Google Copies Microsoft in New Chrome OS Announcement

I’ve already had a few folks question me on the announcement of the Google Chrome OS. “Is this going to kill Microsoft Windows?”, seems to be a common theme.

There is one major thing that Google has copied from Microsoft; announcing a product that doesn’t exist yet. According to the official Google Blog…

“…netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010”

This is more typical of Microsoft marketing to announce the availability of a new OS to start trying to redirect the consumer market. I’ve seen whole companies and products dissolve just by a product announcement which was still under development for a year or two. Now that the Michael Jackson news cycle is slowing down Google took the opportunity to strike.

Google also says “Google Chrome OS is an open source project and will be available to use at no cost.” Most of the articles I’ve read seem to think this will put pressure on Microsoft to reduce the cost of the new Windows7 or even force them to provide free Windows XP on netbooks. It’s a nice thought but some of these folks must live on a different planet.

I have a lot of respect for Google. I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t shown all their cards yet but if I still had any MSFT stock I wouldn’t be selling it. The well publicized XO (One Laptop Per Child) machines had a nice open source OS called Sugar. This allowed the price of the laptops to be under $200. The cost of including Windows would have added too much to the cost but guess what? Even the poor kids in under developed countries wanted Windows and the OLPC project failed to meet expectations.

So far, there really isn’t much known about Chrome OS. The Chrome browser will apparently be integrated into the OS which should open up fun, useless questions for government regulators. Developers have been told to expect an open source programming interface later this year. Only a few hardware vendors have acknowledged they’ll be looking at Chrome OS. As of today, Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba have admitted interest to the public.

Danger Streaming Michael Jackson Video

The timing couldn’t have better for the bad guys. Microsoft recently acknowledged a zero-day vulnerability in a Video ActiveX control. Today a temporary patch was released using their new “Fix It”.

This vulnerability only affects Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.  The attack can occur when attempting to stream video from a web page or an Email. While popular news organizations are safe I’ve already had unconfirmed reports of fake Michael Jackson videos that include malware packaged up using this known vulnerability.

The filename of the ActiveX control is msvidctrl.dll so if you’re asked to allow this ActiveX control to be installed you won’t want it. For more information Click Here. Meanwhile, if you’re using any version of Windows XP or Server 2003 click the link above and follow instructions from Microsoft.

The Art of Malware Detection

While most people start their day with coffee and their morning paper my day is a little different. Today it was Diet Pepsi and reading what’s happening with various security threats. Thanks to Lee at http://www.scamtypes.com/ I ran into an interesting article from our friends at ESET titled, Waledac, VirusTotal and some AV fallacies.

First, if you’ve never heard of VirusTotal you’ll want to check out http://www.virustotal.com/. It’s a great tool for malware researchers and anyone trying to clean up an infected machine. VirusTotal allows you to upload a file and have it analyzed by 40 known AV programs using their current signature files.

While detection and clean up by signature files is wonderful traditional methodology it’s not perfect. As ESET points out…

“A VT report is a snapshot of a moment in time.
… we use heuristic analysis and automated processes these days rather than wait for people to send us malware to analyse and insist that we write a signature for it”

ESET like many companies figured out the first step in malware/virus detection is by monitoring the behavior of programs running on your system. It was refreshing to have another industry expert elaborate on this approach. The heuristic analysis still varys from application to application.

For over 10 years this has been the approached I’ve used with my own WinPatrol program. WinPatrol was designed to detect malware and virus’s that try to embed themselves in your system. Over the years I’ve added additional unique detections like File association changes and even configuration changes like Microsoft auto update settings. Now, most AV programs use multiple levels of detection. Discovering malware and alerting users isn’t as tough as it used to be.

The challenge these days is cleaning up and removing malware. The bad guys have come up with clever ways to maintain control of their victims. The first thing they do is try and shut down popular Anti Virus programs. Luckily, while WinPatrol has a good following I’ve only run into a few programs that try and shut Scotty down. The other way to control victims is by installing anywhere from three to thirty-some programs which keep restoring each other when their partners are removed. This is another area where WinPatrols manual multi-select removal process can be handy.

This year the bad guys have come up with even more ways to trick those programs which detect and remove malware. I won’t elaborate on new techniques that aren’t widely known yet but rest assure I’m not the only one waking up and thinking of new ways to fight them.

Save Now on Your Copy of Windows7.

This week Microsoft officially announced pricing for it's new Windows 7 operating system. As expected, the retails pricing is a little higher than Vista but seems to be about the same as Windows XP when it was launched.

RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW

If you're interested in saving over 50% on pre-order discounts just click here. Order today and your copy of Windows7 will arrive on October 22^nd. The following pre-order offers are available through July 11th and limited to 3 copies.

Pre-Order Special:
Windows7 Home Premium Upgrade: Only $49.99 Save $70

Windows7 Professional Upgrade: Now $99.99 Save $100

Unfortunately, these specials are not available in Europe at this time.

Regular Pricing:
Windows7 Ultimate: $319.99
Windows7 Home Premium: $199
Windows 7 Professional: $299.99

Windows7 Ultimate Upgrade: $219.99
Windows7 Home Premium Upgrade: $119.99
Windows 7 Professional Upgrade: $199.99

Here’s the deal. Windows7 Home will provide most of the features you’ll need including the Aero graphical interface, Multi-touch enhancements, Easy Networking, and improved Multimedia improvements.

Windows7 Professional includes Windows XP mode which you may need for compatibility of some software and devices. Professional also includes an automatic backup programs.

You’ll want Windows7 Ultimate if you expect to use BitLocker and/or you want multiple language support.