Serious security flaw found in IE

Users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed.

The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.

Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it.

Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world's computer users.

"Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer," said the firm in a security advisory alert about the flaw.

Microsoft says it has detected attacks against IE 7.0 but said the "underlying vulnerability" was present in all versions of the browser.

Other browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, are not vulnerable to the flaw Microsoft has identified.

Browser bait

"In this case, hackers found the hole before Microsoft did," said Rick Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro. "This is never a good thing."

As many as 10,000 websites have been compromised since the vulnerability was discovered, he said.

"What we've seen from the exploit so far is it stealing game passwords, but it's inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals," he said. "It's just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs."

Said Mr Ferguson: "If users can find an alternative browser, then that's good mitigation against the threat."

But Microsoft counselled against taking such action.

"I cannot recommend people switch due to this one flaw," said John Curran, head of Microsoft UK's Windows group.

He added: "We're trying to get this resolved as soon as possible.

"At present, this exploit only seems to affect 0.02% of internet sites," said Mr Curran. "In terms of vulnerability, it only seems to be affecting IE7 users at the moment, but could well encompass other versions in time."

Richard Cox, chief information officer of anti-spam body The Spamhaus Project and an expert on privacy and cyber security, echoed Trend Micro's warning.

"It won't be long before someone reverse engineers this exploit for more fraudulent purposes. Trend Mico's advice [of switching to an alternative web browser is very sensible," he said.

PC Pro magazine's security editor, Darien Graham-Smith, said that there was a virtual arms race going on, with hackers always on the look out for new vulnerabilities.

"The message needs to get out that this malicious code can be planted on any web site, so simple careful browsing isn't enough."

"It's a shame Microsoft have not been able to fix this more quickly, but letting people know about this flaw was the right thing to do. If you keep flaws like this quiet, people are put at risk without knowing it."

"Every browser is susceptible to vulnerabilities from time to time. It's fine to say 'don't use Internet Explorer' for now, but other browsers may well find themselves in a similar situation," he added.

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Peter Eastgate wins £5.8million as youngest World Series of Poker winner

Mr Eastgate was able to keep his poker face while friends from Denmark jumped and cheered in the seating area.

The World Series of Poker's main event began last July with 6,844 players.

Eventually cut down a final nine, Eastgate beat 27-year-old Russian Ivan Demidov in the final in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mr Demidov decided to go all in with his 16.45 million chips on two pairs (twos and fours).

Mr Eastgate, who had more than 120 million chips, won the hand with a straight (ace through five).

Speaking to American newspaper USA Today, he said: "I guess I haven't really realized how big this is.

"It will come in the next weeks or the next days. I will become very emotional at some point."

The winner added: "I was lucky he hit two pair... It's kind of inevitable when that happens he's going all in."

Mr Eastgate became interested in poker in high school, and decided to play online for money rather than going to college.

A mathematics fan in school, he said he was "fascinated" by the game and its "psychological aspects".

His previous biggest win was almost £30,000 at the Paddy Power 2007 Irish Open.

Mr Demidov won second-place prize money of more than £3.7 million.

He said: "I was just thinking he was bluffing. I read a few big bluffs at the wrong time."

Trojan virus steals banking info

The details of about 500,000 online bank accounts and credit and debit cards have been stolen by a virus described as "one of the most advanced pieces of crimeware ever created".

The Sinowal trojan has been tracked by RSA, which helps to secure networks in Fortune 500 companies.

RSA said the trojan virus has infected computers all over the planet.

"The effect has been really global with over 2000 domains compromised," said Sean Brady of RSA's security division.

He told the BBC: "This is a serious incident on a very noticeable scale and we have seen an increase in the number of trojans and their variants, particularly in the States and Canada."

The RSA's Fraud Action Research Lab said it first detected the Windows Sinowal trojan in Feb 2006.

Since then, Mr Brady said, more than 270,000 banking accounts and 240,000 credit and debit cards have been compromised from financial institutions in countries including the US, UK, Australia and Poland.

The lab said no Russian accounts were hit by Sinowal.

"Drive-by downloads"

RSA described the Sinowal as "one of the most serious threats to anyone with an internet connection" because it works behind the scenes using a common infection method known as "drive-by downloads"."

Users can get infected without knowing if they visit a website that has been booby-trapped with the Sinowal malicious code.

Mr Brady said the worrying aspect about Sinowal, which is also known as Torpig and Mebroot, is that it has been operating for so long.

"One of the key points of interest about this particular trojan is that it has existed for two and a half years quietly collecting information," he said. "Any IT professional will tell you it costs a lot to maintain and to store the information it is gathering.

"The group behind it have made sure to invest in the infrastructure no doubt because the return and the potential return is so great."

RSA's researchers said the trojan's creators periodically release new variants to ensure it stays ahead of detection and maintain "its uninterrupted grip on infected computers."

While RSA's lab has been tracking the trojan since 2006, Mr Brady admitted that they know a lot about its design and infrastructure but little about who is behind Sinowal.

"There is a lot of talk about where it comes from and anecdotal evidence points to Russia and Eastern Europe. Historically there have been connections with an online gang connected to the Russian Business Network but in reality no one knows for sure."

That he said is because the group is able to use the web to cloak its identity.

Infection

In April 2007, researchers at Google discovered hundreds of thousands of web pages that initiated drive-by downloads. It estimated that one in ten of the 4.5 million pages it analysed were suspect.

Sophos researchers reported in 2008 it was finding more than 6,000 newly infected web pages every day, or about one every 14 seconds.

RSA's fraud action team said it noticed a spike in attacks from March through to September this year.

That is backed up by another online security company called Fortinet. It said from July 2008 to September 2008 the number of reported attacks rose from 10m to 30m. This included trojans, viruses, malware, phishing and mass mailings.

"The explosion in the number of attacks is alarming," said Derek Manky of Fortinet.

"But trojans are just one of the players in the game wreaking havoc in cyberspace."

Remedies

While attacks are on the increase, there are some simple steps that users can take to protect their information besides using security software.

"We have a saying here which is 'think before you link,'" said Mr Manky.

"That just means observe where you are going on the web. Be wary of clicking on anything in a high traffic site like social networks.

"A lot of traffic in the eyes of cyber criminals means these sites are a target because to these people more traffic means more money," he said.

RSA also urged users to be wary if their bank started asking for different forms of authentication such as a social security number or other details.

"People think not clicking on a pop up or an attachment means they are safe. What people don't realise now is that just visiting a website is good enough to infect them."

RSA said it is co-operating with banks and financial institutions the world over to tell them about Sinowal. It has passed information about the virus to law enforcement agencies.

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THE MEMORY!

A lot of people find it is difficult to remember simple things like phone numbers or directions.

And sometimes you can’t remember someone’s name. It’s embarrassing!

Now scientists are developing a digital device to help us with our memory.

Scientists at Southampton University are saying that there will soon be technology that is similar to hearing aids or glasses. But this technology will help you to remember. A memory aid could be available in the next five to ten years.

We already have technology to help us remember things. For example, our mobile phones help us remember phone numbers. Satellite Navigation systems (Sat Naves) help us remember directions. 

Last Titanic Survivor

This is a Friday, April 17, 1998 file photo of Millvina Dean, 86, a living Titanic survivor, as she looks up and smiles as she signs a Titanic movie poster for an enthusiast at the Titanic Historical Society's convention in Springfield, Mass. As a 2-month-old baby, Millvina Dean was wrapped in a sack and lowered into a lifeboat from the deck of the sinking RMS Titanic. Now Dean, the last living survivor of the disaster, is selling some of her mementos to help pay her nursing home fees. Dean's artifacts, including a suitcase given to her family by the people of New York after their rescue, are expected to sell for about 3,000 pounds (US$5,200) at Saturday's auction in Devizes, western England. Dean, 96, has lived in a nursing home in the southern English city of Southampton Titanic's home port since she broke her hip two years ago.