaught of desktop search engine attacks, top security experts say. Future predictions of malware trends were key to a number of different presentations and discussions held at last week's Virus Bulletin Conference in Dublin and it seems that current fears could be heading in the wrong direction. In a discussion on malware trends, some of the security industry's top experts said that current developments in PDA and phone malware are not a cause for concern. ...more