Mozilla: No 'kill switch' for Firesheep add-on

Mozilla today said it wouldn't -- or couldn't -- pull a "kill switch" to disable the Firesheep add-on that lets anyone steal log-on and account access information to Facebook, Twitter and other major Web services.

Firesheep adds a sidebar to Mozilla's Firefox browser that shows when anyone on an open network -- a coffee shop's Wi-Fi network, for instance -- visits any insecure site on a list that includes the microblogging service Twitter and the hugely-popular Facebook social networking site.

Mozilla has a "blocklist" mechanism that it can, and has in the past, applied as a last-resort defense against potentially-dangerous browser add-ons. The blocklist automatically cripples or uninstalls unwanted extensions that have been added to Firefox.

But Mozilla either can't or won't add Firesheep to the blocklist.

"[Firesheep] demonstrates a security weakness in a number of popular websites, but does not exploit any vulnerability in Firefox or other Web browsers," said Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox, in an e-mail reply to questions about Mozilla's possible moves.

Beltzner did not respond to questions about whether Mozilla is technically able to cripple Firesheep, or simply chooses not to.

As Beltzner pointed out, Firesheep is not an officially-approved Firefox add-on, but was "created and distributed by a third-party developer."

Most Firefox add-ons are obtained by users from the browser's Add-On center, which hosts Mozilla-vetted extensions.

In earlier instances when Mozilla has dealt the blocklist "kill switch" card, it's done so for add-ons that the company had previously approved, but later discovered were stealing information or distributing malware. In July, for example, it yanked a password-stealing extension that had been available from Firefox's gallery for more than a month before its malfeasance was detected.

The add-on, called "Mozilla Sniffer," contained code that intercepted login data submitted to any site, then sent that information to a remote server. Firesheep does some of the same, but it doesn't show what it finds to anyone but the tool's user.

In May 2008, Mozilla acknowledged that a worm had gone unnoticed in Firefox's Vietnamese language add-on for months, and last February it warned users that the Sothink Web Video Downloader 4.0 and all versions of Master Filer were infected with a Trojan horse.

As with Mozilla Sniffer, those add-ons had also been offered in the Firefox add-on center.

Firesheep has proved very popular. Since its Sunday debut, the add-on has been downloaded nearly 320,000 times, or an average of about 79,000 downloads per day. That puts it within striking distance of the Firefox's most popular add-on, Adblock Plus, which has averaged just over 80,000 downloads daily during its lifespan.

Using Firesheep may be a criminal offense under U.S. law, suggested Chet Wisniewski, a senior security adviser at antivirus vendor Sophos. "[Firesheep] isn't illegal, but using this tool is a crime in the U.S.," he said. "It would be considered wiretapping. You can play with it on your own network, use it for research, but not to invade the privacy of others."

Facebook, Skype integrate their services

Skype now allows its users to log into their Facebook accounts and perform a variety of Facebook tasks from within the Skype interface.

By meshing the Facebook News Feed and Phonebook contact list with the Skype interface, users will be able to view and post messages to their Facebook activity stream, comment on others' posts and communicate via SMS, phone and Skype voice service.

The functionality comes with Skype 5.0, the latest version of the company's PC software, available now for Windows machines, Skype said on Thursday.

"We're working with companies such as Skype to make it easy to find your friends anytime you want to connect," wrote Ethan Beard, director of Facebook's Developer Network, in a blog posting.

In addition to the Facebook integration, Skype 5.0 also introduces in beta, or test mode, a free trial of group video calling, as well as new functionality to improve the quality and stability of calls' audio and video.

The deal is far from exclusive. Facebook also offers integration with Skype rivals AOL AIM and Yahoo Messenger, while Skype has had for several years a tie-up with Facebook competitor MySpace.

The Original Microsoft Windows 1.0 Press Release

On November 20, 1985, a small technology company out of Bellevue, Washington launched a 16-bit graphical operating system for the PC. Originally called Windows Premiere Edition.1, it soon became the foundation for the world’s most prevalent operating system and for one of the most dominant technology companies in history.

25 years later, Microsoft is a household name and co-founder Bill Gates remains the world’s wealthiest person. Back in 1985 though, there was no guarantee of success or knowledge that Windows would dominate the world. It was the beginning of a revolution in computing.

Earlier today, Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie resurfaced some of Microsoft’s history in a recent post on his personal blog. In a sealed packet in his office, he uncovered the original press kit for Windows 1.0 and decided to put the documents online. It’s a fascinating look into the beginnings of computing and into a technology that has fundamentally changed our world.

From the company’s original press release:

Microsoft Windows extends the features of the DOS operating system, yet is compatible with most existing applications that run under DOS. Windows lets users integrate the tasks they perform with their computer by providing the ability to work with several programs at the same time and easily switch between them without having to quit and restart individual applications. In addition, it provides a rich foundation for a new generation of applications.

“Windows provides unprecedented power to users today and a foundation for hardware and software advancements of the next few years,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “It is unique software designed for the serious PC user, who places high value on the productivity that a personal computer can bring.”

Windows 1.0 was the beginning of the Control Panel and the Clipboard, but more importantly it was the beginning of an era that brought personal computing to billions of households worldwide.

Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo all team up against Google

Microsoft advanced its partnership with Facebook this week, a move that could represent the biggest threat to Google's search standing yet.

Microsoft and Facebook announced that they're teaming up to make Internet searching more social. Now when someone uses Microsoft's Bing search engine to look for a new car or a book, she can see which ones her Facebook friends liked. It will now be easier for searchers to get their friends' opinions before they make purchasing decisions.

Industry watchers said this was an interesting development for search in general, but it also holds big implications for Google in particular. What's notable is that Facebook turned to Microsoft for this deal and not to the search market leader, Google.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the press conference on Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Wash., on Wednesday, said there was a specific reason he wanted to go with Bing.

"They really are the underdog here," Zuckerberg said. "They're incentivized to go out and innovate. They have all these smart people and are trying to do all these new things."

Google, not surprisingly, dismissed the notion that the deal may have any far-reaching implications and said it welcomes the challenge.

"We welcome competition that helps deliver useful information to users and expands user choice," said Gabriel Stricker, a Google spokesman. "Having great competitors is a huge benefit to us and everyone in the search space. It makes us all work harder, and at the end of the day our users benefit from that."

But industry analysts said this Microsoft-Facebook partnership could spell trouble for Google, despite the fact that the search giant handled 72.15% of all U.S. searches last month.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo have thrown stones at Google, but nothing has yet chipped its hefty search lead. When the two companies combined their search engines in August, the dominant search company barely blinked. So, if Microsoft couldn't rattle Google when it teamed with Yahoo, which is No. 2 to Google in terms of search market share, why might Microsoft's new partnership with Facebook have Google executives looking nervously over their shoulders?

"Let's face it, Bing has been a big disappointment, but this could act as a differentiator," said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group Research. "People prefer Google to Microsoft, but they prefer Facebook to Google. If the partnership makes Facebooking better, then it could pull users away from Google."

In other words, a major social network, like Facebook, could end up being Google's Achilles' heel.

Ray Valdes, an analyst at Gartner, said the partnership announcement was less about Facebook and Microsoft than it was about Facebook vs. Google.

"The real importance of [this week's] announcement is that it highlights the growing strategic conflict between Facebook and Google," Valdes said. "There is a battle for the future of the Web, and it is not about search engines, but about the social Web. The competition is between the new and the old -- between Facebook as the early leader in the social Web, and Google as the dominant player in the content Web. Everyone else, such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Twitter, will play a secondary role, and will start lining up on one side or the other."

And what could make this situation more interesting is that Google is reportedly working on launching its own social network. Rumored to be dubbed Google Me, it's considered to be Google's shot at creating a Facebook killer.

Google hasn't had a lot of luck in the social networking arena. Its Google Wave social networking service was shut down in August and reviews of Google Buzz were lackluster. But the company has learned from its failures and may be ready to try to pull some of those advertising dollars away from Facebook.

Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research, said there's a big battle brewing between Google and Facebook, and Microsoft may have found a way to use that conflict to chip away at Google's massive market lead.

"[The Microsoft-Facebook partnership] moves some searches from Google to Bing," he added. "For major Facebook users, I believe 'social search' is attractive, and many are likely to switch to Bing for all searches... Not only does [Google] lose users, but they lose young users."

Facebook enables one-time passwords

Facebook, which announced the roll out a new security feature that allows users log out of their account remotely from another computer, announced a new feature on Tuesday, which allows people using public computers in places like hotels, cafes or airports to log into the site without having to enter their regular password.

“If you have any concerns about security of the computer you're using while accessing Facebook, we can text you a one-time password to use instead of your regular password, Facebok's Jake Brill wrote in a blogspot.

In order to get this one-time password, you have to just text "otp" to 32665 on your mobile phone, and you'll immediately receive a password that can be used only once and expires in 20 minutes. “In order to access this feature, you'll need a mobile phone number in your account. We're rolling this out gradually, and it should be available to everyone in the coming weeks,” it read.

The social networking site also said the ability to sign out of Facebook remotely is now available to everyone. “These session controls can be useful if you log into Facebook from a friend's phone or computer and then forget to sign out. From your Account Settings, you can check if you're still logged in on other devices and remotely log out,” read the blog.

Under the Account Security section of your Account Settings page you'll see all of your active sessions, along with information about each session. In the unlikely event that someone accesses your account without your permission, you can also shut down the unauthorized login before resetting your password and taking other steps to secure your account and computer.