Vista raises the bar for flaw finders
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But the battle's not over yet Microsoft launched its latest operating system - Windows Vista - on Monday, a move that will make finding easily exploitable vulnerabilities a lot harder, according to security researchers.â¦
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Ben Fathi, now the chief of development in the Windows core operating system group, would like Vista to have half the first-year security flaws of its predecessor, XP. Security analysts offer their thoughts.
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Microsoft's Jim Allchin announces Release Candidate 1 of Windows Vista with "a lot of improvements."
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A software patch to protect your system is available from Microsoft.
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Microsoft is fighting back against those attempting to distribute a cracked version of Windows Vista. It has issued an update to detect use of a tampered build which mixed files from test and final versions of the OS.
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Technique lets intruders exploit flaws previously thought to be insignificant, says security researcher.
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Security researchers found two software flaws in the Windows XP Service Pack 2 that could allow virus writers and malicious hackers to sidestep new security features in the operating system.
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By BRIAN BERGSTEIN NEW YORK - Microsoft Corp. took great pains to improve security in its newly released computer operating system, Windows Vista, redesigning it to reduce users' exposure to destructive programs from the Internet.
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(InfoWorld) - The honeymoon ended early for Microsoft's Vista operating system, after word spread Wednesday about a flaw that could allow remote attackers to take advantage of the new operating system's speech recognition feature. Microsoft researchers are investigating the reports of a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to use the speech recognition feature to run malicious programs on Vista systems using prerecorded verbal commands, the company said in an e-mail statement. The potential security hole was discovered after an online discussion prompted blogger George Ou to try out a speech-based hack. Ou reported on ZD Net on Tuesday that he was able to access the Vista Start menu and, conceivably, run programs using voice commands played over the system's speakers. The speech recognition flaw is novel and notable for being the first publicized hole in the new operating system since the public launch of Vista on Tuesday. The impact of the flaw, however, is expected to be small. Vista users would need to have the speech recognition feature enabled and have a microphone and speakers connected to their system. Successful attackers would need to be physically present at the machine, or figure out a way to trick the computer's owner to download and play an audio recording of the malicious commands. Even then, the commands would somehow have to be issued without attracting the attention of the computer's owner. Finally, attackersâ commands are limited to the access rights of the logged on user, which may prevent access to any administrative commands, Microsoft said in a statement. Microsoft recommends that users who are concerned about having their computer shout-hacked disable the speaker or microphone, turn off the speech recognition feature, or shut down Windows Media Player if they encounter a file that tries to execute voice commands on their system. Customers who believe they have been shout-hacked can contact Microsoft Product Support Services, the company said.
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One of the first flaws found in Windows XP SP2 -- which leaves a PC vulnerable through a drag-and-drop hole in Internet Explorer -- could be used by hackers for even greater mischief.
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Vista's bug count so far is OK with the Windows security manager.
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The software giant addresses three vulnerabilities within the Windows operating system.
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Some widely used applications haven't been certified for use with Windows Vista, they may, nonetheless, work.
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New packages promote promise of improved PC security.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft has released its monthly set of security patches , fixing problems in Windows, Internet Explorer and in the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) software used for secure Web browsing. In total, Microsoft released six sets of patches, called updates, fixing 15 flaws in its products. Four of these updates are rated critical and administrators should patch them as soon as possible, security experts said Tuesday. Many of the flaws that Microsoft patched on Tuesday can be exploited via the Web. In particular the MS07-033 update, which fixes bugs in Internet Explorer and MS07-031 , which addresses a critical flaw in the SSL libraries used by Windows. The SSL flaw is particularly interesting because it affects users who are visiting supposedly trustworthy Web sites, and because it could also affect non-Microsoft browsers like Firefox and Opera, said Amol Sarwate, manager of Qualys, Inc.'s vulnerability research lab. "It will affect all the browsers that call the libraries that are in the Windows operating system," he said. Although Microsoft warned that this flaw could be used by attackers to run unauthorized software on the victim's computer, this would be hard to do. "Attempts to exploit this vulnerability would most likely result in the Internet Web browser or application exiting," Microsoft wrote in its MS07-031 bulletin. "The system would not be able to connect to Web sites or resources using SSL ... until a restart of the system." The two other critical updates are MS07-035 , which fixes a bug in the core Windows operating system's Win32 API (application programming interface), and MS07-034 , which fixes bugs in Outlook Express and Windows Mail. Because MS07-035 could be exploited via the Web, it should also be patched as soon as possible, Sarwate said. The other updates released Tuesday fix less-critical flaws in Windows Vista and Microsoft's Visio drawing software. The Vista update is noteworthy because it marks the first time that Microsoft has patched a flaw that was introduced in the Vista operating system, Sarwate said. Previous Vista patches have repaired "legacy" code that was written for earlier versions of Windows, and then reused in Vista. But the MS07-032 update applies to Vista only. This flaw, rated "moderate" by Microsoft, could allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access to information such as administrative passwords stored within Windows.
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An IT professional discovers a way of getting a full version of Vista for the cost of a simple upgrade.
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Group of security professionals produces a patch for a flaw in Windows Shell that is being used in cyberattacks.