Internet Explorer 9 Beta Review

Even though the arrival of Firefox and Chrome did a lot of damage to its reputation and popularity Internet Explorer has remained one of the most widely used web browser (simply because it is bundled with all versions of Windows). It was slow, ugly and was flooded with virus attacks. People were eagerly waiting for a better, safer option. That’s when Firefox was launched. It became very popular immediately and by 2008, about 20% percent of all the users switched to Firefox. Most people who stuck with Internet Explorer were ignorant about it. Later Google Chrome came out adding fuel to fire. I’ve seen web browser comparison charts without Internet Explorer. And some included it in the charts just to show how good the others are.
But Microsoft will not give up easily. Now they’ve come up with a NEW Internet Explorer. ‘Unleash a more beautiful web’. That’s what Microsoft has to say about the new IE 9.  I downloaded and installed it a few days after its launch.
As I launched the beta for the first time, I was welcomed by the addons -performance advisor which identifies addons that may be slowing down the browser and gives you the information you need to disable or fix it, directly from the Notification Bar itself. I disabled all of’em.
The new Internet Explorer is entirely different from the older versions which we are familiar with. The first thing you will notice is the absence of those old fashion menu bar and things like that on top of the window. The address bar and the search bar have now combined to form the ‘One Box’. So you'll only see what's essential to your browsing experience. I think MS took a few leaves out of Chrome’s book. The interface looks very good. The new IE responds a lot quicker than the previous ones and it also loads pages very quickly. Maybe not as quick as Chrome but still very fast. Tear Off Tabs is a feature in IE 9 that facilitates side by side comparison of two pages when needed. I found this very useful. Internet Explorer 9 has an integrated download manager and if you’re on Windows 7, you can pin websites to the taskbar for easy access.

Security and Reliability

They’ve improved the Smart Screen  Filter which is a security feature that protects you from phishing and malware.And most importantly it shows us warnings only based on the reputation of the files that we download. It is a very useful feature because IE was very annoying in the past, asking for a 1000 permissions to download a file. It offers private browsing which Firefox introduced a century ago. But still I’m happy to see that. Another feature they seem to have adopted from Chrome is tab isolation. With tab isolation, website crashes are isolated to individual tabs, not entire browser windows. If a site crashes on one tab, the rest of the browsing session isn't interrupted; instead, you keep browsing, undisturbed.

What’s advanced?
Internet Explorer 9 uses the Chakra Javascript engine.A distinctive feature of the engine is that it compiles scripts on a separate CPU core, parallel to the web browser. The engine will also be able to access the computer's graphics processing unit (GPU), in particular for 3D graphics and video.
Internet Explorer 9 introduces support for modern web standards, including:

• CSS3
• HTML5
• SVG
• ICC Color Profiles
• DOM L2 and L3
• ECMAScript5

Some cons

• It doesn’t run on XP. Only Vista and 7 are supported.
• It’s difficult to know whether the page is loading or not. The only indicator is the spinner on the left corner of the tab which is useless at certain situations.
• Not as quick as the competitors at times.
• Nothing very special in it to bring back the users who migrated to FF and Chrome (but a lot of reasons to stick with it :) ).
• Tabs are crammed.

With about 2 million downloads in just 2 days, it is proving to be a very good start for Internet Explorer 9. And this is just the beta version. I expect something even better from Microsoft in the near future.
Download
Download Internet Explorer 9 Beta from here 
Benchmark Results
Acid3 Test
1.Google Chrome
2.Internet Explorer 9 beta
3.Mozilla Firefox

SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark

1.Google Chrome
2.Internet Explorer 9 beta
3.Mozilla Firefox

The HTML5 test

1.Google Chrome
2.Mozilla Firefox
3.Internet Explorer 9 beta

 

Google Chrome now for Linux and Mac

After a loong effort, Google has now released the first stable version of the Chrome browser for Linux and Mac.

The stable release comes with a host of new features. You’ll be able to synchronize not only bookmarks across multiple computers, but also browser preferences -- including themes, homepage and startup settings, web content settings, preferred languages, and even page zoom settings. Meanwhile, for avid extensions users, you can enable each extension to work in incognito mode through the extensions manager. HTML5 support has improved. And this is also the fastest Chrome ever. New features+speed! That’s a rare occurrence.

Another good news for Chrome fans: They’re planning to integrate Flash Player to the Chrome browser. This feature will hopefully be added to Chrome with the release of Flash Player v.10.1 So, there will be no need to install Flash Player separately.

Download Links

Google chrome for Windows

Google chrome for Linux

Google chrome for Mac

 

Google Introduces Encrypted Search

Today, whatever we do on the internet is virtually visible to anyone.

Questions have been raised against the heavyweights like Facebook and Google about the privacy of their users. Even though it was known to many, serious discussions about this issue have taken place only in the recent past.

Issues like these tarnished Google’s reputation.

So they came up with a new idea: Encrypted Search!

According to Google:

With Google search over SSL, you can have an end-to-end encrypted search solution between your computer and Google. This secured channel helps protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party. This provides you with a more secure and private search experience.

This is a beta product so it is NOT ON by default. To use this service, go to https://www.google.com (instead of http it is https). But services like Image search, maps etc are not available. Try it!

Khobe 8.0 vulenerabilty: The reality

Technorati Tags: News,Security

Most people believe that after installing a popular security suite their system is safe from viruses. Well the fact is that you are NEVER protected from viruses. According to the tests conducted by Matousec most or all of the leading security suites that we use today are vulnerable. The article describes how the argument switch attack can be used to get around those security products that use hooking in SSDT(System Service Descriptor Table) or kernel patcher. Software that do not use this technique can't be attacked using this method. I know what is going through your mind. "I'm using a reputed security suite. So they shouldn't be using such stupid techniques. So I shouldn't worry about it." In a way you are right (I will explain why later)
Here is the list of programs they published:

Product name and version
Result
3D EQSecure Professional Edition 4.2
VULNERABLE
avast! Internet Security 5.0.462
VULNERABLE
AVG Internet Security 9.0.791
VULNERABLE
Avira Premium Security Suite 10.0.0.536
VULNERABLE
BitDefender Total Security 2010 13.0.20.347
VULNERABLE
Blink Professional 4.6.1
VULNERABLE
CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2010 6.0.0.272
VULNERABLE
Comodo Internet Security Free 4.0.138377.779
VULNERABLE
DefenseWall Personal Firewall 3.00
VULNERABLE
Dr.Web Security Space Pro 6.0.0.03100
VULNERABLE
ESET Smart Security 4.2.35.3
VULNERABLE
F-Secure Internet Security 2010 10.00 build 246
VULNERABLE
G DATA TotalCare 2010
VULNERABLE
Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 9.0.0.736
VULNERABLE
KingSoft Personal Firewall 9 Plus 2009.05.07.70
VULNERABLE
Malware Defender 2.6.0
VULNERABLE
McAfee Total Protection 2010 10.0.580
VULNERABLE
Norman Security Suite PRO 8.0
VULNERABLE
Norton Internet Security 2010 17.5.0.127
VULNERABLE
Online Armor Premium 4.0.0.35
VULNERABLE
Online Solutions Security Suite 1.5.14905.0
VULNERABLE
Outpost Security Suite Pro 6.7.3.3063.452.0726
VULNERABLE
Outpost Security Suite Pro 7.0.3330.505.1221 BETA VERSION
VULNERABLE
Panda Internet Security 2010 15.01.00
VULNERABLE
PC Tools Firewall Plus 6.0.0.88
VULNERABLE
Prevx 3.0.5.143
VULNERABLE
PrivateFirewall 7.0.20.37
VULNERABLE
Security Shield 2010 13.0.16.313
VULNERABLE
Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 9.0.5
VULNERABLE
ThreatFire 4.7.0.17
VULNERABLE
Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2010 17.50.1647.0000
VULNERABLE
Vba32 Personal 3.12.12.4
VULNERABLE
VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0.3272
VULNERABLE
VirusBuster Internet Security Suite 3.2
VULNERABLE
Webroot Internet Security Essentials 6.1.0.145
VULNERABLE
ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 9.1.507.000
VULNERABLE


I bet 9/10 people must be using one of these products. It definitely is a shocking discovery! read the complete article here
well that is not the end of the story! After reading that article, you might think that your pc will be flooded with viruses when you wake up tomorrow. naaaay never :D... Sophos have already given a strong reply to this article and Paul Ducklin explains things in detail on his blog . He says the khobe code is never a headache for them because Sophos's on-access anti-virus scanner doesn't use SSDT hooks. He also said that the claims that it "bypasses virtually all anti-virus software" is scaremongering.

Graham Cluley is another sophos expert who in his blog said: "What Matousec describes is a way of "doing something extra" if the bad guys' malicious code manages to get past your anti-virus software in the first place."

I think you are really confused right now.
As far as I'm concerned, this is not an emergency situation but definitely a wakeup call. These revelations conclude that viruses are still in with a chance of getting into our machines and we HAVE TO BE CAREFUL with everything that we do on the net.

Edit: Here's the response from ESET, my favourite.

Microsoft acts to avoid Windows bluescreen .............. repeat.

Microsoft took steps Tuesday to avoid repeating the debacle two months ago that left Windows XP users staring at the notorious "Blue Screen of Death" error message after they applied a patch.

In February, a security update that fixed two flaws in the Windows kernel -- the operating system's most important component -- wreaked havoc when it was applied by users, who almost immediately flooded Microsoft's support forum with reports of crippled computers.

As the number of reports grew, Microsoft first stopped automatically serving the MS10-015 update, then confirmed that a rootkit caused the crashes. Only PCs that had been previously infected with the Alureon rootkit were incapacitated, Microsoft's investigation found.

Microsoft restarted distribution of the update only after it had come up with a way to block rootkit-infected PCs from receiving the patches. "If detection logic included in Automatic Update discovers abnormal conditions in certain operating system file configurations, the update will fail and customers will be presented with an error message that offers alternative support options," said Jerry Bryant, general manager with the Microsoft Security Response Team, in early March.

MS10-021, one of the 11 updates issued yesterday as part of Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday cycle, also fixed flaws in the Windows kernel. But Microsoft is hoping that this month's update won't trigger a repeat Blue Screen of Death.

"This security update includes package detection logic that prevents the installation of the security update if certain abnormal conditions exist on 32-bit systems," stated the MS10-021 bulletin. "These abnormal conditions on a system could be the result of an infection with a computer virus that modifies some operating system files, which renders the infected computer incompatible with the kernel update."

One security expert applauded the move.

"I give Microsoft a big tip of the hat for not taking [the February incident] as a one-off," said Jason Miller, data and security team manager at network compliance and security vendor Shavlik Technologies. "The kernel is something that if something goes bad, that's not good. Patching the kernel is not like patching a media player."

Microsoft obviously learned a lesson. Even though the February update crashed a relatively small number of PCs, the problem actually affected many more, he argued. "It may have affected just a few people, but it scared almost everyone into not patching," Miller said.

News source: Computer World

Attack on Twitter -More details revealed

Twitter.com which is one of the most famous social messaging utility has been hacked. First reports of the attack actually came out in May but more and more details about the attack are coming out everyday. Recently, more evidence of the attack was published on a French website. The screen shots of the accounts and some other confidential data are published there.

The hacker, who introduced himself as 'Hacker Croll' reportedly accessed the accounts of the Twitter employees and some celebrity members like Britney Spears.

He claims to have found out the following:

• The complete list of employees
• Their food preferences
• Their credit card numbers
• Some confidential contracts with Nokia, Samsung, Dell, AOL, Microsoft and others
• Direct emails with web and showbizz personalities
• Phone numbers
• Meeting reports
  
• Internal document templates
• Time sheet
• Applicant resumes
• Salary grid

But there is no evidence for this.

The hacker got into the Gmail account of @Ev first and then got into the other accounts from there.

He claims to have gained access to some secret documents, including projections for reaching 25 million users in 2009, 100 million in 2010, 350 million in 2010, and an outlandish goal to eventually become the first Internet service to reach one billion users.

The hacker in his letter to the site member explains that he hacked to teach the experts the lesson that nobody is safe on the net. He also points out the lack of effectiveness of the secret questions.

This attack on Twitter tells us how easy it is to get into a website just by hacking a Gmail account.

So guys, be careful!!! Don't set security questions that can be answered easily and don't use the answer of the security question as a password. Use unique passwords for all your accounts.