The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned end users and businesses that the patch Microsoft has made available may not offer enough protection against hackers breaking into systems remotely. (So.. since when does FBI became an expert on Windows's loopholes? :P -Ed)
It cautioned yesterday that companies using XP should also switch off Universal Plug'n'Play as a further protection against the cavernous security hole exposed last Thursday.
But Microsoft is maintaining that the patch, which is also available for Win98, Win98SE and ME, is sufficient to close any security gap.
Disabling this feature will affect features specifically built into WinXP to make using PCs "even easier than before", as Microsoft might say.
But if there are any other bugs lurking in PnP, then the FBI's caution might be wise. However, there may well be other holes lying around in wait that no-one's discovered yet.
After all, Windows 98 was introduced years ago and no one picked up on the bug that was carried forward into SE and ME until a few weeks back.
News source: The Inquirer - FBI warns WinXP patch 'not enough'
