Secunia Security Advisory - SUSE has issued an update for libvirt. This fixes two vulnerabilities, which can be exploited by malicious people to cause a DoS (Denial of Service) and potentially compromise a vulnerable system.

Secunia Security Advisory - SUSE has issued an update for ruby on rails. This fixes multiple vulnerabilities, which can be exploited by malicious people to conduct SQL injection attacks and to compromise a vulnerable system.

Mandriva Linux Security Advisory 2015-046 - Stephen Roettger of the Google Security Team, Sebastian Krahmer of the SUSE Security Team and Harlan Stenn of Network Time Foundation discovered that the length value in extension fields is not properly validated in several code paths in ntp_crypto.c, which could lead to information leakage or denial of service. Stephen Roettger of the Google Security Team reported that ACLs based on IPv6 ::1 addresses can be bypassed.

Mandriva Linux Security Advisory 2015-140 - If no authentication key is defined in the ntp.conf file, a cryptographically-weak default key is generated. ntp-keygen before 4.2.7p230 uses a non-cryptographic random number generator with a weak seed to generate symmetric keys. A remote unauthenticated attacker may craft special packets that trigger buffer overflows in the ntpd functions crypto_recv() (when using autokey authentication), ctl_putdata(), and configure(). The resulting buffer overflows may be exploited to allow arbitrary malicious code to be executed with the privilege of the ntpd process. A section of code in ntpd handling a rare error is missing a return statement, therefore processing did not stop when the error was encountered. This situation may be exploitable by an attacker. Stephen Roettger of the Google Security Team, Sebastian Krahmer of the SUSE Security Team and Harlan Stenn of Network Time Foundation discovered that the length value in extension fields is not properly validated in several code paths in ntp_crypto.c, which could lead to information leakage or denial of service. Stephen Roettger of the Google Security Team reported that ACLs based on IPv6 ::1 addresses can be bypassed. The ntp package has been patched to fix these issues.

SUSE/Portus version 2.2 suffers from a persistent cross site scripting vulnerability.

HP Security Bulletin - A potential vulnerability has been identified with Openview Network Node Manager (OV NNM). This vulnerability could be exploited remotely by an unauthorized user to gain privileged access. Affected versions: Openview Network Node Manager (OV NNM) 6.2, 6.4, 7.01, 7.50 running on HP-UX, Solaris, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Linux.

Debian Security Advisory DSA 830-1 - Drew Parsons noticed that the post-installation script of ntlmaps, an NTLM authorization proxy server, changes the permissions of the configuration file to be world-readable. It contains the user name and password of the Windows NT system that ntlmaps connects to and, hence, leaks them to local users.

Cisco Security Advisory - Multiple vulnerabilities exist in the Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances and Cisco PIX Security Appliances. These include Windows NT domain authentication bypass, IPv6 denial of service, and a Crypto Accelerator memory leak.

Yield-cos have been grabbing headlines lately. Typically, large utilities spin off their high-yield alternative energy operations into separate smaller companies called yield-cos. These new companies are then taken public to attract individual and institutional investors.

More than 100 world leaders converged upon New York City today to discuss international efforts to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. The list of speakers at the UN Climate Summit included U.S. President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, French President François Hollande, and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.

As a businessman exploring investments, I need simple answers, however complicated the problem. I wish to know: Are microgrids economical? How much investment is needed and for what? What are the factors that principally affect profitability, within the system and in the environment? If microgrids are not profitable at the present, when will they be? I recognize that understanding microgrids as a system requires complicated mathematics and modeling. I’m sympathetic to and respect those who do that.

Renewables became Germany’s most important power source for the first time this year, according to Agora Energiewende.

German electricity consumers will for the first time see a drop in the fee added to their bills to fund renewables, a boost for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has pledged to curb the cost for voters.

U.S. electricity markets face years of higher prices as clean-air regulations shut more coal-fired power plants than earlier forecast, cutting supply and forcing producers to rely more on natural gas.

Every time the U.S. holds midyear elections, the country almost always goes against the incumbent President’s party, which is always sobering to whomever holds The White House. And this week’s elections were no exception.

The U.S. expects to earn $5 billion to $6 billion from a federal loan program, bolstering President Barack Obama’s decision to back low-carbon technologies.

According to the latest "Energy Infrastructure Update" report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Office of Energy Projects, wind power provided over two-thirds (68.41 percent) of new U.S. electrical generating capacity in October 2014. Specifically, five wind farms in Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, and Texas came on line last month, accounting for 574 MW of new capacity.

Technology and equipment giant Siemens AG has decided to sell its tidal energy company, Marine Current Turbines Ltd., citing slow development in the marine and hydrokinetics sector.

The power sector crisis in Japan has entered a new stage. The recent refusal of Japanese utilities to grant grid access to new renewable energy projects should not be seen as a failure of Japan’s renewable energy policy, but as a consequential and necessary phase to extend Japan’s technological leadership into the power sector.

A new report by utility and finance experts contains positive news for the environment, our air and our (and our utilities’) pocketbooks — the economics of electric power resources have made zero-emissions energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies the most financially attractive options to meet the nation’s future energy demands.

EON SE’s plan to spin off its fossil fuel plants marks a watershed moment in Germany’s renewables effort that will likely bolster the country’s already leading position in clean energy.

Let's review some notable news headlines from the month of November.

India, the world’s third-largest polluter, will spend at least $100 billion on climate-related projects but isn’t ready to follow China and the U.S., the top two emitters, in promising to limit its fossil-fuel emissions.

The siren call of 2020 corporate environmental sustainability goals is quickly getting louder, as corporate leaders realize they must go further today to achieve their sustainability targets for tomorrow. Increased use of renewable energy is an ambitious goal for some of the world’s largest companies, as 59 percent of the Fortune 100 and nearly two-thirds of the Global 100 have set GHG emissions reduction commitments, renewable energy commitments or both, according to a recent Ceres’ report, Power Forward: Why the World’s Largest Companies Are Investing in Renewable Energy. One global consumer products company, for example, plans to derive 30 percent of its energy from clean sources by 2020.

Developers, manufacturers, investors and other renewable energy industry stakeholders need to know where the next big market is going to be so that they can adjust their business decisions accordingly.

The Detroit Power Outage brought eight hours of hardship to Detroit on Dec. 2 — hardship that could have been averted with microgrids.

All of us here at RenewableEnergyWorld.com would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.