Technology Vault - NewsBytes
Tuesday 30 December, 2003
AVG anti virus by bluetracker @ 5:07 pm
Thanks to 'Quick draw McGraw' aka forum member Triplea for spotting this updates availability;-)
AVG 6 & 7 updated
Triplea, the technologyvaults own quick on the draw update hound reports in the forum ......
Update AVG 7.0 - AVI 261.5.5 and AVG 6.0 - 557
Added detection of new viruses Worm/Jitux, JS/Uniz. Added detection of new variants of Worm/Agobot, BackDoor.Delf.
Update release date = December 30, 2003 -
Keep your computer safe and install the update now!
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Tuesday 23 December, 2003
ATI to mass produce R420 graphics chip in 1Q by @ 9:11 am
It's not just the news that ATI will mass produce the new 0.13-micron low-k at TSMC R420, but some of the little details like 'Performance is expected to be double that of the Radeon 9800' that made me sit up. The report on DigiTimes says that ATI Technologies is expected to enter volume production of its R420 graphics chip core as early as the end of the first quarter. It goes on to give a few known details about the new R420. It goes on to say "The R420 will be fabricated at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) using a low-k process technology. The graphics chip core is expected to boast 160 million transistors and support an AGP 8x bus and GDDR3 memory architecture.
CLICK HERE to read the full story at GigiTimes.
A neat graph shows what we can expect from ATI and Nvidia's top end graphics cards in 2004 - 'Nvidia and ATI new graphics chips in 2004'.
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Friday 19 December, 2003
Internet Explorer URL Spoofing Vulnerability by @ 9:52 pm
OpenSoft tells us:
A vulnerability has been identified in Internet Explorer, which can be exploited by malicious people to display a fake URL in the address and status bars.
The vulnerability is caused due to an input validation error, which can be exploited by including the "%01" and "%00" URL encoded representations after the username and right before the "@" character in an URL.
Successful exploitation allows a malicious person to display an arbitrary FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) in the address and status bars, which is different from the actual location of the page.
This can be exploited to trick users into divulging sensitive information or download and execute malware on their systems, because they trust the faked domain in the two bars.
OpenSoft have provided users with a patch HERE. Please note that this is a third party patch and not an official patch from Microsoft.
You can read more information, test out the vulnerability and download the patch on the OpenSoft Website
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Flash update by bluetracker @ 2:06 pm
New Flash Player released
Macromedia has released a new version of Macromedia Flash Player to patch a vulnerability -discovered in Internet Explorer and Opera- which can be used remotely to access certain local files.
Although the problem has only been detected in Internet Explorer and Opera, an attacker could exploit it in combination with the local Flash data file to access other information stored on the affected system. Netscape/Mozilla users whilst not affected at this time (as far as I'm aware) can take this opportunity to upgrade to this latest Flash player plugin release.
The update supplied by Macromedia stores Flash files in such a way that they cannot be accessed by applications other than Flash Player, preventing applications such as Internet Explorer or Opera from using them. This stops an attacker from exploiting vulnerabilities in these browsers to access -via Flash files- other information on the system.
Macromedia class the update as 'important' and it recommends that users install it. This is all the more important bearing in mind that at the present time there are no patches released for the vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Opera browsers from their respective vendors.
The new Macromedia Flash Player (7,0,19,0) is available HERE
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Wednesday 17 December, 2003
Catalyst 3.10 and Multimedia Center 8.8 by @ 9:55 pm
We have just recieved an email from terry Makedon at ATI who wishes you all Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year.
In his email, Terry says: Well here we are with the final release of the 3 series of CATALYST. Next posting will be in the year 2004 so that will kick of the 4 series of CATALYST. A very exciting year I promise as we are already cooking up many great new CATALYST innovations.
Anyways today's posting features updates of:
* Multimedia Center to version 8.8 with the following amazing new features
o EAZYSHARE(tm)
o Capturing to MPEG4 Format
o Auto Scan for FM Radio
o Support for the ATI TV Wonder
* Windows Driver to version 7.962 (Linux drivers are planned to be updated next week - sorry for the difference in posting dates)
New Features
OpenGL Shading Language Support
This release adds support for the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL), a flexible, forward-looking, and hardware-independent high-level graphics programming language. The OpenGL Shading Language, defined as an open standard by the OpenGL Architecture Review Board, allows application developers to take advantage of the powerful programmable vertex and pixel processing units present in the 3D graphics system. Open languages offer developers the fastest route to using the latest graphics hardware features. Developers who are interested in using the OpenGL Shading Language with ATI hardware should contact ATI Developer Relations (devrel@ati.com ) for more details and documentation. This feature is available for the following ATI RADEON(tm) family product line:
Performance Improvements
* Performance in various 2D applications has improved by as much as 3-6% across the entire RADEON product line.
* Comanche 4 framerates have also improved by approximately 5-7%.
I published the fixes in our previous news story.
Thanks Terry!
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ATI Catalyst 3.10 - The best yet by @ 8:50 pm
ATI have just released Catalyst 3.10. I've got to say this version is the best yet. I had a few problems with the last couple of releases with my demos, but 3.10 has corrected any problems I had. In fact, I've not had so many demos working at any one time with any set of graphics drivers ever.
Terry has made me a very happy man. One demo that I wanted to work for so long was called legomania. It's a super little demo but would crash no matter what set of drivers I used. 3.10 is the first set of drivers that lets it run without crashing.
I don't know what it is that Terry fixed in these drivers that has made such a difference, but I've found them to be rock solid. The best yet.
Now to the official bit.
Resolved Application Issues
This section provides information on application issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST™. These include the following:
Playing the Direct3D Point Sprites sample at resolutions of 1600x1200 or greater no longer result in graphic corruption being displayed
Resolved CATALYST™ Driver Issues
This section provides information on CATALYST™ driver issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST™. These include the following:
• Intermittent detection of DDC monitors no longer fails when connected to a RADEON™ 9100 IGP
• Connecting a CRT and FPD to an ATI RADEON™ 9600 series under Windows XP no longer results in the driver failing to keep the CRT and FPD enabled once the system is rebooted
• Setting the desktop resolution to 1280x1024 and connecting a TV as a secondary device with panning mode enabled no longer results in the system failing to respond when moving the mouse pointer around the desktop
• An error message indicating that the DVD can only be played back at 480p or 480i on component output is no longer displayed when stopping the ATI DVD player for 3 to 5 seconds
• Starting the TV in desktop mode, followed by enabling the Hide Controls and the Hide Controls and Frame no longer results in the TV not being restored properly when exiting 10ft mode
• Setting the colour depth to 16bpp under Windows 2000 and having the system enter the 3D screen saver no longer results in a memory leak
• Setting the AGP speed to off no longer results in the AGP speed still being shown as enabled to 4x in the SMARTGART tab
• Connecting a TV as the primary device followed by enabling clone mode and setting the desktop resolution to 1280x1024 no longer results in the Overlay Theater Mode not updating when moving the mouse to pan the display
• Clicking the default button found in the ATI 3D tab now updates the maximum resolution for SMOOTHVISION after applying a custom profile setting
• Setting the secondary CRT display to 1024x768 32bpp with extended desktop enabled no longer results in not being able to swap between the primary and secondary displays
• Connecting an HDTV and setting the display to 640x480 32bpp 30Hz followed by attempting to change the display to 800x600 32bpp 30Hz no longer results in an error message being displayed
• The Optimal Performance Direct 3D setting is now correct for an ATI RADEON™ 7000 series with 32Mb of memory
• The display driver version is now displayed in the the option page found in the display properties
• Display corruption is no longer seen when setting the 3D screen saver to initialize after one minute of idle time
• Toggling between expansion and non-expansion mode no longer produces overlay and display corruption
• Hot plugging a DVI monitor no longer results in the display resolution changing to 800x600 for both the DVI and the LCD
• Setting the CRT to 1024x768 or both the CRT and LCD to 1920x1200 no longer results in the display resolution reverting back to 800x600
• Connecting a TV and enable clone mode, followed by setting the desktop to 1280x1024 and enabling Overlay Theater Mode no longer results in the system rebooting when doing multiple device switching between the CRT and the TV
• Enabling extended desktop no longer results in the display not being visible when hot-unplugging the DVI while a 3D screen saver is active
Setting the desktop resolution to 1024x768 32bpp followed by connecting a CRT no longer results in the LCD panel automatically being assigned as changed to the secondary display adapter
• The Compatibility Settings tab now reflects the correct settings whenever a 3D profile is applied
• The video image is no longer overscanned when enabling component out
• Display corruption is no longer seen when choosing fullscreen video and 16:9 (widescreen) under Theater mode settings
• The Philips capture driver now installs successfully under Windows 2000
Resolved Game Issues
This section provides information on game issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST™. These include the following:
• Texture corruption is no longer seen when playing EA Sports' Madden 2004
• Enabling Sharpen, Emboss, Contrast, and Etch in the OpenGL 3D tab followed by playing • Quake 3 or Serious Sam 2 no longer results in the OpenGL SMARTSHADER effect not working correctly
• Setting the display resolution to 1024x768 32bpp followed by playing Blade of Darkness with the game set to 1027x768 16bpp, and texture resolution set to max, no longer results in a flickering horizontal line of display corruption
• Playing the game Battle Field 1942 under Windows XP results in the Haze effect appearing incorrectly
• Playing the game Call of Duty no longer results in the operating system failing to respond
• Setting the game Flight Simulator 2004 to display at 1024x768 or 1280x1024 followed by starting a new flight no longer results in the menu being flipped just before the new flight is about to begin
• Choppy gameplay is no longer noticed with attempting to play the game Homworld 2
• The game Jedi Knight-Jedi Academy no longer fails to respond when enabling Anti-Aliasing to 4x or 6x
• Setting the texture preference bar to any setting lower than High Quality in the game Formula 1 2002 no longer results in the 2D game menu being displayed when maximizing the replay screen
• Poor game performance is no longer noticed when playing the game Lord of the Realms 3 under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ 9200 series installed
• Display corruption is no longer noticed when playing the demo game 4x4 Evolution under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ 9600 series installed
• Display corruption is no longer noticed when playing the game Indiana Jones at its default mode of 640x480 32bpp
• Playing the game Morrowind with Truform enabled no longer results in the game failing to respond
• Configuring the game Halo Combat Evolved (demo) to 1024x768 followed by selecting a normal campaign no longer results in the operating system failing to respond
Go get 'um HERE
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Wednesday 10 December, 2003
AVG Update by @ 5:11 am
Grisoft have an updated definitions file for AVG6 (free) and AVG7. Grisoft tells us that this update adds detection of Worm/Shansui and new variants of Worm/Spybot, Worm/Agobot, Worm/Lovsan, trojan PSW.Ldpinch, trojan PSW.Delf, trojan Proxy.
Whatever antivirus software you use, make sure you check for updates regularly.
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Thursday 4 December, 2003
Anti-Trojan 5.5 by bluetracker @ 4:31 pm
Demise of an anti trojan utility
Anti-Trojan 5.5 from anti-trojan.net has been discontinued it is defunct, dead, it is no more.
Customers who have already purchased the software(or the curious) can surf along to the new website HERE where they can generate an unlock key for the program. Whilst there they can download the final build of the AT 5.5 program which will no longer be supported by Anti-Trojan network.
The 'new' software by Austrian Andreas Haak is to be marketed by Emsi Software GmbH. Andreas probably wanted to realise the greater potential (cash money) of the original shareware work and wanting it to be available to a wider field of potential customers co-opted out to EMSI who are shipping it under a 'snappy'new name and totally new look thereby consigning the original to the Freeware bin.
Considering that effectiveness of any anti-virus or anti-trojan utility is based upon it being updated regularly to combat new threats as they appear, it follows that AT5.5 will soon become useless and therefore a move to the new program will be neccessary.
For those who paid out for AT5.5, subscribers are offered a 'carrot' in the guise of a Free 12 month subscription to the successor program "a squared2"( a˛) which has moved into the vacuum created by the discontinuation. Customers who bought Anti-Trojan5.5 after May 15, 2003 will receive a free one year license for a˛ personal. Prior to this date, those customers are to receive a "special upgrade offer" where they can order a˛ personal for the half price. After the initial 12 months, users will be asked for more cash to enable the program to be updated and tech support to be supplied, which it seems, is the growing trend of the AV and AT utility marketer these days.
The days of buying a copy of some software or other and recieving free gratis updates/support for life is now fast becoming a thing of the past. All well and good for corporate profit margins, not so good for those who don't have the means to upgrade/re-subscribe to the copy of the software they oriinally paid to use.
a˛ fills in the void...or does it?
a˛ is available in two 'flavours, a˛Free and a˛ personal.
The 'paid for' or "Personal" version comes complete with Background Guard(real time monitoring), Advanced IDS (Intrusion Detection System) and the System Firewall as well as automatic updates.
The program is fully configurable by the user who can choose to allow (or deny) any application on his computer the right to start up by using the Autostart-viewer.(if the promo articles can be believed)
When you consider that many malicious programs are memory resident and designed to start their nefarious activities when the computer they reside upon is switched on, a utility that can reliably edit the startup menu is a worthwhile addition. Of course this function is aimed at Advanced Users who actually know just what it is they are starting or stopping!
The free version as you may expect, contains non of the "paid for" versions' attributes and is at best a simple Trojan/malware scanner/remover with a non too pretty interface.
Functional is how I would describe it, unlike its predecessor with its animation of a Trojan Horse all the user gets is the 'standard' Windows 'seaching for files' torch to watch as lines of file locations in plain text whizz past in the GUI window.
Automatic updates are also not supported and users of the free version will have to manually download these files as they become available, or so the info on the website informs me...however the 'search for updates' feature 'seems' to work in the proggy itself and is not greyed out or disabled in the copy I downloaded.......?,
To use this 'free' version of the software, you must first create an account on the website, once you have supplied a name and an e-mail addy, the code to enable the proggy is sent to the addy you specify...once done I'm unsure as to what use your e-mail addy is to the company(tic) there is no option to opt out of future mailings etc that I would expect with a good product. So for that reason alone I'm keeping a close watch on my inbox for spam attacks in the near future!
Website?.........Didn't I mention the new website?
How remiss of me...well there is one...HERE, still under construction in some parts,but a website nonetheless...and there seems to be something 'lost' in the translation from Austrian to English.
The site et-al manages to give the surfer the 'feel' of things to come (plain and unappealing) should you wish to part with your cash on yet another "anti-something-or-other" utility.
Comparing the two...
I miss the functionality and compact user interface of Anti-Trojan5.5
I miss the 'ikkle spinning trojan horse' which 'blew up' with a "pling"(!) when an open port was discovered when using the port scan engine.
I miss that detailed list of all open ports highlighting those liable to attack...
But that's me...sad to the last!
It doesn't (on the face of things), look like the 'kewl' animations have been sacrificed for greater speed in scanning either, as in the tests I made comparing the two products, no discernable speed gain was achieved using a˛ (albeit with the limited functionality) and Anti-Trojan5.5(full Freeware version), indeed out of the two "a˛" was the most 'memory hungry' using 34,056K of memory to run it's limited scan, whilst Anti Trojan 5.5 notched up a mere 19,696K in the memory stakes.
I should make clear that I have only the 'free'(and limited functionality) version of a˛to base my comments upon, but on the strength of that little test(and unless Andreas would like to 'donate' a full copy to us for evaluation ;-)) I for one, am not impressed enough with this new version to go and buy the 'real thing'.
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Wednesday 3 December, 2003
AVG Update by @ 5:09 am
Grisoft tells us this update adds detection of Worm/Kober, new trojan Downloader.Darpa and new variant of I-Worm/Mimail, Worm/Spybot and trojan Downloader.Tooncom and is for AVG6 free and AVG 7. It brings AVG up to versions AVG 6.0 - 547 and AVG 7.0 - AVI 261.3.3.
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