Homeland Security warns against Java; Lenovo undertakes restructure; Office 365 disruption in NZ

Welcome to the first weekly news review of 2013, where we look at the more pressing stories in IT from the last seven days.

A new, widely exploited vulnerability in Oracle’s Java last week led to a bunch of security experts - and the US’s Department of Homeland Security - to advise users to stay away from Java.

Java is a target for hackers because it’s designed to allow execution of code on a wide variety of operating systems - in other words, developing a single attack for Java can allow hackers to compromise Windows, Mac and Linux machines all at once.

This specific vulnerability in Java allows attackers to run arbitrary code on systems with the Java browser plug-in installed and active.

The exploit has already been incorporated into several commercial crimeware kits.

Homeland Security and others advised users to disable Java.

Oracle appears to have released a patch to address the problem.

Lenovo restructures brands

Laptop manufacturer Lenovo last week revealed plans to split into two business groups: the Lenovo Business Group, focusing on the low-end and mainstream market, and the Think Business Group, which will address the high-end and enterprise markets.

The Lenovo group will focus on “mainstream consumer and business desktops, laptops and tablets, as well as smartphones and smart TVs”, according to Engadget.

The Think group will work to reposition the traditionally business-oriented Think brand as both a high-end consumer offering as well as a business product. The group will also include the company’s enterprise business and workstation teams.

The split would not lead to any layoffs, the company said.

SingTel fault disrupts Office 365 access in NZ

New Zealand users had problems accessing Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 service for several days last week, leaving many without access to mail, apparently thanks to a routing fault on the SingTel network.

Some users in New Zealand reported that they were unable to connect to the servers hosting their Outlook mail, while others said the service was slow when they did connect.

Australian and New Zealand users access the Office 365 service via a host in Singapore. Some savvy users worked out that the Office 365 traffic from Singapore was being routed via Los Angeles, rather than Sydney, leading to the observed performance problems.

ITnews quoted a Telecom NZ employee blaming SingTel for the routing problem. According to some affected users, Microsoft support staff also blamed SingTel.

While the issue seems to have been resolved, the story shows that while cloud-based solutions can provide benefits, there are risks attached.

Image credit ©iStockphoto.com/DNY59