Will the EC Mandate "Windows Vista, Security-Less" Edition?
by Alex Woodie

As is commonly the case in new versions of mature operating systems, the upcoming release of Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" will deliver new features that they previously relied on third-party providers to deliver. In the case of Windows Vista, Microsoft is adding considerable new security features that it says are necessary to safeguard users from evolving threats. For better or for worse, the new features are making life more difficult for security vendors, and could raise anew the ire of European regulators.READ MORE >

Microsoft and Cisco Play Nice on Security Interoperability
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft and Cisco Systems last week published a technical white paper demonstrating how their new network security technologies will work together. The companies also announced a general roadmap for interoperability, and told users to expect the first beta of a product that will link the new computer health validation technologies, which Cisco calls Network Admission Control (NAC) and which Microsoft calls Network Access Protection (NAP), before the end of the year. READ MORE >

XenSource Begins Shipping XenEnterprise Hypervisor
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

XenSource, the commercial operation that is spearheading the development of the open source Xen virtual machine hypervisor, announced late last week that the commercial-grade XenEnterprise product set was available for purchase. XenEnterprise is a variant of the Xen hypervisor that has tools that allow companies to manage virtual machines running on a mix of Linux and Windows servers. It is also the main vehicle through which XenSource hopes to make its money.READ MORE >

Zero-Day Word Exploit Not Addressed in "Patch Tuesday Lite"
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft issued three patches for security vulnerabilities yesterday, including one for a critical flaw in Office Publisher that could let attackers take control of affected systems. In addition to the low patch count, what was notable about yesterday's release of patches was the lack of a patch for the memory corruption flaw in Word 2000 that led to the zero-day "MDropper.Q" Trojan over the Labor Day weekend. Meanwhile, malware writers continue to target the vulnerabilities Microsoft fixed last month.READ MORE >