Microsoft today released six security updates that patched seven vulnerabilities, including a critical Windows bug that hackers will certainly try to exploit with a network worm, according to researchers.

"This is a pre-authentication, remote code bug," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security, referring to MS12-020, the one critical bulletin today and the update that he, other researchers and even Microsoft urged users to patch as soon as possible.

"It will allow network execution without any authentication, and has all the ingredients for a class worm," said Storms.

"I'm particular spooked by this one," said Jason Miller, manager of research and development at VMware. "Hackers want [vulnerabilities] that don't require authentication and are in a part of Windows that's widely used. I guarantee that attackers are going to look at this closely."

MS12-020 patches a pair of bugs in Windows' Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), a component that lets users remotely...

It’s a new facet of Apple's iMessage for iOS 5 leaving iPhone owners vulnerable to losing control of who sees their text messages?

Writer Sam Biddle of the popular tech site Gizmodo has highlighted what he deems a major security and privacy issue in a post titled "The Apple Bug That Let Us Spy On A Total's Stranger's iPhone." The "bug" of the title refers to an apparent hole in iOS 5 that potentially allows strangers, thieves, stalkers and oblivious buyers of stolen iPhones to read every incoming and outgoing message that a certain iPhone owner sends over iMessage, whether they want to or not.

Biddle's article provides a real-life example of how this works: Apparently, a friend of Biddle's took her son's iPhone into an Apple store for a mundane repair. After the employee at Apple's Genius Bar had finished his work on the son's iPhone, he inserted his own SIM card into the iPhone he was repairing to ensure that his repairs had worked. After finding that they had, he removed his SIM card and replaced...

It’s a new facet of Apple's iMessage for iOS 5 leaving iPhone owners vulnerable to losing control of who sees their text messages?

Writer Sam Biddle of the popular tech site Gizmodo has highlighted what he deems a major security and privacy issue in a post titled "The Apple Bug That Let Us Spy On A Total's Stranger's iPhone." The "bug" of the title refers to an apparent hole in iOS 5 that potentially allows strangers, thieves, stalkers and oblivious buyers of stolen iPhones to read every incoming and outgoing message that a certain iPhone owner sends over iMessage, whether they want to or not.

Biddle's article provides a real-life example of how this works: Apparently, a friend of Biddle's took her son's iPhone into an Apple store for a mundane repair. After the employee at Apple's Genius Bar had finished his work on the son's iPhone, he inserted his own SIM card into the iPhone he was repairing to ensure that his repairs had worked. After finding that they had, he removed his SIM card and replaced...

Google's Chrome edged Mozilla's Firefox last month to take the number two spot in the browser popularity wars, an Irish metrics company said today.

Data from StatCounter, which tracks browser usage through the free analytics tools it offers websites, had Chrome with a 25.7% global share in November, a half-percentage point higher than Firefox's 25.2%.

In September, Computerworld used StatCounter's numbers to project that Chrome would pass Firefox no later than December 2011.

According to StatCounter, Chrome has gained 10.8 percentage points of usage share this year alone, vacuuming up nearly all the losses posted by Firefox (5.5 points) and Microsoft's Internet Explorer (6.3 points).

Internet Explorer (IE) accounted for 40.6% of all browsers used last month, StatCounter said.

Rival Web measurement firm Net Applications saw the Chrome vs. Firefox tussle differently. Its tracking put Chrome behind Firefox in November, controlling 18.2% of the market compared to Firefox's 22.1%.

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Malware targeting Google's Android mobile operating system exploded in the last several months, its volume quintupling since July, Juniper Networks said today.

The rash of infected apps aimed at Android owners shows no sign of abating, said Dan Hoffman, Juniper's chief mobile security analyst and a member of the company's global threat center.

"We're seeing a mix of the traditional hacking community [working] on malware very similar to organized efforts on the PC side, as well as people who are just a little smart, the '15-year-old kid crowd,' who are able to hide some malicious content in an app," said Hoffman in an interview today.

According to Juniper's research, the number of Android malware samples -- each defining a different piece of attack code, or a variant of one discovered earlier -- increased by 472% since July 2011. The bulk of that growth occurred in September and October.

"We've seen an exponential growth in Android malware over the last several months," Juniper said in a blog post that accompanied Juniper's recently-published mobile threat report.

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A few years ago businesspeople carried a laptop on the road, used a desktop PC in the office, and worked on another PC at home. Maybe they had a BlackBerry, too--but only if they were real big shots.

These days almost everyone has a smartphone, whether it runs Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7, or BlackBerry OS. You may also carry a tablet with a different OS than your phone. And you might pack an ultralight MacBook Air in addition to your Windows-based computer at home or at the office.

Managing those disparate devices, with their assorted operating systems, applications, and connectivity options, can be a nightmare. But with the right mix of software and services, you can easily handle multiple platforms and integrate your data.

I use several platforms. At home, I'm on Windows 7, when I'm working on my desktop PC. For travel, I recently shifted to a MacBook Air running Mac OS X Lion. I also have an iPad 2, which I use mostly for occasional email checking and Web browsing. My main mobile phone...

Hewlett-Packard's decision to surrender in smartphones and tablet computers and possibly get rid of its personal computer business underscores how Apple has transformed consumer electronics in just four years. HP's new CEO Leo Apotheker is now trying to turn the Silicon Valley stalwart into a twin of East Coast archrival IBM Corp. In doing so, he is acknowledging that his company has failed to balance the demands of both the consumer and corporate markets. As a result, it needs to exit most of its consumer businesses, just as IBM did six years ago.

Apple is the hottest consumer electronics company on the planet. The iPhone's debut in 2007 brought ease of use and an intuitive design unmatched by predecessors, including smartphone pioneer Palm, which HP bought last year in hopes of getting a foothold in mobile devices. Apple followed in 2010 with the iPad tablet computer and managed to persuade people to buy a product they never knew they needed.

Rather than remain locked in a futile fight with a company that seems to have found the magic touch on making hit consumer products, HP is whittling its competition to the other business technology specialists — namely, IBM, Oracle Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc.

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The Wall Street Journal reported today that Hewlett-Packard will spin off its global PC business. No further details are available from the company, which announces its quarterly financial results Thursday afternoon.

HP also was said to be in negotiations to acquire U.K. enterprise software company Autonomy Corp. for $10 billion.

Move over, gigabit Ethernet: 10GB is trickling down to small and medium-sized businesses. Netgear says its new ProSafe 52-Port Gigabit Stackable Smart Switch (GS752TXS) is the first in its class to ship with four 10GB uplinks (as opposed to the gigabit connections that have been the norm up to now).

Netgear's ProSafe line of smart switches bridges the gap between inexpensive consumer products that can't support the demands of today's small businesses, and pricey enterprise gear that already supports 10GB, but typically require the attentions of an IT pro with advanced network skills.

The ProSafe GS752TXS's boasts a web-based interface (no need to learn geeky command line stuff), and its increased bandwidth makes it a good fit for a growing number of scenarios that apply to small and mid-sized businesses as well as their better-heeled enterprise cousins.

Netgear officials cite as an example the trend to virtualization, which allows businesses to set up multiple servers on a single physical machine--for example, you could run both your web and e-mail servers on a single computer, which generally saves money on both equipment and operating costs. Virtualization also provides great flexibility since you can easily move a virtual server to a different physical machine as your business grows.

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A judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission has made an initial determination that HTC infringed two Apple patents, HTC said Friday.

If the judgment is made final, HTC could be banned from importing phones to the U.S.

It's the latest blow to Google's Android operating system, which is being attacked by competitors including Apple, Microsoft and Oracle.

The initial determination will now be reviewed by a larger panel of ITC judges, who can uphold or reject it.

The two patents appear to be fundamental to Android, according to Florian Mueller, a patent expert. "They are very likely to be infringed by code that is at the core of Android," he wrote in a blog post. The same patents are also at the heart of a dispute between Apple and Motorola, he said.

Apple could choose to license the technology to HTC, but Mueller thinks Apple won't do so unless HTC has patents that Apple needs in return.

Friday's ruling responds to one of two ITC complaints filed against HTC by...