DB2 Linux security fix

A security flaw in Linux editions of IBM`s DB2 database could allow unauthorised users to seize control of a database`s contents, Big Blue has revealed.

According to CNet, IBM said the problem affects version 7 of its DB2 database for Linux. The company posted a patch, FixPak 10a, on its Web site. IBM is expected to update its usual DB2 version 7 technical support page with the latest fix.

Shortly after VeriSign started a site to make money from misspelled or mistyped Web addresses, it found itself under siege from critics who said it was taking unfair advantage of its privileged position, reports the New York Times.

By late Tuesday night, the Internet Software Consortium, a non-profit company responsible for the software that most domain name servers use to direct network traffic, was offering a software patch to counteract VeriSign`s service.

The consortium was responding, it said, to a rash of complaints that VeriSign was commandeering the Web`s "mistake" traffic, and routing it to its new site in the hope that users would click on advertiser-paid sites offered as alternatives.

Hollywood studios Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox sued a handful of small software companies this week, alleging that their distribution of DVD-copying software violates copyright law, reports CNet.

The studios filed suit against Tritton Technologies, QOJ, World Reach and Proto Ventures, asking for damages and a halt to distribution.

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates made a rare appearance with an executive of IBM, as the two companies said they had agreed on industry standards for Web services, reports Yahoo News.

At the New York event, Gates and IBM`s software chief, Steve Mills, said the companies will allow other firms to use these standards royalty-free in the hope that this would boost customers` willingness to buy more computer equipment and software.

In the hope of speeding adoption of intelligent storage area network (SAN) switches, several major vendors have started creating a standard for them, reports eWeek.

Brocade Communications has submitted its XPath API to the International Committee for IT Standards, Cisco submitted its Intelligent Switch API, and McData is helping with development of the Fabric Application Interface Standard, expected in the middle of next year.