This Metasploit module exploits a format string vulnerability in the LPRng print server. This vulnerability was discovered by Chris Evans. There was a publicly circulating worm targeting this vulnerability, which prompted RedHat to pull their 7.0 release. They consequently re-released it as "7.0-respin".

A vulnerability is present in AT&T TCP/IP Release 4.0 running on SVR4 systems for both the 386/486 and 3B2 RISC platforms. The problem is in the remote execution server /usr/etc/rexecd and a new version of rexecd is available from AT&T.

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.

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.

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.

In May of 2014, Speaker of the House John Boehner responded to a climate change question with, “listen, I’m not qualified to debate the science over climate change. I am astute to understand that every proposal that has come out of this administration to deal with climate change involves hurting our economy and killing American jobs. That can’t be the prescription for dealing with changes to our climate.” Speaker Boehner is not the only one reluctant to enter into the debate on climate change. In a March interview Mitch McConnell responded to a climate change remark with, “For everybody who thinks it's warming, I can find somebody who thinks it isn't…”

GDF Suez SA plans to double renewable power production capacity in Europe over the next decade as the utility shifts its focus away from developing more historic natural gas and nuclear energy sources in the region.

Labor, business, and environmental leaders have formed a unique coalition that will urge Illinois lawmakers to pass new standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy, leading to tens of thousands of new, local jobs.

Many businesses can now perform the traditional functions of an electric utility — provide affordable, reliable, resilient power to homes and businesses. The barriers to entry in the business have fallen. For instance, a home with rooftop solar panels, batteries, and gas-based generators may choose to be grid-independent. Even when homes decide to remain grid-tied, utilities face falling demand and revenue, and the possibility of future grid-defection. Further, competing electricity solutions can emerge quickly, and not one-home-at-a-time — microgrids can offer community, village, or campus-level solutions.

Last June, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first ever national carbon pollution standards for existing power plants. Fossil fuel-fired power plants account for almost 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, making them the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the nation and one of the single largest categories of greenhouse gas sources in the world.

Europe’s utilities are re-evaluating their business models due to the energy transition. Members of POWER-GEN Europe’s Advisory Board consider how a reliance on fossil fuels is no longer politically desirable, forcing utilities to transform their portfolios to adapt to radical change.

To those in the climate change field the name Mark Z. Jacobson needs no introduction. The director of the Atmosphere and Energy Program at Stanford University is credited with having written the book on computer modeling for atmospheric changes, as well as being a recognized expert in the impacts of energy production and a staunch supporter of renewables.

Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison plans to build one to power the Hawaiian island he bought last year. EBay Inc. has one to run a data center. The University of California at San Diego and the federal government have invested tens of millions of dollars in the technology.

This month marks the anniversaries of two notable events, decades apart yet related in terms of historical impact, awareness of vulnerability, and challenge to business as usual: the Arab oil embargo 40 years ago (Oct. 19-20, 1973) and Superstorm Sandy, which hit the Northeast on Oct. 29 last year. Both events sparked a national and global focus on two concepts I’ve been hearing quite a bit about in recent months: adaptation and resilience.

One of Europe's largest utilities is on the cusp of reportedly transforming its business from being a centralised energy provider into a decentralized energy provider.

Wind farms and solar parks are changing hands at record rates, signaling both an increased taste for the assets among pension funds and hard times for utilities that are the biggest sellers.

Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said shifting to greater use of solar and wind power will challenge utility companies.

Technology is catching up with Thomas Edison’s electricity industry, eating away at the utility business model that hasn’t changed much in a century.

What’s a beleaguered utility to do when forced by the government to close its profitable nuclear power plants?

Germany’s biggest utilities face dwindling market shares as the shift to renewable energy spurs regional power generation and storage technology, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party said.

Bracing for greenhouse-gas rules from the Obama administration, two industries are staking out different positions. Coal companies are pledging to sue. Electric utilities are ready to talk.

A first-of-its-kind study of net evaporation at a hydroelectric facility reveals that the project has very little effect on the loss of water to the atmosphere as compared with pre-impoundment conditions.

Turbine rehabilitation at the 112 MW Ohakuri Hydro Power Station in New Zealand was owner Mighty River Power's most complex program of works of any it had previously performed.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. will suspend responding to applications from renewable-energy producers applying to access its grid while it reviews how much more clean energy it’s capable of handling.

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.

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.

GDF Suez SA plans to double renewable power production capacity in Europe over the next decade as the utility shifts its focus away from developing more historic natural gas and nuclear energy sources in the region.

RWE AG, the German utility whose coal-fired plants make it Europe’s largest carbon emitter, officially started the company’s largest renewables project on Thursday: a wind farm in Liverpool Bay off Britain’s coast.

Stanford, Oxford and Georgetown universities have won praise for promising to purge their endowments of direct investments in coal, embracing the fight against climate change.

By the time this column is published, oral arguments in the legal challenge to the Clean Power Plan will have already been made. The en banc panel of 10 appeals court judges is not likely to render its decision before the New Year.  No matter the opinion, it will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rival parties to the conflict in South Sudan are putting military gains ahead of political settlement, a top U.N. official told the Security Council.

Elections can only be representative if all members of society, including women, play a role, the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Wednesday.

The provincial government in Pakistan's Sindh province is planning a literacy program to reach women and girls in remote areas via cell phones.

Mental illness, culpability and gross misconduct A recent appeal case illustrates the difficulties that can arise when dealing with instances of apparent misconduct where a mental impairment could have affected an employee’s ability to control ...

A recent ruling from the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) suggests that it will be difficult for an individual with type 2 diabetes (or some other impairment) to show that the condition, in itself, constitutes a disability if he or she can eliminate...

Bonus schemes operated by employers will often make eligibility dependant on matters such as attendance. A recent case illustrates how such schemes can fall foul of disability discrimination law. Background The Land Registry operated a discretionary...

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