Microsoft has confirmed it is investigating after hackers posted
details of how to get around its Genuine Advantage anti-piracy
system on the internet.
Genuine Advantage requires users to confirm the serial number of
their Windows package before updating it online through the Windows
Update site.
But hackers claim it took less than 24 hours to break through
the security measure aimed at excluding users of counterfeit
software. The hackers' code and a gleeful announcement have been
posted on the boingboing.net weblog.
This is entertaining enough, but Microsoft's response is
priceless: "Because of the high value we are providing to genuine
users, we are not surprised hackers would try a number of methods
to circumvent the safeguards provided by Windows Genuine
Advantage."
It also assured customers the hack did not compromise their
security. So they just have the deluge of anti-Microsoft viruses,
spyware, spam, worms and Trojans to deal with.
Online marketing teams keep it to
themselves
We all know that in the post-dotcom world IT and the business
are entwined seamlessly in a virtuous cycle, right? Well, research
by SciVisum into online marketing campaigns has found that is not
quite the case.
The web testing company found that many marketing departments
are guilty of causing website crashes through badly planned online
campaigns. A quarter never tell their IT departments about
forthcoming online campaigns, and more than half only do so
sometimes.
As Downtime suspected, the study also highlighted widespread
technical ignorance among marketing teams, with two-thirds having
no idea how many users their websites could support, despite being
responsible for online campaigns.
Art of conversation is the latest IT craze
Sat in a cubicle, e-mailing the colleague opposite and texting
friends, it is easy to forget what fun it is just to talk to
people.
As luck would have it, Microsoft is here to help us. A press
release from the company reads, "Microsoft announced today that as
part of its continued efforts to help make speech mainstreamÉ" and
continues with some waffle about call centres.
You may have thought speech had been mainstream for about
150,000 years, but thank you Microsoft for preserving the art of
conversation.
IT staff learn that it's all a question of
ethics
The concept of ethical hacking may not meet with everyone's
approval, but more and more companies are sending their IT staff
for training in this dark art.
At UK training provider The Training Camp 500 IT professionals
have now completed its certified ethical hacker course.
"Critics of ethical hacking claim that providing IT
professionals with the tools required for hacking is putting them
in temptation's way," said Robert Chapman of the Training Camp. "In
reality these skills are already out there; all we can do is put
them in the hands of those seeking to repair, rather than exploit,
points of vulnerability."
But for those that do attend the course, the real lure may lie
elsewhere: starting salaries of £60,000 are not unusual.