OT - heads up!!

[Guest guest]

“This is one of the most serious Microsoft vulnerabilities ever released,â€

said Marc Maiffret of eEye Digital Security of Aliso Viejo, California, which

discovered the new Windows flaws. “The breadth of systems affected is probably

the largest ever. This is something that will let you get into Internet servers,

internal networks, pretty much any system.â€

Maiffret said some computer systems that control critically important power or

water utilities were vulnerable.

Maiffret predicted hackers will try to unleash a damaging Internet infection

within weeks. Unlike earlier vulnerabilities that spawned such attacks, hackers

can exploit the newly disclosed flaws to break into susceptible computers using

dozens of methods, making any defense far more difficult.

“The race will be on,†agreed Marcus Sachs, a former White House adviser on

cybersecurity.

Researchers at eEye discovered the problems last July and agreed to keep quiet

about them until Microsoft could fix them. Maiffret complained that the delay

between eEye’s discovery and Tuesday’s public disclosure by Microsoft was

“just totally unacceptable†because Windows users were broadly vulnerable

during the period.

Toulouse said Microsoft took months because it wanted to ensure that a single

repairing patch solved any related problems. “We really took the steps to make

sure our investigation was as broad and deep as possible,†he said. Maiffret

and Microsoft said they were unaware anyone had yet attacked Windows computers

using the technique, although eEye had successfully tested the method to break

into its own computers.

You can get the security patch downloads from Microsoft here:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/20040210_windows.asp

 

 

Blessings, Doreen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fields we saw

Blooming with

So many different flowers,

Frost-withered now

To a single hue.

 

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