Microsoft issues two critical security alerts

Two 'critical' vulnerabilities appear in the latest security bulletin from Microsoft. One is yet another problem arising in the Windows Metafiles while the other occurs in Windows Media Player. The company has also flagged a number of 'important' security issues. ...more

US under simulated hacking attack

For the past week, the US has been under a simulated cyber attack. The exercise, known as Cyber Storm, was intended to test America's defences in response to a full-scale cyber attack by hackers. The main aim was to discover how well the US is prepared to respond not only to attacks on military and other security services but also against energy, information technology, telecommunications, and transport infrastructures. ...more

Adobe updates support for camera RAW formats

Adobe has released a new version of its DNG Converter software, which, as its name suggests, converts RAW formats - which differ from camera to camera - into Adobe's DNG digital negative format, which the company is trying to get adopted as a standard. Additional cameras supported by this update comprise the EOS 20D, PowerShot S70, PowerShot G6 and EOS-1Ds Mark II from Canon and the Maxxum 7D/Dynax 7D and DiMage A200 from Konica Minolta. Camera RAW and DNG Converter 2. ...more

Intel to demo Napa notebook platform next month

Intel intends to show off its latest low power Centrino system for notebooks at next month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The platform, codenamed 'Napa' (successor to 'Dothan' and before that 'Carmel', which was the original Centrino trinity of processor, chipset and wireless networking) is said to provide higher performance with lower power consumption. The Napa set includes both the upcoming 'Yonah' processor and a new wireless communications chip. ...more

Microsoft lists applications needing attention after XP update

Microsoft has officially listed the programs that may stop working on Windows once Windows XP service Pack 2 is installed. Among the 45 apps needing attention are such heavyweights as Visual Studio .NET (note, only needed for Remote DCOM debugging), SQL Server (again, for remote debugging), and Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 8. ...more