Oracle database flaw deemed serious, could expose data

CSO by Antone Gonsalves Some Oracle databases have what experts say is a serious flaw in the login system that a hacker can use to retrieve and change stored data. The flaw, in Oracle Database 11g Releases 1 and 2Ã'Â leaves the token that is provided by the server before authentication is completed open to a brute-force attack, said Esteban Martinez Fayo, the Application Security researcher that discovered...

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Apple seeks another $707 million in damages from Samsung

Sep 22, 2012 11:24 am | IDG News Service A California jury may have awarded Apple more than US$1 billion in damages in late August when it triumphed over Samsung in a hard-fought case over smartphone and tablet patents, but the iPhone maker is coming back for more: late on Friday it asked for additional damages of $707 million. The request includes an enhanced award of $535 million for willful violation of Apple's designs...

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Microsoft patches critical Flash bugs in Windows 8

Sep 22, 2012 09:51 am | Computerworld Updates IE10's integrated Flash Player with fixes to block ongoing hacker attacks  by Gregg Keizer Microsoft on Friday updated Flash on Windows 8 to protect IE10 users from attacks that may have started months ago. More than a week before, Microsoft had backed away from an earlier position that held it would not patch Flash until late October. Instead, the company...

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Anonymous spokesman's YouTube meltdown led to arrest

Sep 21, 2012 09:24 am | CSO by Taylor Armerding If anybody was surprised at the arrest in Dallas last week of Barrett Brown, self-described sometimespokesman for the hacktivist group Anonymous, it should not have been Brown himself. He practically invited it. A three-part, 43-plus minute rant posted on YouTube on Sept. 11 and 12 included a threat to "shoot ... and kill" any armed government officials who...

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Researchers hack iPhone, steal data

Sep 21, 2012 09:24 am | CSO by Antone Gonsalves Researchers have broken into an iPhone 4S running the latest version of Apple iOS, making it possible to exploit the same vulnerability in the iPhone 5 that is set for release on Friday. The white-hat hackers Joost Pol and Daan Keuper showed how they were able to steal contacts, browsing history, photos and videos to win $30,000 in the mobile Pwn2Own contest Wednesday...

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Google faces hefty fine from European Union antitrust authority

Sep 21, 2012 08:45 am | IDG News Service Microsoft also needs to honor commitments it has made in an unrelated antitrust settlement, says the EU competition watchdog by Jennifer Baker Europe's competition watchdog is considering formal proceedings against Google over antitrust complaints about the way it promotes its own services in search results, potentially exposing the company to a fine of 10 percent of its global...

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London iPhone 5 buyers disagree on need for LTE, but look forward to bigger screen

Sep 21, 2012 07:56 am | IDG News Service No-one seems concerned about the lack of support for NFC by Mikael Ricknäs The iPhone 5's bigger screen was the big draw among people waiting in line for the new model, while opinions are split over whether to sign up for an LTE subscription or not. As in many cities across the world, lines had formed outside the Apple Stores on Regent Street in London and opposite the Opéra...

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BlackBerry service failure hits Europe one year after major outage

Sep 21, 2012 07:21 am | Computerworld RIM apologizes, says it's working on a fix  by Matt Hamblen Research in Motion's BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are experiencing service problems today, and RIM said in a statement that it is working to resolve the problem. RIM apologized, but didn't have information on when the problems might be resolved. The problem has left thousands of BlackBerry...

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Google pulls the plug on its free music service for China

Sep 21, 2012 06:50 am | IDG News Service Google said in a blog post the service's popularity failed to meet expectations by Michael Kan Google is shutting a Chinese music search service that offered free licensed music downloads because it wasn't popular enough, the company said Friday. The announcement came in a blog posting from senior engineering director Boon-Lock Yeo, who said the company was shutting...

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China's Alibaba is spinning off its Aliyun OS into a seperate business unit

Sep 21, 2012 02:58 am | IDG News Service China's Alibaba bolsters its own mobile OS with $200M investment  by Michael Kan Days after feuding with Google over its mobile operating system, Alibaba Group said on Thursday it would spin off its Aliyun OS into a separate business unit, and invest US$200 million to back the new venture. The announcement came from Alibaba Group's CEO Jack Ma in an internal email that...

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