Report lists 600 new vulnerabilities in Q1

More than 600 new Internet security vulnerabilities were discovered during the first quarter of 2005, according to the highly respected SANS Institute Quarterly Security bulletin. It may come as a surprise that many of these security issues are found in software judged 'safe' including Windows XP Service Pack 2 and some well known security packages from Symantec, Trend Micro and McAfee. 'These critical vulnerabilities are widespread and many of them are being exploited, right now, in our homes and in our offices,' said Alan Paller, director of research for the SANS Institute. ...more

Greedy Microsoft snubs AOL TIme Warner

Talks between Microsoft and AOL TIme Warner over the inclusion of AOL software with Windows XP broke down over the weekend, resulting in an AOL-free XP. The negotiations ended on Saturday because of a dispute over AOL's inclusion of RealNetwork's RealPlayer software, according to an AOL spokesperson. However, RealPlayer is the default player for AOL and handles most of the service's content. ...more

ICANN to trial international characters in domain names

Internet domain names containing non-English characters such as ?, ? and ? may be commonplace within a year after the body that oversees the domain name system (DNS) announced that it will begin trials in July. ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, accepts that current restrictions on character usage are no longer acceptable. It notes that the geographic extent of the Internet is constantly expanding, with a corresponding increase in linguistic diversity. ...more

EU to make its mark on the Internet

YAID! - yet another Internet domain. This time one representing the European Union. The idea of having a distinctive European - as opposed to nationalistic - Internet domain name has been formally agreed by the EU. ...more

Internet child porn clampdown

The Internet Watch Foundation has drawn up a list of 76 Internet newsgroups it wants ISPs to remove from its servers and newsfeeds. Of these, 51 sites 'regularly carry child abuse images' and 25 'appear to advertise or advocate paedophilia'. The IWF is not disclosing the names of the groups, but will supply them to ISPs. ...more