Microsoft Pays Hacker For Discovering Security Holes

Tech companies are known to give rewards to hackers or researchers for finding out any security holes in their security system. They also hire them for doing short term job related to security. As per the latest news, a British hacking expert will be receiving $100,000 from the American software giant, Microsoft Corp for finding and locating any security holes that exist in its software. This is one of the largest bounties that have been awarded to date by the technology companies to any hacker or researcher. A much anticipated update of the Internet Explorer was also finally released by the company.

According to the company, this update fixes a problem in the browser that had exposed the users to a remote attack. The company said that the first $100,000 bounty had been claimed by James Forshaw, who is head of the vulnerability search department of Context Information Security, a British consulting firm. He had identified a new exploitation technique in Windows operating system. Microsoft will now be developing defenses against a complete class of attacks. Forshaw is one of the ‘white hat’ hackers that hack security systems with good intentions and are rewarded for their efforts.

Hackers are recognized on the hall of fame pages on websites of various technology companies such as Apple and Facebook and they often pay them for their services. Currently, Forshaw is traveling for the purpose of attending a security conference and had also identified security holes in a preview release of Microsoft Explorer 11 browser, for which he had been awarded a sum of $9400. This information was provided by the senior security strategist of the Security Response Center of Microsoft. Forshaw stated that he had been working in secure research and development in the past decade and had come across interesting security vulnerabilities.

He added that he was interested in finding new techniques of exploitation and the level of creatively required for that purpose. The mitigations that are available today were studied by him and a few potential angles were identified after brainstorming through which he managed to find his winning entry. He said that it took him a few tries before he was successful. He also asserted that having his entry acknowledged was exciting for him as well as his employer. Forshaw said that it pleased and satisfied him because he was enhancing the security of the customers of his own employer and Microsoft.

Four months ago, the reward program had been revealed by Microsoft for the purpose of bolstering efforts of preventing sophisticated hackers to subvert the new technologies that the company was using in its software, which is used in most of the PCs of the world. A variety of software security bugs have been identified by Forshaw. Hewlett-Packard had also given him a large bounty. Microsoft had disclosed a security bug in its browser last month and also released an update for the purpose of fixing the bug. According to researchers, this flaw was used by hackers for attacking countries in Asia and other regions.

Report: Microsoft Investors Want Bill Gates to Step Down

New reports have surfaced regarding the software giant, Microsoft Corp. According to them, the board of the company is being pressurized by three of the top investors of Microsoft to force Bill Gates in stepping down from his role of Chairman. Bill Gates co-founded the company about 38 years ago and the company is now worth $277 billion. The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Steve Ballmer has been under pressure for years as he was given the role of improving the performance and the share price of the company. However, it is the first time that the investors have aimed at Gates, who is regarded as an influential and respected figure in the field of technology.

No comment was made by a representative of Microsoft Corp. Despite the pressure, there is no indication that the request of the three investors will be tolerated by the Microsoft board. According to the sources, when combined, all three investors hold about 5% of the company. However, it was requested by the sources that the identity of the investors should not be revealed because this discussion was simply a private matter. Bill Gates is the largest individual shareholder of Microsoft and owns about 4.5%.

The three investors have made this suggestion because they are concerned that the adoption of new strategies is prevented because of the role of Chairman held by gates. They have an objection to Gate’s presence in the committee that has been chosen to select a successor of CEO Ballmer, who has announced his decision of retirement. They are worried that the power of the CEO of making substantial changes will be limited as long as Bill Gates remains chairman. It is another concern that in comparison to his declining shareholding, Gates, who devotes most of his time to his philanthropic foundation, wields extra power.

Before Microsoft went public in 1986, Bill Gates had owned about 49% of the company, but as per a pre-set plan, he sells of about 80 million shares of the company every year. If this cycle is continued, Gates will lose his entire financial state in the company in the year 2018. In 2000, after handing the role of CEO to Ballmer, Bill Gates lowered his profile and instead shifted his focus on his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ballmer had announced in August that he would be retiring in a year, amidst pressure from investors.

The hunt for a new CEO has begun at Microsoft, although the board has stated that his strategy of turning prominent software into services will still be followed through. However, some investors are of the opinion that the new CEO should not be forced to follow through this strategy. Mixed reactions were seen amongst shareholders when they heard that investors were lobbying for ousting Bill Gates from his role of Chairman of the company. Some are of the opinion that fresh eyes are needed while others maintain that he should be asked to play a larger role instead of ditching him.

Components Jacked-Up In Next Gen Surface Tablets

On Monday, the software giant Microsoft unveiled an update made to its Surface tablets that include the simpler Windows Surface 2 and the full Surface Pro 2. The burgeoning niche of the tablet market is being dominated by Apple’s iPad and a healthy level of rivalry offered by products based on Google’s Android OS. Not wanting to miss out on this loaded ride, Microsoft launched its own take in the form of Surface tablets and chose to use its own products for promoting Windows RT and Windows 8. Last year, the company made its first attempt, which was highly disappointing, but its back again with enhanced internal specifications.

The Microsoft Vice President of Surface introduced the Surface Pro 2 as a tablet design of a complete laptop. He said that in contrast to its predecessor, this tablet boasted a 20% better battery life and 50% enhanced graphics. The screen can be tilted by the users at two different angles with the ‘dual position kickstand’. The Surface 2, on the other hand, is operating on a stripped-down version of the new Windows and succeeds Surface RT. However, as per the company, this device is faster, lighter and thinner. A Tegra 4 Chip obtained from Nvidia is included in the Surface RT.

As opposed to its predecessor, it is three times faster and boasts a full HD 1080p screen. The battery life has also improved by 25%. Microsoft also introduced some new things in regard to accessories that include a Power Cover, a dock for the tablet, a thinner Type Cover and also a new-back-lit keyboard. The company has attached a price tag of $499 to the Surface 2 32 GB version and running on Windows RT and this is $50 less than the original. $549 is charged for a 64GB version. Meanwhile, the price of the 64GB version of the Pro tablet will be available for $899.

The tablets are available for preorder and will be hitting the stores on October 22nd of this year.  It was also mentioned that the latest processor of Intel that’s called Haswell has been used in the Surface Pro 2. This means that as compared to 90% of the laptops available in the market, this tablet is way faster and is 20% quicker than its predecessor. Also, a 75% improved battery life has been given to the Surface Pro 2 in contrast to the original. A 46% improvement in the color accuracy of the Surface Pro 2 is another advantage.

The sales of the first Surface tablets launched by Microsoft were dismal, to say the least. In July, the company had to make a write off worth $900 million for the Surface RT tablets and the company later stated that only $853 million had been generated in terms of revenue from the Surface RT and the Surface Pro combined in the year since they made their debut. In the second quarter of this year, only 4.5% of all tablet shipments were that of the Windows RT and Windows 8 devices. 

New Surface Tablet Unveiled By Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is back with a new Surface a year after its flubbed introduction of the Surface tablet line. The US tech giant is attempting to correct the mistakes that it made in the first shot and gain a stronghold in the tablet computers market, which is currently being dominated by the iPad of Apple Inc. and other tablets that are based on the Google Android Operating system. The company had invited the media for a launch of its new Surface in New York on September 23rd. The software giant unveiled two new models of this line; the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro. The company has also launched an expanded portfolio of its usual Surface accessories.

Details of the device hadn’t been known in the market, but it had been expected by analysts that the company would introduce a more powerful tablet. However, the speculation about the price doesn’t seem to be true as Microsoft has shown some sensibility there. Significant updates have been made to both of these two tablets, which include improved battery life and processing power. Adjustments have also been made to Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Pro 8.1 and this has made the two devices even more powerful and customizable.

Microsoft announced that the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 will be available in approximately 22 initial markets that include Italy, Finland, Denmark, the Luxemborg, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Australia, China and the US. It will also be available on online stores of the company. A release date of October 22nd has been announced for the tablets in the aforementioned countries, except for China where it will be available in early November. Microsoft stated that in the coming months, it would announce additional markets as well. Pre-orders for the devices will begin from September 24th on Best Buy, Microsoft stores and other selective retailers.

The company had barely made a dent in the competitive and sizzling tablet market when it had introduced the first-generation of the Surface tablet last year in October. The purpose behind this move was to shift the focus to device and services in order to compete in a better way with its rivals such as Google and Apple. Sales figures weren’t reported by the company, but revenue of just $853 million had been earned in the year that ended in June. Because of weak sales of its tablets, the company had been forced to make a write-down of about $900 million.

However, it is expected that the new release of the Surface tablets will be much better than the last one. Previously, Microsoft’s pricing strategy had also proved to be a turnoff for customers, but the company has seemingly made adjustments. The Surface 2, which will be an ideal device for personal use, equipped with all entertainment and gaming capabilities will be available for $449. In contrast, the Surface Pro 2 is a laptop replacement that brings considerable improvement in areas and is priced at $899.

Microsoft Urged To Put Lawrie, Mulally on CEO Shortlist

Microsoft Corporation is a well-recognized name in the information technology market as the firm had once dominated there. However, the software corporation has recently lost its ground to competitors like Apple and Google as the tech world is evolving and people are shifting to smartphone and tablets instead of traditional computers, of which Microsoft is king. Steve Ballmer is the current chief executive officer of the company, but he had just announced that he would be taking an early retirement. Mr. Ballmer has been considerably criticized for his actions as CEO due to which people were not surprised at his decision.

Of the top 20 investors of Microsoft, at least three want to see a turnaround expert take up the position of CEO and have therefore encouraged the board of directors of the technology giant to consider Computer Sciences Corp CEO Mike Lawrie and Ford Motor Co CEO Alan Mulally for this position. The CEO search is being conducted by a special committee of the board and the advisers are conducting meetings with the shareholders after Mr. Ballmer had announced his decision of retirement late last month. According to the sources close to the matter, the company could name CEO as early as the end of this year.

In one related meeting, the software giant had started with a list of 40 candidates, which included both internal and external and had narrowed it down considerably. However, it wasn’t clear as yet if the board of the company had actually reached out to any of the potential candidates that had been recommended by investors or whether it is even taking them into consideration. The company did not reveal the names of other candidates on the possible shortlist and did not make any comments when asked about this matter. Neither could the two candidates be reached for a comment.

However, last week, Alan Mulallay had stated that he was totally committed to his company. The hunt for the new chief executive of the largest software maker of the world is being closely watched by the technology sector. Although Microsoft is still quite profitable, the company is struggling to gain ground in mobile device market. In July, the company had announced that it would be undertaking a huge reorganization, but so far hasn’t provided any good results with this strategy either. It became apparent that shareholders had lost confidence in Steve Ballmer because soon after his retirement news hit, the share price of the company increased by 7%.

Last week, Microsoft had announced that it would be purchasing Nokia’s mobile device business and licensing its patents. However, this had decreased the share price by 6% because investors stated that Nokia was an underperforming unit and had made a loss in 2012. Nonetheless, this takeover will bring Stephen Elop back to Microsoft after he had jumped shipped in 2010. He is another likely candidate for succeeding Steve Ballmer as CEO. The new choice will be vetoed by Bill Gates, the co-founder and the largest shareholder of the company.