Ballmer: 'Windows 8 is coming!' Microsoft: 'Eek!'

Source: CNET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer this week let slip what was already a poorly kept secret: Windows 8 will go on sale next year.

But that's not a message Microsoft wants to let out so soon, apparently: The company issued a retraction shortly after Ballmer's speech.

Windows 7 had been the fastest-selling version of Windows ever, but sales started to slump last quarter. Knowledge that a new product is on its way may soften demand even further, analysts say.

At a developers conference in Tokyo earlier this week, Ballmer spoke about Microsoft's current product successes as a launching point to talk about what he believes will be an even brighter future. When he came to Windows 7, he noted that the next version of Windows will be even better.

"We're obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows," said Ballmer said, according to a transcript. "As we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors."

Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) declined to comment to CNNMoney about Ballmer's remarks, but many news organizations received an amusing backtracking statement from the company's PR team earlier in the week.

"It appears there was a misstatement," Microsoft's representatives told CNET, PC Magazine and others. "We are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows."

 

Why HP's new tablet won't run Windows

Until this week, Microsoft's top brass have been unusually secretive about Windows 8. The company is typically is unafraid to discuss or even release beta versions to the public, but this time it's working quietly. Ballmer's speech was even the first time a Microsoft executive publicly called the product "Windows 8." Microsoft hadn't officially confirmed the name of its next Windows iteration -- internally, Microsoft refers to it as "Windows.Next," though many Microsoft employees on LinkedIn refer to the new OS as Windows 8.
It's understandable if Microsoft is hesitant to give consumers and businesses any reason to put off their purchases of Windows. But it's more than a little unusual that the company is going to such lengths as to call the CEO's long, articulate comment about Windows 8 a "misstatement."

Report: Major weapons makers see networks breached by hackers

Source: CNET

Hackers have broken into the computer systems of Lockheed Martin and other major U.S. weapons manufacturers, potentially gaining access to information about future weapons programs as well as military technology currently in use, according to a Reuters report.

In an early report, the news agency cited a defense official and "two sources familiar with the issue." It has since said that it's unclear what--if any--data had been stolen.

A Lockheed representative told The Wall Street Journal, which cited its own unnamed source, that the company wouldn't comment on any specific incident but that "we have policies and procedures in place to mitigate the cyberthreats to our business, and we remain confident in the integrity of our robust, multilayered information systems security."

The intrusion could be related to the recent breach of RSA's popular SecurID token authentication technology, according to various news reports. SecurID is used in electronic "keys" company employees and others rely on to securely access computer networks. The Journal said remote access to some Lockheed networks was temporarily disabled and that Lockheed had sent 90,000 replacement keys to workers and asked employees to change all their company-related passwords as a safeguard.

Industry officials have said weapons contractors are unlikely to keep truly sensitive data on networks that can be accessed remotely, The New York Times reported.

Tech blogger Robert Cringely said the network disruption at Lockheed began Sunday and that the SecurID tokens were at the center of things, according to Reuters. The news agency also said that RSA-parent EMC had declined to comment on the issue, and that other defense contractors were, like Lockheed, remaining mum on the incident.

Lockheed makes a plethora of weapons and military technologies, from missiles to fighter planes to satellite-based field communications systems. RSA's SecurID technology is also used by the Pentagon, as well as other government agencies and numerous financial institutions.

On announcing the breach of the SecurID technology, in March, RSA said, "While at this time we are confident that the information extracted does not enable a successful direct attack on any of our RSA SecurID customers, this information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of a current two-factor authentication implementation as part of a broader attack. We are very actively communicating this situation to RSA customers and providing immediate steps for them to take to strengthen their SecurID implementations."

The New York Times reported that military contractor Raytheon said Friday that it took "immediate companywide actions" when the RSA breach was made known and that it had, as a result, "prevented a widespread disruption of our network." The Times also reported that General Dynamics said it hadn't experienced any issues related to the SecurID breach but that other major military contractors, including Northrop Grumman and Boeing, had declined to comment.