An updated software that checks whether the user’s copy of Windows XP Pro is a genuine product. Alex Kochis who is the Microsoft director of product marketing and management said in a blog post that the change only affects XP Pro since it is “the product edition that is most often stolen.”

The article at PC World notes the two features in this update. First, the desktop screen background will be black the next time the user logs on his or her system if his or her copy is found to be pirated. The other feature is that it will display a banner which says that his or her operating system is not genuine.

Source: PC World

A new update has been released for Boot Camp which is a software that enable Intel-chipped Macs to run a Windows operating system.

This new version fixes bugs and one of the main features of it is that it supports the upcoming third service pack for Windows XP.

A software called Parallels which function very similar to Boot Camp has sold its millionth copy. This news was released before the Boot Camp update.

Users should download this new version if they are planning on installing Service Pack #3 for Windows XP.

Source: Half Life Source

A new spam about Fedex has been circulating the web last thursday according to a blog entry at Sophos. The title or subject line of the spam is Tracking N (plus random digits).

It notifies the user that their package was not delivered to a recipient because the recipient’s address is incorrect. Then, it instructs the user to print the invoice copy which is attached in the email.

The attachment is a zip file with an executable file. Sophos detects this file as Troj/FakeAV-BY and they posted the message in their blog entry to show what it looks like.

Source: Sophos

Sophos has posted a new blog entry about a bogus contractual agreement. The email contain a zip file attachment and the author, SKM, notes that the file inside the zip file is an executable file and it is also a malware. It is identified as Troj/Agent-HLV.

The blog entry contains an example of what the agreement looks like. It consists of two paragraphs and it tells the reader that the sender prepared a contract and added some paragraphs that the receiver requested in the contract. The sender also tells the reader that they are ready to make a payment for the first consignment.

Source: Sophos

An email which contains an attachment with a filename of dontopen.exe has been received by Sophos. When the user runs the executable file, it will display a message and it will shut off the computer of the user in 60 seconds according to Sophos.

The display says, “This system is shutting down. Please save all work in progress and  log off. Any unsaved changes will be lost.” It also has another sentence but the article covered the last word.

The file was identified as Troj/Shutdown-I. A screenshot of the message was included in the article. The author notes that they the clock back so it does not say 60 seconds in the screenshot.

Source: Sophos

An XSS filter will be included on Internet Explorer version 8 according to an article from The Register.

The engineers will make sure that the filter will not slow down the browser or choke on false positives. “It is challenging to mitigate XSS in a way that balances the needs of compatibility, security, and performance,” writes David Ross who is a Microsoft Security Vulnerability Research & Defense blogger.

Giorgio Maone who is the creator of a Firefox plugin called NoScript told The Register that, “If you deploy a security feature already knowing how to work-around it, I think it’s more security theater than anything else.”

Source: The Register

According to various tech sites, approximately  35% of new computers downgrade to Windows XP from Windows Vista.

The downgrade occurs either at the factory or the buyer downgrades the system by himself or herself. The study is based on the past six months and on over 3,000 PCs.

Bill Lindner, a writer at infopackets.com notes that “it would be interesting to see a more thorough examination performed.”

The downgrade option is available to those who purchase a Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate operating system as well as Vista Enterprise OS.

Source: Infopackets

Sophos has detected two types of scams recently. The first one is about an ecard and the second one is about Russian Brides.

The ecard scam lets the user know that someone sent them an ecard with a “dear friend” message included in the ‘To’ field of the address. It contains a link to a site that ends with a .exe extension. Sophos notes that it is Troj/Meredr-Gen.

The Russian Bride email lets the user know that he (the sender) is sending a letter to his bride (supposedly the user). He wants you to send money and there is also an attachment which is the same type of file as the attachment in the ecard spam.

Source: Sophos

Users who are using Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 as well as Windows XP with Service Pack 2 are affected by a flaw that has been discovered recently on Apple’s multimedia viewer, QuickTime.

If a user opens a malicious file, a hacker could take full control of his or her computer according to Petko D. Petkov.

He said, “I highly doubt that anyone knows how to exploit this vulnerability. I haven’t shared the details with anyone, and the actual vulnerability is different enough to be rather challenging for even some of the most gifted hackers out there.”

Source: COMPUTERWORLD

Those who want to watch the online coverage of NBC of the 2008 summer olympic games needs to have Silverlight 2, a video player, installed on their computer. Unfortunately, old Mac systems such as iMacs, iBooks, Mac minis and PowerBooks do not have the capability to run the video player according to an L.A. Times blog. This is the same case on a computer which is running a Linux operating system.

The article includes a list of the player’s features which includes a picture-in-picture thumbnail and the ability to stream four events at once.

If a user attempts to stream a video, he or she will be greeted with a screen which lists technical requirements about the video player.

Source: Information Week