Questões de Concurso

OpenOffice Installs Insecure Java Version
By Brian Krebs
February 4, 2009; 5:30 PM ET

    An alert reader let me know that the latest version of OpenOffice, the open source alternative to the Microsoft Office productivity suite, also installs a very old, insecure version of Java.
    Users who accept the default installation options for OpenOffice 3.0.1 also will get Java 6 Update 7, a version of Java that Sun Microsystems released last spring (the latest version is Java 6 Update 12).
    This is notable because not only could attackers target security vulnerabilities that were fixed in subsequent versions of Java, but Java 6 Update 7 was released prior to Sun's inclusion of a feature known as "secure static versioning," which is intended to prevent Web sites from invoking even older versions of Java that may be present on the user's system.
    Starting with Java 6 Update 11, Sun included a feature that uninstalls older versions, but that functionality for whatever reason did not automatically remove versions prior to Java 6 Update 10.
    It's not clear why OpenOffice ships with this outdated version. For what it's worth, the latest version of OpenOffice appears to work just fine with the latest, Java 6 Update 12. I've sent a note to the OpenOffice security team to find out, and will post an update if I hear back from them.
    Finally, I should note that Sun only released Java 6 Update 12 a few days ago. However, Sun says there are no security updates in this latest version, so there is no need to update if all you care about is having the most secure version of Java.
    Update, Feb. 11, 3:09 p.m. ET: The OpenOffice.org security team responded that the newest version of Java caused installation problems with the latest version of OpenOffice. The group plans to ship the latest Java version with the next version of OpenOffice, due to be released at the end of March. In the meantime, a version of Open Office without the older Java version can be downloaded here

(Adapted from http://voices.washingtonpost.com.securityfix/2009/02/openoffice_installs_insecure_j.html)

Smartphone app inquiry launched in Australia

    Australia’s Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said he would be inviting smartphone owners to “name and shame” apps they were unhappy with.
    The inquiry will ask whether users are given enough information about the costs associated with apps before and after they are downloaded.
    “In a very short period of time, new mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have changed the way consumers engage in commerce,” said Mr Bradbury in a statement. “At the same time though, some consumers have raised concerns about aspects of mobile commerce, particularly when purchases can be made without much difficulty using stored credit card data.”
    Mr Bradbury said he was particularly concerned about apps aimed at children, and that encourage the purchase of virtual goods and subscriptions.
    “We have strong consumer laws in Australia that protect the rights of consumers and place clear obligations on businesses,” he said. “This inquiry is an opportunity to look at the adequacy of existing measures to address any consumer concern.”
    The inquiry, which will start soon, will be carried out by the government’s Consumer Affairs Advisory Council.

Internet: <www.bbc.co.uk> (adapted).

Based on the text above, judge the following items.

Smartphone app inquiry launched in Australia

    Australia’s Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said he would be inviting smartphone owners to “name and shame” apps they were unhappy with.
    The inquiry will ask whether users are given enough information about the costs associated with apps before and after they are downloaded.
    “In a very short period of time, new mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have changed the way consumers engage in commerce,” said Mr Bradbury in a statement. “At the same time though, some consumers have raised concerns about aspects of mobile commerce, particularly when purchases can be made without much difficulty using stored credit card data.”
    Mr Bradbury said he was particularly concerned about apps aimed at children, and that encourage the purchase of virtual goods and subscriptions.
    “We have strong consumer laws in Australia that protect the rights of consumers and place clear obligations on businesses,” he said. “This inquiry is an opportunity to look at the adequacy of existing measures to address any consumer concern.”
    The inquiry, which will start soon, will be carried out by the government’s Consumer Affairs Advisory Council.

Internet: <www.bbc.co.uk> (adapted).

Based on the text above, judge the following items.

Injury and insult

Is it possible for cancer to develop as a result of an injury?

    “It’s a common myth that injuries can cause cancer,” the American Cancer Society informed on its Website. Until the 1920s, some doctors believed trauma did cause cancer, “despite the failure of injury to cause cancer in experimental animals.”
    But most medical authorities, including the Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, see no such link.
    The more likely explanation, the society suggests, is that a visit to the doctor for an injury could lead to finding an existing cancer.
    Other possibilities are that scar tissue from an old trauma could look like a cancerous lesion and that an injured breast or limb would be more closely watched for cancer to develop.
    A single interview-based study of breast cancer in England found that 67 women with breast carcinoma were more likely to report physical trauma to the breast in the preceding five years than 134 women in a matched control group without cancer. The study was criticized because of its size and methodology.
    Published in 2002 in The European Journal of Cancer Prevention, the study has not been duplicated. Its authors suggested that it was plausible that models of epithelial cell generation could be a mechanism. But the case is far from proved, even for a single type of cancer.

Internet: <www.nytimes.com> (adapted).

Based on the text above, judge the following items.

Injury and insult

Is it possible for cancer to develop as a result of an injury?

    “It’s a common myth that injuries can cause cancer,” the American Cancer Society informed on its Website. Until the 1920s, some doctors believed trauma did cause cancer, “despite the failure of injury to cause cancer in experimental animals.”
    But most medical authorities, including the Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, see no such link.
    The more likely explanation, the society suggests, is that a visit to the doctor for an injury could lead to finding an existing cancer.
    Other possibilities are that scar tissue from an old trauma could look like a cancerous lesion and that an injured breast or limb would be more closely watched for cancer to develop.
    A single interview-based study of breast cancer in England found that 67 women with breast carcinoma were more likely to report physical trauma to the breast in the preceding five years than 134 women in a matched control group without cancer. The study was criticized because of its size and methodology.
    Published in 2002 in The European Journal of Cancer Prevention, the study has not been duplicated. Its authors suggested that it was plausible that models of epithelial cell generation could be a mechanism. But the case is far from proved, even for a single type of cancer.

Internet: <www.nytimes.com> (adapted).

Based on the text above, judge the following items.