Stories by Jeremy Kirk

Worm appears as Microsoft antipiracy program

Security analysts have detected a new piece of malware that appears to run as a Microsoft program used to detect unlicensed versions of its operating system.

Microsoft faces class action suit over WGA tool

Microsoft is facing a class action suit over a tool that gathers data on a user's computer in an effort to detect bootlegged copies of its Windows operating system.

Red Hat inherits patent claim from JBoss

Red Hat faces a patent infringement lawsuit this week over an application that came under its wing as a result of its acquisition of JBoss.

Denmark ministries to publish in ODF by September

The Danish government will launch a four-month pilot program in September that will involve publishing documents in the OpenDocument Format (ODF), part of the country's broad endorsement of using open computing standards.

Microsoft unveils code-sharing Website

Microsoft is hoping to fire up a community of developers on a code-sharing forum the company has been testing since May but has now offvialy rolled out.

Sun says open-source Java possible in 'months'

A Sun Microsystems executive said Tuesday said the company is "months" away from releasing its trademark Java programming language under an open-source license.

Symantec developing antiphishing security software

Symantec has announced it will release, in September, a beta version of a security software product that hardens a computer's defenses against e-commerce and banking fraud.

IBM offers free security tools for applications

IBM released free security software tools for business application developers on Thursday, a move the company said will help stem security breaches and hacker attacks.

Antivirus market jumped 13.6 percent last year

The growth in malicious software is proving fortuitous for antivirus companies. Analyst firm Gartner said on Wednesday the industry grew 13.6 percent in 2005, with revenue totaling US$4 billion.

Hackers use Google Pages to host Trojan horse

Google's Web site hosting service is apparently being used by hackers to try to steal money using a malicious program, a security company said.

Auditors tell NHS to track on IT suppliers

The U.K. National Health Service (NHS) should terminate and replace contractors if they do not meet deadlines for its massive upgrading of England's health-care IT systems, a government audit report released Friday said.

Vulnerability found in Microsoft Excel

A new vulnerability has been found in Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program, just a few days after the company fixed problems with several of its applications in its monthly patch distribution.

Microsoft creates customer interoperability council

Microsoft, long criticized for technically isolating its products to squeeze out competitors, announced on Wednesday the formation of a group of its own executives and outside IT professionals to discuss interoperability issues.

Virus count drops in e-mail, Sophos says

The proportion of e-mail messages that contain malware has fallen for the first six months this year compared to the same period last year, Sophos said on Wednesday.

Oracle execs detail move to Fusion CRM

Oracle executives sought to allay customer concerns on Tuesday over its product road map, saying it won't force them off older products brought into its arms after its buying spree of CRM (customer relationship management) vendors.