By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Depending on how you spin this information, it’s either good news or bad. A study by a decidedly partial observer, security vendor PC Tools Software, showed that Windows Vista, while much improved over Windows XP, is still far too vulnerable.

Not that we needed a study to tell us that …

The study was developed by using data from PC Tools’ ThreatFire program. According to the data, Vista allowed 639 threats per thousand computers through its built-in security, compared with 586 for Windows 2000, 478 for Windows Server 2003, and 1,021 for Windows XP.

So, rather than Windows Vista being Microsoft’s most secure OS, as it’s advertised, it’s really Windows Server 2003?

Simon Clausen, CEO of PC Tools, said in a statement:

“Ironically, the new operating system has been hailed by Microsoft as the most secure version of Windows to date. However, recent research conducted with statistics from over 1.4 million computers within the ThreatFire community has shown that Windows Vista is more susceptible to malware than the eight year old Windows 2000 operating system, and only 37% more secure than Windows XP.”

PC Tools’ flagship product, ThreatFire, is designed to work in concert with standard antivirus programs to protect your PC. ThreatFire uses behavioral analysis to detect malware rather than a signature database. PC Tools says on their ThreatFire site:

Traditional antivirus solutions cannot protect you until after they’ve discovered a new threat and produced a signature to counter it.

ThreatFire is different. It does not rely on signatures, but instead constantly analyzes your computer’s behavior to detect and block any malicious activity. ThreatFire protects immediately so you know your PC and your valuable data is always secure.

While this is the type of protection that I’ve always stressed is important, of the type that might have prevented the recent malware “shipment” in a Firefox language pack, it also means that PC Tools has a vested interest in this type of study.

While ThreatFire is free, PC Tools also sells a anti-spyware product as well as an antivirus product.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

A story in the New York Times had the blogosphere up in arms, but Microsoft indicates we shouldn’t believe it. The Times said that Microsoft is working to implement an anti-piracy filter into its Zune media players, which would prevent playback of unauthorized videos.

This information came via J. B. Perrette, the president of digital distribution for NBC Universal, who explained to the NYT why NBC chose Zune Marketplace over the iTunes Store.

According to the NYT, he indicated that the first reason was one we already knew: Apple insists that all TV shows have an identical wholesale price so that it can sell all of them at $1.99, while NBC wants to sell its programs for whatever price it wants.

The second reason given was the interesting one. He said that Apple refused to cooperate with NBC on building filters into its iPod player to remove pirated movies and videos. Perrette said that while the filter is still under development and that its exact form is undecided.

However, at a semi-official Microsoft Zune Blog, a blog post denied Microsoft has any such blog:

We have no plans or commitments to implement any new type of content filtering in the Zune devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC.

We think some folks in the industry were expressing hopes for how the entire industry, not just Microsoft, would come to look at content distribution, and some speculation has ensued. Again, no plans are in place toward this end.

Interesting that it completely contradicts Perrette. Of course, that doesn’t mean Microsoft will never consider such a filter, does it?

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

QSTARZ recently launched the world’s most powerful Bluetooth GPS Receiver.
It can not only be used as Bluetooth GPS receiver but can also be connected to a laptop as USB GPS mouse.
Pretty smart move if you ask us.
With the 1~5Hz adjustable feature, BT-Q818 eXtreme can be switched to 5Hz mode for higher accuracy and is ideal for any activities with extreme motion.

So who will need this BT-Q818 eXtreme? Read here.

By Chief Gizmateer
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Earlier this morning, new Neuros OSD Firmware was released. Version 3.25-0.23 has some significant improvements over 3.20-0.20 including much better passthru video quality during recording, ‘eject’ support for storage media, PSP support is functional and Lua script support.

The Geeks have covered the Neuros OSD when the BETA of the product was first released back in September.

Neuros Technology’s OSD (Open Source Device) is an open-source Linux set-top box that allows you to watch and listen to your media where and when you want to. Powered by dual core multi-media processor, OSD can record from any source and record to a variety of open formats so you can play your content on various devices from laptops to cell phones.

Source: DVR Playground

By Yan Fortin
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

You’ve been using your cell phone for years, and up until recently, doing so securely was something most people took for granted. But as time flies by, new means of using mobiles to tap directly into someone’s life are becoming easily available on the Web… and the worse thing is, most of these tools are completely free.

It connects you to the world, but your cell phone could also be giving anyone from your boss to your wife a window into your every move.  The same technology that lets you stay in touch on-the-go can now let others tap into your private world — without you ever even suspecting something is awry.

New Web services and software allow people to track your every move and listen to what you say, even if you are not actively using your phone. Kindda makes the future of mobile communications depressing doesn’t it?

Cell Phone Spying: Is Your Life Being Monitored?

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

McAfee and Yahoo! announced on Tuesday a new feature for Yahoo! Search which will supposedly make searching safer: the flagging of potentially unsafe Web sites appearing in Yahoo search results.

The initiative uses McAfee’s SiteAdvisor technology to mark risky sites in search results. SiteAdvisor itself is already free, but not having to install it makes life a whole lot easier for those who might move from PC to PC, or even browser to browser.

According to Yahoo!’s press release:

SearchScan will be turned on by default for all users in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Spain, and will scan for three types of risks in our search index:

• Browser Exploits — These are sites that can stealthily harm a user’s computer or install malware simply by visiting the site. Beginning today, any such sites or pages included in McAfee’s data will be removed from search results automatically.
• Dangerous Downloads — SearchScan will display warnings next to search results for sites that offer potentially dangerous software, such as viruses, spyware or adware. Users often may be unaware that these can be passed along with the screensavers, games and other software downloads.
• Unsolicited Email — SearchScan will alert users to scanned sites that send unsolicited emails or inappropriately share email addresses with third parties.

SearchScan will be on by default but users can turn off or even filter all sites with warnings from their results.

This is a feature that’s been available for some time for Google users, as Google has teamed with StopBadware.org. Interestingly, the site flagged above is not flagged in Google’s results. Who are you supposed to trust?

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

No doubt the biggest story of last weekend was Microsoft abruptly walking away from their unsolicited deal with Yahoo!. And no doubt among the biggest stories of today are “what now?” and “what’s happening to their stocks?”

Yahoo! stock plummeted in pre-market trading, down 19.7% to $23.02 at market open on Monday. It’s recovered slightly to $24.06, down 16.1% at the time of this writing.

Meanwhile, Microsoft shares opened at $29.95, up 2.4% from Friday’s close, and is at $29.86 at the time of this writing, up 2.1%.

Google might be one of the the beneficiaries of the weekend’s events. It has been reported that Yahoo! may begin outsourcing its search ads permanently to Google as early as this week (recall that Yahoo!’s earlier trial with outsourcing was successful). Google shares are up to $596.01 or $14.72 (2.53%) at the time of this writing.

And what about Time-Warner, parent company of AOL, which has been widely rumored to be interested in a possible merger of AOL with Yahoo!? That stock is up $0.13 or .82%.

Just prior to the announcement of Microsoft’s advances, on Jan. 31st, Yahoo! stock was $19.18. Since then Yahoo’s shares have traded as high as $30.25 and as low as $25.72, prior to today.

Speculation? Are we about to see a precipitous drop? Right now it appears what Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang has done since then has at least given investors a “higher than $19 / share” feeling about Yahoo!, as the stock has stabilized since today’s opening.

There’s no doubt, however, that Yang is on the hot seat. Yahoo! wanted $37 / share, Microsoft offered $33 / share. If Yang can’t convince investors of the same, it’s not going to be pretty. And in terms of “now what?” Yang was clear, particularly to employees, in a blog post yesterday. It’s time to work.

No one is celebrating about the outcome of these past three months… and no one should. We live and work in a competitive world and the Web is only going to get more competitive. Executing on our strategic plan is what matters most.

Is that plan good enough? Time will tell.