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VoxOx now translates as you type

Since it was introduced in tardy 2008, VoxOx has tried to clip a name for itself in the competitive multi-protocol chat client market by providing users with an aggressive feature set. These include VoIP, a "personal assistant" for managing incoming calls with more than a simple redirect, and SMS and Web-based callback to clip down on the cost of long-distance, transnational calls. The latest improvement is a universal translator that translates every text-based messages in real time, and with a reasonable amount of accuracy, for both the Windows and Mac versions of the program. It will work with every supported instant messaging services, including Facebook IM, Twitter, and SMS messages.

To activate the translator, click the Universal Translator button to the right of the text box; it looks like a grayed-out globe. Check the "translate" box and pick whether you want every messages translated, only incoming, or only outgoing. Next, pick your languages, hit OK, and start typing. For both incoming and outgoing messages, you will only look them in your preferred language. Click on one to view its translation.

The feature supports 50 languages, from French, Spanish, simplified and traditional Chinese, and Hindi to more obscure languages such as Welsh, Icelandic, and Catalan. Some heavily-used languages, such as Tagalog, are not currently supported.

In tests performed with several colleagues at CNET, we discovered that the translator works well in general. It works best when the selected languages are set as the defaults for the system users. This means that if I'm translating into Chinese, the person I'm chatting with should have his or her chat program's default language set to Chinese. While this may seem frustrating to some, it's important to remember that the program only requires one user to be using VoxOx to take advantage of the translation feature.

Somewhat annoyingly, the translation feature also lacks any nice of "nuance engine" to help determine the context of the words as they're being used in the conversation. In other words, there's no support for slang. It translates what you type more or less literally, so expect some broken translations along the way.

For a free, on-the-fly text translation service that requires little effort from users, this seems like an acceptable trade-off and should be considered another feather in the VoxOx cap.

12 Mar 2010, 6:27 pm | click here to view more

A clipboard manager and 2D fighting at its best: iPhone apps of the week

Before we receive to this week's apps, a news item over at AppleInsider indicates we may be getting a change to the iPhone operating system that many have been talking about. According to one AppleInsider's more reliable sources, the iPhone OS 4.0 could add multitasking support in the next OS update. This means you'll be able to run apps simultaneously making it possible to switch between apps without closing them.

A lot of smartphones already have multitasking support, so it's been one of the bigger complaints for detractors of the iPhone. Frankly, I think it's a welcome change to the OS that might make it easier to do some tasks, but up until now I haven't really had any need for it. I'm sure there are plenty of readers who have been waiting for this rumored upgrade in the next iPhone OS, so please let us know in the comments how you think multitasking will change the way you use your iPhone.

This week's apps include a powerful clipboard manager to store information and media, and an enormously popular arcade fighting game that is now on the iPhone.

Pastebot Command Copy & glue ($2.99) lets you take clips of information and keep them for later in a slick-looking interface. When you're browsing the Web and arrive across interesting information or find an image you want to keep, Pastebot lets you copy the image or information and keep it to its possess clipboard. Simply use the iPhone's copy tool to select the info or image you want to copy, hit copy, then launch Pastebot and the image or text will automatically show up in the app. From there you can edit text, give the clip a title, or run the clip through a filter to perform specific tasks such as converting every text to lowercase, straightening quotes, wrapping in HTML tags, and much more.

Pastebot lets you store up to 99 clips through the normal clipboards, but you can store items in folders for long-term storage. This makes creating titles for clips extremely important because it will enable you to search for them later. If you're using a Mac, you also can download the Pastebot preference pane from the developer's Web site that allows you to wirelessly transfer clips to your Mac over Wi-Fi (the Windows sync tool is still in development). Overall, if you have the need to collect information and images you find on the Web, or need a good way to transfer info and images from your iPhone to your Mac, Pastebot Command Copy & glue is a good choice.

road Fighter 4 ($9.99) is a 2D fighting game that needs little in the way of introduction, but is surprisingly fun even using the iPhone touch screen. In the iPhone version you can play with eight characters from the original game across seven environments. The graphics look great even on the iPhone 3G, and the touch-screen controls work surprisingly well with only a little bit of practice. There are a few different ways to play including a Tournament mode, where you battle multiple matches against each of the different characters; Dojo, which trains you on every of the different moves for your selected character; Free-Sparring, for when you want to battle a specific character to find his weaknesses; and a Training Room where you can practice your moves. You also can play against your friends in versus mode, but only over a Bluetooth connection.

I think the main question most people will have about road Fighter 4 on the iPhone (before spending the money) is how well the controls work on a touch screen. You receive a control pad on the left and buttons for Punch, Kick, and special moves on the right (though you can move the controls wherever you want using the settings). Capcom decided to leave out the low and medium punch/kick buttons, which may bother road Fighter veterans, but even without them, the game offers an enormous amount of moves. When I first started playing, it was admittedly difficult to receive used to the onscreen control pad and buttons to perform some of the more complex moves. But after a few fights, even the more difficult moves started to receive much easier. Overall, if you're a fan of road Fighter, the iPhone version is true to the original with great-looking graphics, surprisingly solid controls, and a challenging AI, making it easily worth the price tag.

What's your favorite iPhone app? Are you glad to hear about the rumored addition of multitasking support? Do you have a better clipboard manager than Pastebot? What do you think of the touch-screen controls of road Fighter 4? Let me know in the comments!

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

12 Mar 2010, 5:22 pm | click here to view more

Opera Mini 5 beta for Android: First Look video

Earlier this week, Opera Software released Opera Mini 5 beta for Android, a vast improvement to the version 4.2 browser that had previously been available for Android. Opera Mini 5 beta isn't new to the scene--it's been out for some months on Java phones, BlackBerry, and interestingly, it just hopped on board Windows phones.

In this First Look video, we take you on a hands-on tour of Opera's slick-looking browser alternative for Android smartphones, which is available for free in the Android Market or by downloading it from www.opera.com/mini/next/.

Originally posted at Android Atlas

12 Mar 2010, 4:25 pm | click here to view more

Consensus emerges for key Web app standard

Browser makers, grappling with outmoded technology and a vision to rebuild the Web as a foundation for applications, have begun converging on a seemingly basic by very important element of cloud computing.

That ability is called local storage, and the new mechanism is called Indexed DB.

Indexed DB, proposed by Oracle and initially called WebSimpleDB, is largely just a prototype at this stage, not something Web programmers can use yet. But already it's won endorsements from Microsoft, Mozilla, and Google, and together, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome account for more than 90 percent of the usage on the Net today.

"Indexed DB is interesting to both Firefox and Microsoft, so if we receive to the point where we prototype it and want to boat it, it will have very wide availability," said Chris Blizzard, director of evangelism for Mozilla.

And standardization could arrive. Advocates have worked Indexed DB into the considerations of the W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium that standardizes HTML and other Web technologies. In the W3C discussions, Indexed DB got a warm reception from Opera, the fifth-ranked browser.

Microsoft comes to the table

The creation of the Indexed DB interface is notable for another reason: Microsoft.

For years, Microsoft essentially sat out a lot of HTML discussions. Now, though, become closely involved, for example through detailed feedback from Pablo Castro, a Microsoft software architect. Castro not only praised Indexed DB on his blog, but also said that Microsoft is hiring staff to work on Indexed DB.

Finally, Microsoft publicly endorsed Indexed DB on its IE blog: "Together with Mozilla, we're excited about a new design for local storage called Indexed DB. We think this is a great solution for the Web," said program manager Adrian Bateman.

Microsoft's praise is important. For one thing, the company maintains a dominant, though diminishing, share of browser usage, so even Web programmers who've scorned the company's earlier lack of interest in advancing Web technologies should pay attention to what it says. They should pay even more attention when Microsoft and its longtime arch-rival Mozilla agree on something. Microsoft's cooperation makes it more likely Indexed DB will be a real tool for Web programmers, not just an academic concept with little real-world relevance.

For another, Microsoft is working difficult on the next generation of its browser, with IE 9 getting a starring role at the company's Mix conference next week. Though the company has been mostly mum about what new technologies will arrive in its updated browser, its activity signals that the company is very serious about the market.

Local or on the Net?

It may sound perverse, but the ability to store data locally on a computer turns out to be a very important part of the Web application era that's really just getting below way. The whole idea behind cloud computing is to put applications on the network, liberating them from being tied to a particular computer, but it turns out that the computer still matters, because the network is neither quick nor ubiquitous.

Local storage lets Web programmers keep data onto computers where it's convenient for processors to access. That can mean, for example, that some aspects of Gmail and Google Docs can work while you're disconnected from the network. It also lets data be cached on the computer for quick access later. The overall state of the Web application is maintained on the server, but stashing data locally can make cloud computing faster and more reliable.

"Building a database to store a line of text is like hitting metal screws into wood with a very big hammer--it works, but it probably isn't the best way. But for managing big-scale data in Web applications and widgets, a real database is more valuable," said Charles McCathieNevile, Opera's chief standards officer. That enables offline e-mail, better management of bookmarks, dictionaries, synchronized contacts, and other sophisticated abilities, he said.

Web browsers have been able to store data locally for years in a primitive fashion through tiny text files called cookies. Browser makers have been casting about for a more powerful mechanism, though, resulting in a hodge-podge of possibilities.

One newer method, appropriately enough called LocalStorage, is supported in Firefox and IE 8. But even as it becomes formally standardized through the W3C as Web Storage, browser makers have recognized its limits for modern browser designs.

One problem is that LocalStorage stems from the days when browser computing took place in a single computing process, a design that meant programmers didn't have to worry about one browser task meddling with data that another browser task thought it was controlling. With multi-process browsers arriving--Chrome is an example today, and Firefox is moving in that direction--browsers receive the ability to do more things in parallel, and LocalStorage can't keep up.

"Because more than one [browser] tab can access the same data, you have to make sure that what one tab does is seen by others at the same time," Blizzard said. "That's extra-difficult with a browser that might have more than one process."

The rise and fall of Web SQL

Another local storage method from Apple, Web SQL and sometimes called Web DB, offers more sophistication and enjoyed a start in the HTML standards process. It employed an ages-old standard for storing and retrieving data called Structured Query Language.

Safari supports Web SQL, as does Chrome 4, and Opera is building support in since the technology is in use on the Web.

Web SQL ran into problems, though. SQL has as many variations as there are databases that support it, and Web SQL used one from software called SQLite. That interface isn't standardized, though.

Google, despite the fact that its Gears browser plug-in uses a SQL interface to provide offline access to Gmail and other services, shares the concern that "the dialect of SQL is currently not specified," spokesman Eitan Bencuya said. "There are ongoing conversations about specifying in greater detail the exact dialect of SQL that should be supported for this feature."

Maciej Stachowiak, an Apple programmer, pointed out that there will be multiple shipping versions of Web SQL in a W3C discussion of local storage technologies. But his argument didn't prevail.

"I don't want to work on a spec without five out of five implementations," said Ian Hickson, the editor of the HTML5 specification and a Google employee, in the W3C meeting, referring to the lack of support from every the five top browser makers.

And indeed, the draft specification now includes these words: "This specification has reached an impasse," because it uses the SQLite interface. Somebody interested in an independent SQL interface can "please contact the editor so that he can write a specification for the dialect, thus allowing this specification to move forward."

Enter Indexed DB

Indexed DB brings the database approach to browsers, but keeps the interface at a very low level.

Microsoft and Mozilla are in agreement that this strategy is the right one. Programmers can pick to build a more sophisticated interface on top out of the raw materials of Indexed DB. They've done just that with browsers' JavaScript program technology, building libraries such as jQuery, Dojo, and YUI that are widely used to build sophisticated Web.

"What we've learned from the recent history of the Web is that putting out simple APIs [application programming interfaces] that push decisions and complexity to the edges is a strategy that works. The way that the Web works today is that programmers aren't using a lot of browser APIs directly. Instead they are using jQuery or Dojo or one of the other libraries that are out there for doing cross-browser and cross-version compatibility," Blizzard said. "We think that instead of delivering an API that's complicated and underspecified that will cause browser vendors and developers to have to struggle with incompatible APIs, that we can deliver something that is simple, well-specified and understood that developers and people building Web browsers can build on."

It's not clear yet what Opera will do, but McCathieNevile had words of praise in the W3C meeting. "We found Nikunj to be more to our liking," he said, according to the meeting notes, referring to Indexed DB, which was written by an Oracle employee, Nikunj Mehta.

Apple declined to comment about its support for IndexedDB.

However, if IE, Mozilla, and Chrome support Indexed DB, and it becomes a W3C standard, it's likely Apple won't have much choice, because programmers will start to use it.

Happily for Apple, Google has detailed its approach in a Chrome design document and has begun checking Indexed DB code into WebKit, the open-source project that underlies both Safari and Chrome. That means Apple will be able to adopt a tested version of the technology relatively quickly.

Indexed DB isn't a sure thing yet, to be sure, and the drawn-out history of LocalStorage shows that being established in the standards process isn't everything.

But Indexed DB has powerful allies in the right places and is on its way to being technology Web developers can at least start trying. With time, it stands to become a key part of the Web application world.

Updated 3:34 p.m. PST with Google comment.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

12 Mar 2010, 2:44 pm | click here to view more

Sales Representative

NJ-Ocean & Monmouth Counties, Winebow Inc., a prestigious wholesale distributor of wines from around the world, seeks a Sales Rep to cover Ocean and Monmouth Counties in New Jersey. As a Sales Rep you will be responsible for forming relationships and building distribution in on and off premise accounts throughout Central Jersey. You will also be responsible for maintaining strong relationships with established customers, while

12 Mar 2010, 11:20 am | click here to view more

Territory Sales Mgr- Ft. Lauderdale, FL

FL-Ft. Lauderdale, The mission of Altria Group, Inc. is to possess and develop financially disciplined businesses that are leaders in responsibly providing adult tobacco and wine consumers with superior branded products. Altria Group is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States, as well as U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company and John Middleton - recently acquired compani

11 Mar 2010, 9:23 pm | click here to view more

Senior Auditor (Information Technolgy)

VA-Richmond, The mission of Altria Group, Inc. is to possess and develop financially disciplined businesses that are leaders in responsibly providing adult tobacco and wine consumers with superior branded products. Altria Group is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States, as well as U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company and John Middleton - recently acquired compani

11 Mar 2010, 9:20 pm | click here to view more

Tether for free via PdaNet

Just because the Moscone middle in San Francisco hosts a veritable plethora of techie conventions, that doesn't mean it offers Wi-Fi. If your phone can pick up a 3G signal, you might not care--and you might not have to pay for it, either. Thanks to PdaNet's phone app and laptop drivers, and the unlimited data plan that you're already paying for, you can use many of the major smartphones as your Internet connection.

From the improbably-named software publisher June Fabrics, PdaNet is known for offering tethering solutions for PalmOS, but it also offers iPhone, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry versions. (Note that the iPhone version requires you to jailbreak the phone.) We'll be focusing on the Android version, which is available for Windows 32-bit and Mac. Its installation is surprisingly simple and doesn't involve rooting your Android phone.

There are two ways to install PdaNet. You can download it directly to your phone by connecting your phone to your computer, mounting the phone as a steer, and running the executable file from there. Or you can download it directly to your computer and run it. If you run it from your phone, the onscreen instructions will tell you when you need to disconnect your phone to complete the installation.

You'll be prompted again to enable USB debugging on the Android, and then to connect the USB cable. Once connected, it will install the PdaNet app on your phone. To create the connection, you'll need to connect the USB cable, run the PdaNet app on the phone, and then complete the connection by choosing "Connect" from the system tray context menu. If the Windows driver warns you that it's unverified, install it anyway.

PdaNet for Android has one limitation. After 30 days, it  will require you to buy a license for $23.95, otherwise it will block access to secure HTTPS Web sites such as Gmail. That's a tempting carrot, but for those who don't need access to secure sites, the free version should be more than enough to satisfy.

Making the connection was smooth and nearly flawless. Users can tether their Android phones with a USB cable, or they can connect their phones to their laptops via Bluetooth DUN. PdaNet warns users that Bluetooth connections can be hamstrung by baud rate, so browsing on your laptop can appear slower than on your phone. However, the company says that there should be no perceptible slowdowns if connected via USB.

I noticed occasional connection hiccups when waking the laptop from hibernating, but otherwise there were no problems. To receive around those apparent connection loss situations, I disconnected and then re-established the tether. The program is light on your system resources, and is a strong choice for those who want the benefits of tethering without the risks involved in rooting their phone.

11 Mar 2010, 8:31 pm | click here to view more

Outside Sales Rep - Wine & Spirits - Orange County

CA-Orange, MEGAWINE, INC., one of the fastest growing importers and wholesalers of wine and spirits, located in California, as well as in Arizona, is currently seeking sales representatives with outside sales experience for the Orange County Area. The positions will be filled by self-motivated, independent, wine-focused individuals who like sales. We are looking for sales consultants with existing relations

11 Mar 2010, 7:08 pm | click here to view more

Graphic Designer

HI-Waipahu, JOB DESCRIPTION Better Brands , A Division of Young's Market Company POSITION: Graphic Designer POSITION STATEMENT Designs art and copy layouts for material such as wine lists, menus, table tents and various other forms of point of sale material by performing the following duties: KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Designs wine, spirit and specialty drink lists and food menus. Utilizes illustrations a

11 Mar 2010, 7:03 pm | click here to view more

Restaurant Manager - Exciting Independent concept

MA-Framingham, Restaurant Manager An exciting restaurant located in the Framingham area is seeking a Restaurant Manager with knowledge of full service restaurant service standards, wine and spirits. We have 3 locations now but plan on expanding further in 2010. As a Service Manager you’ll have the opportunity to use your gift of gab to WOW guests while ensuring guest satisfaction through 100% table visitation. T

11 Mar 2010, 6:56 pm | click here to view more

Wine Consultant Sales Position

NC-Raleigh, Job Description Description PRP Wine International is the leader in direct marketing of wine. We have a unique niche in dealing with both the personal wine enthusiast as well as corporations of every sizes. Our mission is to educate people about the joy of fine wines. every of our wines are exclusive to us and are not available in stores or restaurants. Our clients have an opportunity to sample and en

11 Mar 2010, 6:31 pm | click here to view more

warehouse/forklift operator

CA-Santa Rosa, WAREHOUSE Leading wine warehouse seeks min. 3 yrs exp'd forklift /clamplift operator for long-term, stable employment. Pick orders, load, boat, receive, 40+hr wk, M-F. Start $14.75/hr. $15.75 after 90 days. Employer paid medical/dental coverage, 100% matching 401(k), 2-wks paid vacation. Mandatory drug screen. Apply in person: 825 DenBeste Ct, Windsor. For directions, 838-6678 & press option 2 Sou

11 Mar 2010, 6:00 pm | click here to view more

Thunderbird beta 'Lanikai' released

Mozilla made public the first beta of Thunderbird 3.1 today. Code-named Lanikai and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, the milestone makes few noticeable changes to the open-source and free desktop e-mail client. This is not surprising, though, as Mozilla Messaging announced that the goal of this release was to fix problems created by upgrading the Gecko engine that powers the program.

Lanikai is the first semi-stable release of Thunderbird to use Gecko 1.9.2, which is the same engine that Firefox 3.6 uses. The changes made from Thunderbird 3 to the 3.1 beta test version include Mac OS X 10.6 upgrade path from Thunderbird 2 improvements, fixes for autocomplete, tabs, activity manager, minor interface improvements and corrections, and a spate of stability and memory corrections.

One new security feature is that Lanikai requires extensions to arrive from a secure server using the HTTPS protocol or be digitally signed. Absent either of these, the extension won't install.

The full list of bug fixes is available here.

There are also several known issues that persist in Lanikai. These include a conflict with the Kaspersky Anti-Spam add-on, an occasional plain-text e-mail interface bug that forces buttons out of the pane, and an occasional offline bug that prevents e-mails written in Offline mode from being automatically sent when the Internet connection is restored. They must instead be sent manually from the Drafts folder.

As noted when Lanikai entered the alpha phase of development, Mozilla Messaging is attempting to follow in the footstep of the Firefox release schedule. The final version of Thunderbird 3.1 is expected sometime in June, though that could easily change.

11 Mar 2010, 5:03 pm | click here to view more

Apple Releases Safari 4.0.5

Check Software Update! Apple has released Safari 4.0.5, which brings a number of performance enhancements and bug fixes to Apple's browser. According to the updater, the following has been addressed:

1. Performance improvements for Top Sites
2. Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins
3. Stability improvements for websites with online forms and Scalable Vector Graphics
4. Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from changing settings on some Linksys routers
5. Fixes an issue that prevented some iWork.com users from commenting on documents

The update is available for Windows and OS X, but on the Mac side the specific problems addressed are issues with RSS feeds setting values in cookies, even if you have blocked cookies, and potential problems with WebKit's loading of CSS, XML, and HTML scripts that could cause arbitrary code execution or crashing.

For specifics on the issues addressed, look this Apple knowledgebase document: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4070

The Safari update is 31.8MB, and does require a restart to fully install. Be sure to back up your system before installing, and also have an alternative browser available as a backup. Keep in mind that third-party add-ons may be affected by the update, so check their functionality after updating, and be prepared to remove or reinstall them if needed.

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Questions? Comments? Post them below or email us!
Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.

Originally posted at MacFixIt

11 Mar 2010, 4:33 pm | click here to view more

Mozilla aggressively asks older Firefox users to update

By Mozilla's lights, Firefox 3.6 has been a runaway success. The publisher of the open-source browser says that more than 100 million users have downloaded Firefox 3.6 since its launch in the middle of January. However, not every Firefox users have upgraded from Firefox 3 or Firefox 3.5, and Mozilla wants to change that.

As of Thursday, users of older Firefox versions will start seeing a pop-up encouraging them to upgrade. The window will arrive with three choices: Ask Later, No Thanks, or receive the New Version. The pop-up will appear after 60 seconds of keyboard inactivity, which Mozilla called a courtesy toward users and their workflows. Selecting "Ask Later" will defer the window for 24 hours. If a user has chosen No Thanks but decides later to upgrade Firefox, running the "Check for Updates" option from the Help menu will bring up the upgrade window.

One reason that many users cite for not upgrading Firefox is a legitimate concern about add-on forward compatibility. In the press release announcing the push, Mozilla stated that more than 90 percent of Firefox add-ons are compatible with Firefox 3.6. Users can also try to force older add-ons to be compatible by using the MR Tech Toolkit or Nightly Tester Tools add-ons, which add a "force compatibility" option to the add-on context menu, but these tricks also decrease the stability of the browser.

If you use an older version of Firefox, tell us why and which version in the comments below.

11 Mar 2010, 3:21 pm | click here to view more

Android phones get Opera Mini 5 beta

every those Android smartphone owners who have been wondering when they can ditch the outmoded Opera Mini 4.2 browser in favor of the latest beta can now unfold their pouts, cease that kicking, and remove their pounding fists from the floor. Opera Mini 5 beta for Android has arrived.

On Thursday, Opera Software pushed out the Android version of its Mini 5 browser that improves the browser experience for Java phones by leaps and bounds. The beta build is equipped with an updated interface that includes a new "speed dial" start screen featuring thumbnails of most-visited sites. The browser also supports tabs, a first for Mini but old cap on Opera Mobile.

Opera Mini 5 beta (beta 2, actually) and the nearly identical Opera Mobile 10 beta (for Symbian and Windows phones) have been making the mobile rounds since September. We're fans of the latest advances to arrive to the free browser, and we're looking forward to Opera making those changes final and retiring Opera Mini 4.2 (and Opera Mobile 9.6, while they're at it.) We just wish that Opera had submitted Mini 5 beta to the Android Market sooner.

There's no confirmation from Opera, but we're speculating that Opera could officially flip the switch on at least one of the Opera Mini 5 variants at the CTIA trade show later in March.

To download Opera Mini 5 beta for Android, check the Android Market from your smartphone or point to mobile browser to www.opera.com/mini/next/.

Related:
Opera Mini now on Windows Mobile. Yeah, you read that right
Opera Mini browser for iPhone?
Opera Mini and Mobile betas bestowed with sync

Originally posted at Android Atlas

11 Mar 2010, 2:00 am | click here to view more

Researcher publishes exploit for new IE hole

An Israeli security researcher has published exploit code for an unpatched hole in Internet Explorer that Microsoft disclosed two days ago.

Microsoft had warned in an advisory that a new vulnerability in IE 6 and IE 7, which could allow an attacker to take control of a computer, had been targeted in attacks.

Releasing the exploit code publicly increases the chances of attacks on the zero-day hole and could pressure Microsoft to issue a patch before its next scheduled Patch Tuesday in four weeks.

Researcher Moshe Ben Abu announced his work in a blog post on Wednesday and said it was being included in the open-source Metasploit exploit database.

He was able to create the exploit code after figuring out where an existing exploit was in the wild, based on information in a McAfee blog post, he told Ryan Naraine of the Zero Day blog at CNET sister site ZDNet. It took him about 10 minutes to de-obfuscate the exploit and pinpoint the vulnerability, he said.

Ben Abu told CNET that he would have found the original exploit code sooner or later without McAfee's help.

Asked how serious the zero-day hole is, he wrote in an e-mail to CNET: "The exploit covers Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7, which are not the latest version [IE 8] but many users still use it. In addition, the exploit is quite unstable, with about 60 percent to 70 percent success rate. So I guess it is critical, but not for users who update their Windows with the latest IE."

Microsoft's advisory on the vulnerability includes information on workarounds but suggests that IE 6 and IE 7 users upgrade to IE 8 immediately.

A McAfee spokesman said the company would be more careful about the details provided in its blog posts in the future.

"McAfee Labs does not support the release of exploit code, particularly in advance of a security patch being made available. We regularly sanitize blog content to prevent providing information that might assist attackers, while at the same time providing a service to customers and the security community to help improve protection levels," the spokesman said in a statement via e-mail. "The post in question did not contain enough information to directly guide anyone to exploit code. However, we regret that in this unique situation the post did contain details that may have given exploit writers a starting point to hunt for exploit code. Future blog posts will be subject to additional sanitization."

Updated at 11:44 a.m. PST with comment from McAfee and updated at 10:37 p.m. PST with comment from Ben Abu.

Originally posted at InSecurity Complex

11 Mar 2010, 10:28 am | click here to view more

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