The most recent Bugs & Fixes articles from IT Week

A bug is in the eye of the beholder

Daniel Robinson — 2007-10-15T00:00:00.000Z

Daniel Robinson, IT Week, Monday 15 October 2007 at 00:00:00

If a program does not work as users expect it to, but the developer sees nothing amiss, is it a bug?

When is a bug not a bug? When it’s an undocumented feature. This is an old industry joke that pokes fun at software vendors, who often dismiss unexpected behaviour in...

A good software tester gets the picture

Les Hatton — 2006-11-20T00:00:00.000Z

Les Hatton, IT Week, Monday 20 November 2006 at 00:00:00

A camera that lost all its snaps is just one example of how basic programming checks are missed

Software testers rarely enjoy much kudos in their company because their job is viewed as “easy”. After all, anybody can break a piece of software....

Microsoft deal could put F1 in the pits

Les Hatton — 2006-07-20T00:00:00.000Z

Les Hatton, IT Week, Thursday 20 July 2006 at 00:00:00

A contract to supply electronic control units to Formula One takes the giant into unfamiliar territory

I think you ought to know I’m feeling very depressed this week. The rot set in when I received an email extolling the virtues of teleinfomatics....

OS X hit by another browser flaw

Roger Howorth — 2006-04-26T00:00:00.000Z

Roger Howorth, IT Week, Wednesday 26 April 2006 at 00:00:00

A few lines of code in a web page can force users of Apple's Safari browser to reboot their iMac

Apple took another knock on Monday [24 April] when a security researcher released news of a denial-of-service vulnerability in Apple's Safari web browser, which is a standard part of its...

Why coders must mind their language

Les Hatton — 2006-04-03T00:00:00.000Z

Les Hatton, IT Week, Monday 3 April 2006 at 00:00:00

An application’s flaws can often be traced back to vulnerabilities in the programming language

One of my serious research interests as a computer scientist is the vulnerabilities in programming languages. In the very early days, computers were programmed right down at the 0s and...

The harsh truth behind vendor guff

Les Hatton — 2006-02-06T00:00:00.000Z

Les Hatton, IT Week, Monday 6 February 2006 at 00:00:00

Vendors that persist in spouting vague marketing jargon such as ‘availability’ are usually hiding something

I was idly flicking through a computer magazine last week when it struck me just how much this industry now wallows in nonsense, ambiguity and hyperbole....

Checks to help Windows coders

Roger Howorth — 2006-01-30T00:00:00.000Z

Roger Howorth, IT Week, Monday 30 January 2006 at 00:00:00

Developers get new vulnerability spotting options

Software developers working with Windows systems will have new options to tighten security and spot vulnerabilities in their code following the release of two new offerings from software giant Compuware....

Threat report warns of spam attacks

Phil Muncaster — 2006-01-30T00:00:00.000Z

Phil Muncaster, IT Week, Monday 30 January 2006 at 00:00:00

Mail and IM-based attacks set to trouble IT managers

Integrated message management specialist Postini's annual threat report, released today, predicts that email spam and instant messaging (IM)-based attacks are likely to be among the key security problems facing IT managers...

Web applications are easy targets

Tim Anderson — 2006-01-16T00:00:00.000Z

Tim Anderson, IT Week, Monday 16 January 2006 at 00:00:00

Business software vendors are getting their security act together, but web apps remain a cause for concern

This year kicked off with yet another panic over a vulnerability in Windows, this time an image-handling flaw that exposed users to attack if they encountered a malicious Windows Metafile...

Microsoft rushes out fix

Madeline Bennett — 2006-01-09T00:00:00.000Z

Madeline Bennett, IT Week, Monday 9 January 2006 at 00:00:00

Patch out not a moment too soon

Microsoft yielded to intense pressure from customers in January and rolled out an emergency patch to fix a serious Windows Metafile (WMF) flaw....

Just who is Microsoft trying to kid?

Les Hatton — 2005-12-08T00:00:00.000Z

Les Hatton, IT Week, Thursday 8 December 2005 at 00:00:00

Cutting six months off the upgrade cycle will make applications more rife with bugs than ever

I had to pinch myself several times this week and I have found that the frequency of pinching over the years has increased....

Compliance hampers IT security

Phil Muncaster — 2005-07-19T00:00:00.000Z

Phil Muncaster, IT Week, Tuesday 19 July 2005 at 00:00:00

Firms ignoring weaknesses at their own cost

Many firms may be ignoring weaknesses in their IT as they concentrate spending and resources on systems to comply with regulations, according to a report issued by the Information Security...

Hackers exploit backup tool flaw

Roger Howorth — 2005-07-13T00:00:00.000Z

Roger Howorth, IT Week, Wednesday 13 July 2005 at 00:00:00

Firms told to use firewalls to limit connectivity

Internet security organisation the Cert Coordination Center have warned that hackers are exploiting flaws in Veritas Backup Exec software. Cert said firms should check their firewall configurations to ensure that...

Hosted service makes email encryption easier

David Neal and Phil Muncaster — 2005-06-28T00:00:00.000Z

David Neal and Phil Muncaster, IT Week, Tuesday 28 June 2005 at 00:00:00

Firms offered security boost

Messaging services provider FrontBridge Technologies has launched a hosted email security service to let companies encrypt messages without the need to run in-house encryption systems....

Is the price of freedom too high?

Tony Westbrook — 2005-06-20T14:19:58.000Z

Tony Westbrook, IT Week, Monday 20 June 2005 at 14:19:58

Use of USB kit, MP3 players and other devices poses a growing problem for firms

Ever since dumb terminals sprouted tape drives and users got access to IT infrastructure through client devices, firms have worried that staff would run amok and mess up beautifully configured...