Technology in your hands.

Apple’s OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux operating systems are to be pitted against each other in an ethical hacking contest in Vancouver next month. Run by the organizers of the CanSecWest Vancouver 2008 security conference, the competition is a repeat of the “PWN to Own” contest at CanSecWest in 2007, when security researchers competed to win a MacBook Pro and $10,000. The prize was shared between security researchers Dino Dai Zovi and Shane Macauley for their successful use of a zero-day QuickTime vulnerability, which they used to compromise the MacBook. The vulnerability was subsequently found to also affect Windows platforms.

The hacking competition at CanSecWest 2008 will pit the Linux, Leopard OS X, and Vista operating systems against each other, according to CanSecWest organizer Dragos Ruiu.

“The fur is flying right now about which is more secure–Linux, Vista, or Leopard,” Ruiu said on Thursday. “Linux guys have their propaganda, Windows guys are saying this and that, Apple guys have buried their heads in the sand as usual. I guess the proof is in the pudding.”Full Article Here

The Web site for Indian antivirus vendor AvSoft Technologies has been hacked and is being used to install malicious software on visitors’ computers, security researchers said last week.

The download section of AvSoft’s S-cop Web site hosts the malicious code, according to Roger Thompson, chief research officer with security vendor AVG. “They let one of their pages get hit by an iFrame injection,” he said. “It shows that anyone can be a victim…. It’s hard to protect Web servers properly.”

The technique used on the site has been seen in thousands of similar hacks over the past few months. The attackers open an invisible iFrame Window within the victim’s browser, which redirects the client to another server. That server, in turn, launches attack code that attempts to install malicious software on the victim’s computer.

The malicious software is a variant of the Virut virus family…

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Texas Instruments Inc said on Monday it would demonstrate a prototype cell phone based on Android, the highly anticipated mobile phone operating system being built by Web search leader Google Inc.

The U.S. chip maker said the phone it will demonstrate at the Mobile World Congress trade show has “one button access” to key applications such as Web browsing, e-mail, messaging and video, making it easier for consumers to use such features.

The device will also allow for the integration of different applications, a capability mostly limited to desktop computers. For example, a real estate agent could combine information from its database with mapping software to let customers easily locate properties on the go, TI said.

The prototype handset will run on TI’s OMAP850 phone processor, which includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth short-range wireless connectivity…

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Yahoo’s board will reject Microsoft’s $US44.6 billion takeover bid after concluding the unsolicited offer undervalues the slumping internet pioneer, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The decision could provoke a showdown between two of the world’s most prominent technology companies with Internet search leader Google. looming in the background. Leery of Microsoft expanding its turf on the Internet, Google already has offered to help Yahoo avert a takeover and urged antitrust regulators to take a hard look at the proposed deal.

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It may be the most ever paid for a single letter of an internet address.

A British travel company has paid $US1.1 million ($A1.2m) for the domain name cruises.co.uk, a price that is effectively $1 million just for the letter “S” since it already owns the address cruise.co.uk.

The sum shatters the previous record for a .co.uk domain of $US300,000, paid in October last year.

Seamus Conlon, whose company bought the address from a German travel company, said it was a necessary move to retain dominance in the rapidly growing market for ocean cruising.

“‘Cruises’ is consistently ranked first on Google, with ‘cruise’ just behind,” he said.

“We wanted the top positions so that when Internet users are searching for deals … we are the first port of call.”

While the purchase is a record for Britain, it is a long way behind the huge sums paid for more the popular .com addresses.

The current most-expensive domain is sex.com, which was bought for $US12 million in 2005. Running close behind is porn.com, snapped up for $US9.5 million last year.

Original Article

Thousands of Australians are at risk from a relatively new online scam targeting the desperate and dateless, Queensland police say.

The state’s Fraud and Corporate Crimes Group has noticed a growing number of cases of men and women being lured into online relationships by Nigerian fraudsters posing as prospective lovers.

In the latest case, Gold Coast resident Patricia (surname withheld for privacy reasons) lost $8500 when she became involved with a fraudster posing as an Australian retiree using the name “David”.

After six months developing what Patricia believed to be a loving relationship, David said he had to travel to Nigeria to sell some land, which he promised would set them up for life.

While there, he supposedly got mugged and asked Patricia to send money to help him return home.

Superintendent Brian Hay said such “romance scams” cost their victims about $35,000 on average…

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