This Week’s Latest News on IT Security and Updates

Microsoft warns Users of Critical Internet Explorer Vulnerability
All supported versions of Internet Explorer, as reported by Microsoft, have a new security vulnerability. This security flaw can allow a hacker to use remote code execution (RME) and gain access to the victim’s computer. Incidents of malwares exploiting IE 8 and IE 9 have already been reported. Although Microsoft has not released any security patch to fix this security hole, it has given a temporary work around called “Fix it“. This temporary patch will prevent attackers from exploiting the IE vulnerability, before an official permanent patch is rolled out. Read more about this security update here.

LinkedIn Linked with Violating Privacy Laws
LinkedIn can “hack” into your email account to invite your friends – so says a group of LinkedIn users. Paul Perkins, Pennie Sempell, Ann Brandwein, and Erin Eggers have slapped LinkedIn with privacy breach charges. According to the users, LinkedIn stored the email addresses of their friends, and sent them invitations without any prior consent. The users have also notified that, the social networking service sent at least three invitations to people whose email addresses were stored. The complaint has been filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Read the complete story here.

Now Lock your Android Remotely
As useful as the Android Device Manager is, it still did not provide the functionality of remotely locking or resetting the phone’s unlock password. But it looks like Google finally took a note of this missing element. Reports are in that, Google has started rolling updates for the service that will allow remote locking and changing of password, via the web service. Earlier, users could only locate and wipe their device remotely. But with this update, users can lock their phone and keep data wipe as the last resort. Read more about this in android community.

Facebook “Likes” now Officially Protected by the US Constitution
According to a U.S. appeals court, a Facebook “like” is a substantive statement and is now protected by the First Amendment. Last year, a district court ruled that Facebook Likes are a form of insufficient speech and thus do not merit constitutional protection. This, however, has been overruled by the current ruling by the appeals court. This interesting development occurred in the wake of an ongoing case between a Sheriff and his six co-workers. Reportedly, Sheriff B.J. Roberts fired his employees because they “liked” his opponent’s Facebook page. Facebook and the American Civil Liberties Union have welcomed the decision. Read more about this here.

Cyber Predator, Robert Hunter Slapped with 14 years of Jail
In yet another case of child abuse on the Internet, Robert Hunter, 35, is going to serve 14 years of imprisonment. Hunter was found to have abused both boys and girls. Allegedly, Hunter masqueraded as Justin Bieber to lure girls into performing inappropriate acts. He also tricked boys to perform illicit actions on camera, by posing as a teenage girl. Hunter is charged with 15 cases of luring girls into indulging in sexual activity, and 14 cases of making indecent images. Continue reading it here.

Rajiv Singha