Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Coming February 22nd

According to sources Microsoft will release the first service pack update for Windows 7 on February 22nd. The service pack has reached the RTM stage and sent to OEMs earlier this week.

The service pack is said to be a hefty 1.2GB download will feature all prior updates and fixes and Microsoft stated the update will improve networking, security and mobility.   Read More….

Benefits of Cloud Computing

In a nutshell Cloud Computing is the process of having on-demand hosted computing services provided outside your own network environment through a vendor’s Public or Private Data Center. Cloud Computing can be broken into three distinct categories. They are SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), and PaaS (Platform as a Service).

Even though the concepts of Cloud Computing have been around for years, it still remains in its infancy. However, its adoption rate has been rather explosive lately, due in part to its seamlessness and ease of information integration.Cloud Computing has many benefits for medium and small businesses by way of collaboration and Productivity. For instance users will have the ability to work on the same projects in real-time from any location whether it’s the office, at home or an overseas location, at any time. The office never closes.

Another reason Cloud Computing has become so enticing is businesses can cut expenses on hardware and IT staffing to support the very same services as if they were on-site (Break/Fix issues are resolved by the vendor and the customer is never aware since services are redundant). Security is also enhanced because leading vendors adhere to higher levels of security features that are cost prohibitive to most medium and small businesses. In these days of high profile data breaches added security is must have.

Businesses should also consider their IT teams will not have a steep learning curve adapting to Cloud based services, since most user environment applications are similar in design to those they are accustomed to using today. Another added convenience is that Cloud Computing rids businesses of the old and costly software licensing requirement for every application/user. Cloud Computing allows the business to buy services on a time/usage metric.

If your business is looking to stay agile and save money, Cloud Computing may be the right direction to move.

Intel MeeGO Tablets Expected In June

Intel announced that it intends to launch tablets based on the tablet version of MeeGo 1.2 in June 2011.

It is understood that most of them will launch final hardware in Q3 2011. The tablet preview program has already started and some developers are submitting applications as we speak. Intel’s App Up center for tablet should also be ready in Q3 2011.

With the big launch slated for Q3 2011 we are sure that Intel can have some designs ready for a hardware launch rather than a paper event. Intel’s tablet strategy also relies on Windows 7 as well as on Gingerbread and Honeycomb, whatever can help the golden goal of selling more Atoms. ……Read more

Microsoft Warns of New Windows MHTML Bug

In a security alert issued Friday, Microsoft confirmed that a bug in Windows’ MHTML (MIME HTML) protocol handler can be used by attackers to run malicious scripts within Internet Explorer (IE) browser.

“The best way to think of this is to call it a variant of a cross-side scripting vulnerability,” said Andrew Storms, Director of Security Operations at nCircle Security. Cross-site scripting bugs, often shortened to XSS, can be used to insert malicious script into a Web page that can then take control of the session.

“An attacker could pretend to be the user, and act if as he was you on that specific site,” said Storms. “If you were at Gmail.com or Hotmail.com, he could send e-mail as you.”

“Such a script might collect user information, for example e-mail, spoof content displayed in the browser or otherwise interfere with the user’s experience,” said Angela Gunn, a Microsoft security spokeswoman, in a post to the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) blog.

The vulnerability went public last week when the Chinese Web site WooYun.org published proof-of-concept code.

MHTML is a Web page protocol that combines resources of several different formats — images, Java applets, Flash animations and the like — into a single file. Only Microsoft’s IE and Opera Software’s Opera support MHTML natively: Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari do not, and while Mozilla’s Firefox can, it requires an add-on to read and write MHTML files.

Wolfgang Kandek, the Chief Technology Officer at Qualys, pointed out that IE users are most at risk.  “While the vulnerability is located in a Windows component, Internet Explorer is the only known attacker vector,” said Kandek in an e-mail message. “Firefox and Chrome are not affected in their default configuration, as they do not support MHTML without the installation of specific add-on modules.”

All supported versions of Windows, including Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, contain the flawed protocol handler, one reason why Storms believes it will take Microsoft time to come up with a patch.

In place of a patch, Microsoft recommended that users lock down the MHTML protocol handler by running a “Fixit” tool it’s made available. The tool automates the process of editing the Windows registry, which if done carelessly could cripple a PC, and lets IE users continue to run MHTML files that include scripting by clicking through a warning.

Courtesy-TheGuruReview

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