Thanks to Paul Thurrott of Wininfo for this, just a few days before what would be a massive attack taking down up to 30% of the Internet, Microsoft was priding itself on the front of trustworthy computing and security. Little did they know that a few bad admins would ruin an otherwise productive end to the week of Jan 27th for MS.
Gates Says Trustworthy Computing is on Track
In an email message to customers, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates noted the first anniversary of his company"s Trustworthy Computing initiative and wrote that, while it"s had some successes, much more needs to be done. Honestly, I have to give the company some credit, as all of its upcoming products, such as Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003, are shipping in a secured, locked-down mode, eliminating what Gates called "the weak links" in previous versions. In an almost patronizing way, however, Gates offered some common-sense guidelines for protecting your personal and system security today: 1. Stay up to date on patches. 2. Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date with the latest signatures. 3. Use firewalls. Thanks Bill!
Microsoft Issues First Security Bulletin of 2003
Speaking of Microsoft security, the software giant issued its first security bulletin of 2003 this week, and even that was no doubt marked by celebration in some quarters. So what was this first bulletin you ask? Well, it turns out there is a critical flaw in Locator services used in Windows NT, 2000, and XP which could open up systems to attack. Windows Update will clear that up for you, but I recommend regular follow-up visits to the site just in case there are future security flare-ups.