2009年4月27日 星期一

Netbooks 2.0

www.reuters.com

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A new class of cheaper, smaller netbook computers might upset the IT establishment this year and potentially usher in new players in a hotly competitive market.

The biggest change in the new pint-sized laptops is what they won't have: Intel Corp (INTC.O) chips or a Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) Windows PC operating system, which dominate netbooks today.

The new netbooks, which use less energy, will run on the low-power ARM processor platform now used in nine out of 10 mobile phones, rather than Intel's x86-based Atom chip. The U.K.-based ARM Holdings Plc (ARM.L) licenses the chip technology.

As many as 10 ARM-based netbook models could hit the market this year, according to ARM, which declined to identify specific manufacturers. Major PC players and Asian contract manufacturers alike are interested, analysts say.

Enderle Group analyst Rob Enderle called the new netbooks "incredibly disruptive," saying: "This is a market that puts the existing PC structure at risk."

While analysts say it's not yet clear if consumers will embrace the ARM devices, interest has been galvanized by the emphasis on power efficiency, prices as low as $200 and the promise of anywhere, anytime computing on PCs small enough to slip into a purse.

What's sacrificed is users' familiarity with PC-based interfaces and systems and sheer processing power. The current $300-$400 Atom netbooks are already mainly good for just surfing the Web and less graphics-intensive applications.

"We're right in the middle of a huge shift in the market," said Eric Openshaw, U.S. technology leader for Deloitte LLP.

Openshaw said non-Windows netbooks will need to demonstrate a simple and accessible user interface at the application level if they hope to gain traction with consumers.

Windows XP can't run on ARM, so the new netbooks will have Linux-based software, including, analysts and industry executives say, Google Inc (GOOG.O) Android, which has been used so far in smartphones.

But don't count Microsoft out just yet. Although the software giant declined to comment when asked if it is planning an operating system for the new netbooks, analysts say it could easily enter the market if it chose.

Intel pointed out there are as yet no ARM netbooks on the market and that its Atom chip has a full year's head start.

"We're not slowing down, we fully expect competition and we continue to believe that Atom is the right choice for our customers and consumer," said spokesman Bill Calder.

NEXT WAVE

The still-evolving netbook market is growing thick with players from all over the tech sector. Wireless carriers such as AT&T Inc (T.N) are helping lead the charge, while graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), wireless chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) and Freescale Semiconductor Inc have all designed ARM-based processors that can be used in netbooks.

2009年4月25日 星期六

世界最強電腦病毒Conficker

hellostation.blogspot.com

據法新社最新消息,已經潛入全球百萬部電腦的超強電腦病毒將在四月一日愚人節再度演化,導致日後更難加以根絕,但預料還不致於帶來大浩劫。

微軟公司已經組成專案小組,想盡辦法要剿滅這隻叫做Conficker或DownAdUp的病毒,還懸賞25萬美元緝拿撰寫這隻電腦蠕蟲的元兇。

專案小組人員之一,趨勢科技網路威脅研究員佛格森 (Paul Ferguson)說,這隻難纏的電腦蠕蟲將根據程式設定在25日進行演化,變得更難遏止。

佛格森說,「目前沒有證據顯示這個病毒會在四月一日變為攻擊模式或降低任何電腦的有效負載。」

沒有持續更新微軟RPC伺服器服務的電腦或網路,這隻電腦病毒就會入侵並進行自我複製。

它會透過網路感染,也會躲在儲存資料的USB隨身碟,從一個電腦傳染到另一個電腦。一旦進入電腦,就會深深紮根,還會建立防衛系統讓外界很難移除。

惡意軟體可能因此啟動,竊取被感染電腦中的資料,或將控制權置於駭客之手,讓他們集合所有「殭屍電腦」變成「殭屍大軍」。

Conficker最厲害的是它會利用殭屍電腦來破解密碼。

微 軟已經修改免費的惡意電腦軟體移除工具(Malicious Software Removal Tool )來偵測和消滅Conficker。該公司安全反應部門主管巴德(Christopher Budd)說,「由於這隻病毒持續演化,微軟和其他合作公司將持續找出瓦解Conficker威脅的新方法,讓消費者有更多的時間來更新系統。」

建議電腦使用者持續更新目前使用的防毒工具以及微軟系統,並且用更牢靠的密碼來保護電腦和檔案。

Conficker被設定為一天攻擊250個網站,從控制殭屍電腦的主機下載指令。根據電腦安全公司F-Secure的海波寧 (Mikko Hypponen)表示,從25日開始,這隻電腦蠕蟲將開始每天連結5萬個網站,而且更難偵測得到。

海波寧說,「基本上他們提高賭注,讓我們日子更難過。」他說,「他們發現好人已開始攔截主電腦與殭屍電腦之間的聯繫。」

防毒專家說,這種病毒的擴散速度在年初非常快速,現在已經變得緩慢,但是還沒更新微軟系統的電腦還是可能會感染。

海波寧在F-Secure網站上發佈一則訊息表示,已經有100萬至200萬台電腦遭到Conficker入侵,據信這批電腦大部分感染的是較早版本的Conficker,裡面沒有4月1日演化的指令。

www.searchsmbhk.com

02 Apr 2009

初步估計已感染超過1200萬部電腦的超級電腦病毒Conficker,被預計於昨日的愚人節發出新指令,發動大規模攻擊,進行網絡犯罪活動,但防毒軟件公司稱暫未發現有任何明顯的破壞活動出現。

Conficker 主要經由Windows 伺服器修補漏洞、猜測網絡密碼、以及 USB 記憶體。它們會找尋不同域名的網站伺服器,然後看準保安漏洞,把啟動程式下載至系統,蠕蟲引發的最典型問題是網絡用戶無法登入其個人帳戶,這是由於蠕蟲試 圖猜測或利用密碼破解方法竊取網絡密碼所致。當蠕蟲三次輸入密碼失敗,密碼便會自動鎖上,令用戶無法登入。

一 旦電腦受到蠕蟲感染,病毒便會發揮強勁的自我保護功能。而變種 Conficker 每天可自行衍生50,000個域名,然後利用其中 500個地址進行繁殖和散播病毒。此外,它還可自行破解使用簡單密碼的網絡共享程式和軟件,然後將惡意程式複製到資料匣,再感染其他使用者;此外,還會嘗 試透過其他可攜式儲存設備擴大感染範圍,更嚴重的是,黑客可利用遭受 Conficker 感染的電腦組成大型殭屍網絡(Botnet),將惡勢力進一步擴張。換言之,一旦用家的電腦中了 Conficker,就表示電腦變成國際網絡犯罪集團一分子。

F-Secure 保安事故應變經理謝榮輝指,儘管Conflicker破壞力強勁,但暫時沒有迹象顯示有具破壞性的事故發生,懷疑他們故意保留實力,伺機再出擊。

根據F-Secure 保安實驗室的數字,截至2009 年2 月香港共錄得4544宗Conficker感染個案,約佔總數的0.24%,在全球排行榜佔第40 位。

「感 染此蠕蟲的症狀之一,是會阻擋電腦存取網際網路安全公司的網站,」McAfee Avert Labs 專家 Dave Marcus 說。「一個很好的測試指標,就是試著連線到可下載防毒軟件的網站。如果無法連線,那您最好馬上利用搜尋功能到網上下載工具,掃描與清除已經中毒的電腦。您 也應該安裝 Microsoft 的修正程式來避免蠕蟲再次自我安裝。」

由 於 Conficker 會阻擋知名的安全網站。如果使用者無法取得 Stinger 清除工具,則可以利用搜尋功能到網際網路搜尋「stinger virus removal」。使用者也可以從未中毒電腦下載該工具,並利用 USB 磁碟機將其傳輸到中毒電腦進行清除作業。

用戶可到以下兩個網址,下載免費掃毒工具:

http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/onlineservices/fsec/fsec.shtml
http://www.mcafee.com/us/enterprise/confickertest.html

防毒專家稱,要避免Conficker肆虐,用戶應經常更新和安裝最新修補程式,及安裝有效的防毒軟件。