Redmond software giant Microsoft has decided to fast-track a patch a security loophole which lets Windows PCs be hijacked using a flaw in the way the operating system handled animated cursor files. Microsoft usually issues security patches once a month, but the seriousness of the vulnerability—and a growing number of known exploits “in the wild” as well as proof-of-concept code—have prompted the company to get the animated cursor patch out the door faster.
The flaw impacts Windows Vista, XP, 2000, and Windows Server 2003; vulnerable PCs can be attacked by viewing a Web page designed to exploit the problem or by viewing a specially-crafted email message or attachment which exploits the flaw.
“Due to the increased risk to customers from these latest attacks, we were able to expedite our testing to ensure an update is ready for broad distribution sooner than April 10,” wrote Microsoft’s Christopher Budd in the company’s official security blog. April 10 would be the next regularly scheduled security update; instead, users will see MIcrosoft’s patch for the problem appear via Windows automatic update features on Tuesday, April 3. A downloadable version should also be available from Microsoft.
Microsoft was originally notified about the flaw in December 2006, but the problem only popped into mainstream industry consciousness last week as security firms raised warned attackers could use the exploit on malicious Web sites to silently take over unprotected Windows PCs. Security experts now warn that more than 100 Web sites are already serving pages designed to exploit the flaw, and Symantec reports a new worm based on the problem has already begun circulating in China.
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.