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| Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 was released on May 12, 2010. (Sidenote, my birthday so I'm kinda honored. XD) In this post, I'll focus more on Microsoft Office 2010 since Sharepoint 2010 is for the corporate environment. So, what's new in Office 2010? For one, there's actually 2 editions of Office 2010. There's the 32-bit version and the 64-bit version available. 32-bit versions are meant for normal usage, while 64-bit versions allow expert Microsoft Excel users to crunch Excel spreadsheets that are larger than 2GB. If you possess a 64-bit computer, it doesn't mean that you have to install the 64-bit edition of Microsoft Office 2010. You can still install the 32-bit edition if you're using Office 2010 for normal work purposes. There are also new security features in Office 2010 to protect end users from the evolving IT threats that are present in the IT world. Microsoft Office 2010 takes a four layer approach in protecting end users: Hardening the attack surface This defensive layer helps harden the attack surface of Office 2010 applications by using a countermeasure known as Data Execution Prevention (DEP). DEP helps prevent buffer overflow exploits by identifying files that attempt to run code from a part of memory reserved only for data. By default, DEP is enabled in Office 2010. You can manage DEP settings in the Trust Center or through Group Policy settings. Reducing the attack surface This defensive layer helps reduce the attack surface of Office 2010 applications by limiting the kinds of files that applications can open and by preventing applications from running certain kinds of code that is embedded in files. To do this, Office applications use the following three countermeasures: -Office File Validation This software component scans files for format differences and based on the implemented setting can prevent a file from being opened for editing if the format is not valid. A file that contains a file format exploit against an Office 2010 application is one example of a file that is not valid. By default, Office File Validation is enabled and is primarily managed through Group Policy settings. -File block settings Introduced in the 2007 Microsoft Office system to reduce the attack surface, these settings enable you to prevent applications from opening and saving certain file types. In addition, you can specify what will occur if you allow a file type to be opened. For example, you can specify whether a file type is opened in Protected View and whether editing is allowed. Several new file block settings have been added in Office 2010. You can manage file block settings in the Trust Center and through Group Policy settings. -Office ActiveX kill bit This new Office 2010 feature enables you to prevent specific ActiveX controls from running in Office 2010 applications without affecting how those controls run in Microsoft Internet Explorer. By default, Office ActiveX kill bit is not configured. However, you can configure this countermeasure by modifying the registry. Mitigating exploits This defensive layer helps mitigate exploits by opening potentially harmful files in an isolated sandbox environment. This sandbox environment, known as Protected View, enables users to preview files before they open them for editing in an application. By default, Protected View is enabled. However, you can turn it off and manage it in the Trust Center and through Group Policy settings. Improving the user experience This defensive layer mitigates exploits by reducing the number of security decisions users make and by improving the way users make security decisions. For example, documents that are considered untrustworthy are automatically opened in Protected View without any user feedback. Users can read and close these documents without making any security decisions, which in most cases means that they can effectively finish their work without being confronted with security prompts. If a user wants to edit a document that is in Protected View they can select the option to allow editing. Once editing is allowed, the document will not be opened in Protected View again. If the document contains active content, such as ActiveX controls and macros, a Message Bar appears that prompts the user whether to enable the active content. Once active content is enabled, the user will not be prompted again with the Message Bar for active content. You can configure Message Bar settings and Trusted Documents settings in the Trust Center and through Group Policy settings. Remember the notorious Office logo located at the top left hand corner in 2007? It is now replaced by the traditional File, Edit... tabs and what's more, you can now customize a new feature called the Ribbon. The ribbon is at the top of the work area in the Office applications, which provides a consistent appearance and behavior. Tabs organize commands in logical groups. Along with the main tabs, which are always present on the screen, the ribbon provides contextual tabs that appear when you are working on a particular object (for example, a table, chart, or image). The contextual tabs provide the appropriate tools at the appropriate time for a particular object. So, here's my little article on Microsoft Office 2010. I hope it helped! |
| Google grabs personal info off Wi-Fi networks SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. has been vacuuming up fragments of people's online activities broadcast over public Wi-Fi networks for the past four years, a breach of Web etiquette likely to raise more privacy worries about the Internet search leader. Even Google was troubled by its behavior, and issued a public apology Friday. The company said it only recently discovered the problem in response to an inquiry from German regulators. "Maintaining people's trust is crucial to everything we do, and in this case we fell short," Alan Eustace, Google's top engineering executive, wrote in a blog post. Google characterized its collection of snippets from e-mails and Web surfing done on public Wi-Fi networks as a mistake, and said it has taken steps to avoid a recurrence. About 600 gigabytes of data was taken off of the Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries, including the U.S. Google plans to delete it all as soon as it gains clearance from government authorities. None of the information has appeared in Google's search engine or other services, according to Eustace. Nevertheless, Google's decision to hold on to the Wi-Fi data until it hears back from regulators shows the company realizes it could face legal repercussions. At the very least, company officials concede that snooping on Wi-Fi networks, however inadvertent, crossed an ethical line. "We are acutely aware that we failed badly here," Eustace wrote. Google's contrition may not be enough to allay growing concerns about whether the company can be trusted with the vast storehouse of personal information that it has gathered through its search engine, e-mail and other services. Fears that Google is morphing into a real-life version of "Big Brother" has spurred previous privacy complaints, as well as pleas for more stringent regulation of the company. Consumer Watchdog, a group that has become one of Google's most outspoken critics, renewed its call for a regulatory crackdown Friday. "Once again, Google has demonstrated a lack of concern for privacy," said Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson. "Its computer engineers run amok, push the envelope and gather whatever data they can until their fingers are caught in the cookie jar." The Wi-Fi data was sucked up while Google expanded a mapping feature called "Street View" that also has pressed privacy hot buttons. Street View provides photographs of neighborhoods taken by Google cameras that have sometimes captured people doing things they didn't want to be seen doing, or in places where they didn't want to be seen. As it set out to photograph neighborhoods around the world, Google equipped its vehicles with antenna as well as cameras so it could create a database with the names of Wi-Fi networks and the coding of Wi-Fi routers. What Google didn't know, Eustace said, is that some experimental software was being used in the Street View project, and that programming picked up the Web surfing on publicly accessible Wi-Fi networks if the company's vehicles were within range of the signal. Google only gathered small bits of information because its vehicles were on the move and its tracking equipment switched channels five times a second. The incident has prompted Google to abandon its effort to collect Wi-Fi network data. In an apparent show of its commitment to privacy, Google also said it will introduce a new option next week that will allow its users to encrypt searches on its Web site as an added protection against unauthorized snooping. Source: Yahoo Finance News |
Safari 5 Now Available Safari Reader Safari Reader removes annoying ads and other visual distractions from online articles. So you get the whole story and nothing but the story. It works like this: As you browse the web, Safari detects if you’re on a web page with an article. Click the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field, and the article appears instantly in one continuous, clutter-free view. You see every page of the article — whether two or twenty. Onscreen controls let you email, print, and zoom. Change the size of the text, and Safari remembers it the next time you view an article in Safari Reader. Even Greater HTML5 Support Web standards are the future of the Internet. The world’s most innovative browser, Safari continues to lead the way in support for HTML5. Safari 5 supports over a dozen new HTML5 features that allow developers to create interactive content and media experiences that work right in the browser — without the need for third-party plug-ins. Full-screen view and closed captions for HTML5 video In Safari 5, HTML5 video can deliver an even richer, more accessible experience. Watch video embedded with the HTML5 video tag in full screen. If the video includes closed captions, simply click the closed-captions button in the controls to display them. Location services. Find businesses near you and get directions even faster. With support for the HTML5 geolocation standard in Safari 5, you can choose to share your location with websites that use it to give you helpful location information — like showing you the nearest post office or ATM. Rest assured, you’re always in control of how your information is shared. When you visit a geolocation-enabled website, Safari asks you before sharing your location. And you can turn off location services all together. Better Performance Faster Nitro Engine The world’s fastest web browser gets an engine upgrade. Enhancements to the Nitro Engine in Safari 5 mean you experience web browsing at greater speeds than before. Powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, 3 percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6. DNS prefetching and improved caching Behind the scenes, Safari employs a technique called Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching. If you’re on a web page with links, Safari finds the links and looks up the addresses. Click one of the links, and Safari quickly loads the web page for you. And improved page caching means more of the pages you viewed in the past load faster than before. Bing Search Safari gives you even more search options with built-in Bing search, in addition to Google and Yahoo! Search. Just choose Bing in the Smart Search Field, start typing, and get search suggestions that help you find what you’re looking for fast.  Source: Apple |
| New security measures for Apple's iTunes NEW YORK — Apple put new security measures in place on iTunes on Wednesday, one day after barring a Vietnamese applications developer for fraud. Apple said users of the hugely popular online store would be asked to make more frequent entries of the CCV code on their credit cards when making purchases or accessing iTunes from a new computer. The CCV code is a three- or four-digit number on the back of a credit card. The new security measures were announced after Apple said it had barred a Vietnamese program developer from its iTunes application store for fraudulent activity. "Developer Thuat Nguyen and his apps were removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns," Apple said. Apple did not provide any further details about the incident involving the App Store, which offers free and paid applications for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. But the Cupertino, California-based company said Wednesday that iTunes servers "were not compromised." "An extremely small percentage of users, about 400 of the 150 million iTunes users -- that is less than 0.0003 percent of iTunes users, were impacted," the company said. Apple also advised users whose "credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes" to contact their financial institution and change their iTunes password. According to the technology blog Engadget.com, applications credited to the unknown Nguyen grabbed 42 of the top 50 sales positions in the App Store's book category at one point. Engadget said it had received reports from a number of people that hundreds of dollars had been spent from their iTunes accounts to buy books from Nguyen's company. Source: AFP |
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