HACKING

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday that hackers are seeking to attack users of its PowerPoint presentation software for Windows PCs and released patches to protect them against the threat.

The cybersecurity chief named to battle Internet viruses and larger challenges facing the information technology networks used by U.S. companies and national defense should be based in the White House, experts told a congressional panel on Friday.

Another hole in Adobe Reader that could allow attackers to remotely execute malicious code on end-users' machines was discovered on Tuesday.

China has denied a report issued yesterday stating that it had penetrated the U.S. electrical grid.

U.S. concerns about the potential for cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure extended to the American electrical power grid on Wednesday and experts pointed the finger anew at Chinese hackers, among others.

The Pentagon spent more than $100 million in the past six months to repair damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems, military leaders said Tuesday.

U.S. lawmakers are pushing to raise U.S. defenses against cyber attacks, allowing the government to write and implement security guidelines for confidential industry.

The U.S. software industry is pushing for a greater role as government officials develop a policy to ward off attacks on the nation's communications infrastructure, a trade group said on Friday.

Recently, Flaws were discovered in version 10.0.12.36 of Adobe Systems Inc. flash Player that could enable an attacker to take control of an affected system or execute arbitrary code.

Hackers are distracting motorists by hacking electronic road signs in some states as electronic road message boards meant to warn motorists of possible trouble are increasingly being hacked.

A British computer hacker, Gary McKinnon, 42, wins right to fight extradition to US Friday after being accused of hacking into computers owned by the US military and NASA space.

Comcast Corp. said Thursday that hackers took over and defaced its Web portal for several hours overnight and prevented users from accessing Web mail and account records on the company's site.

A research team at Princeton University has found a method to break into an encrypted hard drive to access protected information.

Hackers have broken into a top U.S. military laboratory possibly leaking personal information about visitors, the lab said Friday.

A cyber cold war waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade.

Hackers stole information from the U.S. Department of Transportation and several U.S. companies by seducing employees with fake job-listings on advertisements and e-mail, a computer security firm said.

A well-known hacker claims to have overcome restrictions on Apple Inc.'s iPhone, allowing highly technical users to bypass AT&T Inc.'s network to use the phone's Internet and music features.

Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, said that it is investigating a flaw in its Microsoft Word 2000 word processor that may allow remote users with malicious intent to take control of a user's computer.

Microsoft's email and planning software Outlook 2003 has a vulnerability that can allow a malicious takeover of a users' computer and data, said a network security firm Tuesday.

Social networking is growing in popularity, however a recent study indicates that users of social networking websites engage in risky behavior, potentially putting themselves at risks to hackers and identify thieves.

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released a security patch to fix a critical hole in its Internet Explorer Web browser that the world's biggest software maker said could allow an attacker to take control of a user's computer.