Critical vulnerability found in Netscape browser

A highly critical vulnerability has been discovered in the Netscape Web browser, which could compromise a user's system. A boundary error in GIF image processing can be exploited to cause a heap-based buffer overflow via a specially crafted image. Successful exploitation may allow execution of arbitrary code. ...more

And also today (23-Mar-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. Red Hat in the black The Linux vendor Red Hat has posted its fourth-quarter financial results and they beat the analysts' expectations. Revenues doubled from the year before, rising to $27m and the company is bullish about the next quarter. ...more

Apple countersues Creative Technology

Apple has responded to Creative Technology's attempt to stop sales of iPods by countersuing the rival MP3 player maker. Apple claims that the US division of Singapore-based Creative has infringed four patents pertaining to portable music players. The lawsuit was filed the same day that Creative sued Apple over an alleged violation of its patent. ...more

Microsoft and the Mounties combine to track down child porn

A new software system aimed at tracking down paedophiles on the internet has been developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with the help of Microsoft. The system, known as Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) was developed following a personal plea to Bill Gates by Sergeant Paul Gillespie, a Canadian Police Detective in 2003. Following the plea by email, Gates ordered a Microsoft team to help out the Canadian law enforcement authorities to develop the customised program they needed. ...more

Windows is more secure than Linux, claim researchers

Researchers have unveiled a study at the RSA security conference that concludes Windows is more secure than Linux. Richard Ford, a computer-science professor at the Florida Institute of Technology and Herbert Thompson, director of security research and training at Security Innovation, claim that Red Hat's Linux is vulnerable for more than twice as long as Windows. Servers running Windows Server 2003 and Red Hat Enterprise Server 3 were tested for security with databases, scripting engines and Web servers. ...more