MS builds tougher piracy protection into Vista
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Redmond's latest plan to scuttle pirates unveiled Microsoft has announced plans to tighten up anti-piracy features in its forthcoming operating systems Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn".â¦
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(InfoWorld) - MicrosoftÂ on Thursday released an update to Windows Vista that will shut down unauthorized versions of the OS that allow users to skip the product's activation system. The move comes asÂ pirated copies of Vista are already making the rounds, mere weeks after the product was released to business customers. The update, which Microsoft has dubbed "frankenbuild," detects tampering of Windows Vista code that would allow users of the OS to work around the product's built-in activation system, which requires users to validate their copy of Vista with a product activation key to use the full version of the product after 30 days. Frankenbuild mixes files from various test and final versions of the software. It will require only systems in which it detects specific tampering to go through a validation check for authenticity, according to a posting on the Windows Genuine Advantage blog. If a version of Vista that has used a workaround to avoid product activation is detected, a user of that software will have 30 days before the OS goes into a reduced functionality mode, Microsoft said. In this mode, all users can do is access their existing files and surf the Web for an hour before having to log back on to the software. The pirating of Windows has been a perennial problem for Microsoft, particularly in developing countries. The company began coming down hard against piracy last year withÂ a widely criticized systemÂ it called Windows Genuine Advantage, which initially required users to validate their copies of Windows if they wanted to use Microsoft's update services. Microsoft took its antipiracy campaign one step further with Vista by building the validation system directly into the OS. This system requires a Windows Vista user to validate the software through a product activation key within 30 days of using the OS to avoid having the software go into reduced functionality mode.
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MicrosoftÂ on Thursday released an update to Windows Vista that will shut down unauthorized versions of the OS that allow users to skip the product's activation system.
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Microsoft is taking security risks with its forthcoming Vista operating system, says software firm McAfee.
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Microsoft Corp rolled out Windows Vista at retailers in 70 countries yesterday, delivering a new computer operating system that aims to better manage the explosion of digital media and protect users from the dangers of the Internet.
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SEATTLE, Oct. 4 -- In an effort to curb software piracy, Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that people running an unlicensed copy of its future Windows Vista operating will initially be denied access to some of the most anticipated features of the operating system, including Windows Aero, an improved...
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With all the talk about Microsoft's stepped up efforts to curb piracy through Vista's new activation methods, it may all be for naught after some crafty hackers figured out a way to crack the Vista Activation Server.
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Three images embedded in the surface of Windows Vista's installation DVDs may be  too small to see with the naked eye, but they're no big mystery, according to Microsoft Corp. They're part of the company's anti-piracy efforts.
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As part of its growing effort to thwart piracy, Microsoft is offering free photo slideshow software to customers who verify that they have a genuine copy of Windows.
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Software pirates' increasing skill at creating counterfeit versions of Windows XP has prompted MicrosoftÂ  to introduce a pilot program that offers to verify whether consumers' software is legitimate and replace fake versions with authentic goods.
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Malaysian authorities have begun raiding computer retail outlets offering pirated software amid concerns that illegal copies of Microsoft Corp.'s newest operating system, Windows Vista, are already on sale.
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Really fighting fire with fire Microsoft is pushing improved malware defences as a reason to shift over to Vista.â¦
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What hope then for Vista toughness? Some, or maybe many, Microsoft volume license customers were told on Monday and Tuesday that their PCs were running pirated software.â¦
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Microsoft urged Windows Vista users to download a new security tool that automatically disables suspicious or malicious "gadgets," the small applets that mimic the "widgets" popular on Mac OS X.Dubbed "Windows Sidebar Protection," the 1MB download was added to Windows Update on Tuesday and classified as a "high-priority" update. Microsoft customers running Vista RTM -- the initial version that launched in late 2006 to businesses and early 2007 to consumers -- saw the update on the list starting Tuesday. The update is optional, but depending on what settings have been selected in Windows' Automatic Updates, it may be downloaded and installed without any additional user interaction.Windows Sidebar is a Vista-only panel that holds the miniature applications known as gadgets -- small single-purpose tools that, for instance, display the time and date or RSS feeds. The Windows gadgets are composed of HTML and various scripts.And there's the rub, said Microsoft."Vista treats gadgets like it treats all executable code," said the advisory that accompanied the update. "Gadgets are written using HTML and script, but this HTML is not located on an arbitrary remote server as Web pages are. HTML content in the gadget is downloaded first as part of a package of resources and configuration files and then executed from the local computer."In other words, gadgets could be dangerous, even malicious. The small applications are crafted not only by Microsoft but also by third-party developers and users; Microsoft distributes gadgets on its Web site, but it doesn't vet them."The update gives us a mechanism to prevent a malicious gadget from being installed first of all, and if it's installed, to block the gadget [from running]," said Austin Wilson, a director in the Windows client product management group. "We're being proactive here. We looked at the [security] landscape and wanted this in place in case a problem arises in the future."There are no known vulnerabilities in any existing gadgets, Wilson claimed, stressing that Microsoft knows of no purposefully malicious gadgets, either.When it detects a flawed, suspicious or malicious gadget, Microsoft will create a "kill bit" file that it will then push to users through Windows Update on the regular once-a-month patch day, said Wilson. Yesterday's update included no kill bit, stressed Wilson, but instead is the tool that generates a unique ID for each gadget, accepts the list from Windows Update and then blocks existing gadgets from running or newly-downloaded gadgets from installing.After a gadget has been identified as bad, its icon gets swapped out with one labeled "Bad Gadget." The icon also can't be dragged, and the tool tip shows it as a security risk.The Sidebar security update is already integrated in the bits that were distributed as Vista Service Pack 1's release candidate last month, said Wilson, and it will be included in the final when that launches in the coming weeks.Microsoft has posted a pair of documents on its support site that go into more detail: KB943411 includes the download links to the 32- and 64-bit versions of the tool; KB941411 walks users through the various dialog boxes they will see when the tool tries to bar or block a gadget.
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Microsoft confirmed that its soon-to-be-released Vista operation system was designed to cripple pirated copies.
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Microsoft has come up with a strategy it thinks will encourage users to help it in the fight against piracy: the Windows XP Counterfeit Project.
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Visitors with a pirated copy of Windows may lose easy access to company's Download Center.