quote:
Microsoft will detail plans to disable the Windows Messenger Service and activate the Internet Connection Firewall by default on Windows XP machines in an effort to protect computers from malicious attacks, a company executive said Tuesday.
If they were
really serious about Internet security, they'd issue a service pack that disables all WinModems
quote:
Among other things, Microsoft will announce a new API (application programming interface) for RPCs (remote procedure calls) that limits access to resources on the local machine, Carroll said.
How about fully documenting the existing APIs :rolleyes:
quote:
The company will also be talking about its plan to recompile Windows using new technology that is designed to sniff out security vulnerabilities in the code, Carroll said.
Buffer overruns are a common avenue for attacks against Windows systems, allowing hackers to send long streams of data that cause Windows machines to crash or to unintentionally execute code written by the attacker. On Tuesday, Microsoft will be encouraging developers to take advantage of the same compiler technology in the latest editions of Visual Studio to catch buffer overruns and other problems in their code, Carroll said.
Sounds a lot like "Valgrind", a programming aid that does exactly that. Already available for Linux, and is included with Slackware.
quote:
The service has been a standard part of Windows operating systems since the introduction of 32-bit operating systems in the mid-1990s, according to Russ Cooper, Surgeon General of TruSecure and moderator of the NTBugtraq newsgroup. [...] Within the last year, spammers discovered the feature and began using it to barrage unsuspecting users with pop-up messages containing solicitations, he said.
And it took these folks
15 years to find it?(!) :eek: makes you wonder just
who the real dumb-asses are, doesn't it?
quote:
While the Messenger Service will definitely be disabled by default in XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft is still investigating the problem and talking with customers about how to address the issue, Carroll said.
The company cannot comment on specific plans, but disabling the service in XP Service Pack 2 is not the final word. Other changes to address the issue in Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 are still in the works, and Microsoft is not ruling out disabling the service before releasing XP Service Pack 2, Carroll said.
Then why not just get rid of the damn thing altogether? Why have it wasting HD space if it's no longer going to be used by the vast majority of Win (l)users? Is making this an optional install for those who really need it asking too much? :confused: Then, again, they could do what I did: ditch Winderz and install Linux, the ideal solution to Win(In)Security issues.
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Live Free or Die: Linux
"There: now you'll never have to look at those dirty Windows anymore"
--Daffy Duck
