Software Update poses security risk

A serious security hole has been found in the Software Update feature of Mac OS X. Security Web site SecurePoint received an email detailing how the automatic update feature of Software Update could be exploited by a hacker to compromise an entire Mac OS X system. By default, Software Update automatically checks once a week for any software updates released by Apple and downloads and installs them. ...more

SGI fires back response to SCO

SGI has made a public reply to SCO over the ongoing Linux controversy, with an open letter from its VP of Software, Rich Altmaier. In the communication, addressed to the 'Linux community', Altmaier states that the attitude of SCO is 'completely misplaced'. In particular, this is in reference to the handling of SGI's XFS journalling filesystem, which was made open source but which SCO alleges contains Unix System V code. ...more

Skype scoops up voice specialists

eBay-owned Skype has made some acquisitions of its own, with a stock buy of Internet voice specialists Sonorit and subsidiary Camino Networks. In a stock deal worth approximately $27 million, Skype will trade some 700,000 eBay shares for the companies. Skype says it is more interested in its engineering team rather than the technology it owns. ...more

No cheers for Yahoo

Yahoo has lowered its already lowered predictions for advertising sales in the first quarter and CEO Timothy A. Koogle has resigned, saying it was time to bring in a new CEO to add a fresh perspective to the company. The Internet portal announced it expects sales for the quarter to be around the $170-180m mark, its lowest since 1999, and lowered from January's prediction of $220-240m, compared with last year's analysts' expectations of $320m. ...more

Russia agrees to shut down AllofMP3.com

Russia has bowed to US demands and agreed to shut down music websites including AllofMP3. In an agreement signed earlier this month but only now made public, Russia has committed to taking action against intellectual property 'piracy' on a number of fronts, including the Internet and disc counterfeiting. The intellectual property rights (IPR) agreement forms apart of a bilateral market access agreement between the two countries that will hasten Russian membership of the World Trade Organisation. ...more