Facebook is ending support for Internet Explorer 6. Granted, it is only pulling the plug on IE6 in its chat function, but the move by Facebook is the latest effort to shift away from the outdated browser that refuses to die. Facebook's decision illustrates once again why organizations that still rely on IE6 should consider upgrading (finally). IT admins may not care about the Facebook chat function, but there are many other reasons to abandon IE6.A Facebook Blog post describes the issue behind the decision: "Many of you have told us that sometimes your Chat session comes and goes or even st... Read More »

Apple has released a security update to its Mac OS X operating system, fixing a number of critical security issues in the software. The update, released early Tuesday afternoon, Pacific time, fixes 13 bugs in various OS X components, including core components such as Apple Type Services and CFNetwork. It's Apple's fifth OS X security update this year. Many open-source OS X components are also patched, including Samba, PHP and ClamAV software. At least six of the bugs theoretically could be exploited by attackers to run unauthorized software on the Mac, Apple said. Microsoft's Windo... Read More »

A day after Microsoft confirmed a vulnerability in Windows applications that executes malicious code on end-user PCs, the first exploits have been released targeting programs including the Firefox browser, uTorrent BitTorrent client and Microsoft PowerPoint. The attack code was posted on Tuesday to the Exploit Database. It included exploits for the Wireshark packet sniffer, Windows Live email and Microsoft MovieMaker, in addition to those for the most recent versions of Firefox, uTorrent and PowerPoint. As many as 200 applications may be vulnerable to the so-called binary planting or DLL... Read More »

Bing is now fully fueling Yahoo search results in the U.S. and Canada, Yahoo and Microsoft said on Tuesday. The announcement marks one of the first major milestones since the two companies signed a 10-year deal for Microsoft to power Yahoo search and for Yahoo to use Microsoft's AdCenter advertising platform. Authorities in the U.S. and Europe approved the deal in February and the companies have said they expect to take about two years to fully implement the agreement. So far, Bing is only powering results in English in the U.S. and Canada, with other languages to follow "in the weeks an... Read More »

There may be an FM radio in your next cell phone whether you want it or not. The National Association of Broadcasters is lobbying Congress to stipulate that FM radio technology be included in future cell phones. In exchange, the NAB has agreed that member stations would pay about $100 million in so-called performance fees to music labels and artists. Radio stations would be required to pay performance royalties on a tiered schedule with larger commercial stations paying more than smaller and non-profit stations. In this week's Server Den minute, InformationWeek's Alex Wolfe notes that big pu... Read More »

A team of hackers has allegedly broken Microsoft's security and got its hands on Halo: Reach a month early. Remember that twelve-hundred dollar Halo: Reach listing we told you about earlier in the week? Well, it looks like it's gotten some attention, and not just for its hefty price tag. A group of modders from the Game-Tut forums have claimed that they were able to trick Microsoft's servers into letting them download the game and have been taking it for a spin. The group said that obtaining the game had been a challenge, but even though they'd been successful, they had no plans to distr... Read More »

It's only $5 but Google hopes the fee will limit abuses by malicious developers. In addition to launching a developer preview of its forthcoming Chrome Web Store on Thursday, Google moved to make its developer ecosystem more secure. Hoping to impose a cost on those who create multiple fake developer accounts for the purpose of propagating malicious extensions and manipulating reviews, the company introduced a nominal $5 fee for developers of Chrome Extension, Themes, and (soon) Apps who wish to host their content in Google's galleries and store. Heartland Payment Systems suffered a m... Read More »

In the four years since Sony's PlayStation 3 has been with us, it's never been hacked to play pirated games--until now, that is, if claims by hacker group PSJailbreak prove true. The group, reportedly operating from China or Hong Kong, claims it's on the verge of releasing a USB dongle (they're implying it's a 'jailbreak' tool) that lets you play pirated as well as homemade games on a retail PS3 by converting it into a "debug" unit, a special version of the PS3 used by developers and others to access non-retail versions of games. The dongle comes loaded with software that the hackers claim... Read More »

No doubt many netizens of cyberspace were surprised to hear this week that the World Wide Web is on death's doorstep while the Internet is alive and well and ready to be the platform for an electronic Camelot. That's because for many folks the Web and the Net are synonymous. They use the words interchangeably in their daily lives, and they're likely to continue using them that way even if the prediction of the Web's fade from glory becomes a reality. Let's face it, all this talk of the Web's rapidly diminishing importance is simply "inside baseball" palaver for many cybernauts who just want... Read More »

Chip giant Intel has thrown down $7.7 billion to buy security software firm McAfee According to MarketWatch, Intel will pay $48 a share in cash to by the firm, amounting to a shade under $7.7 billion. this works out as a premium of 62% over McAfee’s closing price on Wednesday. Question is, why? That’s a good question. Perhaps Intel feel that there’s good money in buying into a security firm, or possibly the acquisition paves the way to embed security software directly onto processors. Or maybe Intel just had the cash to burn. Intel is not shy of carrying out acquisitions so this move isn’t... Read More »