Firefox 3 To Support Offline Apps

An interesting tidbit came out of the recent Foo Camp New Zealand (which unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend). Robert O’Callahan from Mozilla, who is based in NZ but drives the rendering engine of Mozilla/FireFox, spoke about how Firefox 3 will deliver support for offline applications. This is significant because you’ll be able to use your web apps - like Gmail, Google Docs&Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, etc - in the browser even when offline. I deliberately mentioned all Google web apps there, because of course this plays right into Google’s hands.

Although Mozilla is an open source organization, some of its top workers are employed by Google.So it’s a very cozy relationship. We’ve discussed before how Firefox 3 as information broker suits Google very nicely, because the Mountain View company has a number of best of breed web apps - and if it’s not building them, it’s acquiring them Firefox 3 To Support Offline Apps

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) to be upgraded

Microsoft's controversial anti piracy application, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), is to be upgraded next week. The WGA Notifications tool allows Microsoft to see whether or not your copy of Windows and other Microsoft software programs were purchased and installed legally when your PC is connected to the internet.The WGA programme has caused a storm in some quarters, with many claiming that it is an invasion of privacy

Shockwave Trojan Information and Removal

What is the Shockwave Trojan Virus?

Remember all those warnings you hear about never opening an .exe attachment! This virus is why those warnings appear. Discovered on November 30, 2000 this virus has the subject "A great Shockwave flash movie" and the attachment is "CREATIVE.EXE." Using Outlook, the trojan sends itself as an attachment to every address listed in the address book of the infected user. This Trojan also changes the filenames of all JPG and ZIP files and then moves the files to the C:\ root directory. Because Shockwave is a standard format for animation, most people will just think its a "cute" file and open it...then the trouble starts.

How to Clean/Delete the Shockwave Trojan?

Delete the Creative.exe file from the Windows Startup folder and restart the computer. Then use the file called C:\ MESSAGEFORU.TXT to manually move and rename the JPG and ZIP files that the virus changed. The filenames of these files are then appended with the text "change atleast now to LINUX". For example, "XXXX.ZIP" becomes "XXXX.ZIPchange atleast now to LINUX". The file C:\MESSAGEFORU.TXT logs the original location of all files so it can be used to restore all moved files.

When viewed, the file C:\ MESSAGEFORU.TXT contains the following text:
Hi, guess you have got the message. I have kept a list of files that I have infected under this. If you are smart enough just reverse back the process. i could have done far better damage, i could have even completely wiped your harddisk. Remember this is a warning & get it sound and clear... - The Penguin

How to Remove BlazeFind (BlazeFind Removal)

BlazeFind is a spyware implemented as Internet Explorer Browser Helper Object. This program redirects browser search requests to its controlling server and displays popup advertisements on your computer. It may also slow down the performance of Internet Explorer.

Follow these removal steps to remove this spyware from your computer:

1. Reboot the computer to Safe Mode (Press F8 when Windows starts).
2. Open a DOS command prompt window ( Start > Run , type 'cmd' (on Windows NT/2000/XP ) or 'command' (on Windows 95/98/Me)) and enter the following commands,... Remove BlazeFind - Adware & Spyware Removal Instructions

Firefox Flaw Could Let Attackers Change Cookies

A bug was recently uncovered in Firefox that could allow a malicious Web site to appear authentic. The bug affects the way Firefox handles writing to the "location.hostname" DOM property, according to a posting by security researcher Michal Zalewski on the security mailing list Full Disclosure. The vulnerability could potentially allow a malicious Web site to manipulate the authentication cookies for a third-party Web site.

By bypassing same-origin policy, attackers can possibly tamper with the way these sites are displayed or how they work. For users, this means the bug could allow for the browser to appear as if the user were connecting to a bank, when in fact the user would instead be receiving data from an attacker. Firefox Flaw Could Let Attackers Change Cookies

Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) to be upgraded

Microsoft's controversial anti piracy application, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), is to be upgraded next week. The WGA Notifications tool allows Microsoft to see whether or not your copy of Windows and other Microsoft software programs were purchased and installed legally when your PC is connected to the internet.

The WGA programme has caused a storm in some quarters, with many claiming that it is an invasion of privacy. Anti-piracy tool to be upgraded - Web User News