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Microsoft will patch Internet Explorer 0-day flaw used in targeted attacks on March 11

Mar06

by Sindy Cator on March 6, 2014 at 6:37 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

Microsoft today announced the latest Internet Explorer zero-day flaw (CVE-2014-0322) will be fixed on this month’s Patch Tuesday. The patch will thus be released this Tuesday March 11 at approximately 10:00 AM PDT.

On February 11, security firm FireEye discovered a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer 9 and Internet Explorer 10 was being exploited in the wild. The company followed up with more details on February 13, noting the US Veterans of Foreign Wars’ website was targeted with more sites discovered in the weeks to come.

On every Thursday of every month, Microsoft reveals what security patches it will be releasing on every second Tuesday of the given month. March is no exception, and the company today revealed that this most-pressing flaw is also slated for a fix.

In other words, Microsoft has taken the time to test a solution for the IE flaw that is being exploited since last month. Now that it is confident that the patch will address the issue in question, it can reveal that the fix falls under Bulletin 1 from March’s Security Bulletin Advance Notification.

Microsoft doesn’t reveal too much in its advance notifications so it doesn’t give away anything critical to criminals. We do, however, know that Bulletin 1 is for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows RT. This suggests the zero-day fix is part of a broader patch that addresses other flaws in Internet Explorer.

Microsoft re-emphasized today that it has seen “a limited number of attacks using this issue” and all of them have only targeted Internet Explorer 10. If you’re on another version of Internet Explorer, the attacks may not have been directed at you, but installing the latest updates is always recommended.

Top Image Credit: Nate Brelsford

└ Tags: microsoft, syndicated

Facebook launches an improved version of the News Feed redesign teased last year

Mar06

by Sindy Cator on March 6, 2014 at 6:31 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Product Updates

Facebook is tweaking the design of its News Feed once more. While the social network has tried numerous layouts over the years, it seems to have finally rested on a solution that will appeal to all of its users.

You may remember that exactly one year ago, Facebook unveiled a redesigned News Feed that founder Mark Zuckerberg described as a “personalized newspaper.” Photos and videos were larger, stories were separated into cards and a dark, slimmer sidebar stretched down the left-hand side of the page.

Twelve months later, some Facebook users are still waiting to get that redesign.

Facebook now calls that version an experiment and explains that after extensive testing, it found that there were a few problems. In short, users liked the visual approach but found it harder to use the site on the whole. Rather than ship a flawed redesign, the company made further tweaks and finalized the design which is being unveiled today.

At face value, not too much has changed from last year’s proposed redesign. The sidebar on the left is now lighter and the drop-down menu for different feeds has disappeared from the top left-hand corner.

Compared to the old News Feed that most users have had up until now though, the changes are pretty drastic to say the least.

Facebook is emphasizing that this is a visual update and doesn’t change the way it ranks stories or surfaces content for any of its users. The changes will roll out in the coming weeks, so if you’re not seeing it just yet, fear not – you will soon.

➤ An Updated News Feed (Via TechCrunch)

Image Credit: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

└ Tags: facebook, syndicated

GitHub launches Developer Program with notifications about API changes and early access to select features

Mar06

by Sindy Cator on March 6, 2014 at 5:59 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Design & Dev, Insider

GitHub today announced the GitHub Developer Program to provide all developers with the resources they need to “build integrations for better collaboration, higher code quality, easy deployment and so much more.” In other words, GitHub wants to do more than just offer an API.

Members of the GitHub Developer Program will receive ongoing notifications about changes to the GitHub API as well as early access to select feature releases. They also have the option to request a development license for GitHub Enterprise and to submit work for consideration on the new integrations page, which also launched today.

└ Tags: syndicated

QuizUp’s uber-popular trivia app finally arrives for Android

Mar06

by Sindy Cator on March 6, 2014 at 5:58 pm

Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

Four months after it arrived for iOS, Icelandic startup Plain Vanilla Games has officially launched QuizUp for Android users too, following a short invite-only beta period.

QuizUp follows the likes of Words With Friends by letting you pit your wits against buddies and strangers from around the world in a test of your knowledge.

The trivia game has taken the App Store by storm since it launched back in November. Indeed, a month after, Plain Vanilla Games reported five million users, a figure that doubled by February.

The Android incarnation pretty much replicates the iOS experience to the core, and if you’ve already been playing on your iPhone or iPad – the latter of which launched last month – then there are no real surprises in here.

The app now features more than 200,000 questions across 400 topics, covering sport, TV, geography, history and all the rest. ‘Play Now’ puts you up against a random play, whereas ‘Challenge’ lets you target specific users – i.e. your friends. It also includes one-to-one messaging, discussion boards, and localized leaderboards by city, state and country.

Though you can play in real-time with other users so that you’re both up against the clock (10 seconds) at the same time, you can elect to play your round first, and wait for your opponent to become available later. You can also view your one-to-one trivia stats, which is helpful.

QuizUp is a great game, with a ton of questions in its arsenal – something that’s constantly updated too, with 20,000 questions submitted by the community alone. With “billions” of games played in the past four months, this figure will only increase now that it’s available on Android too.

QuizUp is available to download from Google Play now.

➤ QuizUp | Google Play

└ Tags: news, syndicated

Microsoft received 35,083 government requests for data impacting 58,676 accounts in the second half of 2013

Mar06

by Sindy Cator on March 6, 2014 at 5:23 pm

Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Microsoft today revealed the number of data requests it received from various law enforcement agencies around the world in the second half of 2013: 35,083. Those requests impacted a potential 58,676 accounts, according to the company.

The new numbers for the second half of last year are slightly lower than those for the first half (37,196 requests affecting 66,539 accounts). With both halves of 2013, we can now compare the full year to all of 2012, which Microsoft’s first report covered.

Microsoft previously revealed it received 75,378 requests in 2012 that impacted a potential 137,424 accounts. Basic addition tells us Microsoft received fewer requests impacting potentially fewer accounts in 2013: 72,999 and 125,215, respectively.

This isn’t a large enough drop that we can applaud, and Microsoft notes as much: “Overall, the data in this latest Law Enforcement Requests Report shared today is largely consistent with prior reports.” Here are a few points shared for the second half of 2013:

Approximately 76 percent of requests resulted in disclosure of only “non-content data.” In 21 percent of all requests, no data at all was disclosed.
Only a small number of requests, 2.32 percent, resulted in disclosure of customer content data. Most of these requests – more than 80 percent – were from US law enforcement agencies. This is in line with the first half of 2013 and all of 2012.
A majority of the law enforcement demands received came from a handful of countries, led by the US, Turkey, Germany, France, and the UK.
Across Microsoft’s services, and out of hundreds of millions of accounts, only a fraction of accounts are affected – less than 0.01 percent.
Microsoft received only three legal orders for data associated with use of its commercial services by its enterprise customers (i.e., those with more than 50 seats), seeking information about 15 accounts. The company disclosed information in response to all three of those requests.

Microsoft once again pointed out that because it receives government demands for customer data from a large number of countries around the world, there is a need for an international convention that is “grounded in human rights commitments.”

➤ Law Enforcement Requests Report

Top Image Credit: Robert Scoble