"Steady stream of questions" as stations switch to DTV

More than 400 U.S. stations turned off their analog TV broadcasts Tuesday, and station managers say their phones are "ringing off the hook" with viewers confused by the early switch; that said, many admit they knew it was coming.

Variety reports that while most U.S. viewers were ready for the switch (indeed, a recent Nielsen survey found that more than 95 percent of viewers were ready for the analog TV shutoff), stations that made the switch Tuesday were inundated with "a steady stream of questions from "frustrated callers" who "wondered how to get coupons for [DTV] converter boxes … or how to get the devices working."

Now, hold on—didn't Congress vote to delay the DTV transition date from Feb. 17 to June 12? It sure did, but hundreds of stations lobbied the FCC to make the switch on Tuesday, the original analog TV shutoff date. (Only those with older, analog TVs and over-the-air antennas will be affected by the switch.)

As Engadget HD reports, a total of 421 stations turned off their analog TV transmissions on Tuesday, joining more than 200 others that had already made the switch. While the FCC initially denied the requests of more than 100 stations seeking to jump the June 12 deadline, 53 later got the go-ahead (according to Engadget HD).

Although the vast majority of TV markets in the U.S. still have most of their stations broadcasting in both analog and digital, a few areas—notably San Diego and Santa Barbara, Calif.; Madison, Wisc.; Sioux City, Iowa; Wavo, Texas; Scranton, Penn.; and large swaths of Rhode Island and Vermont—saw most or all of their major stations make the DTV switch on Tuesday, according to Variety.

Phones at those stations were "ringing off the hook" Tuesday, with one Providence, R.I. volunteer telling Variety that he had to explain to "agitated" viewers that "the digital switch is not something we're doing to extort them of money."

Other viewers sheepishly admitted that they'd known about the switch all along, with an exec for a Scranton PBS station noting: "Everybody admits that it's their fault … some people seemed to be mad at themselves for not doing something sooner" (this from the Variety story).

Indeed—and with many stations now only broadcasting bare-bones, "nite-lite" analog crawls telling viewers how to get DTV converter boxes, I'm sure many analog TV viewers have been jolted out of their DTV denial.

Meanwhile, President Obama's just-passed stimulus package is set to give the stalled DTV converter box coupon program a much-needed kick in the pants.

Engadget HD notes that once $650 million from the stimulus package flows into the $1.5 billion program (which provides two $40 coupons per households for the $50-$60 DTV converter boxes), the backlog of four million applications should be cleared within two weeks.

So yes—the DTV transition (which has been in the making for 10 years now, and will make way for new, 4G wireless technologies and improved transmissions for rescue workers) couldn't be more of a mess, but at least we're making some headway. Now let's hope that the new, June 12 deadline stays put.

Internet Explorer security alert: Microsoft to issue software fix

Microsoft is rushing out a software update for its Internet Explorer web browser, after security experts warned that millions of computer users could have their PCs ‘hijacked’ by hackers.

The security ‘patch’, which will be made available later today, will close the loophole in Internet Explorer 7 that enables cyber criminals to gain access to a PC by directing users to infected websites. According to security firm Trend Micro, around 10,000 websites, mostly in China, have already been affected, and there is potential for malicious hackers elsewhere in the world to take advantage of the flaw.

“When the patch is released, people should run, not walk, to get it installed,” said Paul Ferguson, a researcher with Trend Micro. “This vulnerability is being actively exploited by cyber criminals and getting worse every day.”

It is estimated that about 0.2 per cent of Internet Explorer users had already visited one of the websites designed to exploit the security flaw. Internet Explorer is used by around 70 per cent of web users, meaning that millions of people could potentially be targeted by hackers.

Microsoft said a team of engineers had been working “around the clock” to fix the loophole.

“Obviously when you are talking about a customer base of over one billion people, any amount of vulnerability is too much,” said John Curran, head of Microsoft’s Windows commercial business group in the UK. “Any type of infection is going to see a large number of people affected by it.” It is thought that the security flaw was exposed by accident, after a Chinese security firm, Knowsec, released details of the loophole believing Microsoft had already issued a software fix to resolve it.

As a result, the websites corrupted by the hackers are mostly Chinese, and have been programmed to steal passwords for computer games which can be sold for money on the black market, but researchers at Trend Micro have warned cyber criminals elsewhere will be quick to capitalise on the flaw.

Security experts have recommended that Internet Explorer users install a different web browser, such as Firefox or Google Chrome, until the Microsoft patch is available.

Serious flaw in Internet Explorer not fixed yet

If you use Internet Explorer you might want to read this.

Users of all current versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser might be vulnerable to having their computers hijacked because of a serious security hole in the software that had yet to be fixed Monday.

The flaw lets criminals commandeer victims' machines merely by tricking them into visiting Web sites tainted with malicious programming code. As many as 10,000 sites have been compromised since last week to exploit the browser flaw, according to antivirus software maker Trend Micro Inc.

The sites are mostly Chinese and have been serving up programs that steal passwords for computer games, which can be sold for money on the black market. However, the hole is such that it could be "adopted by more financially motivated criminals for more serious mayhem — that's a big fear right now," Paul Ferguson, a Trend Micro security researcher, said Monday.

"Zero-day" vulnerabilities like this are security holes that haven't been repaired by the software makers. They're a gold mine for criminals because users have few ways to fight off attacks.

The latest vulnerability is noteworthy because Internet Explorer is the default browser for most of the world's computers. Also, while Microsoft says it has detected attacks only against version 7 of Internet Explorer, which is the most widely used edition, the company warned that other versions are also potentially vulnerable.

Microsoft said it is investigating the flaw and is considering fixing it through an emergency software patch outside of its normal monthly updates, but declined further comment. The company is telling users to employ a series of complicated workarounds to minimize the threat.

Many security experts, meanwhile, are urging Internet Explorer users to use another browser until a patch is released.