Microsoft readies bumper update

Microsoft will issue its biggest ever security update on 13 October.

The update will include 13 bulletins that between them tackle 34 vulnerabilities.

Microsoft said that eight of the bulletins were rated as critical - the most serious sort of vulnerability.

The security patches will close loopholes in many different programs including different editions of Windows, Internet Explorer and some elements of Office.

One update, rated as critical, tackles a loophole in Internet Explorer 8 running under Windows 7. The next version of Microsoft's operating system is due to be released on 22 October.

Most people will get the updates automatically but links to download them can also be found on Microsoft's security pages. Once applied to a PC, the machine will need to be re-started before the fixes take effect.

In a blog posting giving an outline of the updates, Jerry Bryant, a Microsoft security expert, said two of the fixes were for problems flagged up in earlier advisories.

One of those loopholes, for the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) bundled in with Microsoft's Internet Information Server, is already being exploited by some hi-tech criminals.

Windows is by far the most popular target for cyber criminals and the vast majority of the millions of malicious programs, including worms and trojans, are aimed at the operating system.

Prior to the bumper October security update, Microsoft's biggest every update was released in June 2009. That package of 10 fixes tackled 31 vulnerabilities.

Microsoft typically issues its updates on the second Tuesday of every month. It started this regular monthly update system in late 2003.

First woman wins economics Nobel

Elinor Ostrom has become the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics since it began in 1968.

Ms Ostrom won the prize with fellow American Oliver Williamson for their separate work in economic governance.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is the last of the six Nobel prizes announced this year. Since 1980, it has gone to Americans 24 times.

Last Friday, US President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - though this aroused some controversy.

Oil rises above USD 72 ahead of US company results

Oil prices rose above USD 72 a barrel on Monday in Asia as investors looked to a slew of US corporate earnings reports this week for signs of economic recovery..

Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 44 cents at USD 72.21 by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 8 cents to USD 71.77 on Friday.

Crude investors will be eyeing third quarter company results and forecasts for the rest of the year for clues about the strength of the US economy.



Top banks JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. report this week along with Google Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., Intel Corp., IBM Corp., General Electric Co., and Johnson & Johnson.



A more optimistic crude demand forecast by the International Energy Agency on Friday helped boost trader confidence.



The Paris-based IEA, which advises oil-consuming countries, said demand will likely reach 86.1 million barrels a day in 2010, up 1.7 percent from this year.

Kuwaiti oil minister Sheik Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Sabah told the state news agency on Sunday that an oil price range between USD 60 to USD 80 a barrel is acceptable -- echoing earlier remarks by Saudi Arabia.

The two Middle Eastern countries are members of the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about a third of the world's oil production.

In London, Brent crude rose 48 cents to USD 70.48 on the ICE Futures exchange.