From Computer World

Lost in same Texas court that made it pay i4i nearly $300M and banned Word sales

Microsoft today said it will pay communications software maker VirnetX $200 million to settle a three-year-old patent infringement case.

In the original February 2010 lawsuit, Scotts Valley, Calif.-based VirnetX claimed Microsoft used its patented virtual private networking (VPN) technologies in Windows XP and Vista, Windows Server 2003, Live Communications Server, Windows Messenger, Office Communicator and Microsoft Office from the 2003 edition on.

From ARS Technica

You're concerned about your online privacy, and you do all the right things to keep from being tracked around the Web: purge your cookies regularly, clean out Flash "supercookies," even switch to browsers like Browzar, which lets you "search and surf the web without leaving traces on your computer." Doesn't matter—your browser is giving you away.

From C/Net News

As a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged (PDF) to "strengthen privacy protections for the digital age."

But after 16 months as president, Obama has failed to appoint anyone to a privacy oversight body charged with ensuring Americans' civil liberties are not violated.

From Dark Reading

'Avalanche' syndicate accounted for 66 percent of phishing in the second half of 2009, APWG reports
Like convenience stores and fast-food restaurants, phishing is no longer a mom-and-pop operation, according to a study released today.

A single crime syndicate dubbed "Avalanche" was responsible for some 66 percent of the phishing traffic generated in the second half of 2009, according to a report (PDF) published by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).

From The Register:

Computer scientists have carried out one of the first detailed security analyses of the security implications of increased use of computer systems in cars, finding systems surprisingly easy to hack or disrupt.

From Computer World

'Very serious' says one antivirus exec, especially for Windows XP usersA just-published attack tactic that bypasses the security protections of most current antivirus software is a "very serious" problem, an executive at one unaffected company said today.

From Dark Reading

Financial institutions, ecommerce sites will no longer be able to rely on Flash objects, cookies to help ID legitimate users, experts say

When Adobe releases Flash Player 10.1 in the next couple of months, users of the application will have clearer, easier-to-set privacy options for their browser cookies. But more user privacy comes at the expense of fraud detection processes: The upgraded software is likely to disrupt some ecommerce and online banking sites that rely on cookies as another layer to authenticate their customers.

From Dark Reading

Aggressive new variant of an older worm circulating around Yahoo Messenger lets attacker take over a victim's machine

A smiley-faced instant message with a photo link posing as if it's from someone on your buddy list is actually spreading misery worldwide in the form of a worm on Yahoo Instant Messenger: The IM ultimately delivers a worm that allows an attacker to take over the victim's machine, not to mention spread itself among the victim's contact list.

From Dark Reading

Healthcare organizations with established databases are typically behind other industries in how they secure their data stores

As healthcare organizations work to earn the incentives dangled in front of them by the HITECH Act, the adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) has accelerated. But at the same time, healthcare fraud has also risen, and experts say if organizations don't effectively address data and database protection in healthcare's transition from paper to digital record-keeping, the threats to patient confidentiality and organizational security will skyrocket.