Mozilla addons site targeted in same attack that hit Google
The secure webpage hosting addons for Mozilla Firefox was targeted in the same attack that minted a fraudulent authentication credential for Google websites, the maker of the open-source browser said.
"DigiNotar informed us that they issued fraudulent certs for addons.mozilla.org in July, and revoked them within a few days of issue," Johnathan Nightingale, Mozilla's director of Firefox development, wrote in a statement. "In the absence of a full account of mis-issued certificates from DigiNotar, the Mozilla team moved quickly to remove DigiNotar from our root program and protect our users."
Nightingale didn't say how many Mozilla certificates were issued and if they were actively used to intercept the communications of people accessing the address. The site hosts hundreds of thousands of addons that give the Thunderbird and Firefox programs powerful functions not included by default. Read more...
Google rolls out offline Gmail (for Chrome only)
Google has released a new version of Gmail that operates without an internet connection, and it plans to offer similar offline versions of Google Docs and Google Calendar over the coming week. But these tools will only work in tandem with Google's own Chrome browser.
The company had promised offline versions of its Google Apps by the end of the summer, saying they would compliment Chrome OS, the Google OS that puts all applications inside the browser. But this is the first indication that these apps would only work with Chrome. Read more...
Ruby on Rails 3.1 will make the apps run faster
Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson has released version 3.1 of his open-source Web application development framework, adding new features that should speed the rendering of Web pages for users.
Ruby on Rails 3.1 uses a new technology called Sprockets to speed JavaScript execution. Sprockets compiles all the functions that a Web application uses into a single file, which simplifies work for the developer and quickens the response time of the application.
Ruby on Rails also streamlines performance through another new feature, called HTTP Streaming. In short, HTTP Streaming allows the browser to start downloading a Web page's stylesheets and JavaScript even while the server is still generating other parts of the page. Read more...
IBM acquiring i2 for criminal mastermind software
Expanding its portfolio of analytic software for state and local governments, IBM is in the process of acquiring security analytics software provider i2, the companies announced Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Law enforcement agencies and corporate security departments use i2's software to pinpoint malfeasant activity within their logs of operational data. The company's Analyst's Notebook digital forensic software can display a visual diagram of people, places, or other entities, showing how different parties are linked. Read more...
The iPad wars: HP TouchPad sale burns Apple’s foes
In a triumph of madness over common sense, HP says it will manufacture one more batch of its loss-making TouchPad tablet "to meet unfulfilled demand," but won't say how many or when they will ship: no great surprise when you think about just how much cash HP has already lost competing with Apple [AAPL] and its iPad juggernaut.
Suicide is painless
It has to be as obvious as the world being round that HP is losing a huge amount of money selling TouchPads at just $99 per unit.
There's no way you can even acquire the components used in these machines at prices as low as these. When you factor in manufacturing and shipping/distribution costs, all HP is doing is cutting its losses -- while starving everyone else in the anti-iPad market of what little oxygen remains by offering a device with features and at a price competitors can't conceivably match. Read more...
Sony to ship first Android-based tablet in September
Sony's Android Honeycomb-based single and dual-screen tablets will be called Tablet S and Tablet P, and will cost 479 euros (US$690) and 599 euros (US$860), the company said Wednesday at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.
The two tablets were announced in April and have until now been known as the S1 and the S2.
Like so many other vendors of Android-based tablets, Sony hopes it can make a dent in Apple's sales of the iPad and grab a piece of the growing tablet market.
Sony's products take the tablet sector to a new level, according to Howard Stringer, the company's chairman, CEO and president. Read more...
Hackers may have stolen over 200 SSL certificates
Hackers may have obtained more than 200 digital certificates from a Dutch company after breaking into its network, including ones for Mozilla, Yahoo and the Tor project, a security researcher reported today.
The count is considerably higher than DigiNotar has acknowledged. Earlier this week, a company spokesman said that "several dozen" certificates had been acquired by the attackers.
"About 200 certificates were generated by the attackers," said Hans Van de Looy, principal security consultant and founder of Madison Gurka, a Dutch security company, citing a source he said wished to remain confidential. Read more...