So here it is, folks, the first of what is likely to be many bugs affecting unpatched versions of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), which of course will remain unpatched since Microsoft cut off support for XP SP2 and earlier.

According to a security advisory (2286198), "the vulnerability exists because Windows incorrectly parses shortcuts in such a way that malicious code may be executed when the user clicks the displayed icon of a specially crafted shortcut. This vulnerability is most likely to be exploited through removable drives," Microsoft says.

While disabling AutoPlay lessens the risk, users with an infected USB thumb drive can still fall prey the attack if they were to manually browse to the root folder. And because it can run when AutoPlay and AutoRun are disabled, Sophos senior security advisor, Chester Wisniewski, warns that the bug is particularly "nasty," pointing out in a blog post that "it bypasses all Windows 7 security mechanisms, including UAC, and doesn't require administrative privilege to run."

IBM on Thursday said its going to throw millions -- as in, $100 million -- into a new research initiative that will have IBM collaborating with clinicians to develop new technologies, scientific advancements, and businesses processes for healthcare and insurance providers.

"Improving the quality of healthcare requires more than just digitizing health data," said Chalapathy Neti, Global Lead, Healthcare Transformation at IBM Research. "In fact the proliferation of diagnostics technology has in many ways added another layer of complexity, making it more difficult to gain valuable insights for patient care. Enabling greater coordination between care providers and transforming data into clinical decision intelligence could improve patient outcomes and help lower costs of healthcare today."

The money will be doled out over the next three years with a focus on three main areas. These will include evidence generation, streamlining the healthcare delivery process to improve service quality, and new incentives and models to reward patient outcomes rather than only treatment and volume of care.

M86 Security Labs released a list of the top 15 most observed vulnerabilities for the first half of 2010 and, surprise-surprise, Adobe Acrobat & Adobe Reader (No. 1) and Microsoft Internet Explorer (No. 2) took the top two spots.

It wasn't enough to just take the top spots, Adobe Reader and Microsoft IE overachieved (underachieved?) by claiming nine out of the 15 slots, with four of them belonging to Adobe and five for Microsoft.

The list also indicates a growing focus on exploiting Java-based vulnerabilities.

"Java is the next low-hanging fruit for attackers," says Marc Maiffret, chief technology officer at eEye Digital Security.

Seagate has come out with a new storage solution the company says is best suited for small businesses. It's the BlackArmor NAS 400, the newest addition to Seagate's BlackArmor line, and it comes with flexible storage options.

No big surprise that Seagate recommends pairing the device with their own low power Barracuda 3.5-inch drives, and the company says it also works with the new Barracuda XT hybrid drive. Either way, businesses have the option of running a RAID 0/1/5/10 or JBOD configuration, as well as hot-swapping HDDs.

Other features include Microsoft Active Directory 2003/2008 support, remote access, full system recovery software, event notifications, and four USB ports to add even more storage (or to share a USB printer).

The BlackArmor NAS 400 is available now starting at $400.