Week in review: Wikipedia's woes

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and includes a URL to a malicious file. When unsuspecting users have responded, perhaps asking if the attachment contained a virus, the worm has replied: "lol no its not its a virus," IMlogic said.

The malicious file disables security software, installs a backdoor and tweaks system files, the company said. Then it starts sending itself to contacts on the victim's buddy list. The worm is programmed so that the infected user cannot see the messages that are being sent out by the worm.

So are most of us taking these threats seriously? Nope.

A survey of home PC users found 81 percent lack at least one of three critical types of security, though the number of consumers using firewalls and updated antivirus software is improving, according to a report by AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance. The vast majority of consumers surveyed were found to lack at least one of three types of critical security: a firewall, updated antivirus software or anti-spyware protection.

Of this group, 56 percent had no antivirus software or had not updated it within a week, while 44 percent did not have a firewall properly configured, according to the report. Meanwhile, 38 percent of survey respondents lacked spyware protection.

Out of tune
What would the music industry be without a little controversy?

Just when you thought Sony BMG Music Entertainment had put its security problems behind it, the record label announced that it had found, and fixed, a new risk associated with some of its CDs. The vulnerability could let malicious programmers gain control of computers that have run the software, which is typically installed automatically when a disc is put in a computer's CD drive.

A few days later, Sony BMG announced it was replacing that patch after Princeton University researchers found a security flaw in the update. Ed Felten, a Princeton computer science professor, wrote in his blog that the patch itself could open computers to attack by hackers.

Sony executives said they are working closely with security professionals to address the issues identified by Felten and will have a new patch available soon.

The issue affects a different set of CDs than the ones involved in the copy-protection gaffe that led Sony to recall 4.7 million CDs last month and that has triggered several lawsuits against the record label.

And just like Sony, if at first you don't succeed...RealNetworks Chief Executive Rob Glaser told a packed hotel ballroom that Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs' refusal to make the iPod compatible with music services other than Apple's iTunes was "pigheadedness." Glaser also said that Apple's unwillingness to cooperate with other online music vendors promotes piracy of copyright materials and will eventually draw the wrath of consumers.

"We think Apple Computer, and Steve personally, are making a mistake by making the software proprietary," Glaser said, noting that RealNetworks will continue catering to users of Macintosh computers. "There's no reason we should penalize Apple customers for Steve's pigheadeness."

Meanwhile, the online music wars took another turn Down Under when Sharman Networks cut off Australians' access to the Web site from which the file-swapping software Kazaa can be downloaded. The shutdown was undertaken to comply with orders from Australia's Federal Court. While people with an Australian IP address who have already downloaded Kazaa can continue to use it, Sharman is warning them not to do so.

However, Stephen Peach, chief executive of the Australian Record Industry Association, criticized the effort. "Sharman has thumbed its nose at the court. They were given a chance to do the right thing and they've ruined it," Peach said in a statement.

Also of note
A frenzy of last-minute negotiations over the Patriot Act, conducted behind closed doors as a Dec. 31 expiration date nears, is yielding a four-year renewal of the law with no major reforms...However, Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who led the Senate's negotiations when the original law was drafted in 2001, said he will not support a renewal unless it includes substantial reforms...The federal government is not making enough progress in protecting critical infrastructures such as communications networks and the Internet, said former members of the commission that investigated the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001...Exploit code for the latest version of open-source browser Firefox was published, potentially putting users at risk of a denial-of-service attack...NBC Universal is the latest network to tap into Apple's iTunes, offering up nearly a dozen of its TV shows for download onto iPods and PCs.

[open-mind]

Wikipedia is like a public bulletin board.

Should bulletin boards be eliminated because anyone can post info?

If one posting is bogus, does that destroy the value of the other 99,999,999 postings that are accurate?

Should bulletin board makers be sued because people don't understand how they work?

This whole debate is absurd.

[Betty Roper]

Ouch!

Talk about damning something with faint praise.

Jimmy Wales would fall off his Aeron chair if he saw you likening his world-changing People's Reference to a community bulletin board.

Let's play your logic out... Kazaa shouldn't have been sued because it was just a place for thieves to post their warez?

[nicmart]

Wikitoids

Do millions of schoolkids search bulletin boards to locate the
"facts" for their papers? Maybe they should: the boards are no less
reliable than Wikipedia. I dub the site's errors "Wikitoids."

[Earl Benser]

Depends....

For grade school kids, Wikipedia is probably adequate. For high
Sshool kids, Wikipedia is a starting point, but verification is
necessary. For college kids, Wikipedia might provide some initial
clues, but any facts would have to come from established and
credible sources.

Wikipedia serves a purpose, but it is inherently is opinion not fact,
with no guarantee that the opinion is even close to true. That's a
severe handicap for Wikipedia, but that's the way it was built.