10 years ago today: Bill Gates kicks arse over security
Analysis Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of Bill Gates' Trustworthy computing memo, which made designing security into applications from the ground up a key priority at Microsoft for the first time.
The directive to make security a number one priority followed a period when Microsoft hack taken a sustained shellacking over the instability and insecurity of its software, especially Internet Explorer and Outlook,following the rampage of high-profile malware outbreaks such as the Love Bug, Melissa and Nimda.
The memo came after Microsoft had spent years fighting the Department of Justice's antitrust suit that centred of its Windows monopoly, in particular the bundling of IE with Windows, and two years after Redmond had begun to embrace web services with the launch of .Net.
Apple Macs were not the threat to Microsoft's desktop monopoly that they now pose but the perception of insecurity was a problem for Microsoft's ammunitions to push its servers and associated applications into the data centre, as well as its fight against Linux as a web server platform. Read more...
US Authorities Silence NinjaVideo Founder, Rush Her to Prison
Hana Beshara the Ninja Video founder
Last week Hana Beshara, one of the founders of the popular NinjaVideo movie and TV show streaming site, was sentenced to 22 months in prison for conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement. Beshara was released until a bed opened up at a detention center, but after she posted critical notes on Facebook the authorities asked to reconsider this decision. As a result, the NinjaVideo founder was rushed to local prison today.
Mid-2010, nine sites connected to movie streaming were targeted by the U.S. government. They included NinjaVideo.net, at the time one of the Internet’s most prominent video streaming sites.
Hana Beshara, known online as Phara, was the first of the site’s founders to be sentenced. She has to spend 22 months in prison followed by 2 years of probation and 500 hours of community service. Read more...