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What is your personal Linus-type security blanket? As you might know, Linus from "Peanuts" is constantly rubbing a blanket against his cheek as a form of neurotic security. However, in real life, many of us have our own form of security blanket. In my own case it is my leather fanny pack that I wear around my waist. I stick my money, cell phone, radio, sunglasses, dental floss, pens, and other stuff in there so it is very practical. However, I have developed an incredible NEUROTIC dependency on my leather fanny pack. This was brought home a couple of days...

In May 2005, a trojan called PGPcoder was discovered in the wild by Websense Security Labs. The trojan's purpose was to encrypt a user's files, then demand a ransom for their decryption. Although this scheme seemed novel, it is actually predated by over 15 years, by a similar scam in 1989. LURHQ's Threat Intelligence Group has now discovered a third such scheme involving ransomware which we are calling Cryzip. Unlike PGPcoder, which used a custom encryption scheme (which was subsequently reverse-engineered by LURHQ), Cryzip uses a commercial zip library in order to store files inside a password-protected zip. Although the...

Over at eWeek Steven Vaughan-Nichols is aghast at news that Massachusetts CIO (and Open Document Format advocate) Peter Quinn has resigned. Microsoft Wins, Open Standards Lose is his headline. Well, maybe in the short run. But in fact, it's time open source advocates learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes it's not about you. A month ago I noted how partisan this battle was becoming, with Democrats taking Microsoft's side and Republicans the side of open source. So what really happened, and what does this resignation really mean? First, the resignation should have been expected. Quinn's patron, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, has...

Clement Clark Moore was born in New York City in 1779 and, long before his death 84 years later, established a reputation as a scholar. Stern, even rigid, Moore concentrated in the study of languages (a Hebrew lexicon he compiled was long considered a standard) and was a noted lecturer and writer. A religious man, and one of means, he generously supported theological education — even endowing a seminary. For all of this, however, Moore's life would merit little more than a footnote in New York's history — except for one thing. He was a poet. Most of his work,...

The originator of the Linux OS has sharp words for SCO's "cornered rat" claims of intellectual-property infringement If anyone knows what's in Linux, it's Linus Torvalds. He did the first work on the open-source operating system while a student at the University of Helsinki, and he managed the often chaotic process of building it with other programmers. Now, SCO Group (SCOX), a small Utah software company, claims Linux is trampling on intellectual property rights it inherited from Novell (NOVL), which got them from AT&T (T). In an e-mail interview with BusinessWeek Correspondent Jim Kerstetter, Torvalds explains why he thinks SCO...

The Feds Love Linux Erika Brown, 06.20.03, 8:20 AM ET NEW YORK - Three weeks ago, John P. Stenbit, chief information officer of the U.S. Department of Defense, issued an agencywide memo that has Linux lovers rejoicing. The brief outlined the DOD's policy on acquiring, using and developing open-source software, including the Linux operating system. By creating an official policy, the DOD is "outing" open source, a technology that was stuck in government limbo, neither condoned nor outlawed. "People used to think they'd get fired if they talked about it. It was 'Don't ask, don't tell,'" says Tony M. Stanco,...

OCTOBER 23, 2003 How Microsoft's Misunderstanding of Open Source Hurts Us All By Robert X. Cringely This week, speaking at a Gartner conference in Orlando, Florida, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said some fascinating things about Linux and about Open Source software in general. And thanks to those remarks and the blinding realization they caused for me, I finally understand exactly why Microsoft doesn't understand Open Source. Ballmer asked, "Should there be a reason to believe that code that comes from a variety of people around the world would be higher-quality than from people who do it professionally? Why is its...

Waltham, Mass. -- Linus Torvalds won't render his own verdict on SCO Group's legal case against IBM until the Unix code in question is revealed in court. In an e-mail response to CRN, Torvalds, widely considered the father of Linux, said he is awaiting judgment until SCO identifies the Unix code IBM allegedly misappropriated and handed over to the open-source community. But at this point, he said he's skeptical the case has merit. "SCO isn't even telling what they have, and I'm not a lawyer anyway," Torvalds wrote. "The people I've spoken to seem to think the merit of the...

Tue Dec 3,12:03 PM ET Charlie chats with Linus in the snow in this frame from ABC's 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' The seasonal special airs on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 8 p.m., EST, with a repeat the following Friday, Dec. 13 at 9 p.m., EST. (AP Photo/ 1965 United Features Syndicate Inc.)

Wal-Mart's Web Site Sells Computers Without Windows SoftwareBy Caryn Rousseau Associated Press WriterPublished: Jul 16, 2002 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Saying it wants to offer its customers more options, Wal-Mart's online shopping site has started selling inexpensive computers without the Microsoft Windows operating system. "We're simply offering this to a specific niche looking for this specific operating system," Walmart.com spokeswoman Cynthia Lin said Tuesday. "It's about extending more choices to our customers." Instead of the popular Microsoft Windows software, the Wal-Mart computers come loaded with Lindows, a Linux operating systems company based in San Diego. Lindows says the operating...