Ars Technica is running a story about next week’s release of AACS, which is intended to fix the currently compromised version. The only problem is, the patched version has already been cracked. From the article: ‘AACS LA’s attempts to stifle dissemination of AACS keys and prevent hackers from compromising new keys are obviously meeting with extremely limited success. The hacker collective continues to adapt to AACS revisions and is demonstrating a capacity to assimilate new volume keys at a rate which truly reveals the futility of resistance. If keys can be compromised before HD DVDs bearing those keys are even released into the wild, one has to question the viability of the entire key revocation model.

Two vulnerabilities open to remote exploitation by hackers have been found in Java Development Kit, one of which could be used to take over a compromised system.

JDK (Java Development Kit) is a software development tool made by Sun Microsystems specifically for Java users. The vulnerabilities were rated “critical” by FrSIRT (French Security Incident Response Team), a security research organization based in France.

One flaw is caused by an integer overflow error in the image parser when processing ICC profiles embedded within JPEG images, according to FrSIRT researchers.

Security experts at Secunia outlined the dangers of the flaw in a separate advisory. “This can be exploited to crash the JVM and potentially allow the execution of arbitrary code by e.g. tricking an application using the JDK to process a malicious image file,” Secunia security experts stated.

eWEEK.com Special Report: Application Security

The second vulnerability is caused by an error in the BMP image parser when processing malformed files on Unix/Linux systems, which could be exploited by attackers to cause a denial of service. Both flaws affect Sun JDK version 1.x.

Users can find an answer to both vulnerabilities by upgrading to JDK versions 1.5.0_11-b03 or 1.6.0_01-b06.

More than a year has passed since the release of the Xbox 360 DVD-ROM firmware hack to allow the play of backup games and bootleg copies. Those with hacked firmware had the ability to play copied games, mostly burned onto dual-layer DVD recordable discs, even online Xbox Live.

For a while, it seemed that such firmware modifications were undetectable by Microsoft – but that appears to have all changed with the latest Xbox 360 system software released last week.

Word came from the Xbox 360 hacking community that the Spring Update may have the ability to detect those who were playing copied games. More specifically, the system software would be able to determine the legitimacy of the disc in the DVD drive, not necessarily targeting any specific method of modification.

As a pre-emptive measure, hackers released updated disc drive firmware introducing various features, such as disc jitter, in an effort to further the exploit. Such efforts, however, appear to be all for naught, as report on Xbox-Scene indicates that Microsoft is now banning from Xbox Live users with modified DVD-ROM drives, regardless of firmware version.

The world’s largest software maker Microsoft said Friday it was taking over aQuantive, a global digital marketing company, for six billion dollars.

The software giant said in a statement that it hopes the deal will enable it to expand its presence in the growing world of online advertising from which rivals such as Google already reap rich revenues.

Microsoft said it had agreed to buy Seattle, Washington state-based aQuantive in an all-cash transaction valued at 66.50 dollars per share. The digital marketing firms employs 2,600 workers.

The ZAP Xebra is a three-wheeler running on basic batteries, silent and easy to maneuver. It is more than a golf cart and less than a compact car and costs just under $10,000.

“They are cute in their own ugly way. They are the VW of the electric cars. They are the car of the people,” said ZAP CEO Steve Schneider said, pointing to a Xebra fleet painted in Kiwi Green, Lipstick Red or Zebra Flash (with stripes).

While others hammer away at battery technology to make all-electric cars go further and cost less, ZAP (as in zero air pollution) believes it has the formula in its tiny Xebra cars made in China: Plug it in at home and go up to 40 miles per hour for up to 25 miles.

“The key is to keep the car simple,” said Schneider, noting that a single-wheel front end is a crucial part of containing costs.

ZAP last month anchored a $79 million order from Chicago-based The Electric Vehicle Company, which aims to sell 10,000 ZAP electric cars and trucks to local governments, universities and companies like Domino’s Pizza, which is testing the Xebra for deliveries.

A Web site set up to help find a missing British four-year-old girl who disappeared from a holiday villa in Portugal 15 days ago has received more than 50 million hits, its operator said on Friday.

More than 7,500 people have left messages of support on the www.findmadeleine.com site and 55 million hits have been counted since its launch.

Thousands have downloaded appeal posters and forwarded an email chain letter started by Madeleine McCann’s family. The little girl disappeared from her bedroom at a hotel resort in Portugal on May 3 as her parents dined nearby.

A group of kids from the University of Wyoming got together to have fun with a new PlayStation 3. The owner of the game decided they should destroy the old PlayStation 2 because he wouldn’t need it anymore. One of his friends thought he would be funny and began to urinate on the game, but guess what…it was still plugged into the wall! He fell to the floor unconscious, but came to in about ten seconds and was rushed to the hospital.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. detailed on Thursday plans for its first-ever chip platform designed specifically for notebook personal computers, in a bid to regain ground lost to rival Intel Corp.

The platform — a collection of microprocessors, graphics chips and other chips — is aimed at improving battery life and enhancing graphics and video processing performance, AMD said.

Code-named Puma, notebooks with the platform are expected on the market by the middle of 2008, AMD said. The platform also takes advantage of AMD’s $5.4 billion acquisition of graphics chipmaker ATI, which closed in October 2006.

A computer disk containing personal information on thousands of Lucent employees and retirees has been missing for at least 10 days, Alcatel-Lucent said Thursday.

A vendor informed the company May 7 that the disk could not be located, Alcatel-Lucent said in a prepared statement.

The disk includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates and salary data for U.S. employees who worked for Lucent and their family members and Lucent retirees and their dependents, the company said. It said the disk did not contain credit card numbers or bank account information.

The telecommunications equipment maker sent an e-mail to employees Thursday informing them of the potential security breach and said it was preparing a mailing to employees, retirees and their dependents to explain the situation. In addition, the company said it will provide the individuals at risk with identity theft protection and credit monitoring for one year free of charge.

At least 25 countries around the world block Web sites for political, social or other reasons as governments seek to assert authority over a network meant to be borderless, according to a study out Friday.

The actual number may be higher, but the OpenNet Initiative had the time and capabilities to study only 40 countries and the Palestinian territories. Even so, researchers said they found more censorship than they had initially expected, a sign that the Internet has matured to the point that governments are taking notice.

“This is very much the revenge of geography,” said Rafal Rohozinski, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge in England.

China, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam had the most extensive filters for political sites. Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen had the strictest social-filtering practices, blocking pornography, gambling and gay and lesbian sites.

In some countries, censorship was narrow. South Korea, for instance, tends to block only information about its neighboring rival, North Korea.

Yet researchers found no filtering at all in Russia, Israel or the Palestinian territories despite political conflicts there.