“Windows users are being urged to download the latest security updates from Microsoft to fix critical flaws. The software giant has warned that three loopholes affecting Windows and Internet Explorer allow an attacker to take control of a personal computer,” BBC News reports.
“Seven other updates have also been released to address less serious problems in its software. Microsoft has been trying to improve the security of its software, releasing regular monthly security bulletins,” BBC News reports. “The most serious flaws affect Windows and Internet Explorer and could be exploited by a malicious hacker to take over a computer system. The other patches affect Windows, the Exchange server system, services for the Unix operating system, Microsoft’s Interactive Training software for Windows, and ISA server, a network firewall program.”
Vulnerable Software:
• Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Server 2003
• Internet Explorer
• Windows Web Client Service
• Exchange Server
• Outlook Express
• Windows Interactive Training
• Microsoft Agent
• Windows Telnet Client
• Microsoft ISA Server 2000
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Stockholm Syndrome really might be the only way left to explain it.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Mafiasoft? Microsoft to roll out anti-virus subscription protection racket – May 13, 2005
Microsoft Windows Sober.P worm shows ‘epidemic’ spread; Macintosh unaffected – May 03, 2005
Viruses don’t have to be a fact of life; there are no viruses on Apple’s Mac OS X – not a single one – April 21, 2005
Mossberg: ‘consider dumping Windows altogether and switching to Apple’s Macintosh’ – April 18, 2005
New ‘highly critical’ Office flaw embarrasses Microsoft – April 13, 2005
Apple touts Mac OS X security advantages over Windows – April 13, 2005
97,467 Microsoft Windows viruses vs. zero for Apple Mac’s OS X – April 05, 2005
Symantec details flaws in its antivirus software – March 30, 2005
If Mac OS X viruses increased 2000 percent, there’d still be zero Mac OS X viruses – March 29, 2005
Apple’s Mac OS X is virus-free – March 18, 2005
68,736 Microsoft Windows viruses vs. zero for Apple Mac’s OS X – March 12, 2005
Microsoft tries to turn its own security flaw into commercial gain – February 25, 2005
Cybersecurity advisor Clarke questions why anybody would buy from Microsoft – February 18, 2005
Microsoft’s Gates espouses homogenous operating system environments for better security – February 07, 2005
Windows’ mounting security problems make some consumers eager to purchase Macs – January 03, 2005
Windows Media songs and videos found to carry Windows malware payloads – December 30, 2004
Anzae/Inzae worm affects all Windows versions after 3.1; Macintosh unaffected – December 28, 2004
Unlike Windows users, Mac OS X users surf the Internet without a care in the world – December 28, 2004
Multiple unpatched Windows holes crop up; Windows systems compromised within minutes in experiment – December 24, 2004
Windows spyware mess is out of control, get a Mac and surf with impunity – December 21, 2004
New Microsoft Internet Explorer exploit spoofs Web sites on fully patched Windows XP systems – December 17, 2004
Microsoft may charge extra for Windows spyware protection software – December 16, 2004
Detroit Free Press: Windows malware problem getting worse, it’s time to get a Mac instead – December 16, 2004
Sick of spyware, adware headaches? Get a Mac and surf the Internet freely – December 13, 2004
Mossberg: Windows PCs plagued with problems, Apple’s Mac is ‘rock solid, elegant and affordable’ – December 09, 2004
Security expert: Don’t use Microsoft Windows, Office, Outlook, Internet Explorer – December 09, 2004
Security test: Windows XP system easily compromised while Apple’s Mac OS X stands safe and secure – November 30, 2004
Sick of spyware, adware infecting your PC? Don’t fret, just get a Mac – November 01, 2004
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Spyware plagues Windows users while Mac users surf Net with impunity – November 01, 2004
Ballmer blames Windows users for not upgrading systems as Microsoft’s biggest security problem – October 22, 2004
Windows users line up to pay for spyware removal; Mac users surf Web with impunity – October 18, 2004
Microsoft: The safest way to run Windows is on your Mac – October 08, 2004
Windows users’ security woes spark interest in Apple’s secure Mac OS X – October 06, 2004
Windows desktop monopoly threatened by secure, safe Apple Mac OS X – October 04, 2004
Even Bill Gates can’t avoid Windows malware; Mac users surf the Web freely – October 03, 2004
Cyber-security adviser uses Apple Macintosh to avoid Windows’ security woes – September 27, 2004
Information Security Investigator says switch from Windows to Mac OS X for security – September 24, 2004
Mossberg: Apple iMac G5 ‘powerful, affordable, virus-free with better, more modern OS than Windows XP’ – September 23, 2004
USA Today: people are switching from Windows to Mac because of security issues – September 21, 2004
Windows besieged by hackers; number of Windows viruses soars by more than 400% – September 20, 2004
USA Today columinst angry about Windows viruses, adware, spyware – September 15, 2004
University of Chicago recommends all students patch Windows at least once a day – September 14, 2004
Windows XP worm speaks to users as it deletes their files; Macintosh unaffected – September 13, 2004
Security is top priority in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2004
Millions of Windows PC’s hijacked by hackers, turned into zombies; Macintosh unaffected – September 08, 2004
Mossberg: Dump your Windows machine and get an Apple Macintosh to free yourself of spyware – August 25, 2004
Tired of patching patches to patch Windows patches? Writer suggests getting a Mac – August 03, 2004
Windows ‘Scob’ virus designed to steal financial data, passwords; Macintosh unaffected – June 26, 2004
Gartner: Worms jack up the total cost of Microsoft Windows – May 07, 2004
Spyware, adware plague Windows users online; Mac OS X users surf freely – April 19, 2004
SmartMoney: Long-suffering Windows users can only dare to dream of Mac’s ease-of-use – February 12, 2004
Mac OS X has no viruses; what’s wrong with Windows? – February 11, 2004
Gates: Windows ‘by far the most secure’ system; tries to use ‘Mac OS X secure through obscurity’ myth – January 27, 2004
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 21, 2003
Columnist tries the ‘security through obscurity’ myth to defend Windows vs. Macs on virus front – October 1, 2003
New York Times: Mac OS X ‘much more secure than Windows XP’ – September 18, 2003
Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg on making the switch from Windows to Mac – September 18, 2003
Fortune columnist: ‘get a Mac’ to thwart viruses; right answer for the wrong reasons – September 02, 2003
Shattering the Mac OS X ‘security through obscurity’ myth – August 28, 2003
Is Mac OS X really inherently more secure than Windows? – August 26, 2003
Chicago Sun-Times columnist: Windows ‘many holes in its security’ but ‘none of my Macs have ever been affected – August 26, 2003
Sick of worms and viruses? ‘Move to Mac OS X’ suggests Chicago Tribune columnist – August 25, 2003
Virus and worm problems not just due to market share; Windows inherently insecure vs. Mac OS X – August 24, 2003
“Services for the Unix operating system”?!!! Are they talking about Telnet and FTP or what? Are they trying to pose as having a Unix based system too?
Ah yes, life in the windoze world, another day, another patch.
Thank god I don’t have to use Windows.
Sputnik!? Come in, Sputnik! Over. Come in, Sputnik!
Where are you, Sputnik? In the “real IT world”? Or furiously trying to patch your syste(s) once again?
Perhaps the “soon-to-be-released” Longhorn will calm your fears and smooth your furrowed brow!
Sputnik (and the losers of the world) UNITE!
“Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Server 2003”
Why don’t they just say it affects nearly all their products, cause they’re all just the same shitty spaghetti code?
Honest to Goodness, do people actually put up with this crap? Where’s ‘stantheman’ with his usual ridiculous comments? What can he say about this?
Micro$oft should be closed down, and Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates arrested for making crap software.
screw this crap.
i’m getting a mac.
Patches keep falling on my head…
Cos I’m just a Windoze user…
Maybe it’s time to ramble on over…
..to OS X!
Near the end of the article it states, “Last month, Microsoft announced plans to offer its own anti-virus and security updates for home computers, called Windows OneCare. The service would be on a yearly subscription basis, just like other anti-virus protection services.”
I wonder how Microsoft will determine which fixes it will do for free and which ones they will charge for?
Aren’t all viruses and spyware based on existing security weaknesses in the system? Why should the user be charged to have them fixed? I can understand paying a fee to fix something I did wrong with my computer like dropping it into the swimming pool, but it baffles me why I should pay for the manufacturer’s mistake.
Perhaps Apple is missing an income revenue opportunity and should charge the user an annual fee to download 10.4.x upgrades especially if it involves security issues. Apparently, the general population is dumb enough to accept this behavior from computer manufacturers, although they’d be grabbin’ torches and pitchforks in mass if an auto manufacturer tried to charge them for a recall, regardless how small the fix, not to mention a fix that would involve safety and security.
Yowza! I’m really tired of hearing these things. If I were a Windoze user I’d be sayin’, “What the f…!” Then I’d be looking for something different. Good Golly Miss Molly! Jesus, Mary and Joseph! What does it take to get Windoze users riled up? Are they so complacent? Stantheman, Sputnik – what’s the answer? Why do you put up with this crap? I really want to know the secret. C’mon, guys. Give it to me!
Where are the lawyers on this one? Where are class action suits for crying out loud? Billion$ lost in productivity, there’s got to be a book to throw at Micro$sof for that, despite all the “license agreements” poor Windoze suckers signed by breaking shrinkwrap on the box, no?
With sputnik. I give in.
Just so you all know I downloaded the latest security patch for my XP peecee. It took this long. “click.”
Done. It did it´s thing while I went on to something else.
Own Mac and PC
——————-
Interesting when the subject the potential of a virus coming onto the new Mactel, the attitude here is “so what?”, what´s one virus for a Mac??? A virus is bad for the pc, but okay for the mac….
———
Why do I have a PC? Just curious to see what everyone was bitchin´ about.
My opinion about XP? No problems at all. Most of my programs that I also have for my Mac actually run faster on the PC.
I have both Mac and PC and enjoy them both.
I look forward to getting a new Mactel, too!
Oh look. My XP just auto-updated itself, fixing something that I have no clue about. I still have to experience the first succesful hack of that machine, though, so at least these fixes work against the (impossible to gauge how dangerous) threats.
Poor M$, caught between a rock and a hard place. Either deny (and get rightfully ridiculed about it, if not worse) that Windows has a security problem or two or proudly announce all your fixes for security holes that some nerd in some lab managed to exploit once under carefully created circumstances, thereby underlining the impression that Windows has nothing but security holes.
Why put up with it you ask? For openers there are still many necessary programs that do not have Mac versions. Secondly, these so called patches are not difficult. One can choose to view, or download, or install automatically, depending on one’s taste for adventure. Sometimes they require a reboot, usually not. It has been years since one cause a problem for us.
My attorney uses macs and would probably love to start a class action suit, but his ambulance chasing is too consuming.
But, regardless of all that, I support anyone’s right to feel good about their chosen platform. Some of you feel very, VERY good.
“there’s got to be a book to throw at Micro$sof for that”
M$ owns the book.
I don’t know a single PC user who has not been forced to deal with periodic virus infestations….it is just considered normal procedure to have to send the computer into “the shop” every 6 months or so for “cleaning.” And yet people are incredulous when I tell them that Mac OSX has had a grand total of zero viruses….(although some of them are also equally incredulous that macs can play MP3s or access the internet!)
For those who want to blame and sue Microshaft for hackers attacking PeeCees: do you sue Ford if someone nicks your Galaxy?
I prefer Mac, too, but fer fecks sake people, get a grip.
Winchester, it is personal anecdotes like yours that keep this arguement alive. On the one hand, my local geek always has a shop full of work. On the other hand, the few dozen pc owners that I advise never have to go there, because it is so simple to prevent problems. I do advise anyone too lazy to spend a few minutes a month on maintenance, and who does not need any of the pc specific programs businesses need, to get a mac.
Hybrid, you won’t know your XP machine is infected, that’s the point.
” I don’t know a single PC user who has not been forced to deal with periodic virus infestations….it is just considered normal procedure to have to send the computer into “the shop” every 6 months or so for “cleaning.” “
ROFL. Biggins, you’re a BS merchant.
I know NOBODY who’s ever had to do that or would consider that normal. And that includes my totally untechnical parents who use that security hole called Win 98.
Yummy, FUD. It’s the new SPAM.
Wow Hybrid, I must imagine all the lemmings who walk through the doors of PC World clutching their XP machines, saying things like “it’s slowed down to a crawl”, “I keep getting porn popping up”, “it keeps rebooting”, “it won’t startup properly”, “it’s asking me for xxx.dll” etc. etc.
To say that you know NOBODY who does that must mean you stay in a locked room your whole life. Are you in prison?
Silly little M$ apologists, always defending the indefensible.
Tommy, who knows not cares not
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Seriously, if my machine were in any way affected by whatever malware/virus, it should be noticable. If something starts hogging memory or something like that, it is noticable. Those antivirusthingies are of course a ‘luxury’ that anybody would gladly do without, but they DO work.
Maybe you’ve just invented the concept for a new type of virus, though: the virus that attacks and leaves without leaving a trace or damage.
Mommyyyyyyyyyy!!! 😀
Does everyone remember the fairytale about the boy and the dyke? He put his finger in the dike and stopped the Netherlands from being flooded.
Microsoft has a new spin on that tale; they plug a leak (Service Pack 2) and seven more leaks appear. Glad I’ve got a Mac.
Where’s Stantheman and Longhorn? Come on guys, nothing to say. Bloody wankers.
Having been in the coputer world since 1964 – whew, long time- and “switching” to Mac in 1984 – I must admit that it surprises me that no one has ever pointed out the “Cult of M$” as they portend to do with The Cult of Mac..
Machead died in the wool – even have a rainbow mac sticker on my car – have convinced major corporations and in-duh-viduals that Mac is the way to go and durn proud of it…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
As for fixes and ph*que-ups from M$ – wasn’t the tagline – at one time – “Where do you want to go today?” When you are stuck in the mud and up to your rump in spagetti how can you go anywhere…
Read the articel mentioned about the Stockholm Syndrome – in fact, read all of the comments, too. VERY enlightening.
As for me and my company (in four countries) we are all Mac – for Admin, Graphics, Research, Scientific Development and just plain work… we, however, do not have any gaming machines.
bikersrule, spellcheck please.