Mozilla Corp. late Monday released the first beta of Firefox 3.0, but continued to warn most users to stick with production Version 2.0.

"We do not recommend that anyone other than developers and testers download the Firefox 3 Beta 1 milestone release," Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's interface designer, said in a note posted to the company's development center. "It is intended for testing purposes only."

But while the official word was for users to stand clear, Beltzner's personal recommendation was a lot less intimidating. "It's a preview release, so use with caution and don't expect your add-ons to work without some magic; but between you and me, I've been running on this 'developer preview' for at least three months, and have never looked back," he said in a post to his own blog.

Beltzner also touted several of the improvements in Firefox 3.0, including new security features and tools, a redesign of the bookmarking and browser history and numerous back-end platform enhancements, but he said they all require more testing and user feedback. The company has posted a more complete list of new features in the release notes it added to its Web site Monday.

On the security side, Firefox 3.0 adds malware check, a phishing filter-like feature that warns users attempting to reach a URL blacklisted for suspected malicious code hosting; one-click site information that displays site ownership; fixes for vulnerabilities in plug-in updating; and integration with antivirus software and Windows Vista's parental control settings.

*Complied from online sources.

Booming demand for Internet services combined with insufficient infrastructure investment could leave the Web vulnerable to brown outs within three years, a study released Tuesday predicted.

Nemertes Research said Internet providers need to invest from $42 billion to $55 billion -- or 60% to 70% more than current plans call for -- to stave off interruptions to the digital economy that could happen if the 'Net bogs down. "The next Google, YouTube, or Amazon might not arise" if the situation isn't fixed, Nemertes said.

The problem, the group said, is that bandwidth usage is outpacing infrastructure build outs. While core fiber and switching/routing technology "will scale nicely," Internet access resources could soon be overwhelmed in three to five years, Nemertes said.

The trouble could be particularly acute in North America, the researchers said.

"Rather like osteoporosis, the underinvestment in infrastructure will painlessly and invisibly leach competitiveness out of the economy," said Nemertes.

Nemertes conceded that its study, in many ways, represents a best guess at what's happening with the Web. "The Internet is almost opaque to serious researchers, even those with the necessary technical skills, integrity and desire," said the group.

That's because commercial Internet providers closely guard information about usage and technology roadmaps. "Carriers and content providers refuse to reveal their inner workings," said Nemertes, adding that it's understandable that service providers are reluctant to reveal data that might undermine their competitiveness or compromise user privacy.

Nonetheless, "we conclude by urging content and service providers to cooperate with researchers in sharing data," said the study's authors. Nemertes also said Congress should consider tax credits to spur Internet providers to add more broadband capacity.

*Complied from online sources.

Spyware has become the biggest security threat to organizations, a survey from the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) has discovered. That's a big change from a few years ago, when spyware was barely even considered a threat.

In this, the fifth annual study, CompTIA surveyed organizations of all sizes from a variety of industries, and 55 per cent of respondents said the volume of spyware they are fighting has increased over the past 12 months, so "obviously it's a problem that's affecting a lot of people," said Steven Ostrowski, director of corporate communications at CompTIA.

"While spyware has always been somewhere on the radar, it's been generally down the list of concerns -- definitely within the top 10 but not in the top two or three, which is the case this year. That was a bit of surprise, as it's taking up so much time and causing so many problems for organizations," Ostrowski told eChannelLine.

Spyware has moved up in rank to take the number one spot of security threats to organizations right now, but over the long term, spyware is slightly less of a concern, the report found. Spyware took the top position of current threats, followed by lack of user awareness (54 percent), viruses and worms (49 percent), authorized user abuse (44.2 percent) and browser-based attacks (41.5 percent).

* compiled from online sources.

Google has created one of the most powerful search tools in the history of Web humanity. One of its goals along the way was to archive all of human knowledge. Another was to not be evil.

But the company discovered that at the intersection of archiving all human knowledge and not being evil is malware. In its pursuit of archiving the Web, Google has inadvertently become a tool for discovering and deploying malware. Now Google wants to turn the tables on malware and wants you (yes, you, good reader) to report malware to Google when you find it.

"Currently, we know of hundreds of thousands of Web sites that attempt to infect people's computers with malware," Google developer Ian Fette wrote in a blog post. "Unfortunately, we also know that there are more malware sites out there. This is where we need your help in filling in the gaps."

Google's plea for assistance follows an incident earlier during the week when security firm Sunbelt Software identified thousands of search terms that led to malware. The company didn't only point out sites that discussed malware, but also actual sites hosting drive-by code, whereby the simple act of visiting the page could be enough to infect a user's computer. The sites identified by Sunbelt have now been purged from Google's index.

"We worked closely with Google on this yesterday and they were very aggressive on handling the problem," Alex Eckelberry, president and CEO of Clearwater-based Sunbelt Software, told InternetNews.com.

He's not even miffed that Google did not credit Sunbelt in its post. "We work with them regularly, and they've already given us public credit for our work," Eckelberry said. "I will say Google is very responsive to this type of stuff and from a security perspective, very easy and fast to work with."

Though Google wants to cut down on malware, the effort may not necessarily deter Google hackers.

* compiled from online sources.