Darren Pauli

Microsoft Corp. has defended its decision not to patch a critical security flaw in Windows 98. Support for the operating system officially ends next month on July 12. The vulnerability exists in Windows Explorer and the way it handles Component Object Model objects, whereby a malicious Web site could force a connection to a remote server where Explorer could fail, executing arbitrary code and giving the attacker complete control of the OS.

The Australian federal government urged the Australian Computer Society to collaborate with universities, the ICT (Infocomm and Communications Technology) and the industry to address dwindling ICT skill shortages.