Vista activation crack a 'joke,' says hacker
472866
An anonymous hacker who claimed last week to have found a way to generate valid Windows Vista activation codes now says his crack was a joke. But some users who tried it say it worked for them.
68513
Software giant battles activation of unauthorized copies of its new Vista OS.
714146
According to security researchers, Windows Vista's speech-recognition feature is flawed and hackers could use it to remotely force a PC to execute commands.
273457
Microsoft says that speech recognition features in Vista could be hijacked so that a PC tells itself to delete files.
418922
Malware blocking credentials questioned Windows Vista has only just left the starting blocks but security watchers have wasted no time in challenging claims that it provides improved security defences.â¦
592673
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.
22770
Unpatched Windows machines are vulnerable to latest adware attack
635138
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¦
191229
A bug in Microsoft&#39;s Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000 and Proxy Server 2 can let hackers spoof Web content, such as a trusted site, with their own fake content, the Redmond
122783
HACKERS ARE swapping information online about the latest hole in Windows in the hope of getting a good exploit onto other people&#39;s computers before they install SP2.
632816
Calls concerns over undercover updates to Windows XP and Windows Vista a tempest in a teapot.
312629
If the Vista kernel can't be spoofed, it appears some of its key Internet Protocol kernel drivers can be. An IBM security division discovered the problem, and this morning, Microsoft issued what it hopes will be a fix.
53629
Clicking the fraudulent update could install malicious code on your desktop.
648888
A bug in Microsoft's registration process for Windows Live ID may have allowed scammers to register false e-mail addresses and use them to deceive other users.
411553
A problem with Microsoft's controversial Windows Genuine Advantage authorization process may start to cripple Vista machines in as little as three days if the system, which has taken to identifying legit copies of both Vista and XP as pirated, isn't fixed pronto.
268137
What was not supposed to happen in Windows Vista apparently has: Despite a layer of protection that was supposed to prevent against processes elevating their own privileges, Microsoft now says someone found a way to do it.
515309
(InfoWorld) - Hackers are distributing a file that they say lets users of the corporate version of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system get around the software's anti-piracy mechanisms. Windows Vista must be "activated," or authorized by Microsoft, before it will work on a particular machine. To simplify the task of activating many copies of Vista, Microsoft offers corporate users special tools, among them Key Management Service (KMS), which allows a company to run a Microsoft-supplied authorization server on its own network and activate Vista without contacting Microsoft for each copy. The software Microsoft.Windows.Vista.Local.Activation.Server-MelindaGates lets users spoof that KMS process, allowing them to activate copies of the enterprise editions of Vista, its creators say. The hacked download is available online on sites including The Pirate Bay and other file sharing sites. Microsoft's official KMS offering is available to customers with 25 or more computers running Vista. The machines activate the software by connecting to the KMS server, and must reactivate every six months. KMS is not the only option that enterprises have for volume activation of Vista: they can also call Microsoft by phone or connect over the Internet to activate the software. The MelindaGates hack allows users to download a VMware image of a KMS server which activates Windows Vista Business/Enterprise edition, its creators claim. Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment on the hack. Vista is the first Windows operating system that requires volume users to activate each product. The new activation processes are aimed at reducing piracy. While one security expert said he isn't surprised that KMS has been cracked, he said the MelindaGates hack offers some insight into piracy. "This also shows how piracy is not just about kids swapping games," said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of F-Secure. "The only parties that would need a KMS crack would be corporations with volume licensing."