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Apple premieres iTunes 9
Featuring iTunes LP, Home Sharing, Genius Mixes & Improved Syncing
Apple introduced iTunes 9, the latest version of the world’s most popular software application to purchase, manage and play media, packed with innovative features such as iTunes LP, Home Sharing and Genius Mixes, as well as a redesigned store and improved syncing. iTunes 9 makes it easier than ever to discover, purchase and enjoy your music, movies, TV shows, and apps for iPhone(TM) and iPod touch from Apple’s revolutionary App Store. Plus, Home Sharing now lets you easily transfer songs, movies and TV shows to other computers in your home.
“iTunes 9 is a great iTunes release, with innovative features that make using iTunes better than ever and iTunes content richer than ever,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iTunes LP, for example, lets artists share more of their creativity with fans and gives music lovers the feeling of being immersed in an entire album with art, lyrics, liner notes, photos and videos.”
iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more. iTunes LP debuts today with albums including Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited,” Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me,” The Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty” and Dave Matthews Band’s “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King: iTunes Pass.” The new iTunes Extras provides a similar experience for movies on iTunes with features including documentaries, deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes Extras is now available for select movies including “Twilight,” “Batman Begins,” “WALL-E,” “Iron Man” and “The Da Vinci Code.” Customers can enjoy iTunes LP and iTunes Extras on a Mac or PC.
iTunes 9 also introduces Home Sharing, which lets you easily transfer music, movies and TV shows among up to five authorized computers in your home. Family members can now view up to five iTunes libraries on their home network, see only the portion of these libraries they don’t already have, import their favorite content directly to their own libraries, and automatically add new purchases from other computers into their library.
The incredibly popular Genius feature gets even better with Genius Mixes which are created using the results of over 27 million music libraries with over 54 billion songs that have been submitted and analyzed by Genius. The new Genius Mixes feature is like having a “Genius” DJ that automatically generates up to 12 endless mixes of songs from your iTunes library that go great together.
With improved syncing in iTunes 9 and iPhone OS 3.1, you can now organize your iPhone apps right in iTunes and they will automatically appear on your iPhone with the same layout. Plus, syncing music, photos, movies and TV shows is easier than ever with the added ability to sync music by artist and genre and sync photos by Events and Faces. The iTunes Store on iPhone now features precut ringtone downloads with over 20,000 ringtones priced at just $1.29.
iTunes 9 is available immediately as a free download at www.itunes.com.
The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 7,500 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video. With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.
Source: Apple
Mozilla advances the web with Firefox 3.5
Major update to browser delivers significant performance improvements, privacy enhancements, support for new Web standards, and greater customization options
Mozilla, a public-benefit organization dedicated to promoting choice and innovation on the Internet, today released Firefox(R) 3.5, a major update to its popular, free and open source Web browser. Coming one year after the launch of the critically acclaimed Firefox 3, Firefox 3.5 introduces cutting-edge features, as well as new support for a wide variety of Web standards.
Firefox 3.5 is the best performing browser Mozilla has ever released and delivers radically improved JavaScript performance, a new Private Browsing mode, native support for open video and audio, and Location Aware Browsing. The newest version of Firefox is more than two times faster than Firefox 3 and ten times faster than Firefox 2 on complex websites. With extensive under the hood work to support new technologies, Firefox 3.5 is the most powerful and complete modern browser and helps upgrade the Web experience.
Firefox 3.5 was built through Mozilla’s global, open source development process. The Mozilla community comprises thousands of passionate contributors, including experienced developers, security experts, localization and support communities in more than 60 countries, and tens of thousands of active testers. With more than 300 million active users, Firefox is the only popular Web browser created by a non-profit organization.
“So much is happening on the Web right now, it’s a great time for browsers. Firefox 3.5 brings together the most innovative Web technologies and delivers them in the most complete and powerful modern browser,” said John Lilly, CEO, Mozilla.
What’s New in Firefox 3.5:
Firefox 3.5 makes surfing the Web easier and more enjoyable with exciting new features and platform updates that allow Web developers to create the next generation of Web content. Native support for open video and audio, private browsing, and support for the newest Web technologies will enable richer, more interactive online experiences.
Performance. Firefox 3.5 includes the powerful new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which delivers unprecedented performance with today’s complex Web applications. Firefox 3.5 is more than two times faster than Firefox 3 and ten times faster than Firefox 2.
Open Video and Audio. Enjoy video and audio content from within your browser, without the need for plugins. Video is a vital part of the modern Web, whether it’s used to communicate, educate, or entertain. Firefox 3.5 delivers the first native integration of audio and video directly into the browser. Now everyone can easily watch open format Ogg Theora videos.
Web developers can use these technologies to design pages that interact with video content in new and exciting ways, offering richer interactive experiences beyond controlling playback and volume.
Privacy Controls. Firefox 3.5 includes features designed to protect your privacy online and provide greater control over your personal data.
While using the new Private Browsing mode in Firefox 3.5, nothing you encounter on the Web will be stored from that moment on during your browsing session. Unique to Firefox 3.5, the new Forget this Site feature can remove every trace of a site from your browser. If you want to remove all private data or activity from the past few hours, Clear Recent History, another Firefox-only feature, gives you full control over what stays and what goes.
Location Aware Browsing. Location Aware Browsing saves you time by allowing websites to ask you where you are located. If you choose to share your location with a website, it can use that information to find nearby points of interest and return additional, useful data like maps of your area. It’s all optional – Firefox doesn’t share your location without your permission.
How to get Mozilla Firefox 3.5:
Mozilla Firefox 3.5 is available now for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems as a free download from http://www.getfirefox.com/. It is also available in more than 70 languages at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html.
Panda Security launches its Ultra-Light 2010 Consumer Solutions
Panda Antivirus for Netbooks, Panda Antivirus Pro 2010, Panda Internet Security 2010 and Panda Global Protection 2010 will be available for home users and professionals on June 25th
These new solutions are designed to offer maximum protection with minimal impact on PC performance
All products feature an 80 percent performance improvement (consuming just 8 MB of memory) and include innovative cloud technologies based on Collective Intelligence
Panda Security, the Cloud Security Company, launched its new, ultra-light 2010 consumer solutions, which include Panda Antivirus for Netbooks, Panda Antivirus Pro 2010, Panda Internet Security 2010 and Panda Global Protection 2010. All of these products will be available on June 25.
The new consumer products are designed specifically to offer maximum protection with a minimum impact on PC performance. Thanks to Collective Intelligence cloud technologies, first launched by Panda Security two years ago, the new 2010 solutions offer an 80 percent performance improvement with respect to previous versions. Panda’s new retail solutions also deliver 60 percent improved browsing speed and 40 percent improved download speed over previous versions, consuming just 8 MB of memory.
All of Panda Security’s new solutions also incorporate proven USB vaccination technology to prevent virus infections and spreading vectors very commonly used by today’s malware. In addition, Panda’s 2010 solutions incorporate a brand new heuristic engine and generic signatures that, working both locally and with Collective Intelligence scanning-from-the-cloud, provide the highest rate of protection against the newest malware and identity theft trojans.
Panda Antivirus for Netbooks is a brand new, ultra-light consumer solution specifically designed for netbooks, mini laptops and ultra portables, including anti-spyware, anti-phishing, anti-rootkits, firewall and identity protection. The price of a 12-month license is $39.95 for one PC.
Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 offers easy-to-use protection against viruses, spyware and hackers, and also includes a new engine to fight identity theft. Users can chat, share photos and videos, bank and shop online, read their favorite blogs or simply surf the Web, with complete peace of mind thanks to its built-in firewall. This easy-to-use solution is truly install and forget. The price of a 12-month license is $49.95 for up to three PCs and $39.95 for one PC.
Panda Internet Security 2010 is a comprehensive suite for all types of threats including viruses, rootkits, hackers, online fraud, identity theft and all other Internet threats. This solution also offers an online backup system with 2 GB of free space as well as system recovery tools. The anti-spam engine ensures user inboxes remain free from junk mail while the Parental Control feature ensures children can use the Web safely. The price of a 12-month license is $79.95 for up to three PCs and $59.95 for one PC.
Panda Global Protection 2010 is Panda Security’s most complete security solution, protecting users from every type of Internet threat, including viruses, spyware, rootkits, hackers, online fraud and identity theft. In addition to an anti-spam engine and parental control features, users can also back up important files (documents, music, photos, etc.) to a CD/DVD or online (5 GB free space available) and restore them in case of accidental loss or damage. With the integration of Collective Intelligence, memory consumption, browsing and download speed have been improved significantly. The price of a 12-month license is $89.95 for up to three PCs and $69.95 for one PC.
The new products will be available online on at www.pandasecurity.com.
Lightspeed releases the New DepthQ family of Stereoscopic HD Video Software
Lightspeed Design, Inc. announces the release of its new DepthQ(R) family of stereoscopic software for state-of-the-art capture and playback of HD 3D media. DepthQ(R) HD 3D software has been successfully serving hundreds of professional clients in corporate, entertainment, medical and industrial applications since 2002. That software has now evolved into the new DepthQ(R) family of stereoscopic software — DepthQ(R)Capture(TM) and DepthQ(R)Player(TM).
What makes this product the best of its kind? Simply that DepthQ(R) is the only 3D software package capable of low-latency (66ms) real-time monitoring with simultaneous capture, highly efficient GPU image processing and smooth, high-resolution media playback. Lightspeed’s experience in 3D display technology and filmmaking, combined with their deep understanding of stereography and image processing, led them to develop their own toolsets to capture, process, configure, and playback HD 3D imagery with greater flexibility, efficiency, and accuracy. Lightspeed’s unparalleled features set DepthQ(R)Capture(TM) and DepthQ(R)Player(TM) far above the competition.
DepthQ(R)Capture(TM)
DepthQ(R)Capture(TM) is a powerful software solution for the precise capture, recording and monitoring of stereo 3D video from two simultaneous camera inputs (Analog, HD-SDI, HDMI, FireWire or USB) at dual HD resolution. Features include low-latency, real-time monitoring, a camera alignment aid and visual overlays to assist in optimizing your 3D effects for various target playback screens.
DepthQ(R)Player(TM) captures your two independent camera video sources, concatenates them together as an above/below image to preserve sync, processes the result — applying any scaling and compression required — and then serves the final stereo data as a single data stream to any 3D (or 2D) monitoring device at the required resolution, frame rate, and encoding standard for that display.
DepthQ(R)Player(TM)
DepthQ(R)Player(TM) is a feature-packed software solution for the high-quality playback of stereo 3D movies from a standard PC. Easy to use and designed from the ground up as a professional product, DepthQ(R)Player(TM) combines efficient code architecture and superior throughput for high-bandwidth playback of either locally stored or URL-accessible stereoscopic movies, as well as 3D streaming IP video (MPEG2-TS RTP/UDP).
DepthQ(R)Player(TM) delivers the most comfortable-to-view stereo 3D experience possible, and allows cost-effective viewing of high-resolution stereoscopic media in a wide variety of environments — from remote 3D viewing stations, operating rooms and conference rooms to 3D cinemas, museum exhibits, portable theaters, motion simulators, corporate events and trade shows.
Features include:
- Flicker-free 120 Hz stereoscopic 3D video
- Input Formats – above/below, side-by-side, interlaced and more
- Output Formats – Page-flip, DLP checkerboard, dual output, interlace and more
- DepthQ(R) Alignment (real-time X-Y stereoscopic parallax adjustments)
- Time Dependent Event Editor (IN/OUT points, Parallax changes)
- Time Code Capability
- DMX-512 Control of External Devices
- Cg GPU Image Processing (cornerstone, edge sharpening, contrast, brightness, etc.)
- Depth Reference Marks
DepthQ(R)Player(TM) software uses Microsoft Direct Show infrastructure working with codecs like Windows Media Player, MJPEG, MPEG-2, and H.264 and is compatible with NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision and NVIDIA Quadro.
DepthQ(R)Player(TM) is available in three configurations: Lite, a free-to-download evaluation version incorporating a subtle watermark, with restricted playlength and functionality; Standard, a licensed commercial version at 720P resolution per eye; and Pro, a licensed professional version at full 1080P resolution per eye.
Download DepthQ(R)Player(TM) Lite, test drive it and tell us what you think. Go to http://www.depthq.com/player.html.
For more information, go to http://www.depthq.com/software.html.
Source: Lightspeed Design, Inc.
ThinkFree Mobile Netbook for Windows, Linux and Mac Edition Now Available Directly for End User Download
Regardless of platform, users can now create, edit and collaborate on documents on-the-go
ThinkFree, Inc., a leader in next-generation office productivity solutions, unveiled ThinkFree Mobile Netbook for Windows, Linux and Mac ESD (electronic software download) version, bringing unprecedented round-trip Microsoft Office compatibility and seamless online document collaboration directly to users. Built on the robust and proven ThinkFree Mobile platform, ThinkFree Mobile Netbook for Windows, Linux and Mac ESD version delivers fast and easy-to-use word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications. Users can now purchase and download ThinkFree Mobile Netbook for Windows, Linux and Mac ESD version at http://product.thinkfree.com/mobile/netbook.
Previously available only to device manufacturers, ThinkFree Mobile Netbook for Windows, Linux and Mac ESD version comes directly to users in response to a flood of individual inquiries since the launch of the ThinkFree Mobile line of productivity suites. ThinkFree is also offering a special discount price of $24.95 for Windows, Linux and Mac suites for a limited time. Customers who take advantage of this offer will also receive an extra 1GB of online storage, bringing their online total storage to 2GB.
ThinkFree Mobile Netbook for Windows, Linux and Mac ESD version consists of ThinkFree Write for word processing, ThinkFree Calc for spreadsheets and ThinkFree Show for presentations – all of which make it simple for mobile users to browse, edit, create and collaborate on documents while on-the-go. Featuring the best round-trip Microsoft Office compatibility, ThinkFree Mobile Netbook ESD comes with 1GB of free, reliable and secure online document storage and integrates seamlessly with ThinkFree Online, ThinkFree’s already existing online service for collaboration and synchronization across all documents.
“Since the introduction of ThinkFree Mobile Netbook Edition for Windows in October 2008, ThinkFree has continuously worked to expand its product portfolio to support the latest mobile Internet devices and underlying platforms, including Intel Atom, Google Android and Qualcomm Snapdragon / ARM,” said Su Jin Kim, CEO of ThinkFree. “The ThinkFree Mobile product family has been optimized for smaller screen dimensions and limited hardware resources. As such, the user interface offers more space to work on the actual document, and the software has a very small disk footprint. With the new ESD availability, users can instantly take advantage of the most advanced productivity geared at netbooks.”
ThinkFree has also released ThinkFree Mobile for Mac, the first to deliver a suite designed for the Mac. Editing documents between Windows and Mac environments has been a real headache in the past. The larger office suites come with a high price tag, perform slowly – particularly when converting files – and the overwhelmingly extensive features go far beyond what is needed by most users.
Pricing and Availability
ThinkFree Mobile Netbook Edition for Windows, Linux and Mac ESD are available now on ThinkFree.com for end users to purchase and download. Regular pricing: $39.95. Limited time offer: $24.95; includes 1GB additional online document storage (2GB total). Enter coupon code THINKFREE during checkout.
Source: ThinkFree, Inc.
Safari 4 downloads top 11 million in three days
Apple announced that more than 11 million copies of Safari 4 have been downloaded in the first three days of its release, including more than six million downloads of Safari for Windows.
Safari 4 is the world’s fastest, most innovative browser and is built on the world’s most advanced browser technologies including the new Nitro JavaScript engine that executes JavaScript nearly eight times faster than IE 8 and more than four times faster than Firefox 3. Safari quickly loads HTML web pages more than three times faster than IE 8 and three times faster than Firefox 3.*
“Safari 4 is an incredible success on Mac and Windows with more than 11 million downloads in the first three days,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Safari users love the incredible speed and innovative features like Top Sites, Full History Search and Cover Flow.”
Starting with the development of the open source WebKit browser engine, Apple has been leading the industry in defining and implementing innovative web standards. Safari 4 includes HTML 5 support for offline technologies and support for advanced CSS Effects, enabling an entirely new class of web applications that feature rich media, graphics and fonts. Safari 4 is the first browser to pass the Web Standards Project’s Acid3 test, which examines how well a browser adheres to CSS, JavaScript, XML and SVG standards that are specifically designed for dynamic web applications.
Safari 4 includes Top Sites, for an incredible visual preview of frequently visited and favorite pages; Full History Search, to search through titles, web addresses and the complete text of recently viewed pages; and Cover Flow(R), to easily flip through web history or bookmarks. Other innovative features include Smart Address Fields for automatically completing web addresses from an easy to read list of suggestions; Search Fields, to fine tune searches with recommendations from Google Suggest or a list of recent searches; and Full Page Zoom, for a closer look at any website without degrading the quality of the site’s layout and text.
In Mac OS(R) X Snow Leopard(TM), available later this year, Safari runs as a 64-bit application, boosting the performance of the Nitro JavaScript engine by up to 50 percent.** Snow Leopard makes Safari more resistant to crashes by running plug-ins in a separate process, so even if a plug-in crashes, Safari continues to run and the user simply has to reload the affected page. Safari running on Snow Leopard also delivers HTTP streaming, making it easy to deliver high-quality audio and video in industry standard formats from any web server without the need for browser plug-ins.
Pricing & Availability
Safari 4 is available for both Mac OS X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 4 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard(R) v10.5.7 or Mac OS X Tiger(R) v10.4.11 and Security Update 2009-002, a minimum 256MB of memory and is designed to run on any Intel-based Mac(R) or a Mac with a PowerPC G5, G4 or G3 processor and built-in FireWire(R). Safari 4 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 4 can be found at www.apple.com/safari.
*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. All testing conducted on an iMac(R) 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Windows Vista, with 2GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmark based on the SunSpider JavaScript Performance test. HTML benchmark based on VeriTest’s iBench Version 5.0 using default settings.
**Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2009 comparing prerelease Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6 with shipping Mac OS X Leopard v10.5.7. Testing was conducted on a shipping MacBook(R) 2.0 GHz system and a shipping iMac 2.66 GHz system, both configured with 2GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmarks based on the SunSpider Performance test comparing Safari running in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes.
Source: Apple
GFI Software Launches FREE Full-Featured Backup and Recovery Software for Home Users
To assist home PC users during these troubled economic times and to help them understand the importance of data backups, GFI Software announced the release of a free version of its newly-developed backup and recovery software called GFI Backup 2009 – Home Edition. Perfect for home users, GFI Backup 2009 allows PC users to safeguard precious memories – pictures, video, Office documents – and any files stored on their computer.
The FREE software can be downloaded from http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm/free-backup-software/ and allows home users to keep regular and updated copies of all important files and safeguard data in case something goes wrong. This is GFI’s first release of a recovery product designed specifically for home users.
“Security threats do not only affect businesses but home users as well. In many cases, loss of data for individuals is heartbreaking because memories, personal documents and important files are lost due to hard disk failure or virus attacks,” said Walter Scott, CEO, GFI Software. “We firmly believe in helping people be better prepared and we are doing this by giving home users a full-featured backup software product for free.”
GFI Backup 2009 is an easy-to-use backup and recovery software solution that allows users to backup all their important files and, when needed, recover data within minutes using the product’s wizard-driven interface. GFI Backup 2009 does not use a proprietary format – all data is saved to common ZIP files making it easy to restore data to a computer that may not have GFI Backup installed on it.
Data can be stored on nearly every storage device available such as internal or external hard disks, local area network (LAN) locations, CD/DVD media, removable media devices (USB sticks, memory sticks, flash memory, floppy disks, etc.) and remote locations using FTP with upload auto-resume. Data can also be protected with military-strength 256-bit AES strong encryption.
GFI Backup 2009 is currently available for home users. The company will release a small business/corporate version later this year.
“At GFI Software, we believe that we should do what we can to help our customers protect their data – whether it be important business information or personal memories. We view ourselves not only as a vendor but also as a partner that understands our customers’ needs and is actively doing something through our “We Care” initiative to help them through these tough economic times,” added Scott.
For more information and to download a FREE copy of GFI Backup 2009 – Home Edition, visit http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm/free-backup-software/.
Keith Curtis Authors a Case for Free Software that Could Change the World
How would you like to have your own high-tech chauffeur?
Keith Cary Curtis, author of After the Software Wars, says it could happen right now.
“All we need is a video camera on the roof, plugged into a PC,” says Curtis. “We have all the necessary hardware, and have had it for years, but don’t yet have robot-driven cars because we don’t have the software.”
“The key to faster technological progress is the more widespread use of free software,” says Curtis.
He says we still live in the dark ages of computing because proprietary software is still the dominant model. And he takes off in a very gutsy way about Microsoft, Google, Apple, and others. He touts open source solutions like Linux and claims they are the future, and are right now reaching critical mass.
Curtis was a programmer at Microsoft for 11 years, working on Windows, Office, and in Microsoft research, when he left the company to write his book.
Curtis, born in Birmingham, Michigan, attended the University of Michigan and studied Computer Science. He was recruited by Microsoft and moved to Seattle, Washington where he lives.
What does he predict for the future? Will Microsoft survive? Will free software prevail? Well, you have to read the book.
After the Software Wars is available at Amazon.com and other online book retailers. The book has also been reviewed by the New York Times and is the topic of discussion on many blogs.
John Markoff of the New York Times:
“Keith Curtis takes a programmer’s approach in Software Wars, attempting to systematically build a case that software can help pave the way for a 21st-century renaissance in many fields ranging from artificial intelligence (cars that drive themselves) to the human journey into space (space elevators). For Keith, free software is all about leveraging our collective intelligence.”
Lorenz Gude of www.newmediatheory.net:
After the Software Wars is hard to put down because it makes a passionate and compelling case for free software and upsets our industrial age assumptions with new understanding. Curtis’ argument is based in experience and like a good lawyer he forces us to consider the merit of his argument.
FREE: Download the book at www.lulu.com/content/4964815
Source: Keith Curtis
Javacool Software Releases Free SpywareBlaster 4.2
Enhanced “Layered Defense” Spyware, Malware Prevention Software Now Supports More Browsers & With Faster Updating
Fans of Javacool Software LLC, take note: an upgraded version of the company’s popular SpywareBlaster(R) is now available for free downloads from the software company’s Web site (www.javacoolsoftware.com).
With over 50 million free downloads since the company’s launch in 2002, Javacool Software offers a range of free privacy and security software products used by home and small business computer owners worldwide, along with other services for enterprises and networks.
Unlike other subscription or free anti-spyware and anti-malware software, SpywareBlaster focuses on prevention. It protects against stealth downloading of spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers and other potentially unwanted software. And unlike other programs, the performance-friendly SpywareBlaster does not remain running in the background, avoiding drags on a PC’s operation.
SpywareBlaster coexists with other security software to provide a “layered defense” against multiple threats. It prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware and other dangerous programs, blocks spying and tracking via cookies, and restricts the actions of potentially threatening Web sites.
The new version 4.2 of SpywareBlaster features improved Windows 7 support, faster updating worldwide, support for the Internet Explorer 8 and K-Meleon browsers, interface improvements and numerous other enhancements.
PC World magazine recently named SpywareBlaster as one of its ‘8 Great Free Security Tools.’ Noted the report: “With this downloadable antispyware utility, you can make sure you don’t get infected in the first place rather than scanning for and killing spyware after it hits your machine. It works differently from most competitors by restricting the actions that potentially dangerous Web sites can perform when you visit them. It also protects against dangerous ActiveX controls, and keeps tracking cookies off your PC.”
Javacool Software offers a SpywareBlaster AutoUpdate service to download new versions when they become available, with automatic database updates, easy multi-user coverage and technical support.
Source: Javacool Software LLC
PandaLabs Predictions of Conficker’s Minimal Impact on April Fools Day Ring True
The Much-Feared Re-activation of Conficker on April 1st Goes Off Without a Bang
PandaLabs, Panda Security’s malware detection and analysis laboratory, predicted in a recent blog post that the malicious Conficker worm won’t cause major upheaval on April 1st and advised consumers not to “get taken in by the Conficker panic“. As predicted by PandaLabs, the much-feared reactivation of the Conficker virus, forecasted for Midnight on April 1, has yet to cause massive infections.
According to Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, “The ultimate aim of the virus is to obtain money. With the alarm generated by the media attention, security vendors have been working to avoid a potentially widespread epidemic. Evidently though, if someone is going to steal money, they are not interested in being headline news. That’s why we believe that its creator is trying to find a new zero-day vulnerability to exploit in order to spread the infection. But it will happen at a moment when our guard is down, not when everyone is on the alert.”
At Midnight on April 1, Conficker started to generate 50,000 new URLs from which, supposedly, the malware would be able to update itself to a new version, starting a massive series of infections. However, until now, no new versions or additional infections have been detected other than those already associated to the previously active variants.
“It is still possible that at any moment one of these URLs could be activated and the worm could download an update to its code or new malware. In any event, this would only affect users who are unprotected against Conficker, although there are still many of them,” says Corrons.
Although there has been much speculation as to why the creators are trying to draw attention to Conficker, Corrons adds, “The reality of today’s malware is that it is created with a financial motive. At PandaLabs we believe that the cyber-criminals behind this worm are still aiming to infect as many unprotected computers as possible. This way, with a critical mass of infected computers, they can then start to profit by renting out the network for sending spam, downloading Trojans to steal data and other fraudulent activities.”
Ironically, one of the main dangers associated with Conficker, as described on the PandaLabs blog is not the worm itself, but the fact that cyber-crooks are exploiting the notoriety of this malware to distribute other malicious code from domains ranked highly in Internet searches for the word ‘Conficker.’
To avoid falling victim to Conficker and other malicious code, PandaLabs advises:
- Having an up-to-date anti-malware solution installed
- Installing the patch that fixes the vulnerability exploited by Conficker
- Having a solution to prevent malicious code spreading through USB devices (pen drives, MP3 players), etc. With this in mind, Panda has developed the free Panda USB Vaccine, which can be downloaded from here
- Not opening emails from unknown sources and never clicking links or running files attached to such emails
Source: Panda Security