Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it is joining forces with 24/7 – a customer service outfit with the vision of putting up a collaborative effort for enhancing different aspects associated with the customer service mechanism deployed by businesses.

The software giant claims that the new agreement reached by the two companies will help them to introduce the advantages of Big Data and NUIs (natural user interfaces) in favour of raising the existing standards deployed by customer services companies all around the world.

Apart from that, the agreement will see the Redmond based OS giant buying stake in 24/7 along with a long term strategic Research & Development partnership and a long term IP licensing mechanism.

“From speech to touch to gestures, consumers expect and demand more natural and intuitive ways to interact with technology,” Zig Serafin, general manager, Online Services Division at Microsoft, said in a statement.

“This same demand will change how consumers interact with businesses, and it creates an inflection point for how people will expect businesses to provide customer service,” he added.

As a matter of fact, the deal between the two companies will also result in Microsoft combining its interactive self-service assets such as people, clients as well as technologies into the PX solutions in offering from 24/7 along with Big Data analytics and speech and a next-gen cloud platform for customer services.

Source:http://www.itproportal.com/2012/02/09/microsoft-joins-forces-with-247-for-customer-service-software/

Microsoft is gearing up to release a phalanx of native mobile applications for its CRM software, with clients aimed at BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, iOS, and Android 2.2 and higher devices, the company announced yesterday.

The release, which is scheduled for the second quarter as part of Microsoft’s regular CRM (customer relationship management) service update, will also build on existing browser support with Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Safari, running on Macs, iPads and Windows PCs.

In the future the native mobile applications will be updated at the same time, but features and functions may vary depending on the relative capabilities available on each platform, said Craig Dewar, director, Dynamics CRM.

“We’re doing as much as we can on each platform, and not choosing to do the lowest common denominator approach. We’re optimising for the device. You chose that device, and we should light it up as much as possible,” he said.

The new CRM mobile capabilities also include a hosted-server component that provides management and security, including the ability to remotely wipe devices of sensitive data should they become compromised. IT administrators will also be able to “mobilise” all of their CRM customizations without having to re-code them, Dewar said.

Each native application will allow for offline usage and data synchronisation with online systems, according to a statement.

Microsoft is charging $30 per user per month for the mobile service, with each subscription allowed up to three devices. It is a purely user-based pricing model, with no separate fee for the hosted-server tools.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s close CRM competitor Salesforce.com offers a Lite mobile application at no charge, with the full-featured version available at no additional cost for Unlimited Edition subscribers but $50 per user per month for Professional and Enterprise edition customers.

While other CRM vendors, including Salesforce.com, have moved quickly to embrace HTML5 for mobile in hopes of writing a single rich application that will run on multiple platforms, Microsoft is taking a more deliberate pace.

“We’re watching HTML5 very closely, we’re working on it. It’s a very important development technology. But our focus is to provide the best possible experience on native devices today,” Dewar said.

Microsoft will likely do more with HTML5 upon the arrival of Windows 8, which will provide ample support for it, he added.

Another feature planned for the upcoming service update, which will apply to both the on-premises and online versions of the software, is Activity Feeds, which provides users with a familiar Twitter and Facebook-like stream of updates on information in the CRM system.

Microsoft is also planning to add new BI (business intelligence) capabilities to the on-premises version, which are based on the Power View visualisation technology in SQL Server 2012. Those capabilities will become available in the online version over time, Dewar said.

Source:http://www.computernewsme.com/2012/02/microsoft-to-release-native-mobile-apps-for-its-crm-software/

Microsoft is gearing up to release a phalanx of native mobile applications for its CRM software, with clients aimed at BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, iOS, and Android 2.2 and higher devices, the company announced Monday.

The release, which is scheduled for the second quarter as part of Microsoft’s regular CRM (customer relationship management) service update, will also build on existing browser support with Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Safari, running on Macs, iPads and Windows PCs.

In the future the native mobile applications will be updated at the same time, but features and functions may vary depending on the relative capabilities available on each platform, said Craig Dewar, director, Dynamics CRM.

“We’re doing as much as we can on each platform, and not choosing to do the lowest common denominator approach,” he said. “We’re optimizing for the device. You chose that device, and we should light it up as much as possible.”

The new CRM mobile capabilities also include a hosted-server component that provides management and security, including the ability to remotely wipe devices of sensitive data should they become compromised. IT administrators will also be able to “mobilize” all of their CRM customizations without having to re-code them, Dewar said.

Each native application will allow for offline usage and data synchronization with online systems, according to a statement.

Microsoft is charging US$30 per user per month for the mobile service, with each subscription allowed up to three devices. It is a purely user-based pricing model, with no separate fee for the hosted-server tools.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s close CRM competitor Salesforce.com offers a Lite mobile application at no charge, with the full-featured version available at no additional cost for Unlimited Edition subscribers but $50 per user per month for Professional and Enterprise edition customers.

While other CRM vendors, including Salesforce.com, have moved quickly to embrace HTML5 for mobile in hopes of writing a single rich application that will run on multiple platforms, Microsoft is taking a more deliberate pace.

“We’re watching HTML5 very closely, we’re working on it,” Dewar said. “It’s a very important development technology. But our focus is to provide the best possible experience on native devices today.” Microsoft will likely do more with HTML5 upon the arrival of Windows 8, which will provide ample support for it, he added.

Another feature planned for the upcoming service update, which will apply to both the on-premises and online versions of the software, is Activity Feeds, which provides users with a familiar Twitter and Facebook-like stream of updates on information in the CRM system.

Microsoft is also planning to add new BI (business intelligence) capabilities to the on-premises version, which are based on the Power View visualization technology in SQL Server 2012. Those capabilities will become available in the online version over time, Dewar said.

Source:http://www.cio.in/news/microsoft-roll-out-wave-native-mobile-apps-its-crm-software-223212012

BizNet Software, Inc., experts and global leaders in real-time, Microsoft Excel®-based business reporting and analytics solutions, has released General Ledger reporting for Microsoft Dynamics SL.

BizNet’s ground-breaking Excel® Business Information Suite is the most innovative and intuitive reporting solution on the market. It creates a user-friendly, drag and drop environment with live, real-time access to the most accurate and current data. BizInsight’s(TM) unique ability to provide dynamic, multi-dimensional drill downs to detailed information based on what the user is exploring provides a level of business insight not found with other reporting tools. BizNet’s Microsoft Dynamics SL General Ledger reporting and analysis solution provides a pre-built integration allowing users to build their reports within minutes. With over 6,000 users and 200 partners in over 14 different countries, BizNet has been selected as the top FRx replacement by chief industry analysts.

The Microsoft Dynamics SL General Ledger BizContent pack includes over 40 pre-built drag and drop Excel® functions, reports, and business intelligence. The BizNet Excel® Business Information Suite offers full-featured functionality at a fraction of the cost of traditional financial reporting packages:

100% Excel®-Based

Real Time In-Memory Analytics

Drag and Drop Reporting

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Utilize All Existing Spreadsheets

Report Creation Using Account Wildcarding, Account Ranges, and Account List

No Additional Hardware Necessary

Automated Report Distribution Tailored to Each Recipient With a Single Click

A partial list of Excel functions, business intelligence, and reports delivered out of the box includes:

Month to Date (MTD) – Net, Debit, Credit, Statistical GL Data, Net Balances Unposted

Year to Date (YTD) – Net, Debit, Credit, Statistical GL Data, Beginning Balances, Ending Balances

Month to Date All (Posted + Unposted) – Net, Debit, Credit

Year to Date All (Posted + Unposted) – Net, Debit, Credit

Information – Segment Descriptions, Account Type, Account Categories, Account Descriptions.

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/biznet-software-introduces-excel-in-memory-gl-reporting-for-microsoft-dynamics-sl-2012-02-06

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world’s largest software maker, said it’s eliminating a “small percentage” of marketing jobs as part of a previously reported reorganization of the department.

“Given the rapid changes in technology and the shifts in how our customers connect with Microsoft, great marketing is more important than ever to Microsoft’s future success,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “We’re taking steps to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing.”

The cuts follow a marketing review aimed at reducing overlapping jobs and better responding to competitors like Apple Inc. and Google Inc., people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg last month.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, spent $13.9 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal 2011, a 5.5 percent increase from the previous year. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, who named Chris Capossela as his new marketing chief last year, didn’t think the company was getting enough return on those marketing dollars, the people said in January.

The software maker had 25,000 sales and marketing workers as of June 30, the end of its fiscal year, the company said in a filing, without specifying how many focused on marketing. The company had a total of about 90,000 full-time employees.

Microsoft shares rose 1.2 percent to $29.89 at the close in New York. The stock has gained 6.8 percent in the past 12 months.

Source:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-01/microsoft-to-eliminate-small-percentage-of-marketing-jobs-1-.html

In a move to help administrators rid their networks of disparate personal email archives, Microsoft has released a tool for finding and importing Outlook PST files into modern Exchange environments. The tool will also help Microsoft rid itself of the archiving format, which it no longer sees as necessary.

Microsoft Exchange users “made it clear that PST import is an important area for us to focus on moving forward,” wrote Ankur Kothari, a Microsoft senior product manager for Microsoft Exchange, in a blog post, “.PST, Time to Walk the Plank,” announcing the release.

The free tool, called PST Capture, can search a network, identify PST files and import them into their user email accounts hosted by Exchange Online or Exchange Server 2010. Microsoft partner Red Gate developed PST Capture, and Microsoft added features and tested the software for this release.

The Microsoft Outlook email client typically creates PST (Personal Storage Table) files as a way to store email on the local machine, instead of storing the email on Microsoft Exchange Servers.

Over the past decade or so, many enterprise employees have created their own PST files, either to enjoy off-line email access or to store mail after they have reached their quota on the organization’s e-mail server.

Personal archives can be problematic for administrators, however, in that they can hold data that isn’t covered by an organization’s data retention policies. They can also complicate an administrator’s task of backing up user email, given that PST files can be spread out on different computers, or in different folders on different computers. “PSTs are a bit of pain point,” Kothari admitted, in a video accompanying the blog posting.

Plus, PSTs are no longer necessary, Microsoft has concluded.

Many organizations now have sufficient storage space to the extent that users no longer need to be worried about surpassing their quotas. Also, Microsoft Exchange 2010 introduced a feature called Personal Archive, which automated the process of determining which emails to keep according to organizational policies, eliminating much of the need for personal employee archives.

Of course, Microsoft Exchange already can import PST files, through the PowerShell New-MailboxImportRequest command. PST Capture, however, automates the search and discovery process, and offers a graphical user interface.

Source:http://www.cio.com.au/article/414009/microsoft_releases_pst_importer_exchange/

Global software giant Microsoft says its lawyers have swooped on four rogue computer dealers in Pretoria, who were selling fake software to consumers.
The retailers were bust after the company’s mystery shoppers found the shops were selling new PCs loaded with pirated Microsoft software, either at a full or discounted price.

Three of the resellers in question have signed formal civil settlement agreements with Microsoft and the company is involved in a legal process with the fourth retailer. Microsoft channel compliance manager, Wesley Lewis, says the company may look at criminal or civil action in the fourth matter.

Microsoft would not provide details on the settlements, but Lewis says the dealers have not been prohibited from selling its products. The raids form part of an ongoing series of crackdowns on rogue resellers, he says.

The software company is investigating “dozens” of computer dealers suspected of selling fake or illegally licensed software, says Lewis.
Counting the cost

Microsoft did not seize any software in the Pretoria raid, so it cannot quantify losses to the company. However, it estimates that “legitimate resellers are losing millions of rands a month to rogue dealers selling unlicensed software, at a price legitimate sellers cannot compete with”.

“It’s entirely a lost sales equation. Look at it this way: If 60 rogue dealers – and there are more than that in Gauteng alone – sell just two computers each a day with illegal software on it, we could be looking at losses to the industry of more than R4 million per month,” says Lewis.

Pirated software costs the local economy about $513 million – or about R4.2 billion – each year through lost sales, ITWeb recently reported.
Lewis says pirated software also exposes end-users to risks, as fake software is vulnerable to computer viruses, malware and hackers.

Source:http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51071:microsoft-nabs-software-pirates

Going by the numbers, Nokia (NYS: NOK) just delivered a horrible quarter. I mean, a terrible, brutal performance. Sales fell 21% year-over-year, led by 31% fewer smartphones finding new homes. Average selling prices also declined across the board. All told, earnings fell 73% to $0.08 per American Depositary Receipt, and operating cash flows crashed just as hard.

But Nokia shares are floating up today nonetheless. Wall Street analysts would have settled for earnings of about $0.06 per ADR, though the $13.4 billion revenue target still proved a bit steep.

More importantly, the much-heralded partnership with Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) is starting to pay dividends. The first Windows Phone models have made their way to markets in Europe and Asia. The Lumia line is also trickling into North American stores as T-Mobile and AT&T (NYS: T) have gotten their mitts on one model each. Support from the network providers is crucial to mobile success, and Nokia never had much of that TLC in America before.

So far, Nokia has sold over 1 million Lumia handsets, That may not sound impressive next to the millions and millions of iPhones Apple (NAS: AAPL) ships every quarter, but every journey has to start with a single step. One million units amounts to over 5% of Nokia’s smartphone sales in the quarter, using a totally new brand to present an unproven platform. That’s not a bad start. Recall that Apple sold 1.1 million iPhones in that storied handset’s first quarter, and you get the positive picture.

Reality check
So is the optimism totally justified? I’m not so sure.

Despite the similarities, this is a very different situation than what Apple was facing five years ago. Apple was essentially inventing the smartphone market, and had never before sold a phone; Nokia can fall back on a decade of global market dominance, and smartphones are now as common in the global marketplace as sand on a beach. Under these circumstances, even a brand-new platform should be able to get up to speed faster.

But the real litmus test will come in the next couple of quarters. Will Lumia gain traction and build the Windows Phone brand, the way Microsoft intended? Or will Nokia find itself spinning its wheels without moving anywhere? These phones need to replace Nokia’s old Symbian smartphones very quickly, and at a price premium at that. And the combined unit sales must bounce back to overall growth right away.

Otherwise, the Lumia will be known as a failed experiment in rebranding and Nokia will join fellow old-school phone titan Research In Motion (NAS: RIMM) in the race to the bottom. Who can sell more micro-margin handsets in Africa and South America? I don’t really care. Neither should you.

The challenges in Nokia’s path
So we’re looking at a polar outcome here: Nokia will sink or swim with the Lumia line. Today, investors see some light at the end of that tunnel. But it’s a big gamble. Nokia is fighting multiple headwinds:

* Windows-powered phones haven’t been cool since, oh, 2006. The new platform is very different, but the brand damage may linger.
* Nokia was never big in North America, even at the height of its powers. This market sets the tone for the mobile space on a global level, because most of the innovation comes from our continent.
* It may be better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but that isn’t necessarily true for brand strength. Nokia has been a well-known cell phone giant for years, and consumers have seen it reduced to a minor bit player. Does that backstory make you long for a Nokia phone? Didn’t think so.

Nokia has a lot of work to do here. I’m not willing to bet against the Finns today, because they might just pull it off. But the company is on notice: I’ll sing a very critical tune unless the next two quarters show real signs of a Lumia-driven turnaround. This might just be the next RIM or Palm disaster in the making.

Source:http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/01/26/a-software-reboot-might-just-save-this-ailing-phon/

Russian citizen Andrey Sabelnikov “wrote and/or participated in creating” the harmful software which infected thousands of machines, Microsoft said.

Kelihos was used for sending out spam and spreading malware until it was “neutralised” in September 2011.

In a blog posting, the Microsoft’s lead attorney warned that thousands of PCs remain infected with Kelihos’ software.

The firm said that it had filed an amended complaint with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia regarding the matter.

Richard Domingues Boscovich wrote: “Microsoft presented evidence to the court that Mr Sabelnikov wrote the code for and either created, or participated in creating, the Kelihos malware.

“Further, the complaint alleges that he used the malware to control, operate, maintain and grow the Kelihos botnet.

“These allegations are based on evidence Microsoft investigators uncovered while analysing the Kelihos malware.”

‘Wrong route’
Mr Boscovich urged users who were worried that they might have been affected by the botnet to visit Microsoft’s website for advice.

Microsoft said Mr Sabelnikov is currently working on a freelance basis with a software development and consulting firm.

Prior to this, Mr Sabelnikov is said to have worked as a software engineer and project manager at “a company that provided firewall, antivirus and security software”.

Microsoft did not name the company – however Mr Sabelnikov’s LinkedIn profile lists St Petersburg-based antivirus firm Agnitum among Mr Sabelnikov’s former employers.

Agnitum’s sales and marketing director Vitaliy Yanko told the BBC: “I have checked the info and may confirm that Andrey Sabelnikov worked at Agnitum from 2005 till 2008.

“Afterwards our ways parted. Seems that he chose the wrong route afterwards.”

The BBC has sent a message to Mr Sabelnikov’s LinkedIn account asking him to respond to the accusations.

Vulnerabilities
Botnets like Kelihos are created by the spread of malicious software, often via infected emails or web browser vulnerabilities.

Each “bot”, as they are known, is a hijacked computer which can be used by hackers for any number of illegal activities.

Many botnet owners make money by utilising their botnets to send large amounts of spam email.

At Kelihos’ peak, it was said to have been in control of 41,000 infected machines and able to send over 3.8 billion spam emails in a day.

In October last year, a Czech hosting company, Dotfree Group SRO, settled with Microsoft after it was found to be hosting domains responsible for Kelihos’ distribution.

As part of the settlement, Dominique Alexander Piatti, the group’s owner, agreed to delete or transfer all of the affected domains to Microsoft.

He vowed to work closely with the company to prevent future abuse.

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16700192

Microsoft wants to be a better neighbour when it comes to fighting cyber attackers.

The software giant announced this week it plans to make available a real-time, hosted threat intelligence feed to security companies, government agencies and private industry as part of its efforts to share data concerning the origins of malware attacks. As proof that it’s got the goods to help others, Microsoft points to its successful disruptions of the pernicious Waledac and Rustock botnets.

Microsoft plans to provide the feed’s application programming interface (API) for free, but did not indicate if it planned to charge for the feed itself, according to reports.

As part of its ongoing anti-botnet initiative, formally known as Project MARS, Microsoft observes malware-infected IP addresses of computers that attempt to “phone home” and receive instructions, even after the command-and-control structure has been deactivated, a company spokesman said.

Microsoft works with internet service providers and computer emergency response teams from around the world to help them clean up the damage and assist customers whose machines may have been compromised.

The goal is to get that information into the hands of others so they can react quicker to threats and create viable defenses, all in the name of protecting Microsoft customers.

“Microsoft learns more about the threat landscape from each of our botnet takedown operations,” he said. “The company is looking for ways to share the knowledge and threat intelligence gained in each operation to further protect internet-connected systems.”

“As such, we also continue to explore ways to make the information learned from our takedowns more readily available to others who can take action to address infections in a more systemic and ongoing manner, as was discussed at this week’s conference.”

Microsoft is aware of privacy concerns and, as a result, plans to strip all personal identifiable information, such as credit card and social security numbers, out of the data stream. Releasing such information could lead to identify theft or violate other federal and state laws.

Security executives seemed impressed by Microsoft’s mission to provide credible and reliable information.

Art Coviello, executive chairman of RSA Security, said he hopes information-sharing efforts such as these “go viral” because they can serve as helpful deterrents of advanced persistent threats. RSA itself plans to release a report on intelligence-driven security next week.

Bill Boni, vice president and CISO of T-Mobile USA, said the massive amounts of data Microsoft could provide might “remove the denial barrier” some companies have about data security.

Source:http://www.crn.com.au/News/287068,microsoft-plans-real-time-cybercrime-feed.aspx

Microsoft Corp., the world’s biggest software company, sued Shanghai Gome Electrical Appliances Co. in China, alleging the retailer had offered computers with pirated versions of its Windows and Office programs.

The lawsuit against Gome was filed at the Shanghai Huangpu District People’s Court, the Redmond, Washington-based company said in an e-mailed statement dated Jan. 6. Separately, Microsoft sued Clevo Co.’s Buynow retail unit at a court in Beijing, according to the statement.

Microsoft is boosting efforts to counter unauthorized use of its software in China, which surpassed the U.S. last year as the world’s biggest market for personal computers. About 78 percent of software in China was pirated in 2010, according to estimates by the Business Software Alliance.

Two computer vendors with stores in a Buynow mall in Beijing were offering products with pirated Microsoft software, the U.S. company said.

Philip Cheung, an investor relations manager at Hong Kong- listed Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd., couldn’t confirm if Shanghai Gome is a unit of his company, or is privately owned by founder Huang Guangyu. He declined to comment on the case.

Buynow has measures to curb intellectual property infringement by vendors at its malls, and “regrets” the legal action by Microsoft, Buynow said in an e-mailed statement.

Source:http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-11/microsoft-sues-gome-buynow-over-pirated-software-in-china.html

Microsoft has filed lawsuits against two Chinese electronics retail chains for allegedly allowing computers installed with pirated Windows and Office products to be sold at their stores.

The software giant said it filed the lawsuits against Gome Electrical Appliances and Buynow last week in separate courts located in Beijing and Shanghai.

A Gome store in Shanghai had sold PCs with unlicensed versions of Windows and Office, according to Microsoft. In Beijing, two vendors at a PC market operated by Buynow had also sold PCs installed with pirated products, the company alleged.

Microsoft did not specify how much it is seeking in damages. It is demanding in the lawsuits that both Gome and Buynow compensate Microsoft’s losses and cease selling PCs with the pirated products.

Gome declined to comment on the lawsuit. Buynow said in a statement that the company is committed to protecting intellectual property rights, and already takes steps to ensure its vendors do not violate them. In this case, Microsoft failed to understand Buynow’s procedures, and rashly filed a lawsuit, the company said.

The lawsuits mark the latest legal action Microsoft has taken to try and stop vendors in the country from selling pirated versions of its software. About 78 percent of software installed on China’s PCs is pirated, according to a 2010 report from the Business Software Alliance.

Microsoft said it has made repeated attempts to resolve the problems with Gome and Buynow, but that pirated versions of its products continue to be sold at their stores. The company said it hoped the lawsuits would serve as a warning to other PC vendors involved in software piracy.

Source:http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/247698/microsoft_sues_chinese_electronics_firms_for_software_piracy.html

Microsoft is set to give a concerted push to its smartphone software this week as it kicks off its latest attempt to claw back lost ground from Apple and Google.

Despite rising anticipation on Wall Street, however, the software company is not ready to take the wraps off a new version of Windows, according to a person familiar with its plans. Windows 8, expected to be launched this year, is designed to work with touchscreen tablets as well as PCs.

Together, the smartphone and hybrid PC/tablet software platforms mark a critical moment for Microsoft as it seeks to defend its central position in the software world.

Making its software work better on the new generation of mobile devices was a “bet the farm” bid for long-term relevance, said Al Gillen, an analyst at IDC.

Steve Ballmer, chief executive, is due to start the latest effort to rebuild Microsoft’s flagging position in smartphones at a speech to open the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday.

The initiative will depend heavily on the fruits of the group’s partnership with Nokia, which is scheduled to show off new handsets of its own that run on high-speed networks as part of an attempt to improve its position in the US, where it has been a perennial laggard.

Microsoft’s new smartphone software has finally closed the gap with Apple and Google but the company has struggled to persuade mobile carriers to put enough promotion and sales incentives behind the handsets, said Mr Gillen.

A big marketing campaign is being planned for the latest handsets, with Microsoft footing a large part of the bill.

Some analysts questioned Microsoft’s decision not to follow its normal practice of using Mr Ballmer’s speech to start the build-up for Windows 8.

“Microsoft is saying, ‘trust us, it will be great,’” said Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft. That was unlikely to please software developers, who relied on early versions of the next operating system to create programs to run on it.

The lack of early disclosure appeared to reflect the bruising lesson from Windows Vista, for which Microsoft made big promises before being forced to scale back the release, he added.

Other analysts blamed the lack of visibility on Windows 8 on the difficult transition Microsoft faces to a new version of its core operating system that also works with touchscreens. The company is “very concerned” that showing off the next generation of touchscreen PCs would dampen interest in existing machines and further depress sales this year, said Rick Sherlund, a software analyst at Nomura.

Source:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ec9c8c4-3a20-11e1-a8dc-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1ivRoIU4Y

Microsoft has issued an out-of-band fix for a vulnerability in its ASP.NET web platform that could allow an attacker to launch a successful DoS attack on a server using a nothing more sophisticated than a stream of 100kb files.

Although not yet being exploited in the wild, Microsoft decided the potential for trouble was sufficient to act in what will be its only standalone fix for the whole of 2011.

An attacker exploiting Security Advisory 2659883, rated critical, could exploit a weakness in the way ASP.NET and a number of other web applications including Java and PHP 5 generate hash tables from an HTTP POST request, eating a server CPU’s entire resources for a period of time with a single file.

Normally, a denial of service attack with that level of success would require a botnet of thousands of hundreds of thousands of computers to make much headway on all but the most modestly-defended servers.

“An attacker could potentially repeatedly issue such requests, causing performance to degrade significantly enough to cause a denial of service condition for even multi-core servers or clusters of servers,” Microsoft said this week in its advisory.

The flaw was only put into the public domain earlier this week at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin by researchers Alexander Klink and Julian Wlde, about a month after they informed Microsoft itself, which has garnered Microsoft some praise from researchers for a rapid response.

“We consider Microsoft’s reaction and implementation speed outstanding, as they were only notified at the tail end of the German security researchers work. We will be tracking how the other projects and vendors affected (PHP, Oracle, Phython, Ruby and others) are rolling out their patches,” said Qualys CTO, Wolfgang Kandek.

Andrew Storms of nCircle was simply impressed that Microsoft had responded at all over a period many companies switch off.

“Today’s [Thursday's] out-of-band patch is the first one this year, and it breaks what would have been a perfect record for Microsoft’s 2011 patch schedule. I’m sure a few people on Microsoft’s security team are packing up the champagne that was ready for that end of year victory toast,” he said.

Source:http://www.cso.com.au/article/411325/microsoft_patches_dangerous_web_flaw_double_time/?fp=4&fpid=959105

Microsoft has found the root cause behind the SMS vulnerability in its Windows Phone operating system. The bug was reported earlier this month by Khaled Salameh, who found that the platform could be exploited via a malicious SMS message that forces a Windows Phone device to reboot and then disables its messaging hub.

Although it’s good that Microsoft has found a fix for the bug in Windows Phone devices, the exploit may also affect its other applications. So far it’s known to work not only through SMS messages but also through Facebook chat or Windows Live Messenger. The malicious code could be used to crash Windows Live Messenger in a way that would prevent all your contacts from signing in.

Microsoft is still investigating its other products that may be affected, including its desktop applications. Salameh revealed that the following applications are vulnerable to the SMS attack string: Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Mail, Silverlight-based apps, Visual Studio 2010, Expressions Blend, and Windows Presentation Foundation-based apps.

Source:http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-testing-fix-for-windows-phone-sms-bug-desktop-software-not-immune-29204989/

In an advisory issued Wednesday, the software maker said it was aware that detailed information had been published describing the hash collision attacks. It noted: “[The vulnerability] affects all versions of Microsoft .NET framework and could allow for an unauthenticated denial-of-service attack on servers that serve ASP.NET pages.

“It is possible for an attacker to send a small number of specially crafted posts to an ASP.NET server, causing performance to degrade significantly enough to cause a denial-of-service condition.”

Redmond said sites that only serve static content or disallow certain dynamic content types are not vulnerable, and added that it was not aware of any active attacks.

As a workaround, Microsoft suggested Web operators configure the limit of the maximum request size that ASP.NET will accept from a client as it will decrease the susceptibility of such attacks. The software giant will also release a patch once it completes its investigation.

Source:http://www.zdnetasia.com/microsoft-spotlights-net-flaw-offers-workaround-62303337.htm

According to HP, the company is helping enterprises extend Microsoft System Centre Configuration Manager 2007 from PCs and servers to the Windows Embedded Standard-based HP t5740e and t5570e thin clients through a single management console.

“HP thin clients built on the Windows Embedded platforms are ideal for IT management and growing in popularity,” said Kobi Elbaz, director, Client Solutions, HP Personal Systems Group EMEA. “Our thin clients will enable customers to broaden the reach of their existing investments in Microsoft System Centre Configuration Manager 2007 to encompass PCs, servers and thin clients.”

HP thin clients running Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 are designed to offer enhanced inventory management and a deeper visibility of the components on each thin client. The preinstalled agent also is designed to facilitate easier software upgrades and provide full life cycle management.

Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 also enables updates to be sent to a thin client via a management tool to automatically adjust the state of the write filter.

“By adding Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 to HP’s thin clients, we provide our joint customers new management flexibility and security,” said Mukund Ghangurde, director, Product Management, Windows Embedded, Microsoft. “This integration allows HP enterprise customers to more easily administer a specific upgrade package or security update to a collection of thin client devices.”

Source:http://www.itp.net/587357-hp-adds-microsoft-software-to-thin-clients

Instead of pressing charges against PC dealers involved in piracy, software giant Microsoft Corporation preferred that the vendors issue public apology.

Microsoft Philippines reported that a total of eight PC dealers were recently caught selling various laptops and generic computers loaded with unlicensed copies of Microsoft’s Windows operating systems and Office applications.

The dealers were Gigahertz Computer Systems, Coccyx Computer Sales and Services, Danamic and Static, PC Corner, Silicon Valley, Giga Red Computer Sales, Joyo Marketing, and MF Computer.

Microsoft allowed the vendors to issue a public apology through several publications with a promise never to repeat the offenses again.

It claimed that its own operations against software piracy dubbed “Dealer Test Purchase Program” in the Philippines helped reduce software piracy among PC dealers in the country.

“Based on the results brought in by our investigations, 70 percent of computer vendors sell machines with genuine software with just the remaining 30 percent still on the piracy trail,” said lawyer Raul Cortez, the firm’s legal and corporate affairs director.

In string operations, investigators discovered that several PCs and laptops sold at the eight stores were loaded with pirated software.

“Hopefully, by intensifying the random inspections we can discourage other would-be software pirates out there from using and selling illegal software,” Cortez said.

According to Celina Conti, Genuine Software Initiative Lead for Microsoft Philippines, software piracy has always been one of the major challenges for the IT industry.

“A lot of counterfeiters and vendors of illegal software are taking advantage of businesses and consumers by selling pirated goods without conveying to them the repercussions of using pirated software,” she said.

She added Software piracy negatively impacts the local economy and translates to a significant decrease of job opportunities and revenue to businesses and companies.

In the Philippines, the use and sale of pirated and unlicensed software is a violation of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines and carries a fine of up to P1.5 million and imprisonment of up to nine years.

Source:http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=200&articleid=760743

It was the week of patches as Microsoft finished off the year with 13 security bulletins in its December Patch Tuesday. While the number of vulnerabilities fixed was on par with previous months, the low number of “critical” patches raised some eyebrows. Only three were considered critical, while the remaining 10 were rated “important” and covered a hodgepodge of bugs.

While the Windows Media drive-by flaw and the TrueType font parsing zero-day vulnerability exploited by the Duqu Trojan were fixed, Microsoft at the last minute held back the patch that would have closed the Secure Sockets Layer vulnerability affecting Web servers that is being targeted by the BEAST exploit tool. Microsoft said the patch was delayed because there are some testing issues with a third-party vendor.

Adobe had two updates the week of Dec. 12, rolling out an update to its ColdFusion Web application development platform on the same day as Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday, as well as an out-of-band patch to close a zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x. The ColdFusion patch, rated “important,” closed a flaw that would have allowed attackers to launch a cross-site scripting attack, Adobe said.

The zero-day vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x were related to memory corruption issues in the technology used by the programs to manipulate 3D objects. While the issue existed in both Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x and X, Adobe fixed only version 9 because there was an active exploit in the wild taking advantage of the flaw on the Windows platform. Reader and Acrobat X and the programs for Unix and Mac OS X will be patched as part of the quarterly software update on Jan. 10 because Adobe is confident that those platforms are less vulnerable to this exploit.

Microsoft also announced that Internet Explorer will be silently updated to the latest version for users who have Automatic Updates enabled on their Windows machines beginning in January. All users on Windows XP will be upgraded to IE8, and subsequent updates will be applied silently, making it one less thing for users to have to worry about. Vista and Windows 7 users will be upgraded to IE9.

Carrier IQ continued to generate controversy as congressional lawmakers demanded to know how its monitoring software is being used by the mobile carriers and exactly what kind of information is being collected from smartphones.

The company also released a detailed document explaining in greater detail what the software is capable of collecting, how it stores the collected information and what is done with the data. At the same time, a blogger filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI to find out what kind of information the law enforcement agency had in regard to the Carrier IQ software agent. The FBI rejected the request, claiming the information is needed in a potential investigation. The Federal Trade Commission then announced it is looking into the complaints about Carrier IQ.

Research In Motion spelled out how Carrier IQ’s IQ Agent can be removed from its devices, while Sprint announced it will stop using the software and will not use any of the data that has been collected.

Researchers found vulnerabilities in Windows Phone and Google Wallet this past week. A WinRumors reader inadvertently uncovered a flaw in Windows Phone that causes the device to disable its entire messaging capability when receiving a maliciously crafted SMS message. And researchers at viaForensics audited the Google Wallet app and service on a rooted Android device and determined the Wallet app is not properly securing sensitive personal information on the device. If the data is somehow intercepted, the attacker will have enough to launch a social engineering attack to obtain the credit card information.

Source:http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Microsoft-Adobe-Software-Updates-Mobile-Security-Lead-Weeks-Security-News-188135/

The Microsoft Corporation signed an agreement with four Jinan-based software schools on Dec 13 to help the city cultivate 10,000 outsourcing engineers in the next three years.

This is the first of Microsoft’s initiatives to train outsourcing workers across the world, says David W. Lin, director of Operations at Microsoft Asia Pacific R&D Group.

“Jinan has demonstrated its worthiness for the service outsourcing industry. There is an abundance of college students, low living cost and sound information and software infrastructure in the city to lay a solid foundation for the training work,” Liang Xubin, chief economist at Jinan Bureau of Commerce explains. .

Jinan now has around 260 enterprises involved in the software outsourcing business, generating $413 million in offshore outsourcing service during the first eleven months of 2011.

The training agreement is an initiative stemming from the strategic cooperation agreement between Microsoft and the Jinan municipal government signed on Oct 25, 2010.

Source:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/shandong/e/2011-12/16/content_14278173.htm