June

Newsletter

Issue 11

Microsoft spells out Vista requirements

What is the true cost of software piracy. The software companies claim they loose millions per year and cite piracy as the reason their software is so expensive.

If you as a business user and are using pirated software then the chances of being caught have dramatically increased. The British Software Alliance (BSA) are now offering rewards of up to £20,000 to people reporting companies using illegal or unlicensed software.

The most common source of reports to the BSA come from ex staff with an axe to grind. It is currently estimated that 27% of businesses in the UK are running pirated software.

The EU are also planning a crackdown of counterfeiting and pirating of goods with fines of at least €100,000 and the possibility of up to 4 years in prison.

The vast majority of our clients have nothing to worry about regarding software piracy and in the next few weeks we will be rolling out tools to all contracted clients that will help us monitor client assets including software. If you are at all worried then please contact us or take a look at The British Software Alliance web site for more information.

http://www.bsa.org/uk/

By Grant Peck

As expected, Microsoft has this week spelt out what system requirements are needed to take full advantage of the new features in its forthcoming Vista operating system.

The company has launched two Vista marketing programmes aimed at PC manufacturers and retailers, which include the system requirements needed by end users to fully benefit from Vista.

The "Vista-capable" programme lists the minimum features to be able to run Vista, and the "Premium Ready" programme is being used to identify PCs that can take full advantage of Vista's high-end features.

High-end features include Microsoft’s powerful Aero graphics system for Windows, which displays icons in 3D.

Vista-capable machines need at least an 800MHz processor, 512MB of memory and a graphics card that can run DirectX 9 graphics.

Premium Ready machines need at least a 1GHz processor, 1GB of main memory, and a graphics card that supports Vista's new graphics-driver model.

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The Difference Between Spyware And Viruses?

Symantec sues Microsoft over the use of Volume Manager

Is it a virus, or Spyware?

The average Internet user has difficulty distinguishing viruses from spyware. Many don't even know there is a difference.

The differences are indeed subtle. Both are malicious software (malware): uninvited, intrusive, and potentially destructive.

Both have the capacity to capture and destroy information, ruin performance, and disrupt business.

Viruses and spyware programs are delivered via web visits and downloads, as well as email attachments. Both can attack systems through many vectors.

Perhaps they both fall into the category of blended threats? But what the heck is a blended threat?


While a Virus Seeks to Spread
One way to distinguish a virus from spyware is by its behavior. A virus seeks to infect a computer; to replicate; and ultimately, to infect as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible.

When you accidentally install a virus onto your computer, the malicious code that is the virus tries to find ways to use your computer to infect other computers. For example, an email-delivered virus (a worm) may search your computer's file system for your Outlook address book, and send infected email messages to contacts it finds in the address book.

Increasingly, a virus will not rely on email alone for propagation, but will try many attack vectors. These blended threats employ file sharing, telnet, FTP, IMs, or any services and programs on your computer that communicate with other computers.


Spyware Seeks To Embed
Viruses seek to spread, but spyware tries to stay put, a behavior we typically associate with a parasite.

In the world of espionage, spyware is closest to a mole. A mole will avoid any activity that might blow his cover; similarly, spyware applications are often content to hide on your system. Spyware disguises itself as a legitimate application or secretly resides as one more data link library (DLL) or registry setting Joe Average User knows nothing about, so that it can collect information about you, your messaging and browsing behavior and your online preferences.

Spyware may have a heavier "footprint" on your computer than a virus: spyware will embed itself deeply into critical components of your operating system and bloat your memory with its monitoring and collection processing executables. So where virus activities are overt and sufficiently extensive in their impact to attract attention quickly, spyware activities are typically covert and their infestations are often long lasting. Put simply, spyware will significantly slow your machine down over time and can even cause programs to stop working and Windows to crash.

Fame, Or Monetary Gain?
Another way to distinguish a virus from spyware is by its objectives, or more accurately, the objectives of the malware writer. Many viruses are written by malcreants who want to distinguish themselves among their underground peers and simultaneously thumb their noses at anti-virus vendors and network administrators. Viruses are written to outperform previous virus outbreaks, and to illustrate how the far the "science" of virus programming has advanced. Recent events such as the war between the authors of the Netsky, Bagle and MyDoom viruses certainly support the argument that at least some virus activities are a testosterone thing.

Spyware wants to sap a host (your computer) of anything it can use for monetary gain, for as long as it can remain attached to the host. Spyware is content to sit on a single computer, to monitor what the user does, as is the case with tracking adware; or influence where the user visits, as is the case with targeting advertisers who use browser helper objects that pop up ads, substitute search engines, and hijack home pages. Like ticks, mosquitoes and mites, spyware leeches computer resources (e.g., processing capacity) and inhibits performance. But invariably, these pests stay with the host they've infested.

By Gemma Staines

Symantec is suing Microsoft for allegedly violating its data storage technology, which could impact on the launch of Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system and its Longhorn server product.

Symantec wants damages and a removal of the technology from Microsoft products, including Vista and Longhorn.

The lawsuit covers the use of the Symantec Volume Manager product, which was acquired by Symantec as part of its takeover of Veritas. Volume Manager allows operating systems, like Vista, to store and manipulate large amounts of data.

Symantec says Microsoft licensed a “light” version of Volume Manager from Veritas in 1996 and used it in Windows 2000. Symantec also says Microsoft later used the solution to develop Windows Server 2003.

Symantec further charges that Microsoft has used the technology to develop Windows Vista and Longhorn server. Symantec is attempting to stop Microsoft from using Volume Manager and to recall all existing products that wrongly use it.

Symantec claims Microsoft was not allowed to use Volume Manager after the release of Windows 2000. The use of Volume Manager in other products allows Microsoft to compete against alternative Veritas solutions that Symantec sells.

The two sides had previously attempted to settle the disagreement out of court, said both companies.

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Small firms face IT virus threat

Small companies are being left behind in the battle to defend themselves against malicious viruses, two separate polls suggest.

According to a survey of 1,000 companies by the Department of Trade and Industry, many businesses are now getting the message about investing in anti-virus software and regularly installing updates, with the number of firms being caught out by viruses falling by over a third since the previous survey in 2004.

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