Adobe warns of security flaws

Security flaws in Adobe Systems` Acrobat and Reader applications could be used to shut down or hijack vulnerable PCs, reports CNET.

By crafting a malicious PDF file, a remote attacker could cause the applications to crash or possibly commandeer the target computer, Adobe said in a security advisory.

The California-based software maker has updates available to fix the vulnerability, a buffer overflow within the core application plug-in that is a part of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader.

The security issue affects Adobe Reader for Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Solaris, and Adobe Acrobat for Windows and Mac OS, Adobe said.

Security monitoring company Secunia rates the issue as highly critical.

Firefox`s share of the Web browser market slipped slightly in July, while Internet Explorer (IE) gained by an equal amount, according to a Web site analysis firm.

Market share for the Mozilla Foundation`s open source browser dipped to 8.07% in July from a high of 8.71% in June, according to NetApplications, which gathered data from the 40 000 Web sites it monitors, reports InternetWeek.

Microsoft`s IE increased its market share to 87.2% from 86.56% while the Mac browser Safari showed modest growth to 2.13%.

"Microsoft`s IE actually gained ground at the expense of Firefox," says Dan Shapero, COO of NetApplications.

Belgium network operator Belgacom is pointing the way to the future of television with interactive, digital television via Internet Protocol (IP), says Siemens.

Siemens is offering a complete solution for Internet TV, providing the network with everything from the server technology and user software, to data encryption and devices for the reception of satellite data.

All that is needed is a DSL connection and a conventional television linked together by a set-top box that converts digital data into television signals.

The factors that make this possible include the MPEG-4 video data compression, which reduces the technical requirements for the consumer while making digital television universally available.

Siemens plans to minimise the bandwidths needed for transmission by the end of the year, which will ensure reception of live TV broadcasts at 1.8Mbps, about the same as the average rate of today`s DSL standard.

Chipmaker Intel has an interest in selling communications equipment with its purchase of Sarvega, which makes network routers that use the XML standard to improve Internet traffic, ZDNet reports.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Sarvega posted $7 million in revenue in 2003 and lists Intel as one of the supporters that contributed to Sarvega`s $20 million venture capital fund.

The five-year-old Sarvega has developed what it calls an "XML router", a device that can look at the content of a message using Extensible Markup Language (XML) and send it to the appropriate point on a network.

An XML router is meant to complement the IP routers and switches that carry the streams of data traffic across the Internet, Sarvega said.

Intel said it would continue to offer and support the current Sarvega product line as part of its Intel Software and Solutions Group. Sarvega employees, including the company`s CEO Christopher Darby, have been invited to stay on.