Gates: Microsoft effort to fight viruses

Bill Gates has announced that Microsoft is to introduce a new version of its Internet Explorer Web browser with stronger features to protect against viruses and other vexing security flaws that have plagued Windows users.

The New York Times reports (16 Feb.) that in a speech at the RSA computer security conference, Mr. Gates, Microsoft's chairman, said the company was making progress in its fight against spam, adding that "phishing" software scams were the fastest-growing security problem the company faced. He said the company was currently spending about US$2 billion a year on computer security development and research.

The paper said that Mr. Gates did not mention the Firefox browser, which is freely available and has rapidly gained users since it was introduced by the open-source Mozilla Foundation late last year. But Firefox is apparently enough of a threat that Microsoft felt compelled to rush Internet Explorer 7.0 into the market, ahead of the Longhorn version of Windows, which is not due out until 2006.

The computer security industry has generally been skeptical of Microsoft's security efforts because the company has struggled against viruses and is often blamed for the problems that plague many personal computers, says the paper.

However, the paper reports that Mr. Gates received support from one security expert who has been a frequent critic of Microsoft - Bruce Schneier, a cryptographer who is founder and chief technology officer of Counterpane Internet Security, a security company based in California, who said: "in the past he has made ridiculous promises. Today he was realistic, and he didn't make grandiose claims. I think he realises it's a hard problem."

In addition to announcing Internet Explorer 7.0, the NYT says Mr. Gates demonstrated the company's new anti-spyware technology that it obtained with the acquisition of Giant Software in December.

At the conference Mr. Gates also showed a system called Spynet, which makes it possible for Microsoft to collect data needed to counter attacks. About 6.8 million computer users have downloaded a test version of the anti-spyware program, according to Microsoft, and of that number, about three million are now routinely sending monitoring data to Microsoft.

Microsoft plans free anti - spyware program

Stepping up its fight against computer threats at the risk of alienating security businesses, Microsoft has just announced it will give away a program to combat privacy-stealing and PC-clogging spyware and other virtual pests.

The New York Times reports (16 Feb.) that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates also unveiled plans to release antivirus tools for consumers and make a major security upgrade to its Internet Explorer web browser. At the same time, he showed off new software for businesses to combat security threats.

The paper says the moves are part of a wide-ranging effort by the world's largest software maker to improve the security and reliability of its Windows operating system and other programs, which have become favorite targets of hackers, virus writers and other malware creators.

Speaking at the annual RSA Conference, a major gathering of computer security experts, Gates outlined successes over the past year but did not suggest total victory was imminent or even possible. Microsoft has distributed more than 170 million copies of a major security enhancement to Windows XP since its release last year, but Gates said more work was needed, the paper reported.

The NYT report quoted Gates as warning that spyware and adware threats are growing more quickly than worms and viruses. The programs that track web surfing, generate pop-up ads and slow systems are often installed when users try to run free software without reading the license agreement. Later versions also have taken advantage of known Windows flaws to sneak onto machines.

The NYT says the tools for consumers and businesses will compete directly with existing products from the likes of Symantec, McAfee and others, all of which have been profiting for years from Microsoft vulnerabilities and the hackers who target them.

But security companies have been expecting this to come for a while and they're prepared for it,according to a spokesman for Counterpane Internet Security.

The NYT reports a spokesman for McAfee's Antivirus and Vulnerability Emergency Response Team as saying his company currently has a partnership with Microsoft and had all intentions to maintain it. Symantec also plans to continue partnering with Microsoft, but noted the software giant hasn't released details on how it's going to jump into the market, Symantec said in a statement.

Spruced up, Qwest looks at options

When Qwest's takeover offer was rejected by MCI last weekend, the setback was much more than a missed merger opportunity, says the New York Times (16 Feb.), adding that by losing to Verizon despite being the high bidder, Qwest Communications sent an unintended advertisement to investors about how financially shaky the company still is.

And by trying so desperately to buy MCI, Qwest, the smallest of the four regional Bell companies, signaled that it would need a partner if it hoped to be competitive in the consolidating telecommunications industry.

The NYT says analysts say that without a clear path for acquiring another company, Qwest now has to gauge whether it can grow on its own or whether it must fix itself up to be sold. Given the industry consolidation that has already occurred, only a few companies, including BellSouth and perhaps Sprint, would make potentially viable partners for Qwest. So far, though, neither company has publicly signaled any interest in a Qwest deal, reports the paper.

However, from Qwest's perspective, the fact that it mounted a credible takeover battle - even if MCI did not find its US$7.3 billion in cash and stock more credible than Verizon's US$6.7 billion offer - speaks to the remarkable turnaround at the company, the paper observes, after an accounting scandal that erupted in 2002 led to a management shake-up and drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

Yesterday, Qwest reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded analysts' forecasts, losing 8 cents a share instead of the 13 cents that had been widely expected.

Many industry executives and analysts in the US say that the consolidation deal-making is not over and that Qwest could end up being bought, rather than acquiring someone else - particularly if its finances continue to improve enough to make it a viable acquisition candidate.

Accord limits IPO liability of 300 start-ups

The New York Times reports (16 Feb.) that legal storm clouds gathered over Wall Street yesterday when a federal judge granted preliminary approval to a US$1 billion settlement between nearly 300 companies that went public during the 1990's technology boom and investors who say they were defrauded.

The agreement leaves 55 investment banks as the investors' main target, says the paper, and according to the investors, the 55 banks awarded shares in hot initial public offerings to favored clients, made deals with institutional investors to buy the shares after they started trading to drive up their price artificially, and issued bogus research to win the deals in the first place.

The settlement limits the companies' exposure in the case. If the investors recover more than $1 billion from the investment banks, the companies will not have to pay. If the amount is less than $1 billion, they must pay the difference.

The companies, mostly technology start-ups, reached an agreement in principle in June 2003, when they agreed to pay the US$1 billion to investors who had been harmed. The parties hammered out a formal agreement in 2004, reports the paper.

The NYT said that this week, NERA, an economic consulting group, issued a study concluding that 2004 was a record year for class-action settlements, and predicting that the trend would continue in 2005.

US completes airwaves sale

The federal government in the US has raised US$2.25 billion in an auction of wireless airwaves that has just ended, with Verizon Wireless and a partner collectively winning 63 licenses with almost US$697.4 million in bids.

The New York Times/Reuters report (16 Feb.) that carriers have been clamoring for more airwaves to meet demand, improve service and offer new products like video.

After 91 rounds, the Federal Communications Commission eventually sold 217 of 242 licenses covering cities like Los Angeles, Cleveland and Houston.

Some of the licenses were limited to bids from small entrepreneurs, so larger carriers formed partnerships or other arrangements to gain access to those airwaves, according to the paper.

The Los Angeles market received the highest bid, US$374.5 million, offered by Royal Street Communications, a partner of Metro PCS Communications. That company was the single biggest bidder, offering US$387.4 million for six licenses, reports the NYT.

Users bypass Napster copy protection

Users have found a way to skirt copy protection on Napster's portable music subscription service just days after its high-profile launch, potentially letting them make CDs with hundreds of thousands of songs for free.

The New York Times/Reuters report (15 Feb.) that such users are already providing instructions to other would-be song burners through technology web sites like BoingBoing.Napster is currently offering a free trial of its new Napster To Go service, which will enable users for a monthly US$15 fee to download as much music as they want and transfer it to a portable device. They can also pay 99 cents for each track they want to burn to a CD.

That 'rental' model for digital entertainment, backed by Microsoft and others, is getting its most serious mass-market tryout yet with Napster to Go, says the NYT.

However, the paper says that according to various web sites, thwarting the intellectual property protections of the service is as easy as a free software patch.

Engadget.com said by installing the digital music program Winamp and then adding a secondary program to Winamp called Output Stacker, users could convert the digitally protected files from one format to another that can then be burned, unencumbered, onto CDs.

A spokeswoman for Napster said that such endeavors were nothing new and the company was not too concerned.

The paper says the 'new' Napster has positioned itself as the chief competitor to Apple Computer's iTunes service, which dominates the digital download market.

Qualcomm expects US$50 3G handsets

US-based wireless technology company Qualcomm has said it expects US$50 handsets for faster third generation (3G) mobile phone networks to be on the market in two years' time.

Qualcomm told Reuters/New York Times(16 Feb.) that wideband CDMA (the European and Japanese version of 3G) is coming down in price, with the low tier a year or two away consumers will really get to the US$50 phone type,''

Qualcomm told Reuters that the phones would be powered by US$10 to US$15 chipsets Qualcomm has on its production roadmap.

The paper & Reuters report that Qualcomm is the dominant supplier of CDMA chips designed for mobile phone networks used in the Americas and parts of Asia, with around one-third of the world's 1.7 billion mobile phone subscribers subscribe to a CDMA service.

Until recently, Qualcomm did not compete with producers of chips for the GSM networks, but that is changing because the successor of GSM, Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), is a later version of Qualcomm's homegrown CDMA technology, says the report, adding that the number of WCDMA subscribers is expected to grow to 70 million by the end of 2005, according to mobile phone and network vendor Nokia and others, and most of the GSM chip makers hope to sell their first WCDMA chips by then.

Hackers may have stolen Californians' data

A company that collects consumer data has warned thousands of Californians that hackers penetrated the company's computer network and may have stolen credit reports, social Security numbers and other sensitive information.

The New York Times/AP report (16 Feb.) that ChoicePoint Inc., which sells such data to government agencies and a variety of companies, acknowledged Tuesday that several hackers broke into its computer database and purloined data from as many as 35,000 Californians.

In the US last year, hackers apparently used stolen identities to create what appeared to be legitimate businesses seeking ChoicePoint accounts, They opened about 50 accounts and the attack appears to have resulted in at least six cases of identity theft in Los Angeles County. Law enforcement agents, who have arrested one person on six counts of theft, say hundreds of thousands of Americans elsewhere may be at risk.

The NYT/Reuters say that the ChoicePoint attack could galvanise support for a federal law protecting consumers from corporate security breaches. New Hampshire, New York and Texas politicians are considering similar bills, and a Californian Democrat senator introduced legislation last month for a national version of the California law.

Domain dispute - question mark over UK e-commerce

A dispute over ownership of "game.co.uk" could have significant and far-reaching effects on e-commerce in Britain, reports The Regiser (16 Feb.)

The Register reports that the domain, which comes under the control of private company Nominet, was awarded to Game plc in January following a complaint that the owner, Garth Sumpter, was misusing it. Mr Sumpter, a consultant for the games industry, has owned the domain since October 1995 and immediately appealed the decision.

But, The Register says that appeal will soon be heard by three Nominet-chosen experts in a case that raises important questions over UK domain name rights and the basis on which companies can trade online.

The battle for Game.co.uk is unusual and highly significant for two reasons, says The Register - firstly, it concerns a generic and common word in the English dictionary - "game". And secondly, Mr Sumpter was using the domain to run a video-game-selling business.

Nominet, as controller of the .uk registry, has created over 3.8 million .uk domains and yet only heard 2,104 domain disputes since its Dispute Resolution Service was launched in September 2001 - an extremely small number in comparison to other top-level domains such as .com or .org. Of these, only six have ever gone to appeal, reports The Register.

Nominet is justifiably pleased with this record, even boasting of the service in a recent letter to internet overseeing organisation ICANN, says The Register.