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Much in the way that open source software projects are known to produce forks, or spinoffs, based on different objectives and personalities, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger is creating an offshoot of his popular communal Internet encyclopedia. Citizendium is intended for named, expert contributor...

Hackers made Firefox the latest subject of attack last week, utilizing software that could capture extremely sensitive information, including credit card numbers and passwords. On July 25, Symantec Security Response detected Infostealer.Snifula, which downloads malicious Trojans onto a user's compu...

Antivirus and security giant McAfee stirred up some controversy with the first issue of its security journal Sage, highlighting how hackers and creators of malicious software, or malware, are using open source software development techniques to target computer systems and users. McAfee, which...

Mozilla late last week released 12 patches for its popular open source browser. Five of the patches issued in Firefox 1.5.0.4 were labeled "critical." Mozilla has issued four security updates to the 1.5 edition of the browser since it was made available last November. The last round of security fixe...

Up-and-coming European security software player BitDefender has updated both its Linux-based perimeter protection security suite and its Linux Edition solution for antivirus scanning on Linux and FreeBSD platforms. The company's new products highlight the latest filtering protection for Windows and ...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's open source security audit program has identified the biggest X Window System security vulnerability in the last six years. The X Window System is used in Unix and Linux operating systems. It also ships as an optional GUI with Apple's Macintosh computers. C...

Open-source license compliance is a sensitive topic. Lawyers and technicians have devoted endless hours, lengthy blog postings and much mental energy to questions like, "What is a derivative work?" and "What is distribution?" Very interesting stuff indeed, and grist for meaty discussions. However,...

Amid ongoing news reports about browser vulnerabilities, an alternative browser maker's promotional Web site fell victim to a hack attack last week. Mozilla's SpreadFirefox.com, a community marketing site, was the target of "unknown remote attackers," according to the site's manager. SpreadFirefox b...

While Mozilla is celebrating over Firefox's growth in Europe, the open-source browser maker is simultaneously up in arms over software vulnerabilities. A security research firm is reporting Mozilla's current browsers are once again susceptible to a seven-year-old flaw that could let malicious people...

The Mozilla Foundation has readied security patches to thwart what security firm Secunia reported earlier this week as two "extremely critical" flaws in its Firefox browser. Secunia said the vulnerabilities could be exploited by malicious people who wish to take control of victims' computers. Firefo...

Security firm Secunia is reporting two "extremely critical" flaws in Mozilla's Firefox. The vulnerabilities can be exploited by malicious people who wish to take control of victims' computers. The Mozilla Foundation is aware of the two flaws. The organization said there are currently no known active...

For open-source software developers, coding is the easy part. Trying to find the right open-source license is where things get painful. It's like standing in line at Starbucks trying to decide whether to buy latte or mocha. Soy milk or regular? Tall or grande? Don't even get me started on ice c...

The Mozilla Foundation yesterday released a security update to the Firefox Web browser. The patch includes several fixes to guard against spoofing and arbitrary code execution. Firefox 1.0.1 patches several bugs, including a vulnerability in the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), Web addresses re...

The non-profit Mozilla Foundation has placed a pricey ad in today's edition of the New York Times. The open-source advocacy organization is pleading its alternative case with a two-page spread that asks readers the direct question: "Are you fed up with your Web browser?" Spread Firefox, a v...

A company that makes a tool for finding bugs in software code disclosed this week that the Linux kernel is far less flawed than many programs people pay money for. According to San Francisco-based Coverity, its source-code auditing tool found the Linux 2.6 kernel had 985 bugs in its 5.7 million line...

I recently had the opportunity, as part of a review of what works in systems security, to look closely at a couple of massively multi-user online games including "EverQuest" and "Star Wars Galaxies." Several of these now support up to half a million registered users and go beyond simple player co-op...

Microsoft users may feel as though they're the only ones constantly under attack from hackers, but they're not alone with that dubious distinction. Late last week, Red Hat, the Raleigh, North Carolina-based Linux provider, was also hit. The threat came in the form of a fake security warning. The e-m...

Connoisseurs of 1960s TV might be familiar with Paladin, a Western that featured a San Francisco character with a business card that read "Have Gun, Will Travel." He was a dapper cross between a private detective and a bounty hunter who roamed through the West tracking down bad guys. He was mainly a...

During a break in a series of discussions on US HIPAA compliance for Canadian health care players, one of the attendees regaled the group with a long brag about how his company's techies had defeated a phishing attack. According to the story, the company's wizards had discovered a phishing attack ba...

Lots of people believe that the reason there are more attacks on Windows machines than on Unix machines is simply that Windows dominates desktop markets. According to their logic, 90 plus percent of the desktops should lead to 90 plus percent of the attacks. The question is whether they are right. L...