GeCAD published only the summary of the Microsoft Vulnerability

After Microsoft released a patch (MS05-001), GeCAD NET has announced that the patch does not enough to remove vulnerability and that they have exploited the systems even if relevant patches were applied. To many, what makes this type of disclosure responsible is that the identifier does not release the details of the vulnerability and how it can be exploited. To read more.

Another Irresponsible Vulnerability Disclosure

Recently, Immunity, a security consulting firm, published an advisory highlighting four security holes in Apple Computer's Mac OS X. Interestingly, advisory came for the vulnerabilities that the security company had known about for seven months but had kept to itself and its customers instead of disclosing the problem to Apple. This is another example of irresponsible vulnerability disclosure, which is criticized by many software vendors, users, and industry practitioners. Read more. Another one on this.

Experts Say Litigations are coming.

Although there is no record yet of any company being sued over these laws, it's just a matter of time. "You're going to see increasing litigation for security breaches, especially when the result is identity theft or financial losses," says Behnam Dayanim, a privacy attorney with the international law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. Read more.

Open Source Software in Government

Almost every government around the globe is considering the use of open source software. It is reported that they have been doing research to facilitate the development or the adoption of the open source software. Among others, they consider that open source is a less costly alternative that encourages the development local software industry which is crucial to establish cheaper IT standards in the long run. Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, France, Italy and Peru have considered legislation mandating the use of open source software, while Bahrain, Belgium, China and Hong Kong, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, the Philippines, and South Africa have policies to give open source options preferential treatment. Recently, Venezuela plans to migrate to open source software in governmental agencies and has founded an open source academy to provide expert support. More.