Security flaw in major e-mail system

The most widely used program for transferring e-mail between computer networks has a security flaw that could allow attackers to disrupt the flow of e-mail and intercept messages, the program`s developer has said.

Reuters reports that the security flaw does not directly affect desktop PCs but puts e-mail and information sent over the Internet at risk.

Sendmail and ISP Internet Security Systems said in a joint statement that Sendmail, estimated to handle as much as three-quarters of all Internet e-mail traffic, has a flaw that could allow attackers to gain top-level access to e-mail servers to stop e-mail traffic and read messages. The companies said it did not appear that hackers had exploited the flaw yet.

The flaw in Sendmail also makes it vulnerable to high volumes of data traffic, which could allow a malicious worm program to propagate and slow down global Web traffic, much like the "SQL Slammer" attack that slowed Internet traffic worldwide in late January.

Fixes for the vulnerability are available, free of charge, at Sendmail`s Web site by applying a patch or upgrading to the latest version of Sendmail.

The I-Worm Klez virus still tops the charts of Kaspersky Lab`s virus top 20 for February. The rankings are:

I-Worm.Klez 29.67%

I-Worm.Sobig 8.81%

I-Worm.Lentin 7.04%

Macro.Word97.Thus 3.12%

I-Worm.Avron 3.00%

I-Worm.Roron 2.87%

I-Worm.Hybris 2.49%

I-Worm.Tanatos 1.30%

Macro.Word97.Flop 0.98%

Macro.Word97.Saver 0.78%

Win95.CIH 0.71%

Worm.Win32.Opasoft 0.69%

Win95.Spaces 0.76%

Backdoor.Mosuck 0.58%

Backdoor.Antilam 0.57%

VBS.Redlof 0.53%

I-Worm.Stator 0.53%

Macro.Word97.Melissa 0.52%

Backdoor.Optix.Pro 0.51%

Macro.Word97.VMPC 0.50%

Other malicious programs 34.18%

More details about the Virus Top-20 for February can be found here.

Microsoft has tendered its resignation from the consortium governing the OpenGL standard, signalling an intention to go it alone with its Direct3D graphics platform. Microsoft was a founding member of the Open GL architecture review board (ARB), and in a letter to ARB members seen by The Register, said it would "focus our energies on improving and evolving our own Windows graphics platform", from mid-February.

The OpenGL ARB Web site still listed Microsoft as a member today. This doesn`t necessarily mean Microsoft is making a huge break with the OpenGL standard. The sheer number of applications that require the presence of OpenGL suggests that Microsoft will continue to support it, even though its priorities lie elsewhere.