Results of Investigation into Holiday IIS Claim

Microsoft has completed its internal investigation into claims of a new IIS vulnerability and found that there are no problems aside from poorly configured servers.

The key in this is the last point: for the scenario to work, the IIS server must already be configured to allow both "write" and "execute" privileges on the same directory. This is not the default configuration for IIS and is contrary to all of our published best practices. Quite simply, an IIS server configured in this manner is inherently vulnerable to attack.

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Google Loses Claim to Groovle Domain Name

An ICANN-approved arbitration body has ruled Google’s claim that the Groovle.com domain name is "confusingly similar" to its own is without merit.

The unanimous three person panel composed of two retired American judges and one American law professor, ruled that Groovle.com "is not confusingly similar" to Google's trademark, "Google." To-date, Google has commenced 65 domain name disputes and this is only the second time that it has ever lost.

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MSI's All New Stylish & Refined U Series

The 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) officially kicks off on January 7 in Las Vegas! MSI's formidable achievements in R&D and design will be out in force. In addition to ultra-thin and stylish designs, the much talked about and yet to be released 2010 iF Product Design Award winning netbook, the Wind U160, will be unveiled at CES!

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OCZ Supports WhipTail Technologies with its SSD Solutions

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and flash-based storage as an alternative to hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced that enterprise solid state storage provider WhipTail Technologies will utilize OCZ’s premium solid state drives to meet its customers’ needs for ultimate productivity in conjunction with its solid state storage appliances. By teaming with industry leaders such as WhipTail that combines its own software innovations with cutting-edge hardware, OCZ continues to leverage its SSDs across various applications while meeting the needs of mission-critical systems and IT environments.

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More Attacks on Facebook, Twitter in 2010

According to a new report from McAfee Labs, there will be more attacks on Facebook and Twitter in the coming year but things are not as bad as they may seem. Okay, that probably is as bad as it seems but at least it will keep people like me busy reporting on it next year.

In a recorded interview David Marcus, McAfee Labs' director of security research and communications, said that he expects "an explosion of Facebook and other services targeted by cybercriminals." In addition to malware like Koobface that spreads among Facebook users' friends list, Marcus expects an increase in rogue Facebook applications.

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[H]ardware Round-Up II

Cooling

Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro @ HardwareOverclock

Larkooler High Performance Complete Liquid Cooling Kit @ MadShrimps

Power Supply

Ultra X4 Fully Modular 850W PSU @ Tweaknews

Video

Asus EAH5870 Radeon HD 5870 @ HotHardware

The Greatest Windows Tips of All Time

This isn’t just another end of the year list, this is a list of the greatest Windows tips OF ALL TIME!!!! Do you hear that? Of "ALL TIME." Now you have to click the link just to see if what is on the list is truly "all time" great.

Whether you're a grizzled Windows vet or a relative newcomer, you can always use a trick or two for making things go faster. We've compiled our 26 favorite time-saving tips for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Print out this story and keep it on your desk, under your pillow, or anywhere else.

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Hacker Gets 17 – 25 Years in Prison

What do you get for orchestrating the largest credit card theft in U.S. history? 17 to 25 years in prison, that’s what.

Gonzalez entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Boston on Tuesday in a case involving unauthorized access to computers of Maine-based Hannaford supermarkets and other retailers. He pleaded guilty in September to charges from two other retailer-hacking cases. Plea agreements call for Gonzalez to serve 17 to 25 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March.

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Join The [H] Folding Team!

This is our weekly shout out to all of you out there that aren’t currently folding and could spare a bit of your PC’s resources to help a wonderful cause. Although [H]ardOCP has the #1 Folding team on the planet, we still need your help to stay there. Folding is easy, all you have to do is download and install the Folding@Home program, set your team number to TEAM #33 and you are all set.

If you still need help or have any questions, forum member "Xilikon" put all the Folding guides that a person could possibly need into one easy-to-find location. Hit the link, follow the directions and you’ll be up and folding in no time at all.

Nokia hits Apple with Latest Patent Complaint

If I have this right, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple for infringing on 10 patents. Apple filed a countersuit claiming Nokia infringes on 13 patents. Today, Nokia has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission claiming Apple products infringe on seven patents. Tune in next week for Apple's counter-complaint.

"While our litigation in Delaware is about Apple's attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia investment in wireless standards, the ITC case filed today is about Apple's practice of building its business on Nokia's proprietary innovation," Paul Melin, general manager of patent licensing at Nokia, said in a statement.

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Gaming [H]eadlines

8 BIT XMAS 2009 @ RetroZone

Dragon Age 'Return to Ostagar' DLC Coming Soon @ Joystiq

EA Readying Wii Football Trainer? @ Shacknews

Prey Sold Out On Steam @ Kotaku

Patriot Memory's Box Office Media Player

For those of you looking for a nice little media playback box capable of handling just about any codec and file format out there, I highly recommend you read our evaluation of the Patriot Box Office Media Player.

There are some other media playback boxes out there that do use the same Realtek RTD1073DD chipset that we find inside the PBO, but none that I am aware of have such a robust feature list at the relatively low price point. The Patriot Box Office offers a deeper feature set than any others when you start factoring in the entire package of expandability, connectivity, inputs, and outputs.

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