Remember the LSDor Last Stage of Deliriumhacking group? Back in 2003, the group of four Polish security researchers discovered the RPC interface vulnerability that would later be used to unleash the Blaster worm, but because of distrust over Microsoft's willingness to address software flaws at the time, LSD members had to be coaxed into sharing their findings.
Today, LSD is on Microsoft's payroll, working on what is being hailed as the "largest ever penetration test" of an operating system coming out of Redmond, Wash.
Microsoft's presentations on Windows Vista are not the typical Black Hat talks, but attendees are welcoming the look behind the scenes at the software giant.
The annual Black Hat Briefings security confab here traditionally focuses on hunting for bugs and attacking computers. But this year, for the first time in the event's 10-year history, several sessions are focused on the security--rather than the insecurity--of a single vendor's product. Microsoft, a platinum sponsor, is giving presentations on Vista.
Microsoft's online advertising platform is at the crux of its growing stable of services. After an admittedly 'rocky' July with adCenter, Microsoft is working to improve the performance and roll out its contextual-ad pilot this fall.
Few Microsoft watchers would count 'adCenter' as important to Microsoft as Windows, Office, Visual Studio and Xbox. But much of Microsoft's software-services future is dependent on the success of its online-advertising platform, which Microsoft plans to beef up over the next 12 to 18 months.
Microsoft plans to focus on rapid acquisitions to quickly build its security capabilities, the company said this week.
Recent acquisitions, such as Winternals and virtual private network specialist Whale Communications, will help Microsoft build a comprehensive range of integrated services that cover every aspect of security, according to Gopal Kutwaroo, Microsoft's U.K. security product manager.
"Our strategy is clear. We don't do point solutions but are trying to create integrative services, with products and solutions that work right across the computing environment," Kutwaroo said.
The next Windows chief, Steven Sinofsky, is beginning to make his presence felt in Microsoft's Windows organization, even before Windows Vista is out the door.
On Aug. 1, Microsoft announced internally to its employees some of the changes that it is making to the Windows organization. Among the most sweeping of these is the reassignment of Brian Valentine, senior vice president of Microsoft's Core Operating System Division.
Microsoft is developing a photo browser that can turn a collection of pictures into a navigable 3D space.
Representatives from Microsoft Live Labs and a University of Washington work group on Wednesday discussed the Photosynth browser during a speech at the Siggraph show about the university's Photo Tourism system. Live Labs is developing Photosynth from the Photo Tourism technology as part of Microsoft's push into Internet-based personal services.
"Photosynth will be released as a Web client that people can use to explore large collections of photos," said Richard Szeliski, who leads the Interactive Visual Media Group at Microsoft. Photosynth has the potential to create a complete virtual world made up of the world's photos, Szeliski said.
Microsoft has finally ended the silence on its upcoming releases of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2, both of which are being developed in tandem and are expected to ship by the end of the year. According to a posting to the Windows Server team blog by Ward Ralston, Microsoft will ship a single SP2 release that will handle all 32-bit and x64 versions of Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, and Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems, as well as XP x64.
Microsoft made its OS for high-performance computing generally available on Tuesday, delivering on one of three goals the
head of its server software business set last week to help grow revenue in Microsoft's Windows Server business.
With Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, which is now available, Microsoft aims to compete against Unix and Linux to run
server clusters in compute-intensive environments, such as those running multiple simultaneous transactions or computations
involving large amounts of data.
Microsoft filed a patent infringement claim against peripherals maker Belkin on Tuesday. The dispute concerns a Microsoft-developed technology called U2, which enables devices like keyboards and mice to automatically determine whether they require a USB or PS2 connection. In March, Microsoft began marketing U2 to third-party manufacturers along with several other hardware technologies. According to the Microsoft complaint, filed with the International Trade Commission, Belkin has been incorporating U2 into its keyboards and mice and has refused to agree to licensing talks. In a statement, Microsoft said it has no intention of seeking financial compensation but instead simply wants the unlicensed Belkin products out of the U.S. market. Microsoft considers the importation of products with unlicensed U2 technology into the United States to be encroaching on its utility patents.
SAP and Microsoft aren't strangers to product launch delays. So it seems odd for SAP to be thinking about upgrades when it just barely got the first version out the door a month ago.
But maybe it's learning to limit its product development excesses.
SAP, along with Microsoft, developed Duet, a product that allows users to interact with SAP enterprise software through a Microsoft Office interface.
Only out a month, Duet is already in line for enhancements.
Dennis Moore, general manager for emerging solutions at SAP, told internetnews.com that the company is already discussing specific enhancements with customers and will present an extended product roadmap in the next quarter or two.