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Mr. Gates, 64, the Microsoft co-founder, has now become the star of an explosion of conspiracy theories about the coronavirus outbreak. In posts on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, he is being portrayed as the creator of Covid-19, as a profiteer from a virus vaccine, and as part of a dastardly plot to use the illness to cull or surveil the global population. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged millions of dollars to companies developing potential novel coronavirus vaccines. In an interview on April 9 on CNBC, Gates spoke theoretically about how many people might experience side effects from...

Most of the internet could be affected as some Linux devs threaten to rescind code in response to CoC controversy.

Hackers using a tool stolen from the United States government conducted extensive cyberattacks on Friday that hit dozens of countries around the world, severely disrupting Britain’s public health system and wreaking havoc on computers elsewhere, including Russia. The tool was leaked by a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers, which has been dumping stolen N.S.A. hacking tools online since last year. Microsoft rolled out a patch for the vulnerability in March, but hackers apparently took advantage of the fact that vulnerable targets — particularly hospitals — had yet to update their systems. The malware was circulated by email. Targets were...

Normally, we expect new Linux desktop users to come from the ranks of disgruntled Windows users. After all, they're the ones who have to deal with high-prices and endless security problems. Now, it seems that some Mac gurus are also making the switch to Linux.

A patch issued last month for a critical vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser leaves any user surfing the Web open to a wide variety of attacks, a security analyst said Monday. The problem stems from August 20 when Microsoft released patches for Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5, 6.0, and version 6.0 for Windows Server 2003 that it said would fix an Object Type vulnerability, which could allow an attacker to run malicious code on a PC if the user navigated to the attacker's Web site. The original patch can be downloaded using Microsoft's WindowUpdate Service, or from the...

"Why aren't Apple Macintosh computers more popular in large mainstream organizations? Whatever the gigahertz numbers say, Macintoshes are comparable in performance to Windows or Linux machines. Whatever the conventional wisdom or the Microsoft marketing message, Macs aren't dramatically more expensive to buy and on a Total Cost of Ownership basis they are probably cheaper. Nobody would argue that Macs are harder to use. Clearly, they are easier to use, especially on a network. So what's the problem? Why do Macs seem to exist only in media outfits," asks Robert X. Cringely for PBS? Cringely writes, "Apple is clearly wondering the...

COMMENTARY--No other market is quite like software. General Motors isn't forced to contend with a "free car" movement, which has a goal of undermining sales-based automakers. Dell isn't faced with a grass roots PC hardware movement, which says PCs should be free--and then hands out samples at no cost. Of course, software is unique as its production relies purely on the mind. Even if a renegade group wanted to offer free cars, it would not be feasible as long as raw materials carry a cost. In software, all it takes to challenge established proprietary software vendors is to convince enough...

Study: Open, closed source equally secure By Robert Lemos Staff Writer, CNET News.com June 20, 2002, 6:00 PM PT Proprietary programs should mathematically be as secure as those developed under the open-source model, a Cambridge University researcher argued in a paper presented Thursday at a technical conference in Toulouse, France. In his paper, computer scientist Ross Anderson used an analysis equating finding software bugs to testing programs for the mean time before failure, a measure of quality frequently used by manufacturers. Under the analysis, Anderson found that his ideal "open-source" programs were as secure as the "closed-source" programs. "Other things...