Altlantic International Partnership Headlines:, iPad bugs, Jailbreak artists exploit unpatched Apple iPhone

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/2011/06/atlantic-international-partnership-headlines-doj-approves-microsoft%E2%80%99s-acquisition-of-skype/

The U.S. Department of Justice has tacitly approved Microsoft’s recently-announced plan to acquire VoIP operator Skype, granting “early termination” to its review of the proposed takeover. The early termination action essentially means that the Justice Department found no reason to believe the acquisition would harm competition or negatively impact consumers.
Last month, Microsoft announced plans to pay some $8.5 billion to take over Skype—the deal values Skype at more than three times the amount equity firm Silver Lake paid for Skype when the operation was spun out of eBay back in 2009. Although Microsoft seems bullish on the idea—and apparently brought founder Bill Gates back into the loop to seal the deal—market watchers are wondering exactly how Microsoft will leverage Skype. Although Skype is by far the dominant player in VoIP communications, the company hasn’t so far hasn’t found a good way to turn its service into a solid revenue stream. Skype does charge for calling services to and from landlines and mobile phones, but since day one many of its users have opted for free Skype-to-Skype communications.
Microsoft so far has announced only non-specific plans to expand the existing Skype brand, and operate Skype as a separate division within the company. Industry watchers have speculated Microsoft will integrate Skype with the company’s digital advertising and business conferencing offerings.
[Correction: The original version of this article said the Federal Trade Commission had approved the acquisition; this was a misunderstanding based on the FTC processing the early termination listing on behalf of the Justice Department.]

ltlantic International Partnership Headlines: Jailbreak artists exploit unpatched Apple iPhone, iPad bugs

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/2011/07/11/

Computerworld – Developers today said they used a pair of unpatched vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS to “jailbreak” the iPhone and iPad, including the first-ever hack of the iPad 2.

Some security experts immediately said the unfixed flaw — and the fact it’s essentially been released into the wild for miscreants to exploit — posed a danger to iPhone and iPad owners.

“If they exploited the same vulnerability in a copy-cat maneuver, cybercriminals could create booby-trapped webpages that could — if visited by an unsuspecting iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad owner — run code on visiting devices,” warned Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with U.K.-based Sophos, in a blog post.

“All eyes now turn to Apple to see how quickly it can secure its users,” said Cluley. “Leaving asecurity hole like this open is simply inviting malicious hackers to exploit it.”

“Jailbreaking” refers to hacking iOS to allow an iPhone or iPad to install software not sanctioned by Apple and not distributed through its official App Store channel.

To jailbreak an iOS device, users must visit the JailbreakMe website with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running the current version of iOS, then install JailbreakMe 3.0.

The hack was released by a team led by someone identified only as “comex,” and is the latest in a string of exploits that have circumvented Apple’s App Store-only model, including one issued by the same group last August, just weeks after Apple rolled out iOS 4.

Ten days after JailbreakMe 2.0′s 2010 debut, Apple patched the two vulnerabilities used by comex.

Charlie Miller, the only person to win prizes four years running at the Pwn2Own hacking contest, and a principal research consultant for Denver-based Accuvant, said it was likely Apple would react quickly to the newest jailbreak.

“This one is a remote code executable vulnerability,” said Miller of one of the two bugs exploited by JailbreakMe 3.0. “Apple will probably patch this in a couple of weeks at the most.”

Like Cluley, Miller was concerned by the bugs and exploits. “They’re certainly a threat, and would be easy to make malicious,” he said.

Miller also noted that because comex released a patch for the vulnerabilities at the same time as JailbreakMe 3.0, the situation wasn’t serious. “For anyone worried about security, they can jailbreak their iPhone and then apply the patch,” Miller said.

Comex published the fix, dubbed “PDF Patcher 2,” on the Cydia app store, a popular site for downloading applications that run only on jailbroken iOS devices.

“Due to the nature of iOS, this patch can only be installed on a jailbroken device,” said comex in a short FAQ on JailbreakMe. “Until Apple releases an update, jailbreaking will ironically be the best way to remain secure.”

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Jailbreak artists exploit unpatched Apple iPhone, iPad bugs

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/tag/ipad-bugs/

Computerworld – Developers today said they used a pair of unpatched vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS to “jailbreak” the iPhone and iPad, including the first-ever hack of the iPad 2.

Some security experts immediately said the unfixed flaw — and the fact it’s essentially been released into the wild for miscreants to exploit — posed a danger to iPhone and iPad owners.

“If they exploited the same vulnerability in a copy-cat maneuver, cybercriminals could create booby-trapped webpages that could — if visited by an unsuspecting iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad owner — run code on visiting devices,” warned Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with U.K.-based Sophos, in a blog post.

“All eyes now turn to Apple to see how quickly it can secure its users,” said Cluley. “Leaving asecurity hole like this open is simply inviting malicious hackers to exploit it.”

“Jailbreaking” refers to hacking iOS to allow an iPhone or iPad to install software not sanctioned by Apple and not distributed through its official App Store channel.

To jailbreak an iOS device, users must visit the JailbreakMe website with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running the current version of iOS, then install JailbreakMe 3.0.

The hack was released by a team led by someone identified only as “comex,” and is the latest in a string of exploits that have circumvented Apple’s App Store-only model, including one issued by the same group last August, just weeks after Apple rolled out iOS 4.

Ten days after JailbreakMe 2.0′s 2010 debut, Apple patched the two vulnerabilities used by comex.

Charlie Miller, the only person to win prizes four years running at the Pwn2Own hacking contest, and a principal research consultant for Denver-based Accuvant, said it was likely Apple would react quickly to the newest jailbreak.

“This one is a remote code executable vulnerability,” said Miller of one of the two bugs exploited by JailbreakMe 3.0. “Apple will probably patch this in a couple of weeks at the most.”

Like Cluley, Miller was concerned by the bugs and exploits. “They’re certainly a threat, and would be easy to make malicious,” he said.

Miller also noted that because comex released a patch for the vulnerabilities at the same time as JailbreakMe 3.0, the situation wasn’t serious. “For anyone worried about security, they can jailbreak their iPhone and then apply the patch,” Miller said.

Comex published the fix, dubbed “PDF Patcher 2,” on the Cydia app store, a popular site for downloading applications that run only on jailbroken iOS devices.

“Due to the nature of iOS, this patch can only be installed on a jailbroken device,” said comex in a short FAQ on JailbreakMe. “Until Apple releases an update, jailbreaking will ironically be the best way to remain secure.”

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Merkel Says Debt Crisis Can’t Be Resolved in Single Step at July 21 Summit

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/2011/07/altlantic-international-partnership-headlines-merkel-says-debt-crisis-can%E2%80%99t-be-resolved-in-single-step-at-july-21-summit/

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe’s fiscal crisis can’t be solved in one go, damping expectations that government leaders may resolve the region’s debt woes at a July 21 summit.

“There won’t be one spectacular step” this week, Merkel told reporters in Hanover, Germany, today. “It’s entirely about creating a controlled, composed process of gradual steps and measures.”

Merkel’s comments come as European officials struggle to agree on measures to fight a crisis that is spreading from Greece and today sparked a jump in Spanish financing costs after a treasury bill auction. Policy makers are split on how to prod investors into financing a new Greek bailout package and whether the 17-nation euro area should issue eurobonds to help debt- laden nations tap markets.

The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.4177 at 4:01 p.m. in Berlin, from $1.4112 yesterday, after earlier rising 0.7 percent. The yield on 10-year German government bonds, the region’s benchmark, increased six basis points to 2.71 percent.

“I don’t expect European leaders to reach a decision this week,” said David Kohl, deputy chief economist at Julius Baer Group in Frankfurt. “They’ll continue to fight over whether to include bondholders or not. Still, a Greek debt restructuring wouldn’t be a solution to the problem.”

Second EU Summit

European Union leaders plan to meet for the second time in a month on July 21 in Brussels, aiming to break a deadlock over a new Greek rescue that has spooked investors. There are no current plans for euro region finance ministers to convene as a group before the leaders’ summit, said an EU official, who declined to be identified because preparations for the meeting are ongoing.

Spanish and Italian bond yields surged yesterday, piling pressure on officials to end the turmoil. Spain and Greece sold 6.08 billion euros ($8.6 billion) of bills today. The Treasury inMadrid said it sold 3.79 billion euros of 12-month bills at an average yield of 3.702 percent, compared with 2.695 percent the last time the securities were sold on June 14.

Merkel said the euro region’s problems must be solved “from the core,” which means reducing debt and increasing competitiveness.

Governments Squabble

Europe’s debt crisis has worsened this month as EU governments squabble with each other and with the European Central Bank about what to do. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said July 10 that Europe is at the “epicenter” of a debt crisis that concerns the entire developed world and urged the euro area to do the “maximum” in terms of governance reforms.

Merkel’s comments came after Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said EU leaders would seek a “comprehensive solution” to Greece’s debt crisis and stop the contagion threat at their summit. She told reporters in Vienna today the European Financial Stability Facility probably needs “more flexibility” and that Greece may need longer repayment times for its rescue loans.

EU leaders have a “menu of options,” Francois Perol, head of the French Banking Federation, told reporters today in Paris. “Some might be interested by forms of buyback, others by renewal formulas,” he said, declining to give further details.

Greek Yields Surge

Yields on Spanish and Italian 10-year and Greek two-year bonds hit euro-era records yesterday. Spanish 10-year yields fell 15 basis points to 6.17 percent as of 11:09 a.m. inRome, narrowing the spread over German bunds to 346 basis points. Greek two-year yields surged 113 basis points to 37.10 percent, while Italy’s 10-year bond yield dropped 23 basis points to 5.74 percent.

Some finance ministers have started to zero in on eurobonds as part of the fix for a crisis that has ricocheted through the euro region for more than 18 months and is now threatening to engulf two of its biggest members. While jointly issuing bonds with Germany may help debt-laden nations tap markets at lower interest rates, it could also raise borrowing costs for Europe’s largest economy.

The European Affairs spokesman for Merkel’s Bavarian Christian Social Union ally in parliament, Thomas Silberhorn, said joint euro region bond sales would “overstretch solidarity” between the region’s members as they would force donor countries such as Germany to accept liability for the debts of all other members.

‘Credit Event’

While Germany wants private investors to participate in a second bailout package for Greece, Trichet says the ECB won’t accept Greek government bonds as collateral for loans in the event of a default or “credit event.”

EU President Herman van Rompuy has asked leaders to meet in Brussels to discuss “the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek program.” Yesterday, stocks declined around the world, the euro fell and the cost of insuring European sovereign debt rose to records amid concern the euro region isn’t any closer to solving the crisis a year after Greece’s initial rescue.

A summit was originally mulled for last week before being postponed amid German fears it would backfire without a pact on private-sector involvement. Germany’s government says no extra aid is possible without bondholders staying exposed to Greek debt.

The euro-region recovery is losing momentum as leaders struggle to contain the crisis. In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, investor confidence dropped to the lowest in 2 1/2 years in July, the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said today. European economic confidence dropped in June and manufacturing growth slowed.

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Merkel Says Debt Crisis Can’t Be Resolved in Single Step at July 21 Summit

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/tag/aip-madrid-atlantic-international-partnership/

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe’s fiscal crisis can’t be solved in one go, damping expectations that government leaders may resolve the region’s debt woes at a July 21 summit.

“There won’t be one spectacular step” this week, Merkel told reporters in Hanover, Germany, today. “It’s entirely about creating a controlled, composed process of gradual steps and measures.”

Merkel’s comments come as European officials struggle to agree on measures to fight a crisis that is spreading from Greece and today sparked a jump in Spanish financing costs after a treasury bill auction. Policy makers are split on how to prod investors into financing a new Greek bailout package and whether the 17-nation euro area should issue eurobonds to help debt- laden nations tap markets.

The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.4177 at 4:01 p.m. in Berlin, from $1.4112 yesterday, after earlier rising 0.7 percent. The yield on 10-year German government bonds, the region’s benchmark, increased six basis points to 2.71 percent.

“I don’t expect European leaders to reach a decision this week,” said David Kohl, deputy chief economist at Julius Baer Group in Frankfurt. “They’ll continue to fight over whether to include bondholders or not. Still, a Greek debt restructuring wouldn’t be a solution to the problem.”

Second EU Summit

European Union leaders plan to meet for the second time in a month on July 21 in Brussels, aiming to break a deadlock over a new Greek rescue that has spooked investors. There are no current plans for euro region finance ministers to convene as a group before the leaders’ summit, said an EU official, who declined to be identified because preparations for the meeting are ongoing.

Spanish and Italian bond yields surged yesterday, piling pressure on officials to end the turmoil. Spain and Greece sold 6.08 billion euros ($8.6 billion) of bills today. The Treasury inMadrid said it sold 3.79 billion euros of 12-month bills at an average yield of 3.702 percent, compared with 2.695 percent the last time the securities were sold on June 14.

Merkel said the euro region’s problems must be solved “from the core,” which means reducing debt and increasing competitiveness.

Governments Squabble

Europe’s debt crisis has worsened this month as EU governments squabble with each other and with the European Central Bank about what to do. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said July 10 that Europe is at the “epicenter” of a debt crisis that concerns the entire developed world and urged the euro area to do the “maximum” in terms of governance reforms.

Merkel’s comments came after Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said EU leaders would seek a “comprehensive solution” to Greece’s debt crisis and stop the contagion threat at their summit. She told reporters in Vienna today the European Financial Stability Facility probably needs “more flexibility” and that Greece may need longer repayment times for its rescue loans.

EU leaders have a “menu of options,” Francois Perol, head of the French Banking Federation, told reporters today in Paris. “Some might be interested by forms of buyback, others by renewal formulas,” he said, declining to give further details.

Greek Yields Surge

Yields on Spanish and Italian 10-year and Greek two-year bonds hit euro-era records yesterday. Spanish 10-year yields fell 15 basis points to 6.17 percent as of 11:09 a.m. inRome, narrowing the spread over German bunds to 346 basis points. Greek two-year yields surged 113 basis points to 37.10 percent, while Italy’s 10-year bond yield dropped 23 basis points to 5.74 percent.

Some finance ministers have started to zero in on eurobonds as part of the fix for a crisis that has ricocheted through the euro region for more than 18 months and is now threatening to engulf two of its biggest members. While jointly issuing bonds with Germany may help debt-laden nations tap markets at lower interest rates, it could also raise borrowing costs for Europe’s largest economy.

The European Affairs spokesman for Merkel’s Bavarian Christian Social Union ally in parliament, Thomas Silberhorn, said joint euro region bond sales would “overstretch solidarity” between the region’s members as they would force donor countries such as Germany to accept liability for the debts of all other members.

‘Credit Event’

While Germany wants private investors to participate in a second bailout package for Greece, Trichet says the ECB won’t accept Greek government bonds as collateral for loans in the event of a default or “credit event.”

EU President Herman van Rompuy has asked leaders to meet in Brussels to discuss “the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek program.” Yesterday, stocks declined around the world, the euro fell and the cost of insuring European sovereign debt rose to records amid concern the euro region isn’t any closer to solving the crisis a year after Greece’s initial rescue.

A summit was originally mulled for last week before being postponed amid German fears it would backfire without a pact on private-sector involvement. Germany’s government says no extra aid is possible without bondholders staying exposed to Greek debt.

The euro-region recovery is losing momentum as leaders struggle to contain the crisis. In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, investor confidence dropped to the lowest in 2 1/2 years in July, the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said today. European economic confidence dropped in June and manufacturing growth slowed.

Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: Concerns Over Facebook Stream Importer for Google+ Abound

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/2011/07/atlantic-international-partnership-headlines-concerns-over-facebook-stream-importer-for-google-abound/

An application that allows Firefox and Chrome users to view Facebook stream data within Google+ is popular, but may put users at a security risk due to issues with the coding.

Google+Facebook, developed by Israeli developer Crossrider, lets users see Facebook streams and update Facebook statuses from within the Google+ platform. The extension has thus far proved popular: according to company execs, there have been over 100,000 downloads in just one week.

Unfortunately, the code may be insecure. Crossrider CEO Koby Menachemi admitted himselfthat the application was written in less than a day, and so “the product is not perfect.” Taking this fact into consideration, it’s not impossible that Crossrider’s coders may have missed something.

Questions about Google+Facebook’s possible security issues were raised over the weekend, when Reddit user RogueDarkJedi posted comments on a story promoting the app. In the comments, RogueDarkJedi alleges that Google+Facebook “acts like malware,” and says it’s a “security vulnerability waiting to happen.”

What’s in question is the app’s behavior. Google+Facebook must download an external JavaScript file at every launch, in order for it to work. Mozilla has frowned upon this practice, as it puts all users of an app using such a system at risk in the event that the server hosting the script is compromised.

The app also does a number of other seemingly unscrupulous things, such as changing search preferences to a site controlled by Crossrider and appending a signature to e-mail messages sent on certain webmail providers. Uninstalling the app reportedly does not remove many of the changes Google+Facebook makes.

“So should you trust these guys? In my opinion, [expletive deleted] no. Do NOT install this, it does more harm than anything. Stay the hell away,” RogueDarkJedi wrote in the comment.

The post caught the attention of Crossrider, who responded to a Lifehacker post about the application, in which Lifehacker recommended its readers not install the app. Cofounder and CTO Shmueli Ahdut shot back, saying the way Google+Facebook auto-updates is “at the edge of extension-technology today,” and that no changes are made without the user’s permission.

RogueDarkJedi updated his post saying that the company was not being honest with its users, and that its code was still sloppy: “Stop lying to your users and to Reddit. Clean up your code, issue an apology, tell your users what they are getting into and secure your platform.”

In any case, if you have downloaded the app, it may be a good idea to uninstall it for now. Personally, I think the whole point this Reddit commenter makes about the application constantly going back to Crossrider’s servers for that JavaScript file is very valid.

All it takes is AntiSec one time to hack into Crossrider’s servers and mess with that JavaScript file. Soon your computer could be doing a lot more than just putting your Facebook stream on Google+. With 100,000+ users, it’s certainly an easy (and attractive) target.

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Merkel Says Debt Crisis Can’t Be Resolved in Single Step at July 21 Summit

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/2011/07/altlantic-international-partnership-headlines-merkel-says-debt-crisis-can%E2%80%99t-be-resolved-in-single-step-at-july-21-summit/

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe’s fiscal crisis can’t be solved in one go, damping expectations that government leaders may resolve the region’s debt woes at a July 21 summit.

“There won’t be one spectacular step” this week, Merkel told reporters in Hanover, Germany, today. “It’s entirely about creating a controlled, composed process of gradual steps and measures.”

Merkel’s comments come as European officials struggle to agree on measures to fight a crisis that is spreading from Greece and today sparked a jump in Spanish financing costs after a treasury bill auction. Policy makers are split on how to prod investors into financing a new Greek bailout package and whether the 17-nation euro area should issue eurobonds to help debt- laden nations tap markets.

The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.4177 at 4:01 p.m. in Berlin, from $1.4112 yesterday, after earlier rising 0.7 percent. The yield on 10-year German government bonds, the region’s benchmark, increased six basis points to 2.71 percent.

“I don’t expect European leaders to reach a decision this week,” said David Kohl, deputy chief economist at Julius Baer Group in Frankfurt. “They’ll continue to fight over whether to include bondholders or not. Still, a Greek debt restructuring wouldn’t be a solution to the problem.”

Second EU Summit

European Union leaders plan to meet for the second time in a month on July 21 in Brussels, aiming to break a deadlock over a new Greek rescue that has spooked investors. There are no current plans for euro region finance ministers to convene as a group before the leaders’ summit, said an EU official, who declined to be identified because preparations for the meeting are ongoing.

Spanish and Italian bond yields surged yesterday, piling pressure on officials to end the turmoil. Spain and Greece sold 6.08 billion euros ($8.6 billion) of bills today. The Treasury inMadrid said it sold 3.79 billion euros of 12-month bills at an average yield of 3.702 percent, compared with 2.695 percent the last time the securities were sold on June 14.

Merkel said the euro region’s problems must be solved “from the core,” which means reducing debt and increasing competitiveness.

Governments Squabble

Europe’s debt crisis has worsened this month as EU governments squabble with each other and with the European Central Bank about what to do. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said July 10 that Europe is at the “epicenter” of a debt crisis that concerns the entire developed world and urged the euro area to do the “maximum” in terms of governance reforms.

Merkel’s comments came after Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said EU leaders would seek a “comprehensive solution” to Greece’s debt crisis and stop the contagion threat at their summit. She told reporters in Vienna today the European Financial Stability Facility probably needs “more flexibility” and that Greece may need longer repayment times for its rescue loans.

EU leaders have a “menu of options,” Francois Perol, head of the French Banking Federation, told reporters today in Paris. “Some might be interested by forms of buyback, others by renewal formulas,” he said, declining to give further details.

Greek Yields Surge

Yields on Spanish and Italian 10-year and Greek two-year bonds hit euro-era records yesterday. Spanish 10-year yields fell 15 basis points to 6.17 percent as of 11:09 a.m. inRome, narrowing the spread over German bunds to 346 basis points. Greek two-year yields surged 113 basis points to 37.10 percent, while Italy’s 10-year bond yield dropped 23 basis points to 5.74 percent.

Some finance ministers have started to zero in on eurobonds as part of the fix for a crisis that has ricocheted through the euro region for more than 18 months and is now threatening to engulf two of its biggest members. While jointly issuing bonds with Germany may help debt-laden nations tap markets at lower interest rates, it could also raise borrowing costs for Europe’s largest economy.

The European Affairs spokesman for Merkel’s Bavarian Christian Social Union ally in parliament, Thomas Silberhorn, said joint euro region bond sales would “overstretch solidarity” between the region’s members as they would force donor countries such as Germany to accept liability for the debts of all other members.

‘Credit Event’

While Germany wants private investors to participate in a second bailout package for Greece, Trichet says the ECB won’t accept Greek government bonds as collateral for loans in the event of a default or “credit event.”

EU President Herman van Rompuy has asked leaders to meet in Brussels to discuss “the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek program.” Yesterday, stocks declined around the world, the euro fell and the cost of insuring European sovereign debt rose to records amid concern the euro region isn’t any closer to solving the crisis a year after Greece’s initial rescue.

A summit was originally mulled for last week before being postponed amid German fears it would backfire without a pact on private-sector involvement. Germany’s government says no extra aid is possible without bondholders staying exposed to Greek debt.

The euro-region recovery is losing momentum as leaders struggle to contain the crisis. In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, investor confidence dropped to the lowest in 2 1/2 years in July, the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said today. European economic confidence dropped in June and manufacturing growth slowed.