Virus Alert! (Mar 2)
Due to an increased rate of submissions, Symantec Security Response has upgraded W32.Netsky.D@mm from a Category 3 to a Category 4 as of March 1, 2004.
W32.Netsky.D@mm is a mass-mailing worm that is a variant of W32.Netsky.C@mm. The worm scans drives C through Z for email addresses and sends itself to those that are found.
The Subject, Body, and Attachment names vary. The attachment will have a .pif file extension.
Download: Netsky.D Removal tool
Other removal tools
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.beagle@mm.removal.tool.html
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.mydoom@mm.removal.tool.html
Microsoft’s Presence Server Marches Toward a Mid-March Launch (Mar 2)
Now known as MapPoint Location Server, Microsoft’s newest server product integrates location data into business and consumer applications.
Microsoft’s presence server — MapPoint Location Server — is looking like it will launch finally at the DevCon show in San Francisco in March. MapPoint Location Server has undergone at least two name changes in the past year and a half. Last summer, Microsoft rechristened the product, which originally was known as Microsoft Enterprise Location Server (MELS), as Microsoft Location Server (MLS). At that time, Microsoft expanded the beta program for the product and said it would ship by year-end 2003.
It sounds as if Microsoft hasn’t changed the feature set of MapPoint Location Server since it was known as Microsoft Location Server.
View full article: Microsoft’s Presence Server Marches Toward a Mid-March
Five new Bagles spreading (Mar 1)
Five new variants of the Bagle worm were released into the wild over the weekend, with two causing particular problems for enterprise antivirus software scanner technology, say experts.
Bagle versions C, D, E, F and G started propagating over the weekend and although the first three are very similar to the original Bagle–being spread through e-mail and infecting PCs of users who open the attachment–Bagle.F and Bagle.G are designed to slip past most enterprise antivirus gateways.
Mikko Hypponen, head of antivirus response at Finnish security company F-Secure, told ZDNet UK that the latest variant of the Bagle family is sent inside an encrypted Zip file attached to an e-mail that contains the password required to access the file. This means that enterprises are unlikely to detect the virus at the perimeter because .zip files are not usually blocked and the encryption means that antivirus scanners will not be able to unzip the file: “This way they get through many gateway scanners that will not be able to unzip the file to scan it.”
View full article: Five new Bagles spreading
eBay and Microsoft Office Extend Opportunity for Developers To Create Solutions That Enhance Trading on eBay (Mar 1)
eBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today invited third-party developers to tap into the Web services capabilities of both the eBay platform and the Microsoft® Office System to enhance trading on eBay. With the combined power of the two platforms, developers now have the opportunity to build innovative solutions that can greatly benefit buyers and sellers on eBay by giving users more control and flexibility in managing their transactions.
Using the enhanced capabilities of Microsoft Office Excel 2003 and Microsoft Office FrontPage® 2003, developers can create a variety of solutions that will help users increase their productivity on eBay. For example, solutions could enable eBay users to utilize Excel to manage dynamic listing data on eBay — such as pricing and bids — and update the data automatically as changes occur. Solutions also could enable users to list multiple items on eBay simultaneously or create a Web site that displays their eBay item listings.
“Using the Microsoft Office System with eBay enables developers to help eBay sellers more effectively manage inventory, access the most up-to-date pricing data, and quickly and easily build a customized Web site to showcase products to eBay buyers,” said Debbie Brackeen, director for the eBay Developers Program. “We are excited about extending the eBay platform and anticipate that these capabilities will foster innovation in our developer community.”
View full Press Release: eBay and Microsoft Office Extend Opportunity for Developers To Create Solutions That Enhance Trading on eBay
10 Questions For Bill Gates (Mar 1)
He’s not just the chairman of Microsoft and the richest man in the world, with $46 billion in his bank account. Later this year the Queen of England will make Bill Gates a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his philanthropic work. TIME’s Lev Grossman caught up with him on a speaking tour of college campuses.
Is there something Ironic about a college dropout lecturing people on the importance of a good education?
You could say that. If you’ve got a chance to be at the beginning of a paradigm shift, like we were, then going on leave for a year or two to see if you’ve really got it might make sense. But by and large, finishing your education is a great thing to do.
View full article: 10 Questions For Bill Gates
Brainier networking gear to the rescue (Mar 1)
Networking equipment makers are adding “intelligence” to their gear in an effort to protect bandwidth resources from being hijacked by spammers, denial-of-service attackers and peer-to-peer application users.
TurnTide, a 20-person company based in Conshohocken, Penn., is the latest to take this approach. Last week, the start-up introduced an “antispam router,” which it claims can eliminate up to 90 percent of unsolicited messages.
Unlike spam filters–which sit near e-mail servers, examining every e-mail message and quarantining those that look bad–the antispam router looks at the actual packets and determines which ones are likely to have come from a spammer. Using features inherent in the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), it can limit the amount of traffic being sent from these sources.
“It’s almost impossible to differentiate spam based on the content of the message,” said Peter Christy, co-founder and principal analyst at NetsEdge Research Group. “But normal people don’t send out millions of messages. If you’re looking at IP source and destination addresses, it’s much harder to conceal that you are spammer.”
View full article: Brainier networking gear to the rescue
Microsoft SharePoint™ Developers’ Conference 2003 (Mar 1)
The Microsoft SharePoint™ Developers’ Conference 2003 presented an opportunity to learn about the upcoming release of Microsoft SharePoint products and technologies, including Microsoft Windows® SharePoint Services, Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Web Parts, Microsoft Office FrontPage® 2003, Microsoft Office InfoPath™ 2003, Microsoft SQL Server™, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, and the Microsoft Office System—among others. The content focused on the developer extensibility of these technologies, providing a head start to extending this terrific collaboration platform, built on Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 and ASP.NET.
Sessions include…
D306: Microsoft SharePoint Application Architecture
D310: Deploying Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies
S270: Introduction to Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003
T233: Developing Custom Microsoft SharePoint Solutions with Microsoft FrontPage
T250: Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services: End-to-End Security Model
T302: Programming the Microsoft SharePoint Object Model, Web Services, and Events
T304: Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server Object Model and Web Services
T310: Debugging, Packaging, and Deploying Web Part Applications
T321: Microsoft FrontPage: Build XML Data-driven Web Sites
T330: Connecting Enterprise Applications to Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server v2.0
T350: Building Applications with People Objects in Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server
T401: Building Administrative Applications for Microsoft SharePoint
T406: Mobility Solutions for Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies
T409: Search Extensibility 1: Using Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server Search Technology
T410: Search Extensibility 2: Extending the Reach of Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server Search Technology with Protocol Handlers and IFilters
T413: Microsoft Office 2003: Instant Messaging and Alerts in Microsoft SharePoint
T416: Creating Web Parts with Connections>
T419: Workflow Options 2: Document Library Events and Building Workflow Solutions in Microsoft SharePoint
Download: Microsoft SharePoint™ Developers’ Conference 2003
Caller ID for E-Mail Technical Specification: The Next Step to Deterring Spam (Feb 27)
“Caller ID for E-Mail: The Next Step to Deterring Spam” is Microsoft’s draft specification to address the widespread problem of domain spoofing. (Domain spoofing refers specifically to the use of someone else’s domain name when sending a message, and is part of the larger spoofing problem, the practice of forging the sender’s address on e-mail messages.)
Caller-ID for e-mail would verify that each e-mail message originates from the Internet domain it claims to come from. Eliminating domain spoofing will help legitimate senders protect their domain names and reputations, and help receivers more effectively identify and filter junk e-mail.
Download: Caller ID for E-Mail Technical Specification: The Next Step to Deterring Spam
Bill Gates still the richest man on Earth (Feb 27)
Author J.K. Rowling, creator of “Harry Potter,” and the founders of the Google search engine have landed on Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires after a year when rallying stocks and a strong euro swelled the list to the longest it’s ever been.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates remains perched atop the list for the 10th straight year, but investor Warren Buffett is nipping at his heels. Gates’ net worth is now estimated at $46.6 billion, still less than half the $100 billion it peaked at in 1998, but up about 13 percent from the $40.7 billion Forbes attributed to him in 2003.
View full article: Bill Gates still the richest man on Earth
SharePoint Products and Technologies Templates: Web Part Templates for Visual Studio .NET (Feb 27)
Web Part developers can use Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET to build Web Part assemblies for use in Microsoft SharePoint™ Products and Technologies. These templates are provided to help developers create Web Parts. The templates are similar to the default server control file and project templates included with Visual Studio .NET.
Download: SharePoint Products and Technologies Templates: Web Part Templates for Visual Studio .NET
Antispam Registries Aren’t Official (Feb 27)
While the Federal Trade Commission investigates setting up a national do-not-spam registry, new private sites are claiming to keep users spam-free now–but they lack the force of law.
The recently enacted CAN-SPAM law exhorts the FTC to consider the feasibility of a national, government-sponsored do-not-spam registry similar to its recent Do Not Call Registry restricting telephone solicitations. Last week the agency issued a formal request for information to vendors interested in helping create a national do-not-spam registry. The FTC will present a summary of its research to lawmakers in mid-June.
Meanwhile, the FTC issued a warning earlier in February about a private do-not-spam registry that offered to do the same job. That site, unsub.us, has apparently shut down. But another site appears to have have taken its place: Thedonotspamregistry.com claims that registrants, by handing over their e-mail and IP addresses, will be kept spam-free.
View full article: Antispam Registries Aren’t Official
Microsoft Expands Office Solution Accelerator Program (Feb 27)
In good economic times and bad, companies seek to cut costs, increase productivity and boost revenue. To help organizations achieve these goals, Microsoft has expanded the Office Solution Accelerator program by making the accelerators available at no charge to all Microsoft industry partners and the Microsoft business customers they serve.
Peter Rinearson, Corporate Vice President, Information Worker Business Unit
Click image for high-res version.
Designed for and built on the Microsoft Office System, Office Solution Accelerators are software components, templates and best practices guides crafted to solve common business problems and ease the burden of everyday business tasks. Each accelerator is designed to help develop a solution to a problem, enabling a person or team to accomplish a specific task, such as streamlining recruiting functions, consolidating administrative tasks, creating customized reports and writing proposals.
By making it easier for industry partners and their customers to take part in the Office Solution Accelerator program, Microsoft expects to establish a broader audience for partner-built solutions that solve customer problems.
To better understand why Microsoft has decided to extend the reach of its Office Solution Accelerators program, PressPass spoke with Peter Rinearson, Corporate Vice President, Information Worker Business Unit.
View full article: Microsoft Expands Office Solution Accelerator Program
Windows XP … Reloaded (Feb 26)
Despite Microsoft’s repeated denials, the company will indeed release an interim version of Windows XP that will bridge the gap between the initial XP release and Windows Longhorn, which is currently due in late 2005 at the earliest. The interim XP version will ship as a new retail product that replaces existing retail boxed copies of XP and as a set of updates, called XP Reloaded, that existing XP users can install separately. According to sources I contacted this morning, XP Reloaded will include all the features from XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), which is due by midyear, as well as a host of other unique features, including Windows Media Player (WMP) 10.
Other details about XP Reloaded are unknown at this time, although the update kit apparently will include a Web-based installer application that will let users choose optional features. Reports about an XP Version 2 release first cropped up more than a year ago, but Microsoft officials repeatedly denied that the company planned to issue such a release. In early 2004, when the company revealed the new security features that XP SP2 will include, the rumors resurfaced. But the XP Reloaded OS refresh will clearly include a lot more than security updates, possibly in a bid to revive consumer excitement about XP while Microsoft preps the ever-delayed Longhorn release.
View: Windows XP … Reloaded
Caller ID for E-Mail Technical Specification (Feb 26)
“Caller ID for E-Mail: The Next Step to Deterring Spam” is the Microsoft draft specification to address the widespread problem of domain spoofing. Domain spoofing refers specifically to the use of someone else’s domain name when sending a message, and is part of the larger spoofing problem, the practice of forging the sender’s address on e-mail messages.
Caller ID for e-mail would verify that each e-mail message originates from the Internet domain it claims to come from. Eliminating domain spoofing will help legitimate senders protect their domain names and reputations, and help recipients more effectively identify and filter junk e-mail.
View: Caller ID for E-Mail Technical Specification
Security vendor mass-mails worm to clients (Feb 26)
Antivirus firm F-Secure has apologised for sending the Netsky.B virus to several thousand of its UK customers and partners via a mailing list.
The email apology said: “Because of a human error, you may have received an email infected with the Netsky.B virus that was relayed through our external email list server and was resent to our UK mailing list.
“The virus did not originate from our network – it was sent by an unknown party to the list address. If you had up-to-date antivirus installed, the virus has been stopped automatically already and no further steps are necessary on your part.”
Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure’s director of antivirus research, said the mailing list was outside of the firm’s normal email scanning.
