Internet worm exploits Windows vulnerability

A worm dubbed Win32/Conficker.A is making the rounds on Windows machines, exploiting a security hole that Microsoft released a patch for in October, Microsoft said on Wednesday.

The number of attacks have increased over the past couple of days, exploiting a critical vulnerability that was addressed by security update MS08-067.

The malware mostly was spreading inside corporations, but also hit several hundred home PCs, Microsoft said in a posting on the Microsoft Malware Protection Center Blog.

"It opens a random port between port 1024 and 10000 and acts like a Web server. It propagates to random computers on the network by exploiting MS08-067. Once the remote computer is exploited, that computer will download a copy of the worm via HTTP using the random port opened by the worm. The worm often uses a .JPG extension when copied over and then it is saved to the local system folder as a random named dll," the posting said.

"It is also interesting to note that the worm patches the vulnerable API in memory so the machine will not be vulnerable anymore. It is not that the malware authors care so much about the computer as they want to make sure that other malware will not take it over too," Microsoft said.

Most of the infections are in U.S. PCs, but there have been reports from Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, China, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, and Chile. The worm avoids infecting Ukrainian computers, for some reason, Microsoft said.

Several bots, under the generic name Backdoor:Win32/IRCbot.BH, also are exploiting the security hole. They drop a backdoor Trojan that connects to an IRC server to receive commands.

Resource - C|Net

WordPress 2.6.5

WordPress 2.6.5 is immediately available and fixes one security problem and three bugs. We recommend everyone upgrade to this release.

The security issue is an XSS exploit discovered by Jeremias Reith that fortunately only affects IP-based virtual servers running on Apache 2.x. If you are interested only in the security fix, copy wp-includes/feed.php and wp-includes/version.php from the 2.6.5 release package.

2.6.5 contains three other small fixes in addition to the XSS fix. The first prevents accidentally saving post meta information to a revision. The second prevents XML-RPC from fetching incorrect post types. The third adds some user ID sanitization during bulk delete requests. For a list of changed files, consult the full changeset between 2.6.3 and 2.6.5.

Note that we are skipping version 2.6.4 and jumping from 2.6.3 to 2.6.5 to avoid confusion with a fake 2.6.4 release that made the rounds. There is not and never will be a version 2.6.4.

Get WordPress 2.6.5.

Resource - Wordpress 2.6.5

Nokia to cease sales in Japan (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it will stop selling mobile phones in Japan except for its luxury Vertu brand after struggling to expand its presence.

Finnish Nokia has previously said it will cut costs 'decisively', expecting global mobile phone sales to shrink next year amid an economic downturn.

Japan is the world's fourth largest mobile phone market after the United States, China and India. But it makes up only a tiny part of sales at Nokia, whose products have failed to lure customers away from more sophisticated Japanese ones.

Mobile phone companies also see limited scope for growth in Japan, where 109 million subscribers, or some 85 percent of the population, already own a mobile phone. In addition, a new sales model based on higher handset prices is expected to slash annual mobile phone sales in Japan by some 20 percent.

"In the current global economic climate, we have concluded that the continuation of our investment in Japan-specific localized products is no longer sustainable," Nokia executive vice president Timo Ihamuotila said in a statement.

He added that Nokia's Japanese business would concentrate on research, development and sourcing for the global market as well as specific projects such as the Vertu brand.

The quirks of Japan's mobile phone market have prevented foreign companies, including Nokia's rivals such as Samsung Electronics and LG, from successfully targeting Japanese consumers.

Most of the mobile phones used in Japan are part of third-generation networks and boast features such as TV broadcasting and electronic payment functions.

This makes it tough for foreign manufacturers to compete with domestic handsets.

Foreign companies, excluding Sony Ericsson, only occupy around 5 percent of Japan's mobile phone market, according to IDC Japan, a research firm. Japanese manufacturers, in turn, have only a small presence outside their home market.

"Nokia is facing global earnings problems and many other issues, and this shows Japan was a low-priority market at a time when they are shoring up global operations, even though it may still be attractive," IDC Japan analyst Michito Kimura said.

"I'm not very surprised by the decision."

The move was still rather abrupt as NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan's biggest mobile phone operator, said just this month that it would sell a new Nokia smartphone as part of its product line-up for the winter shopping season.

Third-ranked Japanese operator Softbank Corp also sells Nokia phones.

Nokia, which has a nearly 40 percent global market share, had originally said it aimed to increase its market share in Japan to a double-digit figure. It took only around 0.3 percent of the Japanese market last business year, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

Instead of a broad expansion, it will now focus on Vertu, its luxury unit.

The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Saturday that Nokia plans to launch mobile phone services for Vertu customers in Japan, using DoCoMo's network.

Vertu, founded in 1998, sells gem-encrusted, hand-built mobile phones with prices ranging from 3,500 euros to over 100,000 euros.

Resource - Yahoo! Tech

Elpida Develops 50nm DDR3 SDRAM

Elpida Memory Inc has completed development of a 50nm process DDR3 SDRAM. The DRAM product features what it said is the lowest power consumption in the industry, 2.5Gbps ultra high speed and a 1.2V low voltage operation based on the industry's smallest chip size.

Developed using 193nm (ArF) immersion lithography technology and copper interconnect technology, the 50nm process DDR3 SDRAM has a chip size of less than 40mm².

In addition, the eco-friendly SDRAM operates on not only DDR3 standard 1.5V supply voltage but even lower voltages of 1.35V and 1.2V. It contributes to the low-power operations of high-density memory systems such as servers and data centers.

The DDR3 SDRAM will initially find applications in high-end desktop PCs. The company said applications are possible elsewhere based on the current shift away from DDR2 SDRAMs in notebook PCs and server equipment.

Mass production of the 50nm DDR3 SDRAM is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2009.

Resource - Tech-On

Toshiba to Launch 16GB microSDHC

Toshiba's 16GB microSDHC, and 8GB, 16GB SDHC Cards

Toshiba Corp has reinforced its memory card line-up with the launch of a 16GB microSDHC card, offering what it said is the largest capacity available in the market. The company also extended its range of memory card solutions by adding ultra fast read write 8GB and 16GB SDHC cards to its line-up.

All the SD memory cards comply with the SD memory standard v.2.00, and the SDHC cards support class 6 ultra fast read write speed, with a maximum write speed of 20MB/s. The new memory cards deliver the performance level necessary for continuous shooting of still images and recording video images, and meet strong market demands for cards combining high capacities with high speed data read and write. The microSDHC can be used with an adapter that allows it to be used in SDHC slots.

Mass production of the SDHC cards will start in December, with production of the microSDHC slated to start in January 2009.

Resource - Tech-On

Hynix Introduces 7Gbps, 1Gb GDDR5 Graphics DRAM

Hynix's 1Gb GDDR5 Graphics DRAM

Hynix Semiconductor Inc of Korea has developed what it said is the industry's first and fastest 1Gb GDDR5 Graphics DRAM.

Built on the company's 54nm process technology, the 1Gb GDDR5 is said to operate at the fastest speed of 7Gbps. This represents an improvement of 40% compared to 5Gbps GDDR5. The graphics DRAM processes up to 28Gbyte of data per second with a 32-bit I/O. In addition to its improved speed, the product is also designed to minimize power consumption at 1.35V power supply. Such features make the DRAM suitable for use in high-end applications, such as game PCs, game consoles and graphic cards.

The 1Gb GDDR5 graphics DRAM meets JEDEC standard. Volume production is expected to start in the first half of next year.

Resource - Tech-On

Australia Ratings Board Blocks F.E.A.R. 2

Monolith Productions’ upcoming horror themed first-person shooter F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin has been refused classification in Australia, effectively banning the game from sale.

Due to be released in February by Warner Bros., the original game was praised for its mix of standard shooter elements and horror sequences inspired by Asian movies like The Ring. The original was given an ‘M’ for mature rating in the U.S., with similar equivalent ratings granted in other countries.

The Australian Classification Board and Classification Review Board currently offers no information on specifically why the sequel has been refused classification; Australia again proves one of the strictest countries around the world in terms of age ratings.

The inflexibility stems from the lack of an R18+ rating for video games, despite the age rating being available for non-interactive media. As a result, the highest possible rating for a video game in Australia is MA15+. Several attempts have been made to introduce a R18+ rating for games, so far without any success.

Recent games initially refused classification in the country include Fallout 3, Dark Sector, Silent Hill: Homecoming and Shellshock 2: Blood Trails. All of these titles were later censored to meet the MA15+ restrictions, but it is so far unclear whether Warner Bros. will pursue a similar policy with F.E.A.R. 2.

Resource - Gamasutra