Apple finally patches dangerous DNS flaw
Apple has at last issued a patch for the DNS (Domain Name System) flaw considered one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities ever to affect the Internet. On Friday, Apple posted a security advisory saying that the patch will fix Apple's implementation of the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) DNS server in Mac OS X v10.4.11, Mac OS X Server v10.4.11, Mac OS X v10.5.4 and Mac OS X Server v10.5.4. Apple has also wrapped a dozen other fixes in the security update. The fixes can be downloaded individually or the "software update" feature can be used in OS X to download the whole batch. IDG News Service, 08/01/2008.

Apple advisory

Also: Apple's patch fails to fix DNS flaw, researchers claim
**********

Researcher reveals Twitter 'follow' bug
Attackers can exploit a bug in Twitter to force victims to follow the hacker's account, a security researcher said Thursday. According to Aviv Raff, the Twitter vulnerably could expose users to malware-hosting Web sites. Computerworld, 07/31/2008.
**********

Five new updates from Debian:

httrack (buffer overflow, code execution)

cupsys (multiple flaws)

libxslt (buffer overflows, code execution)

dnsmasq (DNS cache poisoning)

newsx (buffer overflow, code execution)
**********

Four new patches from Gentoo:

Python (multiple flaws)

Pan (buffer overflow, code execution)

Linux Audit (buffer overflow, code execution)

VLC (multiple flaws)
**********

Three new fixes from Ununtu:

OpenLDAP (denial of service)

libxslt (buffer overflows, code execution)

Python (multiple flaws)
**********

Two new patches from Mandriva:

libxslt (buffer overflows, code execution)

licq (denial of service)
**********

From the interesting reading department:

Safe Summer Travels on the Information Superhighway
With the Olympics right around the corner and being that we are in the heart of the summer, I'm sure many of you will find yourselves travelling quite extensively. Nowadays, it's almost impossible to go cold turkey from the Internet. Symantec Security Response, 08/01/2008.

Busch alerts N.H. residents: Stolen laptop had personal data
About 2,250 New Hampshire residents have been notified that their personal information was stored on a laptop computer taken by thieves that burgled an Anheuser-Busch Co. office in Missouri in June. Computerworld, 08/02/2008.

Jason Meserve is multimedia editor at Network World.