Microsoft forces Messenger upgrade for &#39;security&#39; reasons
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InfoWorld - Microsoft is forcing Windows Live and MSN Messenger users to upgrade to the newest version due to a security update included in that release, according to a posting on a Microsoft blog.
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Microsoft is investigating complaints from users that a security update issued last week for the Internet Explorer browser is preventing some people from getting onto the Web.
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(InfoWorld) - Banner advertisements for a security application said to report false or inflated threats appeared for at least a few days on Microsoft's instant messaging (IM) program, prompting warnings from security analysts. Microsoft appears to have removed the ads, which were displayed in the contacts panel for its IM program, Windows Live Messenger, said Sandi Hardmeier, a Microsoft Most Valued Professional, a designation the company gives to people who have expertise with its products. The progam, known as Winfixer, falsely warns a computer has been infected with malicious software, according to Symantec. It asks users to buy a program to remove the unwanted software. "Quite often, it reports files that are perfectly safe," Hardmeier said. "It uses a lot of false positives. Basically, it's a rip off." Other security companies, such as Sophos and McAfee, classify Winfixer as a "potentially unwanted application." Hardmeier, who notified Microsoft of the problem, said the ads that appeared on Windows Live Messenger tried two ways to get users to install Winfixer on their machine. The first was via a pop-up window offering to scan the computer for problems, she wrote. Depending on the version of Internet Explorer used, Winfixer would try to download itself through an Active X control, she said. The second way was through a banner advertisement that a user would have to click before being taken to a Web site offering Free PC-Secure, a program that is detected as Winfixer by most security software, she said. Winfixer goes by several different names, including ErrorSafe and DriveCleaner. Microsoft had done well preventing spyware programs from being advertised in banner ads on Windows Live Messenger, formerly known as MSN Messenger, Hardmeier wrote on her blog on her blog, Spyware Sucks. But Winfixer has proved a tricky foe. Advertising networks have had trouble with Winfixer ads suddenly being served up by their networks despite no affiliation with its creators, Hardmeier said. The suspicion is that organizations have falsely registered with the networks and substituted Winfixer ads -- hosted on their own servers -- instead of the advertisements they agreed to supply, she said. Microsoft officials contacted in London on Monday morning could not immediately comment.
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Three different ActiveX vulnerabilities affect Yahoo Instant Messenger version 3.5,  and Yahoo Messenger versions 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5
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Users and admins who have been avoiding Microsoft's upgrade from version 6 to version 7 of Internet Explorer are going to have to try a little harder: The long-expected automatic upgrade is due to push out on Feb. 12.
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Multimedia messaging service (MMS) is rapidly taking over from short messaging service (SMS), but operators must undertake major infrastructure upgrades to cope with the technology&#39;s increased traffic demands or risk alienating customers with poor service
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Security researchers are warning of a new worm, dubbed &quot;Funner,&quot; targeting Microsoft&#39;s MSN Messenger instant messaging application.
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In sharp contrast to last month&#39;s barrage of critical patches, Microsoft today offered up just one &quot;important&quot; fix for users to implement in its scheduled round of security updates for November.
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'You will pay for IM' Mobile Windows Live Messenger users are reporting that Microsoft wants to take their money.â¦
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Yahoo fixes a serious vulnerability in its Messenger instant messaging client.
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InfoWorld - Microsoft has released a major update to its server operating system, designed to make the product more stable and secure.
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Microsoft Corp. released two security fixes Tuesday that carry its most severe threat rating, including one that applies even to computers that have downloaded the company's massive security update for the Windows XP operating system.
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Microsoft plans to release in December new software that secures instant messaging and other communications within big companies. The Redmond, Wash.
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Blog: A number of highly critical security flaws have been found in the latest version of Yahoo Messenger, which could allow attackers to gain remote access to users systems.
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Microsoft Corp. plans a Dec. 1 release for the latest version of its server software that aims to give companies more secure instant messaging and other corporate communications tools.
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If you want the &#39;security enhancements&#39; of Windows XP SP2 but you&#39;re running an earlier version of Windows, then you&#39;re going to have to upgrade, Microsoft has been confirming to the public prints this week.
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NOVEMBER 11, 2004  - In sharp contrast to last month&#39;s barrage of critical patches, Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday offered up just one &quot;important&quot; fix for users to implement in its scheduled round of security updates for November.