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Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: tony23 on September 11, 2003, 12:39:02 PM

Title: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: tony23 on September 11, 2003, 12:39:02 PM
Users of Windows machines are urged once again to do the microsoft two step and update the latest security patch. Issued Sept. 10 2003

"New threats to your computer's security like Blaster and Sobig are emerging all the time. Use the links below to install the latest Microsoft® Windows® and Microsoft Office updates and to help ensure that your computer is protected."

Install the update below, and then take three steps to help Protect Your PC.

Quote Microsoft

"Why We Are Issuing This Update.
A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to remotely compromise a computer running Microsoft® Windows® and gain complete control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft."


This is yet another critical update for users of windows OS

here....
http://www.microsoft.com

here...
http://www.microsoft.com/security/

and here...
http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-039.asp
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Elwood on September 11, 2003, 01:08:23 PM
It's a hole in the RPC protocol. On the MS site we can find:

The protocol itself is derived from the Open Software Foundation (OSF) RPC protocol, but with the addition of some Microsoft-specific extensions.

Where is the bug ? In the MS additions ? Or all systems using such protocol is affected ?
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: gnarly on September 11, 2003, 01:29:14 PM
I think the problem is in MS' implementation of the protocol.
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: SilvrDrgn on September 11, 2003, 02:27:36 PM
MS backpeddling and fixing yet another hole in their swiss cheese software.  It's their stupid "MS implementation" (read: bastardization) of standard protocols that causes a lot of these problems!!!
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Targhan on September 11, 2003, 06:09:11 PM
I suggest, as an alternative, that we all actually use AmigaOS or MorphOS!  Really.... (or AROS.. Amithlon... etc)
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: KennyR on September 11, 2003, 06:35:58 PM
Trolling comment removed by mikeymike
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Lo on September 11, 2003, 07:47:30 PM
I had to look
Quote
Users of Windows machines are urged once again to do the microsoft two step and update the latest security patch. Issued Sept. 10 2003


Windows machines does not include Windows '98 again, maybe I will never "upgrade" to XP :-P
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Methuselas on September 11, 2003, 08:12:51 PM
Is it me, or all these critical updates getting a bit redundant? I know htat hackers and script kiddies love to mess with Big Brother, but 'cmon I have to use 2k on a daily basis and it seems like every week, there's some other hole they've found....


I'm thinking Microsoft needs to start manufacturing toilet paper, 'cos with all the sh!t they keep putting out, I'm gonna have nothing to clean it up with.... :-o
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Cyberus on September 11, 2003, 10:52:55 PM
Call me a cynic - but sometimes I wonder if these updates are designed to catch out the pirates as well

One of my friends had a slightly less than legal copy of XP - he had some windows activation crack or something installed. It worked without fault for over two months...then he visited a site that required him to install Cyrillic letters (he can speak Russian)...it redirected him to Windows site and trashed his dodgy XP installation...

It makes me wonder if this is a deliberate ploy by MS...
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Trev on September 12, 2003, 02:24:27 AM
It's not a ploy. Microsoft has made it clear that they will disable borrowed or stolen product IDs at every opportunity.

But you know, Microsoft isn't the only one patching products left and right--they're just the only one in the news. Take a look at the change logs of some your favorite software packages (Apache,  Perl, XFree86, etc.) and you'll see what I mean. The good news is that Microsoft *is* patching their software instead of just forgetting about it. Anyhow, there are indeed human beings working for Microsoft, and they make mistakes just like the rest of us.
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Jope on September 12, 2003, 07:10:40 AM
Quote
Is it me, or all these critical updates getting a bit redundant? I know htat hackers and script kiddies love to mess with Big Brother, but 'cmon I have to use 2k on a daily basis and it seems like every week, there's some other hole they've found....


Ohhh, come on!

Open source software gets even more frequent fixes all the time! It's just that MS didn't do it in the past, and now that they finally woke up that they need to fix their sw, just like everyone else.

It's a Good Thing that these things happen. Very often when I run apt-get update ; apt-get upgrade on my Debian box, I get several security-updated packages.. Perl, Apache, etc. Very common software.

It's just that they're putting lots of positive spin on it.. Anyone remember Bill Gates' big announcement that MS will make bug fixing it's utmost priority?

All software is faulty. Some is less faulty than others, or runs on a platform that isn't tempting to hackers (something too obscure, like say an Amiga ;-)

Subscribe to bugtraq and see.. It isn't just Windows where they're finding those dastardly root holes.
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Burlappin on September 12, 2003, 08:35:39 AM
If you think Microsoft didn't do it in the past then check out:

The Joel Test (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html)

Read number 5.

It makes more sense (saves time and money) to fix bugs the exact moment you know about them.   Read that site a bit (Joel On Software (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/) ), he's an ex programmer from Microsoft, used to work on Excel, etc.

He's got very sensible ideas on software development, and unlike most people knows how Microsoft manages it's software development.

Yes Microsoft isn't perfect, but they happen to earn so much more money than their nearest competor, they must be doing something right...

(And don't think I'm a blind lover of MS either, I just happen to think people don't give them credit when credit is due sometimes.)
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: KennyR on September 12, 2003, 06:46:11 PM
Quote
Burlappin wrote:
Yes Microsoft isn't perfect, but they happen to earn so much more money than their nearest competor, they must be doing something right...


They're in a monopoly position. They couldn't fail to make so much money than their nearest competitor - because they have no real competitors.

And the way that Microsoft got that monopoly was by bundling bad software and by really dirty tactics - hence my avatar.
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: Burlappin on September 14, 2003, 05:14:26 AM
Bill Gates first job was fixing bugs at a computer company.  He saw an oppourtinity, followed a business plan and got it.

They didn't start as a monopoly, they were too small to use "dirty tatics" at the beginning, so if they wrote bad software how could they succeed?

It's a well run company that's why it succeeds.  True, now I would class it now as a monopoly, because put simply if you want to do something chances are you'll have to use MS software to do it.

Excel, Word files are the files to use if you're using a word processor or spreadsheet.  Nothing else gets a look in.

If the Amiga was a company that was run as well as Microsoft history would've been alot different.  But in the world of business, technical ability means squat, there's always examples of it, VHS vs Beta, etc.

I think an OS with the principles of QNX design, the Amiga's spirit, the community support of Linux, and the usability of Windows along with MS's business sense would be pretty cool.

Thankfully with Linux, SGI decided to find out how to make GNOME more usable to users.

GNOME Study (http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/ut1_report/report_main.html)

But anyway back to my point.  MS started small, with no monopoly, and nowhere near the power, IBM was the monopoly back then.  You just say that MS write bad software because you're completely anti-MS.

You must at least admit that given the complexity of MS software that's it's impossible for humans to design it without errors creeping in?

The AmigaOS is nowhere near as complex, and that has errors too.  All software has errors to some extent.

Please excuse my rambling now anyway, Ive got alot of different opinions about the current situation with computers and tend to get sidetracked.  :-)
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: mikeymike on September 14, 2003, 10:31:10 AM
@ Burlappin

You need to know MS's history better before arguing about what they did or didn't do.

@ everyone

Let's not have another "Microsoft history" thread please.
Title: Re: Critical Windows Update !
Post by: DanDude on September 14, 2003, 01:43:23 PM
So what?  I run AmigaOS 3.9 and it rocks!!!
 :-P
so there!