Microsoft yesterday acknowledged a number of critical security
flaws in its new Windows XP operating system, despite having
promoted XP as the most secure version of its flagship product to
date. The company’s security officer said, Every Windows XP user
needs to immediately take action”
The flaws could allow hackers to remotely gain complete control
over a computer running XP when the victim is on-line. The
vulnerabilities could also be exploited to launch a distributed
denial of service attack from the computers of unwitting XP
users.
The company yesterday made available a patch for downloading. It
addresses what is being widely described as the most serious
vulnerability ever found in a Windows operating system.
The flaws were discovered and alerted to Microsoft by eEye
Digital Security, a small group of former hackers.
Other Microsoft news
Private lawsuits
The judge overseeing the settlement of over 100 private lawsuits
against Microsoft yesterday postponed his decision on whether or
not to approve terms proposed by parties to the case. A decision
had been expected mid-December on a proposed settlement which would
involve Microsoft donating software and cash to schools.
The proposal has received criticism from around one third of the
100 parties to the class action. In addition, Apple Computer
perceives the plan as a threat to its own dominance of the
education market, one of the few markets not already controlled by
Microsoft. The judge’s decision is now expected at some point after
10th January 2002.
Lindows
According to CNet news, Microsoft yesterday asked a court to
stop a Linux start-up from using the name Lindows for its new
product which would be a version of the Linux operating system able
to run applications written for Windows. Microsoft is alleging
trade mark infringement.
