Even a titan can move quickly when it has to: Microsoft has released a security patch purporting to fix a critical security flaw in rendering WMF images. The problem goes all the way back to Windows 98, and, unlike many previous security vulnerabilities, could potentially be exploited if a user simply viewed a malicious image on a Web site or in an email message.
The security flaw was discovered last week, and involves rendering of Windows Metafile (WMF) graphical images: if an image were maliciously constructed to contain particular escape codes, simply displaying the image on a vulnerable Windows system could let an attacker run arbitrary code, potentially taking over the machine, compromising the user’s privacy, and obtaining sensitive information. Microsoft says attempts to exploit the flaw have appeared on the Internet, but appear so far to have been limited in scope.
Once the flaw was revealed, its extent and potential severity led analysts and computer users to strongly demand Microsoft patch the problem outside its normal security update schedule. Microsoft originally announced it would release the update on January 10, 2006, as part of its regular monthly release of security bulletins and offered some technical tips to reduce user exposure to the problem.
Several third-party developers released unofficial patches which claimed to reduce or eliminate the vulnerability. For its part, Microsoft has little choice but to warn users not to install a third-party patch for a flaw in the Windows operating system: although most such developers no doubt have the Windows community’s best intentions at heart (and many are reputable), Microsoft cannot test and vouch for the efficacy of third-party patches, and there’s always the possibility a malicious attacker would release software with its own nefarious payload.
Windows users can use Automatic Updates will receive the update automatically; the update can also be downloaded manually from Microsoft’s Download Center, or by using Microsoft Update or Windows Update.
In 1950, Alan Turing asked whether machines can think. Rather than argue over definitions, he turned the question into a party game, where an interrogator trades typed messages with hidden players and tries to work out who is who. Since then, chatbots have gotten so good that they have already fooled humans in modern versions of the test.
So, four researchers from Paris Cité University asked the obvious follow-up question in a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: can AI at least catch its own kind?
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.