CORPORATIONS — THE HEADLINES

 2001/10/23 

MS patch crashes PCs

 2001/10/15 

Microsoft leaked customer data

ISPs cut off virus-infected customers

 2001/10/09 

"MS Patch XP"

 2001/10/05 

Future spread of email viruses threatens Internet

CORPORATIONS — THE LINKS

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CORPORATIONS — THE NEWS

2001/10/23

11:21 +0100

MS patch crashes PCs

[Corporate News] Another patch released by Microsoft last week to protect Windows 2000 and Windows NT servers against a DoS vulnerability of the RDP service has been withdrawn after users who installed it complained that it caused their systems to malfunction. Microsoft's Web site offered no details on the problem but said that the patch would be available again shortly. Microsoft officials couldn't be reached for comment, writes ComputerWorld.

By sending a particular series of data packets to an affected server, a malicious hacker could cause the server to fail, according to Microsoft's advisory on the vulnerability. Rebooting the server will restore it to normal, but any work in progress at the time of the attack would be lost, Microsoft cautioned. The company gave the vulnerability a "moderate" risk rating under a newly introduced severity rating system announced earlier this week.

In its advisory MS01-052, Microsoft had urged users to install a patch available on its site to correct the problem. But several users who downloaded the hot fix complained that it broke the service it was supposed to fix, said Russ Cooper, a moderator of the popular Windows NTBugtraq mailing list and an analyst at TruSecure, a Reston. Va.-based security firm. Most people who reported problems were able to restore full functionality by simply uninstalling the patch, Cooper said. "My understanding is that the patch that was available for download was not the one that was signed for release" by Microsoft, Cooper said. // c.f. Tech-Alerts :: [dre].

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2001/10/15

21:42 +0100

Microsoft leaked customer data

[Corporate News] Microsoft moved swiftly last week to close a security gap in its customer service Web site that let anyone with a browser view customers' sales records and other confidential information, says a CNet report.

The software giant had left a search database exposed without security protections. The address of the customer service page was unpublished, but by altering the numerical IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of known Microsoft Web sites, security enthusiast Adrian Lamo located it and found himself with access to an unknown number of customer service records. Each exposed record included the customer's name, purchasing history, shipping address, billing address, phone numbers, e-mail address and credit card type. It did not include the actual credit card number.

"We were notified of this, we fixed the problem, and we're reviewing our internal systems to make sure proper procedures are followed to make sure this doesn't happen again," Microsoft representative Jim Desler said Wednesday. "This was a case of human error, and we will remain vigilant in our efforts to protect customer information and will not accept any breakdowns or failures in this process."

Lamo said Microsoft fixed the hole within an hour of notification by news Web site NewsBytes. // c.f. SecuritySpace :: [dre].

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09:07 +0100

ISPs cut off virus-infected customers

[Corporate News] Internet users who fail to protect their machines against virulent computer viruses such as Nimda could have their Internet connections suspended by their Internet service provider, reports ZDNet.

UK ISP Telewest has been the first to take direct action against customers who have refused to patch their computers against the Nimda worm, or have left infected PCs running. The company insists that these are "sensible" measures to protect its blueyonder customers from malicious worms that are able to self-propagate across networks without user intervention.

"Telewest, in line with other service providers, has put into practice a virus protection strategy to prevent infection of our network," said a spokeswoman at the company. "Protective measures include the temporary removal of service from customers who are virus-infected and who may have not taken appropriate preventive measures."

The ISP crackdown is to prevent customers' computers from acting as a proxy to scout for other vulnerable PCs. "Some people may be a Typhoid Mary, spreading the disease onto anyone that they are in contact with, and so need to be isolated," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos. "But I hope that any ISP would get in contact with the customer first." // c.f. SecuritySpace :: [dre].

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2001/10/09

15:24 +0100

"MS Patch XP"

[Corporate News] Microsoft Corp. announced a new initiative to help their customers improve the security of their networks after a string of high-profile viruses targeted Microsoft software used to run Web sites, writes Yahoo!.

"With the virus attacks of late and the numbers of those and how vicious those attacks have been ... it's incumbent on Microsoft, being in the leadership position we're in, to help drive forward the industry in this area," Brian Valentine, senior VP Windows said in an interview. "We can't just sit back and think about Microsoft," said Valentine, who is leading Microsoft's new security task force, the "Strategic Technology Protection Program" (STPP).

The announcement follows a string of worms and other security breaches, including the Code Red worm of August and Nimda worm in September. Those worms, which are self-propagating viruses, exploited holes in Microsoft's Internet Information Services server software and installed "backdoors" that left infected computers vulnerable to future hacking. IIS, which is used to run Web sites, is sold separately and comes bundled with Windows 2000 and Windows NT.

In addition to repeated complaints over the years by security experts over what they say is lax security, Microsoft recently has also been singled out by a market research firm and an insurance underwriter. Valentine denied that the company was responding directly to those moves, but he said they illustrated a general problem of customer confidence that the company hoped to address.

Signaling a change in long-standing policy for Microsoft, the company said it will deliver all of its software—including the next version of IIS that will be bundled with Windows .Net Server next year—in the "locked down" position by default. // c.f. intern :: [dre].

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2001/10/05

11:40 +0100

Future spread of email viruses threatens Internet

[Corporate News] "Believe the Hype"—asks MessageLabs, a leading Managed Services Provider (MSP) specialising in email security—since their study shows that one in ten emails could be infected within seven years

The Internet could become unusable as a means of communication if the rate of email virus outbreaks continues to escalate. The volume of infected mail circulating could become so great that people without sufficient protection will simply stop using email, Mark Sunner, CTO at MessageLabs, warned.

Overall current virus/email ratios are currently running at one in every three hundred, up from one in seven hundred in October last year. The rapid growth and sophistication of current viruses means that, on these trends, one in ten emails transmitted via the Internet would contain a virus by 2007/8, and as many as one in two by 2013. And these are just average figures—when 'peak' rates are taken into account, the ratio will become much worse.

The stark warning comes in the week that MessageLabs has stopped over 1,500 copies of the recent Nimda virus and encountered its one millionth email virus since January 2000 when the company was established. // c.f. Symantec :: [dre].

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