In response to a heightened security alert, Microsoft has updated its customer advisories for protecting its server software against DNS cache poisoning attacks.
The software giant revised its recommended settings for some Windows Server products late Wednesday, clarifying which default configurations could leave computers open to the DNS poisoning threat. The security update was triggered by a report from the Internet Storm Center that it had received notices of a number of DNS cache poisoning attacks.
DNS cache poisoning involves the practice of hacking into domain name servers and replacing the numeric addresses of legitimate Web sites with the addresses of malicious sites. The scheme typically redirects Internet users to bogus Web pages where they may be asked for sensitive information or have spyware installed on their PCs, an online assault that has also become known as "pharming."
News source: C|Net News.com
