Biology, technology share battle grounds

Last week Tuesday, Microsoft released three critical security patches for its operating system. Among these was the remedy for the IE createTextRange flaw which allows computers to be controlled remotely.

But following the installation of the flaw fixes, users have reported problems running and accessing certain programs and files.

Computers reportedly freeze up each time the Windows desktop is right-clicked and, more importantly, some users have been reporting difficulties opening or saving files in Microsoft Office.

Microsoft has attributed these faults primarily to the createTextRange flaw patch. Furthermore, many glitches result from incompatibility issues with some HP software products and any HP DeskJet printer that includes a card reader, HP scanners, some HP CD-DVD players/burners and HP cameras.

Again, we wait for further patches to remedy these newly-created flaws, but in the interim Microsoft suggests users restore their system registries - dangerous in the hands of amateurs as incorrect handling of these databases could prevent the system from booting up correctly.

Studying human immunity viruses could help develop methods to combat malicious attacks to computer systems.

Ilva Pieterse, ITWeb contributor

MySpace.com, the networking Web site consisting of blogs, user profiles, and an internal e-mail system, has elected Hemanshu Nigam, former federal prosecutor and Microsoft executive to be its online safety chief, a new position. This announcement follows MySpace`s public service ads warning users about sexual predators on the net.

Nigam, who will commence at MySpace on 1 May, will be responsible for overseeing safety, education, privacy and law enforcement affairs and handle online safety for other Fox Interactive Media sites.

A real monster of a virus, unleashed by a Vietnamese programmer, managed to infect more than 20 000 computers in a single day.

Dubbed the "Gai Xinh" (Pretty Girl) virus, it infects computers when users click on a link that seems to come from one of their Yahoo Messenger contacts. Once the link is clicked, multiple instant messages are sent to all contacts on the user`s address list.

A first of its kind in the country, Vietnamese Gai Xinh is seen as sophisticated, with a potential of infecting 2 400 computers per hour.

Could the answer to battling destructive applications lie in taking a serious look at human viruses?

Last week, I discussed the use of the M13 virus to create nanowires for batteries.

This week Stephanie Forrest, professor of computer science at the University of New Mexico speaking at the Symposium on Information Security and Privacy in Boston, said the study of human immunity viruses could help combat malicious attacks to computer systems.

"Diversity of systems and applications can play a key role in safeguarding computers and networks from malicious attacks," Forrest said. She explains that, just like each of us has a unique immune system, so should our networks.

Last year, her team published a paper on a system called RISE (randomised instruction set emulation) that randomises an application`s machine code to deter would-be attacks, such as those launched via binary code injection.

"One reason computers are so vulnerable to attack is that they are all the same," Forrest said.

Another issue at the front of Forrest`s mind ties computer security to another biological concept, that of evolution.

"We already have malicious code that can replicate and spread itself. The only thing we`re missing in terms of real Darwinian evolution is mutation," she concludes.

A hacker suspected of stealing hundreds of thousands of euros from online bank accounts has been extradited from Argentina to Spain. Jos'e Manuel Garc'ia Rodr'iguez, 24, dubbed (rather uncharitably) by the Argentinians "the fat Spaniard", faces up to 40 years imprisonment if convicted of various cybercrime offences.

Garc'ia Rodr'iguez (whose online handle is Tasmania) fled his native Spain two years ago. Nine international arrest warrants were issued against him before he was eventually tracked down and arrested in Carcara~n'a, Argentina in July 2005.

Sources used: IOL, The Register, ABC News, Webwereld, BusinessWeek.