Stories by: Sam Costello

A buffer overflow in the ToolTalk RPC database server used in the Common Desktop Environment on systems from vendors such as Sun Microsystems Inc. and IBM Corp. could allow an attacker to run code with root privileges, according to a security alert released Monday by the CERT Coordination Center.

Looking to provide protection for what it sees as the growing numbers of Linux users, Trend Micro on Monday announced a trio of new antivirus and content scanning products for gateways, groupware and servers in conjunction with the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo being held in San Francisco this week.

A security hole in the widely used Macromedia Shockwave Flash file format used with Web browsers can allow an attacker to execute code of their choice on affected systems, according to a new security alert released Friday by eEye Digital Security.

A security hole in the XDR (External Data Representation) Library provided to a number of vendors by Sun Microsystems Inc. could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on an affected system or cause a denial of service, according to an advisory released Tuesday by the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC).

The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) is discussing the possibility of changing the name it gives to 802.11a wireless networking products that it certifies to be compatible.

Security vendor Symantec Corp. announced three high-profile acquisitions late Wednesday at the same time it reported its financial results for the second quarter 2002. Symantec will acquire SecurityFocus Inc., Riptech Inc. and Recourse Technologies Inc. for a total of about US$355 million in cash, the company said.

Two security holes in a graphical user interface common on Unix and Linux systems from vendors such as IBM, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard could allow an attacker to launch a denial of service attack or overwrite files on affected systems, according to a new security bulletin released Wednesday by CERT/CC.

Microsoft's Palladium security system has sparked concern among some of the company's competitors in the operating system market, as well as with consumer and digital-rights advocates, but lawyers and security companies are less troubled.

If users have put off patching their Apache Web servers against the vulnerability discovered Monday, they should wait no longer, as an exploit to attack the security hole is now circulating on the Internet, according to Oliver Friedrichs, director of engineering at SecurityFocus Inc.

A new measurement system recently announced by market research firm IDC could give supercomputer customers a new way to measure the performance of those systems and more accurately evaluate them before purchase, according to the company.

Pledging to make life easier for database administrators, IBM Corp. Monday released 20 new database tools including a pair of autonomic -- or self-healing and managing -- tools. Taken together, the tools aim to boost management, administration, recovery, performance and query features for IBM's DB2 and Informix products.