Mac antivirus firm releases iPhone malware scanning app

By Gregg Keizer
Edited By Anthony Ian G. Etcobanez

VirusBarrier approved by Apple for limited virus protection

A French security company known for its Mac OS X antivirus software today released the first malware scanning app for the iPhone and iPad and iPod touch.

Intego's VirusBarrier for iOS has been approved by Apple, and debuted on the App Store for £1.79.
Because iOS prevents the program from accessing the file system or conducting scheduled scans, as do virtually all Mac and Windows antivirus software, VirusBarrier must be manually engaged and scans only file attachments and files on remote servers, said Peter James, a spokesman for Intego.

"Because of the sandbox, you can't scan the file system," said James. "Since you don't see the iOS file system, the only things you can scan are attachments sent by email or files in, say, your Dropbox folder."
Unlike software written for Android, such as Lookout, VirusBarrier cannot scan apps for possible infection.

When an email attachment is received by the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, the user can intercede by calling on VirusBarrier, which then scans the file for possible infection before the file is opened or forwarded to others.

"We've had enterprise customers say that although they know you can't do a full system scan of an iPhone, they don't like the fact that files go through these devices and end up on a Mac or Windows PC," said James. "They want their users to be able to check that an attachment is safe."

He characterised VirusBarrier for iOS as a way for iPhone and iPad users to prevent their hardware from spreading malware. "You don't want your iPhone becoming a 'Typhoid Mary,'" James said.

VirusBarrier for iOS can scan email attachments in a variety of formats, including Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint, PDF documents, JavaScript files and Windows executables, those files tagged with the .exe extension. It can also scan files in a Dropbox folder, those stored on MobileMe's iDisk or files downloaded via the iOS version of Safari.

The scanning engine and signatures, the digital "fingerprints" used to detect malware, in VirusBarrier for iOS are identical to those used by Intego's Mac OS X product line.

"It's important that people understand what [VirusBarrier] can and cannot do," said James, pointing to the malware scanner's limitations. "Although there is no malware written for iOS today, if attackers do try to exploit the PDF vulnerability, this is something we can scan for."

James was referring to the still unpatched vulnerability in iOS that can be exploited through a malicious PDF document, one of two bugs used last week to "jailbreak" iOS devices.

VirusBarrier for iOS can be downloaded to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch from Apple's App Store. It requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Microsoft tells customers to dump Windows XP before support runs out

By Gregg Keizer
Edited By Anthony Ian G. Etcobanez

Aggressive move coincides with 1,000 days of support left

Microsoft on Monday made its most aggressive move yet to convince customers to drop Windows XP and adopt Windows 7, telling them that there were only 1,000 days of support life left in the older operating system.

Stephen Rose, the IT community manager for the Windows commercial team, noted the 1,000 days remaining for Windows XP support in a post to a Microsoft blog.

"Windows XP had an amazing run and millions of PC users are grateful for it. But it's time to move on," Rose said, adding that the operating system exits security support in "less than 1,000 days."

The 10-year-old XP actually has a little longer to live than that: Microsoft has promised to patch XP through April 8, 2014, 1,002 days from Monday.

"Bottom line, PCs running Windows XP will be vulnerable to security threats" after that date, said Rose. "Furthermore, many third party software providers are not planning to extend support for their applications running on Windows XP, which translates to even more complexity, security risks and ultimately added management costs for your IT department."

According to usage statistics and research firm surveys, Microsoft has its work cut out in moving users off XP.

Web metrics firm Net Applications now has Windows 7's usage share at 27%, for example, but XP still powers 51% of the world's personal computers. If the trends of each over the last three months continue, Windows 7 won't pass XP in the race for share until the second quarter of 2012.

Businesses are even more reliant on Windows XP, said Forrester Research when it recently estimated the aged OS's share at 60% of enterprise PCs.

Monday wasn't the first time Microsoft portrayed XP as yesterday's OS. Earlier this year, executives on the Internet Explorer (IE) team called XP the "lowest common denominator" as they explained why the OS wouldn't run IE9 or any future browsers.

And the company has taken firm steps to kill off other products it considers obsolete. Since mid-2009, Microsoft has urged users to give up IE6, the browser that shipped shortly before XP. Four months ago it upped the ante by launching a deathwatch website that highlights IE6's dwindling usage share.

The push to abandon XP coincided with the opening of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), the company's annual reseller meet. CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off WPC by celebrating another Windows 7 milestone, selling 400 million licences for the OS.

Tami Reller, head of product marketing for the Windows group, cited that number to compare Windows 7's uptake with XP's in the same span of time. "That is three times the pace of Windows XP," Reller said.
Unmentioned Monday was Windows Vista, the hapless 2007 version that has been called Microsoft's first OS failure since 2000's Windows Millennium. Customers agree. Vista peaked at just under 19% in October 2009, but has lost about half its share since.

Instead, Reller talked up not just Windows 7 as the replacement for XP, but also its successor, Windows 8, which most expect to ship next year. While Reller encouraged corporate customers to continue deploying Windows 7, she promised that Windows 8 would run on the same hardware.

"For our business customers, your customers," she said, speaking to the partners at WPC, "this is an important element because the ability of Windows 8 to run on Windows 7 devices ensures that the hardware investments that these customers are making today will be able to take advantage of Windows 8 in the future."

While neither Reller nor Ballmer mentioned Windows 7's lifecycle, the company will push consumers now running Windows 7 to upgrade to Windows 8, too. According to Microsoft's longstanding practice, it will support Windows 7 Home Premium, the most popular edition for consumers, for five years, half the time slated for enterprise support.

Windows 7 Home Premium will be retired from security support in January 2015.

Sony to restore Playstation Network in Japan this week

By Martyn Williams
Edited by Anthony Ian G. Etcobanez

Gaming network finally resumes after two and a half months of suspension

Sony said Tuesday it plans to restore by this weekend playstation

Sony will fully restore PlayStation Network service to users in Japan this week, ending a two-and-a-half month suspension of service, and bringing to a close an embarrassing incident that began with the largest known loss of customer information by a company.

Users in Japan will be able to access all functions of the PlayStation Store and Qriocity services from July 6, Sony said. The PlayStation Store is an online shopping mall offering games and video to PlayStation users, while the Qriocity service offers video content to Internet-linked consumer electronics devices like televisions.

The services were suspended worldwide on April 20 when Sony detected a sophisticated intrusion had hit one of its data centres.

An investigation established that attackers had managed to bypass three firewalls to steal data on all 77 million registered accounts. The stolen data included user names, email addresses, login IDs and passwords. It was originally feared that millions of credit card numbers had also been leaked, but Sony later said it was unable to find any evidence that the credit card database was accessed.

Sony asked users to change passwords, and to date it says there have been no reports of unauthorised credit card usage linked to the attack.

The attack left Sony reeling, and the services were offline for weeks while the company rebuilt its security system. Sony reintroduced service in stages, with online gaming first being switched on for users in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand in the middle of May. That followed for users in Asia in June, and PlayStation Store service was subsequently restored for users in all regions except Japan.

The PlayStation Store remained offline in Japan while Sony discussed the data breach with authorities and briefed them on its new security system, said Satoshi Fukuoka, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment. With progress made in those discussions, Sony is now able to resume service.

When that happens on Wednesday, the service will be fully restored globally to the same level as before April's attack.

The attack and Sony's response to it is estimated to cost the company around ¥14 billion (£108 million) this financial year. That includes the cost of calling in several computer security companies to investigate the attack, the rebuild of its security system, identity theft monitoring for users in some countries, and the offer of several free games to users.