A little-known capability in Google’s search engine has helped security vendor Websense uncover thousands of malicious Web sites, as well as several legitimate sites that have been hacked, the company said today.

By taking advantage Google’s binary search capability, Websense has created new software tools that can sniff out malware using the popular search engine. Websense researchers Googled for strings that were used in known malware like the Bagel and Mytob worms and have uncovered about 2,000 malicious Web sites over the past month, according to Dan Hubbard, senior director of security and research with Websense.

Though Google is widely used to search the Internet for Web pages and office documents, the search engine can also peek through the binary information stored in the normally unreadable executable (.exe) files that are run by Windows computers. “They actually look inside the internals of an executable and index that information,” Hubbard said.

Source: PCWorld

A planned terrorist attack on New York City was reportedly foiled by FBI agents who monitored chat rooms frequented by extremists. Lebanese authorities captured an Al Qaeda member who confessed to the plot, and stated that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had pledged financial and other support for the operation. Although the planning for the operation was not far along, according to U.S. officials, they had already been monitoring the plot for a year.

Source: Slashdot

IBM on Friday introduced two new entry-level versions of its search and content integration software for departmental projects and midsized businesses.

The first, IBM WebSphere Information Integrator OmniFind–Starter Edition, analyzes and indexes information stored throughout an organization and lets users search intranet portals, databases, file systems and public Web sites. The second product, WebSphere Information Integrator Content–Starter Edition, offers real-time, bidirectional access to numerous content sources and workflow systems.

Source: News.com

Intel Corp.’s attempt to stanch the loss of market share to Advanced Micro Devices Inc., its smaller rival in the computer microprocessor business, appears to be working and may allow it to gain lost ground over the next six months, analysts said Friday.

AMD on late Thursday warned second-quarter revenue would be about $1.22 billion, or about 9 percent below the previous period. In April, the Sunnyvale-based company had forecast revenue that would be flat or slightly below first-quarter sales of $1.33 billion. It pinned the lower estimate on declining sales of processors for desktop and notebook PCs.

Source: AP

The FBI has drafted sweeping legislation that would require Internet service providers to create wiretapping hubs for police surveillance and force makers of networking gear to build in backdoors for eavesdropping, CNET News.com has learned.

The draft bill would place the FBI’s Net-surveillance push on solid legal footing. At the moment, it’s ensnared in a legal challenge from universities and some technology companies that claim the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband surveillance directives exceed what Congress has authorized.

Source: News.com

Most of the unresolved bugs are from the Beta 2 time frame, one researcher says. According to his accounting, only about 250 of the unfixed bugs are over two months old.

Although 1 in 5 bugs logged to Microsoft’s semi-public database of Windows Vista problems haven’t yet been fixed, a Windows developer and consultant who analyzed the listing said Friday that his research showed the company was quickly addressing bugs as they were submitted.

Source: InformationWeek

Microsoft Game Advisor, a Web site that provides free system scans. It also informs you whether your computer can handle the hottest games. A time-saver and a money-saver worth checking out!

Source: News.com

Cingular Wireless, one of the largest U.S. mobile phone carriers, on Friday refuted claims in a lawsuit that it misled and overcharged some customers, and said it is considering coutersuing.

The claims, made by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and filed on behalf of seven plaintiffs, are “completely without merit,” said Joaquin Carbonell, Cingular’s general counsel.

The foundation filed its lawsuit on Thursday in federal court in Seattle charging that Cingular reneged on its promise to provide AT&T Wireless customers with new and better services. Instead, Cingular “immediately began dismantling and degrading the AT&T network, forcing AT&T customers to move to Cingular’s cell network,” the foundation said.

Source: Reuters

The National Security Agency may be known for its stealthy eavesdropping techniques, but it’s going public with advice for how to train a new generation to defend against computer threats.

Representatives from the usually secretive agency appeared at a SANS Institute event here to divulge “lessons learned” from their latest cyberdefense exercise. The exercise, which took place over four days in April, pitted students from the five U.S. military academies and the Air Force’s postgraduate technology school against “bad guys” at NSA headquarters.

The NSA-sponsored exercise, unlike other governmental attempts at bolstering cyberpreparedness, has been regularly taking place for six years. Friday’s public presentation, however, was described as the first of its kind. (The Department of Homeland Security, the agency chiefly responsible for safeguarding federal agencies’ cybersafety, wrapped up its first large-scale mock attack earlier this year, with an analysis of its results expected this summer.)

NSA representatives said they hoped the informal briefing would provide a wake-up call to all network managers, both inside and outside the government.

Source: News.com

ABC has held discussions on the use of technology that would disable the fast-forward button on DVRs, according to ABC President of Advertising Sales Mike Shaw, with the primary goal to allow TV commercials to run as intended.

“I would love it if the MSOs, during the deployment of the new DVRs they’re putting out there, would disable the fast-forward [button],” Shaw said.

While MSOs risk losing some of their DVR customers if fast-forwarding were blocked, Shaw said the cable operators–who are beefing up their own local ad sales operations–”are in the same business we’re in.” “They’ve got to sell ads too,” he said. “So if everybody’s skipping everybody’s ads, that’s not a long-term business model for them either.”

Source: mediapost.com