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The article offers an update of issues related to the computer industry in the U.S. as of December 2005. Microsoft released a Security Advisory warning about an unexpected behavior in Windows Firewall that could let a clever attacker who had broken into a user's PC leave a back door to the Web unlocked for next time. Panda Software identified a new worm that redirects the search requests of users to a phony Google site. The P21oad. A worm masquerades as a free Star Wars game. Possible causes of failure to get updates from the Microsoft Update or the Windows Update site include conflicts with third-party firewalls and problems with the update sites' addresses hard-coded into Windows' Hosts file.

This article reports on the availability of new tools for information technology managers who are looking for ways to protect their systems from worms and other attacks while they work to test and install security patches issued by software vendors. For example, Blue Lane Technologies Inc. introduced a security appliance called PatchPoint that addresses specific vulnerabilities in Windows operating system and other products. But instead of requiring users to install software on their systems, PatchPoint sits in front of servers and mimics the full functionality of vendor-issued patches.

This article focuses on the issue of security in information technology and computer industry. It was said that in 2005, security remained foremost on the minds of IT leadership. A project from Microsoft discover the first so-called zero-day exploit, identity theft, phishing, and spyware became part of the popular lexicon, and the need grew for companies to treat any computer joining the network as hostile until proved secure. Established vendors Juniper and Symantec bought Funk Software and Sygate respectively, and relative newcomers such as ConSentry Networks, Elemental Security, and LockDown Networks. The most promising seen in 2005 is the ConSentry and Elemental solutions. It was forecasted that network management and security will overlap in 2006.

This article introduces F5 Networks Inc.'s Application Security Module (ASM) that adds security features to its Big-Internet protocol line of appliances for managing application traffic and performance. ASM provides users with an application-layer firewall that is designed to protect Web-based systems against buffer overflow attacks, compromises of access-control mechanisms, worms, and other problems. In addition, cloaking features are included to conceal error messages from end users.

This article features Microsoft Research Ltd.'s Vigilante, an experimental software that can detect worms in network traffic, even new ones with no known signatures, then generates filters against them and sends alerts to other machines on the network. The process is quick enough to block worms before humans are even aware of their existence. Computers running Vigilante generate self-certifying alerts when they detect an attack and then send them to other machines, which can verify the alerts before taking defensive action.

This article reports that Microsoft Corp.'s (MC) monthly release of security fixes will cover only one vulnerability, an unidentified flaw in Windows operating system. However, the security hole is rated as critical in severity, meaning that a computer worm or virus could take advantage of the flaw without any action on the part of users. In addition to a software patch designed to plug the Windows vulnerability, MC plans to release a high-priority update for the operating system that is not related to any security issues.

This article reports that Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) disclosed a major security flaw in its data backup software, and analysts said that the problem is an example of the kind of vulnerabilities that are making storage software more attractive to malicious hackers. CA released patches to fix what it described as a critical vulnerability in its BrightStor ARCserve agent software, which is used to back up and restore data between servers and storage devices.