Due to a security hole in the Internet service's operating system, information about WebTV's customers was exposed to the public. The security lapse occurred when e-mail was sent to a filled WebTV e-mail account. The message would bounce back to the sender, but when a certain WebTV e-mail filter was turned on the bounced e-mail also contained customer ID numbers and the reason why it was rejected. Anyone that was aware of the problem could flood a WebTV account, then get the numbers from a returned message and use those to get at that customer's personal information, or terminate the WebTV account. Microsoft downplayed the problem (as always), but has now issued a patch for it anyway after advising WebTV customers to disable e-mail filters responsible for the problem.

And while we're discussing e-mail bugs, another MSN Hotmail security problem has been uncovered. The latest one, found by Bulgarian engineer Georgi Guninski, permits certain Javascripts to send passwords and other account information to a hacker. While Hotmail blocks typical <script> tag Javascripts embedded in HTML-formatted e-mail, it doesn't recognize newer scripts that lie under the <style> tag, so they can pass through to user accounts.
Microsoft acknowledges the problem but says it isn't a security issue, just an "example of people encouraging users to run malicious code on the Web." Hotmail customers were advised to disable Javascript before reading their e-mail, and Microsoft promised to investigate new ways of blocking potentially harmful messages. Microsoft can take its time on that project, since Hotmail's reputation can't be hurt any more than it has already.

The United States Army has revealed that, due to security concerns (big surprise), it is moving its Web site and network servers from Windows NT and IIS to Apple Macintosh G3's running the obscure WebSTAR server. That announcement follows the arrest of several hackers for crippling attacks on government servers, all of which ran Microsoft products. According to the Army News Service, the unusual choice of servers is directly related to a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) report saying the MacOS/WebSTAR combination is more secure than other platforms. While a military spokesman said the move is only a temporary one for evaluation purposes, it could become a trend. The US State Department has also moved its Internet presence to WebSTAR, and sources say other military groups are very interested in using Apple's OS X Streaming Server and QuickTime technology to distribute audio content.

On September 15th Microsoft announced the purchase of Visio, the maker of popular technical drawing software of the same name. According to the press release, Microsoft will give Visio shareholders a .45 share of Microsoft stock for every Visio share they own now, making the deal worth around $1.3 billion - making the buyout one of Microsoft's largest acquisitions so far. After the buyout is approved, Visio will be rolled into Microsoft's Business Productivity Group as the Visio Division, managed by current Visio president and CEO Jeremy Jaech - now a Microsoft vice president. As for Visio's products, they're doomed to become part of Microsoft Office Professional as that software suite's price hits the 5-digit mark.

Bill Gates' favorite tax exemption, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, announced last week that it will give $1 billion to provide scholarships for minority students. According to Gates himself, the Millennium Scholarship Program will give $50 million a year for twenty years to "provide financial assistance to high-achieving minority students who are in severe financial need..." The program will be administered by the United Negro College Fund, with support and participation by the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and American Indian College Fund. Thanks to this donation, now minorities getting scholarships from the Gates Foundation will have one thing Bill doesn't - a college diploma.

Cashing in on the popularity of eBay and other auction sites, Microsoft is adding a similar feature to MSN. The site will be operated by FairMarket, a company that has identical deals with Lycos, Excite@Home, CompUSA, and Dell. Microsoft will reportedly also get an undisclosed stake in FairMarket as part of the agreement.
France's Finance Ministry said last week it is investigating complaints about Microsoft's behavior, but said it has so far found nothing to merit an antitrust trial. According to a representative there have been numerous complaints from customers wanting to buy computers without Windows, but that in itself doesn't violate the law. If anything potentially illegal is uncovered, investigation will be turned over to the Competition Council, France's antitrust authority.

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