Critical flaw found in Windows Shell

by Thomas De Maesschalck July 19 2010 Microsoft announced the discovery of a 0-day vulnerability in Windows Shell that bypasses all Windows 7 security mechanisms and doesn't require administrative rights to run. The vulnerability is caused by improper handling of shortcuts, and security researchers from Sophos warn the exploit can be used to infect Windows 7 systems with a rootkit. It's still unclear when Microsoft will plug this hole, in the meantime the software giants recommends to disabling icons for shortcuts and switching off the WebClient service to prevent attacks. The vulnerability is caused due to an error in Windows Shell when parsing shortcuts (.lnk). The flaw can be exploited automatically by executing a program via a specially crafted shortcut. Certain parameters of the .lnk are not properly validated on load, resulting in the vulnerability. Microsoft says it has "seen only limited, targeted attacks on this vulnerability." Read on --> Link

19 Jul 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

ITunes Users Accounts Hacked, Hundreds in App Purchases Tallied

By Jason Mick - July 5, 2010 According to a story which TheNextWeb broke over the holiday weekend, hundreds, if not thousands of iTunes accounts have been hacked over the holiday weekend, and a variety of methods used to ring up hundreds of dollars in fraudulent iTunes app store and music charges. One developer, Thuat Nguyen, used the stolen accounts to apparently propel his apps to to filling 40 of the 50 top spots on the iTunes iBook section. The apps -- mostly three series of books called Conan, Vien Ngoc Rong, and Thuy Hu -- retailed for $4.99 a piece and have since been apparently removed from the app store by Apple. Other apps -- the Charismaist app, Wishii Network apps (which dominated 29 of the top 50 iPad Travel app spots), and developer Storm 8's apps -- reportedly have also been involved in the scheme. Some users report lesser sums -- around $150. Others report losing around $600. One user even reports, "Unlike what others have reported, we were taken for over $1400.00 on what looks like in-game credits for some game called World War at $160 a transaction and some music. Again, Apple did nothing to help but give the password reset advice and removing of the credit card info." Read on --> Link

06 Jul 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

Built to Fail: Unsealed Documents Show Dell Knowingly Sold Faulty PCs

"Don’t bring this to customer’s attention proactively" "Emphasize uncertainty" -- Dell memo to sales staff By Jason Mick - June 29, 2010 It's no secret that Dell, the world's second largest computer maker is struggling. Evidence of that was on display when following a series of layoffs last December, the company's site became riddled with pricing errors -- including the world's most expensive mouse, priced at $3,999.99 USD. The company's profits plunged 54 percent between 2008 and 2009. Now, documents unsealed in court this week paint a troubling picture, showing that the manufacturer knowingly sold defective machines between 2003 and 2005 according to the New York Times. Among the customers burned by Dell was the University of Texas, which purchased a large number of computers for its math department only to see them fail and die. Dell blamed the college for overtaxing the machines, but newly released evidence indicates that the failures were actually caused by faulty electrical components that leaked chemicals. Read on --> Link

29 Jun 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

iPhone glitch a non-issue says Jobs

Left handers are the spawn of Satan by Nick Farrell June 28, 2010 Apple fanboys throughout the world will be jolly relieved to discover that the fact their iPhone 4 is broken is a complete “non-issue” in the eyes of its creator. Jobs' Mob has admitted that if you use the iPhone 4 with your left hand it has some reception problems. However it seems that a few users have managed to get hold Steve Jobs himself and asked him what he was going to do about it. It turns out that the mighty Steve regards the whole problem as a “non-issue” according to some reported comments and he is going to do sod all to fix it. All users have to do to avoid the problem is “use another hand”. The alternative is to buy Apple's “bumper” case which can be had for $40. So rather than admit that he has cocked up, Jobs clearly expects users to spend more money to fix a design fault, or use the iPhone 4 with the hand in a position that he approves of. We are looking forward to the law suit. After all it is not as if Apple puts labels on the boxes saying “Left handers are the spawn of Satan and this phone will not work for them.” Left handers could feel justifiably miffed and certainly had their consumer rights violated. Read on --> Link

28 Jun 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

Report: Users Find Yellow Discoloration on IPhone 4 Screens

By Sumner Lemon, Jun 24, 2010 Some users who purchased the latest version of Apple's iPhone report finding yellowish spots and bands marring the device's high-resolution display. Several blogs, including TUAW and Gizmodo, reported user complaints of yellow discoloration on the phone's screen, which offers significantly higher resolution than screens on previous versions of the handset. Pictures of the problem posted online by Gizmodo showed faintly yellow patches and bands crossing the screen. An Apple spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment about the reported screen problems. The iPhone 4 went on sale Thursday, starting in Japan. However, some users in the U.S. who preordered the new handset received their phones before retail sales started. Read on -->Link

24 Jun 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

AT&T Breach Exposes iPad IDs, Email Addresses

By: Mark Hachman 06.10.2010 A security breach has exposed 114,000 e-mail addresses and ICC-IDs of various Apple iPad owners, including some big names, AT&T has acknowledged. Gawker.com received a tip from Goatse Security (savvy Web denizens will know what that name implies, and shy away from Googling it), which provided the data from the alleged leak, as well as the culprit: AT&T. Goatse told Gawker that it was able to obtain the e-mails via a script on the AT&T Web site, which returned the e-mail when the ICC-ID was entered as part of a script address. The ICC-ID refers to the unique ID assigned to each SIM card. iPad owners exposed in the breach include Harvey Weinstein and Michael Bloomberg. AT&T also acknowledged the breach, apologized, and said that it would notify customers. AT&T said it learned of the problem on Monday and has since corrected the flaw, Reuters reported. "This issue was escalated to the highest levels of the company and was corrected by Tuesday; and we have essentially turned off the feature that provided the e-mail addresses," spokesman Mark Siegel said in an e-mail statement. Read on --> Link

10 Jun 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

HP Recalling 54,000 Additional Laptop Batteries Due to Overheating

By: Scott Ferguson 05-21-2010 HP is recalling an additional 54,000 lithium-ion battery packs used in the company’s Pavilion and Compaq laptops due to a potential fire hazard. Since HP started the first recall in 2009, an additional 38 reports of laptop fires have been reported. In addition, 11 people have reported minor injuries. HP, along with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), issued the additional recall on May 21. The recall involves several models from HP’s Compaq and Compaq Presario lines as well as HP’s Pavilion notebook lines.Both HP and the CPSC are recommending that customers who own these laptops remove the battery immediately and contact HP for a replacement pack. HP is replacing the batteries for free. Read on --> Link

21 May 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

Microsoft Settles $200 Million VPN Patent Case

By W. David Gardner May 17, 2010 Microsoft will pay the VirnetX Holding Corp. $200 million in a lump sum to settle a patent infringement case that was brought by VirnetX, which had claimed Microsoft was infringing on two of its patents on automatic and secure virtual private network (VPN) technology. An announcement Monday by both firms said “all other aspects of the settlement and license were not disclosed.” Previously, Microsoft had lost a jury trial in the case. The settlement could have ramifications for other high tech firms. VirnetX is an Internet security software company whose patent portfolio was developed for work carried out for the Central Intelligence Agency. VPN technology is utilized by several large US high tech firms including Cisco, Google, HP, AT&T, and Verizon among others. Read on --> Link

17 May 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

Few Answers After McAfee Antivirus Update Hits Intel, Others

By Robert McMillan April 22, 2010 After distributing a buggy antivirus update that apparently disabled hundreds of thousands of computers on Wednesday, McAfee is still at a loss to explain exactly what happened. McAfee says that just a small fraction of its corporate customers -- less than 0.5 percent -- were affected by the glitch, which caused some Windows XP Service Pack 3 systems to crash and reboot repeatedly. McAfee blamed a bad virus definition update shipped out Wednesday morning, Pacific time, which ended up quarantining a critical Windows process called svchost.exe. By the end of the day, the antivirus vendor still couldn't say exactly what caused the problem. "We're investigating how it was possible some customers were impacted and some not," said Joris Evers, a McAfee spokesman, speaking via instant message. One common factor amongst the victims of the glitch, however, is that they'd enabled a feature called "Scan Processes on Enable" in McAfee VirusScan software. Read on --> Link

22 Apr 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

Microsoft, Adobe, and Oracle Patch Nearly 100 Vulnerabilities

By Tony Bradley April 13, 2010 It's a busy day for IT administrators and information security professionals. Not only is today Microsoft's Patch Tuesday for the month of April, it is also the day of Adobe's quarterly security updates. In total, there are 40 vulnerabilities being addressed today--many of them rated as critical and exposing systems to potential remote exploits. Microsoft Patch Tuesday: A Microsoft spokesperson e-mailed the following "Today, as part of its routine monthly security update cycle, Microsoft is releasing 11 security bulletins to address 25 vulnerabilities: five rated Critical, five rated Important and one rated Moderate. This month's release affects Windows, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Exchange. Additionally, the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) was updated to include Win32/Magania." Adobe Quarterly Update: As if eleven security bulletins fixing 25 different vulnerabilities wasn't enough, IT administrators must also address the critical updates released today from Adobe. nCircle's Storms points out that "Every one of the 15 bugs can be used for remote code execution. Given the increase in the number of attacks that use Adobe PDF files, all users are strongly urged to upgrade immediately." Don't Forget Oracle : Wait, there's more! Not wanting to be left out of the patch day festivities, Oracle has also unleashed its own deluge of updates--more than Microsoft and Adobe combined. Read on --> Link

13 Apr 2010 by J.TECH Tech News, Recalls & Mishaps Permalink

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Lack of Recall posting on this page is good news in general. It means, I haven't come across any information or the tech industry is doing a good job by making sure defective products are not released to the public. However, odds are I either missed out on some information or haven't done enough fact finding. So if you see anything I missed out on and would like to have it mentioned on this page, feel free to send me the link or e-mail me any documents you feel will benefit other readers .

THANKS!