Microsoft announces security improvements

[andsome]

"Thinking and doing, doing and thinking

- and these are the sum of all wisdom."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832); German poet, dramatist.

- Microsoft announces security improvements to Windows XP -

Oxygen3 24h-365d, by Panda Software (http://www.pandasoftware.com)

Madrid, October 30, 2003 - Several publications, including PC World and

InfoWorld, have reported the changes that Microsoft has announced it will

shortly incorporate in Windows XP to increase security. These new security

measures include activating the Internet Connection Firewall by default and

disabling Windows Messenger Service.

The first measure will be implemented to improve protection against latest

generation worms that exploit vulnerabilities to infect other computers,

such as the Blaster worm which spreads through TCP port 135 using a flaw in

the Windows RPC interface. A general security measure that can be adopted to

protect computers from these types of attacks is to block access to the

computer's services and ports. This is the function of firewalls, which

restrict and control inbound and outbound connections. Windows NT and later

Windows operating systems incorporate basic firewall functions, such as the

option to block TCP and UDP ports, but these are disabled by default.

However, Microsoft will shortly make the necessary modifications to enable

Internet Connection Firewall by default.

Another important innovation announced by Microsoft is its plan to disable

Windows Messenger Service, a service that allows users to send text messages

across local networks or via the Internet which automatically appear on the

recipient's desktop. On October 15, Microsoft released a patch to fix a

buffer overflow in this service, which allowed an attacker to run arbitrary

code on the affected computer. One of the biggest problems for Windows

Messenger Service users is that it is being used to send out spam via the

Internet. In order to avoid these problems, Microsoft will disable Windows

Messenger Service by default.

These changes have been announced this week by Jason Garms, an architect in

Microsoft's Security Business Unit and are expected to be included in

Service Pack 2 for Windows XP.

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