Archive for the ‘IT News’ Category

Warning over Michael Jackson email virus

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

Computer security firm Sophos issued a warning about an Internet virus transmitted from a mass email claiming to contain secret songs and photos of Michael Jackson.

The email comes with the subject “Remembering Michael Jackson” and is sent from “sarah@michaeljackson.com”, Sophos said in a statement sent by its Asia office in Singapore.

It tells recipients that an attached file titled “Michael songs and pictures.zip” contains secret songs and photos of the pop music icon, who died of a heart attack in the United States on June 25.

Sophos warned computer users not to open the attachment.

“By opening the attachment, computer users are exposed to infection. Once infected, a computer will begin automatically spreading the worm onto other Internet users,” Sophos said.

“Besides spreading via email, Sophos experts note that the malware is also capable of spreading as an Autorun component on USB memory sticks.”

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, said many computer users are likely to be tempted to open the attachment because of the feverish interest in the King of Pop’s sudden death.

“But sensible computer users should by now be well aware that cybercriminals will be quick to exploit news events to spread malware and spam,” he said.

“Anyone who receives this email should delete it immediately to save themselves the embarrassment of infecting their email contacts.”

Moblin v2.0 Beta: Linux Netbook’s Distribution Released

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Moblin, short for mobile Linux, is an open source project focused on developing software for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and other new categories of devices such as netbooks and nettops. Intel launched the Moblin.org site in July 2007 and significantly updated the site in April 2008 with the launch of the Intel Atom processor family at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai. A custom SDK is also available on the site. The Moblin 2 OS was specifically designed to run on an Intel Atom processor in a netbook. In April 2009 Intel turned Moblin over to the Linux Foundation. Watch the below video for an introduction to the new beta version :


EU Fines Intel for Anti-Competitive Practices.

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Computer chipmaker Intel has been fined a record 1.06bn euros ($1.45bn; £948m) by the European Commission for anti-competitive practices.

The Santa Clara, California-based company dominated the 22-billion-euro (30-billion-dollar) market for the ubiquitous x86 CPUs with a 70-percent share during the more than five years it was accused of breaking EU antitrust rules.

“Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years,” EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said.

“Such a serious and sustained violation of the EU’s antitrust rules cannot be tolerated,” she added.

The commission said Intel had used wholly or partially hidden rebates to get PC makers such as Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and NEC to buy all or almost all their CPU supplies from Intel instead of US rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

“Naturally, the commission favours strong, vigorous price competition, including by dominant firms,” Kroes told reporters in Brussels.

“However, Intel went beyond normal price competition by giving rebates to computer manufacturers on the condition that they bought all, or almost all, of their CPUs from Intel.”

Intel general counsel Bruce Sewell defended the rebates, arguing that computer makers approach the company seeking reductions and stressing that “there is no evidence that we were pricing below cost.”

EU antitrust regulators also accused Intel of paying computer manufacturers to halt or put off the launch of products containing microchips competing with Intel’s x86.

In addition, Intel allegedly paid a major electronic retailer, chain store MediaMarkt, to stock computers equipped with its chips.

Intel has announced that it will appeal against the verdict.

ESET Smart Security Wins CNET Editors’ Choice Award

Friday, May 8th, 2009

ESET, the leader in proactive threat protection, today announced that it received a CNET Editors’ Choice award for ESET Smart Security 4, the recently updated integrated security solution combining antivirus, anti-spyware and anti-spam functionality with a personal firewall. The coveted CNET Editors’ Choice award recognizes outstanding consumer electronics that represent the best available choice for quality, performance, design, service, value, and its logo is a mark of excellence denoting the best possible investment for consumers.

CNET Editors’ Choice winners are recognized as top products in their respective technology categories, and contribute to the standard by which all future products are judged. A key selection requirement is that it must also change the competitive landscape of its market, whether through innovative features, exceptional value for the price, remarkable ease of use, or a demonstrable boost to the lives of its users.

“ESET Smart Security is surprisingly light, consuming around 50MB of RAM when running, and ESET NOD32 has consistently scored near the top of several independent antivirus testing organization ratings for finding the most malware while encountering fewer false positives than most,” said Seth Rosenblatt, senior associate editor, CNET Downloads. “For getting all your security tools in one box, Smart Security is an effective and well-respected choice.”

“We are very excited about this honor from CNET as their Editors’ Choice award has become the hallmark of technology quality and innovation, and its logo is a symbol consumers know and trust,” said Anton Zajac, CEO, ESET LLC. “This is an exceptional achievement and we are very proud to be recognized for our dedication and commitment to providing users with the most advanced protection from evolving security threats.”

Built on the same engine that powers ESET NOD32 Antivirus, ESET Smart Security 4 also features anti-spam and firewall functionality, both of which received high marks in usability and effectiveness. ESET’s detection and diagnostic features safeguard users from deceptive forms of malware by digging deeper into the operating system, files and encrypted browser traffic to identify and eliminate hidden malware threats. ESET Smart Security 4 proactively blocks most new malware attacks before they can compromise systems or steal data.

For information on ESET Smart Security 4 and the CNET Editors’ Choice award, please visit http://www.cnet.com/editors-choice


Printronix Wins Bid for Acquisition of U.S.-Based Assets of TallyGenicom

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Printronix Plans to Market TallyGenicom Brand and Product Lineup in Parallel to Its Flagship Offerings, Creating a Stronger Worldwide Market Presence With Segmented Industry Offerings, Expanded Solutions, and Even Higher Levels of Service and Support

Printronix Inc., a leading integrated supply-chain printing solutions manufacturer, announced today that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has named Printronix as the winning bidder in the court-supervised auction of certain assets of TallyGenicom LP, the U.S.-based entity of TallyGenicom. The acquired assets include the intellectual property, inventory and equipment necessary to offer TallyGenicom’s line-matrix and portions of its serial-matrix and laser printer series along with the Printronix-branded product and solutions portfolio.

“We are excited at the opportunity to serve TallyGenicom’s long-standing, valued customer base,” said Robert A. Kleist, chief executive officer, Printronix. “One of the reasons we pursued this acquisition is that we respect TallyGenicom’s strong name recognition and technology platform worldwide. We plan to market the TallyGenicom brand and product lineup in parallel to our Printronix offerings. We believe the combination of Printronix’s and TallyGenicom’s strong market presence will herald an era of broader geographic reach, segmented industry offerings, expanded solutions and higher levels of customer satisfaction.”

By adding the TallyGenicom products to its lineup, Printronix will be able to broaden the geographic scope of its business as well as serve more industry sectors. Printronix expects the dual brand strategy to generate efficiencies that will benefit its global community. Most notably, the TallyGenicom acquisition permits Printronix to serve banking, government and health care customers better. Printronix also can work with more customers through the organic, geographic and acquisition growth that this transaction permits.

Today’s announcement sets in motion another milestone in a series of strategic decisions made since Vector Capital completed its acquisition of Printronix in January 2008.

“Against the backdrop of a challenging global economic landscape, this acquisition represents a big and bold step toward Printronix’s future success,” said Amish Mehta, partner, Vector Capital. “In fact, the TallyGenicom acquisition is another marker in a succession of global competitive initiatives, all designed to position Printronix as the most trusted manufacturer of industrial and back-office printing as well as printing compliance solutions in the world.”

During the integration of acquired assets, a Printronix transition team will work with TallyGenicom to facilitate the transition. Printronix has offered select TallyGenicom employees employment, and others will be retained through the transition period. Printronix will continue to evaluate staffing needs — as well as other aspects of engineering, branding, marketing and logistics — during the upcoming months of integration.

About Printronix Inc.

Since 1974, Printronix Inc. has created innovative printing solutions for the industrial marketplace and supply chain. The company is a worldwide leader in enterprise solutions for line-matrix printing and has earned an outstanding reputation for its high-performance thermal bar code and fanfold laser printing solutions. Printronix also has become an established leader in pioneering technologies, including radio frequency identification (RFID) printing, bar code compliance and networked printer management. Printronix is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. For company information, see www.printronix.com.

Internet Explorer 8 Released

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 8 has been released and can be downloaded now for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.

The final build of Internet Explorer 8 has been released in 25 languages. You can download it directly from these links:

MS Windows XP 32-bit (16.1 MB)

– MS Windows XP 64-bit (32.3 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2003 32-bit (16.0 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2003 64-bit (32.3 MB)

– MS Windows Vista 32-bit (13.2 MB)

– MS Windows Vista 64-bit (24.3 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2008 32-bit (13.2 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2008 64-bit (24.3 MB)

The final build number is 8.0.6001.18702.

An overview of the features and benefits of Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer 8 can be found here. I will try to put the new Internet Explorer 8 in comparison to Mozilla’s Firefox 3 and get back to you with the results.

Hotmail Outage

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Hotmail experienced a service outage this week, as countless Hotmail.com customers were unable to access their email due to a server going down.  Users said they were receiving a “Server is too busy” message when they tried to log into Hotmail, which has more than 375 million active users worldwide, according to Microsoft.

The Twitter reports were so widespread that Microsoft even sent out a message on its own WindowsLive Twitter feed letting people know it was aware of the outage, and then again when the outage was repaired.

This was the second outage for a major online e-mail service this week. On Monday, Google’s Gmail service went down for as many as 24 to 36 hours for some users.

For Microsoft and Google, which are competing to bring more Web-based services to consumers and businesses, e-mail has been a proving ground for how many users their online services can support. Outages raise questions about the ability of those companies and other online service providers to maintain a consistent quality of service for end users.

Mozilla Firefox 3 Release v3.0.7, released on March 4, 2009

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Firefox 3 is the best and most secure web browser available today. It really is the one to use to avoid all those pop-ups, spywares and malwares.

On March 4, version 3.0.7 was introduced. It several issues found in Firefox 3.0.6:

  • Fixed several security issues.
  • Fixed several stability issues.
  • Official releases for the Estonian, Kannada, and Telugu languages are now available.
  • Items in the “File” menu show as inactive after using the “Print” item from that menu – switching to a new tab restores them (bug 425844). This issue has been fixed.
  • For some users, cookies would appear to go “missing” after a few days (bug 444600).
  • Mac users of the Flashblock add-on, experienced an issue where sound from the Flash plug-in would continue to play for a short time after closing a tab or window (bug 474022).
  • Fixed several issues related to accessibility features.
  • See the Firefox 3.0.6 release notes for changes in previous releases.

See the complete list of bugs fixed.

ADAOX Launches ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 4 In The Middle East

Friday, March 6th, 2009

ADAOX Middle East, the regional business development centre of ESET NOD32 Antivirus, today announced the launch of the latest versions of ESET’s award-winning security solutions – ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 in the Middle East region. ESET’s new generation security solutions deliver its most effective protection against emerging threats. Built on the unique and time-tested ThreatSense technology that has made ESET into a leader in proactive protection – ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 – were optimized for even greater protection and enhanced usability, while retaining their signature small system footprint.

“We are delighted to launch ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 to our customers in the Middle East, who have come to trust ESET’s proactive protection immensely. Version 4 of these security solutions surpasses all previous versions and is the most effective software to combat malware and emerging threats.We are confident these new security solutions will be well received by our customers and partners in this region,” said Neo Neophytou, Managing Director of ADAOX Middle East.

Key benefits:

o Protection from the Unknown – Award-winning ThreatSense technology delivers the most effective protection against new attacks on the market.
o Built for Speed – ESET’s solutions are lightning fast, delivering superior scanning performance.
o Easy on System Resources – ESET typically uses only 35-40MB of system memory, a fraction of what other products consume. Laptop users will welcome the new automatic energy-conserving battery mode.
o Easy on You – more user friendly than ever before – from the compact and intuitive interface, the minimal use of alerts, to self-training firewall – you will be up and running in a snap, hardly noticing the solution quietly working in the background.

Users at home, but especially in SMB and large enterprises will come to appreciate dozens of useful new features and improvements in usability. On top of being faster and lighter, in ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 include the following:

Self-Defense – a built-in technology to prevent malicious software from corrupting or disabling the system’s security.
SysRescue – allows user to create computer recovery medium on a CD and USB key for system boot-up.
Portable media access control, including USB, CD, flash disc, closing this vector of potential malware infiltration.
Encrypted communication – developed for Windows XP and Windows Vista to scan HTTPs and POP3s protocols for malware. Included is also the so-called “learning mode,” for the state-of-the-art firewall, affording even greater level of protection.
Support of More E-mail clients, including Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird
Non-Graphical User Interface with the option to switch automatically to high contrast mode when in Windows.
Smart Optimalization – function permitting increase in the scanning speed
Integrated ESET SysInspector – a powerful diagnostic tool for in-depth analysis of the operating system, including running processes, registry content, startup items and network connections.
Integrated Anti-Stealth – advanced technology to protect against rootkits
Support for CISCO Network Admission Control

“ESET Smart Security 4 is the result of ESET´s continuous quest for perfection in PC security. We´ve in essence created artificial intelligence that is incredibly efficient and fast in recognizing malware,” Miroslav Trnka, CEO of ESET.
ESET Smart Security 4 was developed as a highly streamlined solution integrating 4 functionalities: antivirus, antispyware, antispam, and a personal firewall.

ESET Smart Security 4 Business Edition includes a Remote Administrator and a LAN update “mirror” function to easily monitor and update workstations across large networks.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 is the company’s flagship solution incorporating antivirus and antispyware functionalities.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Business Edition includes a Remote Administrator and a LAN update “mirror” to easily monitor and update workstations.

The Latest, 4th generation of ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 will be available starting March 2nd, 2009. License holders of previous versions can take advantage of a free update.

Please refer to the following URL for your free trial product download :
http://www.am4computers.com/main/viewProducts.php?Category=106