Computer Software
New ‘security patch’ software tackles major internet security breach
Computer giants like Microsoft, Sun, and Cisco are distributing new software to tackle a major security glitch in the internet addressing system.
The flaw was such that it could enable conmen to redirected internet users to fake webpages, even if they typed the correct address into a browser, and thereby trick them into disclosing their credit card details or other personal data.
Security expert Dan Kaminsky, who accidentally discovered the error in the Domain Name System (DNS) about six months ago, said that the case was unprecedented.
"People should be concerned but they should not be panicking," the BBC quoted him as saying.
Time to update Quicktime multimedia software
Bonn - QuickTime users should update to version 7.5 as soon as possible. Five security holes have been discovered in older versions of Apple's multimedia player, the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI) in Bonn is reporting.
Hackers can exploit the security holes to sneak malicious software onto vulnerable computers. Both PC and Mac users are potentially affected. The newest
Get ready to update Firefox
Bonn, Germany - People whose computers use the Firefox browser should plan on an upgrade.
Eleven different bugs have been found in the free browser created by Mozilla, according to the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology in Bonn.
Similar problems have been discovered in Seamonkey and Thunderbird, two other applications from the same company.
Five of the flaws have been characterized as critical. A new bug- free version of Seamonkey, a browser and e-mail program, has already been released.
However, a new version of the mail client Thunderbird is not yet available (dpa)
Computer simulation reveals how quasi-crystals form
Using a computer simulation, scientists at the University of Michigan have cast some light on how quasi-crystals form.
Unlike ordinary crystals, quasi-crystals are solids whose atoms are not arranged in a repeating pattern. However, they still form intricate patterns that are technologically useful.
Sharon Glotzer, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, says that quasi-crystals incorporate clusters of atoms as they are, without rearranging them as regular crystals do.
When a normal crystal grows upon the freezing of liquids into solids, a crystallite nucleus develops first. The atoms in the liquid attach one-by-one to the crystallite, as though following a template.
