In reaction to the news today that security researchers have come up with a way to spoof the digital certificates that secure many Web sites, Microsoft downplayed the threat to users.

In a security advisory, Microsoft acknowledged the disclosure earlier in the day of an exploit of long-known bugs in the MD5 hashing algorithm used to create the digital certificates that in turn provide proof of a secure connection between users and Web sites. But the software vendor minimized the danger that users could face.

[ Related: "Researchers devise undetectable phishing attack" | Learn how to secure your systems with Roger Grimes' Security Adviser blog and newsletter, both from InfoWorld. ]

"This new disclosure does not increase risk to customers significantly, as the researchers have not published the cryptographic background to the attack, and the attack is not repeatable without this information," said Microsoft. The company added that it wasn't aware of any actual attacks using the techniques described by an international team of researchers from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States.

Microsoft also noted that most of the certificate authority vendors that issue digital certificates have abandoned MD5 and upgraded to the more secure SHA-1 algorithm.

However, there are several notable exceptions that still rely on MD5, including VeriSign's RapidSSL.com certificate authorization scheme. The researchers, who presented their findings at a security conference in Berlin today, said they in fact were able to hack RapidSSL.com and produce fake digital certificates.

A more stringent class of digital certificates, dubbed Extended Validation, are always signed using SHA-1, Microsoft added. "As such, [they] are not affected by this newly reported research," the company's advisory read.

Extended Validation, or EV certificates, are supported by all current Web browsers, which display a special icon or shade the address bar when the user surfs to a site secured by one. Microsoft's own Internet Explorer, for instance, turns the entire address bar green when it encounters a site secured by an EV certificate, while Mozilla's Firefox tints part of its address bar the same color.

Although Microsoft didn't offer any specific steps for users to take to protect themselves in light of today's disclosures, it urged them to keep Windows updated with the latest software patches.

Microsoft wasn't the only company that responded to the news about the exploit of the MD5 bug. Earlier today, Mozilla also acknowledged that the MD5 algorithm could be hacked and that phony digital certificates could be created as a result.

"This is not an attack on a Mozilla product, but we are nevertheless working with affected certificate authorities to ensure that their issuing processes are updated to prevent this threat," Johnathan Nightingale, a Mozilla spokesman on security issues, wrote in an entry posted on the company's blog. Like Microsoft's advisory, Nightingale's warning also said that Mozilla hadn't seen any evidence of actual attacks.

Even so, Nightingale recommended that Firefox users remain watchful. "We advise users to exercise caution when interacting with sites that require sensitive information, particularly when using public Internet connections," he wrote.

Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.

Year-in-review lists are all the rage right now. Everyone's counting down the top this-or-that of 2008, and amidst the noise, there's some pretty interesting content out there. I dug through dozens of tech-related "top of 2008" lists to find the cream of the crop. Here are 10 stories that stood out from the rest — and no, I didn't include this page as one of them.

1. 50 Wonderfully Geeky Moments of 2008 (Asylum)
From the government using "World of Warcraft" to track terrorists to a Hollywood hottie's reluctance to get up close and personal at Comic-Con, the folks at AOL's Asylum blog found 50 fun and funny geek-friendly moments from the year. There's plenty here to keep you busy and entertained. Oh, and the first slide shows Megan Fox wearing a rather tight and short Star Wars shirt. Enough said.

2. Most Viewed Photos of 2008 (National Geographic)
A picture's worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, and National Geographic knows how to capture a moment in an image. The magazine put together a compilation of its 10 most viewed online photo galleries of 2008. One photo tells the story of Hurricane Ike through the face of a single woman; another shows an alien-like squid creature observed at an oil drilling site (a Digg favorite ). These are some images worth revisiting or seeing for the first time.

3. Top 12 Tech Embarrassment of 2008 (TechCult)
2008 had its share of tech-related slip-ups, and now's the time to look back and laugh (or cringe). Whether it's the year's "Most Embarrassing Service Lifespan" — congrats, Lively by Google — or an NFL player's all-baring blog in the "Most Embarrassing Online Exposure" category, you're bound to find a chuckle in this collection. Also, I hear the writer is one hell of a guy, and far too modest to ever do something like put his own story into a "top 10" list.

4. Best of 2008 Plus the People's Choice (CrunchGear)
From the lowlights to the highlights, CrunchGear's "Best of 2008" takes you through the year's best and brightest from the world of tech. The writers from TechCrunch's sister site weigh in with their professional opinions, then present the results of a public poll — and the two views don't always match up. In the "Best Phone" award, for example, the staff picks the Android-based T-Mobile G1, while the people pick the iPhone 3G. Surf on over and get in on the debate.

5. 24 Most Underrated Web Sites of 2008 (Mashable)
So many year-ender lists tackle big name products and stories. Mashable takes a different approach by focusing on two dozen new Web sites that didn't get their deserved day in the spotlight. The list profiles some promising startups you might not have seen, such as a site that lets you hear words pronounced in practically any language by a native speaker. "24 Most Underrated" is an interesting read that stands out from the rest.

6. Most Popular Free Mac Downloads / Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2008 (LifeHacker)
Perhaps the most practical entry of this list, LifeHacker's duo of "Most Popular Free Downloads" presents the most popular free programs downloaded by Windows and Mac users over the past year (using the site's own traffic measurement as a guide). You'll find tools like a PDF to Word document converter, a simple audio/video file converter, and an open source challenger to the iTunes beast.

7. 101 Most Essential iPhone Apps of 2008 (MacLife)
Love it or hate it, there's no denying 2008 was the year of the iPhone — and, of course, the endless piles of apps. The guys at MacLife went through the App Store's thousands of options and picked out 101 of the best options available. This exhaustive compilation is well worth a read for any iPhone fanatic.

8. 10 Most Disappointing Games of 2008 (Wired)
It's easy to look to the bottom of the barrel for a "worst of" list. In evaluating the year's most disappointing games, though, Wired started at the top. The staff searched for titles that just didn't deliver what they should have — offerings such as Mario Kart Wii, which is described as "fail[ing] to innovate in any meaningful way over earlier entries in the series." Ouch…that stings. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Spore are among the other picks for most underwhelming.

9. Quotes of Note From 2008 (PC World)
Kids say the darndest things — and so, apparently, do high-ranking tech executives. This collection of notable quotes from 2008 covers a lot of ground, ranging from Larry Ellison's cloud computing admission to Linux mastermind Linus Torvalds' "masturbating monkey" reference while discussing security vulnerabilities. Add in the talk of space elevators and male enhancement e-mails, and you'll see why this story made the cut.

10. The 2008 Colbert Gadget Guide (Comedy Central)
What better way to end our list than with a wisecracking review of 2008's gadgets and games? Stephen Colbert's "Gadget Guide" features some of the finest tech-related moments from Colbert's Comedy Central show, all presented in embedded video form. Watch Rush try to play its own "Tom Sawyer" on Rock Band, check out Colbert's take on the recently unveiled self-driving car, and see why the "shoe phone" may be Apple's next big seller. Take a bite out of that, Steve Jobs.

So there you have it — 10 of the finest "top of 2008" lists in tech. Of course, narrowing down the Web's wealth of year-end reviews is no exact science. Think I missed a worthy winner? Leave your link and review in the comments section below.

PC World is an InfoWorld affiliate.

Year-in-review lists are all the rage right now. Everyone's counting down the top this-or-that of 2008, and amidst the noise, there's some pretty interesting content out there. I dug through dozens of tech-related "top of 2008" lists to find the cream of the crop. Here are 10 stories that stood out from the rest — and no, I didn't include this page as one of them.

1. 50 Wonderfully Geeky Moments of 2008 (Asylum)
From the government using "World of Warcraft" to track terrorists to a Hollywood hottie's reluctance to get up close and personal at Comic-Con, the folks at AOL's Asylum blog found 50 fun and funny geek-friendly moments from the year. There's plenty here to keep you busy and entertained. Oh, and the first slide shows Megan Fox wearing a rather tight and short Star Wars shirt. Enough said.

2. Most Viewed Photos of 2008 (National Geographic)
A picture's worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, and National Geographic knows how to capture a moment in an image. The magazine put together a compilation of its 10 most viewed online photo galleries of 2008. One photo tells the story of Hurricane Ike through the face of a single woman; another shows an alien-like squid creature observed at an oil drilling site (a Digg favorite ). These are some images worth revisiting or seeing for the first time.

3. Top 12 Tech Embarrassment of 2008 (TechCult)
2008 had its share of tech-related slip-ups, and now's the time to look back and laugh (or cringe). Whether it's the year's "Most Embarrassing Service Lifespan" — congrats, Lively by Google — or an NFL player's all-baring blog in the "Most Embarrassing Online Exposure" category, you're bound to find a chuckle in this collection. Also, I hear the writer is one hell of a guy, and far too modest to ever do something like put his own story into a "top 10" list.

4. Best of 2008 Plus the People's Choice (CrunchGear)
From the lowlights to the highlights, CrunchGear's "Best of 2008" takes you through the year's best and brightest from the world of tech. The writers from TechCrunch's sister site weigh in with their professional opinions, then present the results of a public poll — and the two views don't always match up. In the "Best Phone" award, for example, the staff picks the Android-based T-Mobile G1, while the people pick the iPhone 3G. Surf on over and get in on the debate.

5. 24 Most Underrated Web Sites of 2008 (Mashable)
So many year-ender lists tackle big name products and stories. Mashable takes a different approach by focusing on two dozen new Web sites that didn't get their deserved day in the spotlight. The list profiles some promising startups you might not have seen, such as a site that lets you hear words pronounced in practically any language by a native speaker. "24 Most Underrated" is an interesting read that stands out from the rest.

6. Most Popular Free Mac Downloads / Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2008 (LifeHacker)
Perhaps the most practical entry of this list, LifeHacker's duo of "Most Popular Free Downloads" presents the most popular free programs downloaded by Windows and Mac users over the past year (using the site's own traffic measurement as a guide). You'll find tools like a PDF to Word document converter, a simple audio/video file converter, and an open source challenger to the iTunes beast.

7. 101 Most Essential iPhone Apps of 2008 (MacLife)
Love it or hate it, there's no denying 2008 was the year of the iPhone — and, of course, the endless piles of apps. The guys at MacLife went through the App Store's thousands of options and picked out 101 of the best options available. This exhaustive compilation is well worth a read for any iPhone fanatic.

8. 10 Most Disappointing Games of 2008 (Wired)
It's easy to look to the bottom of the barrel for a "worst of" list. In evaluating the year's most disappointing games, though, Wired started at the top. The staff searched for titles that just didn't deliver what they should have — offerings such as Mario Kart Wii, which is described as "fail[ing] to innovate in any meaningful way over earlier entries in the series." Ouch…that stings. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Spore are among the other picks for most underwhelming.

9. Quotes of Note From 2008 (PC World)
Kids say the darndest things — and so, apparently, do high-ranking tech executives. This collection of notable quotes from 2008 covers a lot of ground, ranging from Larry Ellison's cloud computing admission to Linux mastermind Linus Torvalds' "masturbating monkey" reference while discussing security vulnerabilities. Add in the talk of space elevators and male enhancement e-mails, and you'll see why this story made the cut.

10. The 2008 Colbert Gadget Guide (Comedy Central)
What better way to end our list than with a wisecracking review of 2008's gadgets and games? Stephen Colbert's "Gadget Guide" features some of the finest tech-related moments from Colbert's Comedy Central show, all presented in embedded video form. Watch Rush try to play its own "Tom Sawyer" on Rock Band, check out Colbert's take on the recently unveiled self-driving car, and see why the "shoe phone" may be Apple's next big seller. Take a bite out of that, Steve Jobs.

So there you have it — 10 of the finest "top of 2008" lists in tech. Of course, narrowing down the Web's wealth of year-end reviews is no exact science. Think I missed a worthy winner? Leave your link and review in the comments section below.

PC World is an InfoWorld affiliate.