Well, in the article the other day about the Windows wireless problem/(feature that could be exploitable?) there was a mention that the default behaviour for Windows would be changed with the next service pack, for XP users that’s SP3. So, when can we expec this? It seems that service pack three for Windows XP probably won’t be publicly available until the second half of 2007.
Tag: updates
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Urgent AOL update
This sounds like a serious vulnerability. The SecurityFix is reporting on a very serious vulnerability in AOL.
The problem affects AOL version 8.0, AOL version 8.0+, and AOL version 9.0 Classic.
The vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to take control of a users PC. Basically, all that would be needed is for the AOL user to visit a specially crafted web page.
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Microsoft Support extensions for XP
Good news for Windows XP users (especially XP Home). Microsoft has extended the support period for XP Home and Pro. Originally, security patch related support was expected to end December 31st of this year. According to the article for XP Home…
So for the consumer versions of Windows XP, mainstream support was going to end on December 31, 2006 and there was no guarantee of any security hot-fixes beyond that time. Microsoft has now extended the mainstream support deadline for the consumer versions to an undefined date that is two years after the release of the follow-on operating system.
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Microsoft’s speed to get security patches out
Brian Krebs at the Security Fix has done an interesting study related to how long it takes Microsoft to release a security fix for a problem, starting from the time they are notified of the security vulnerability. For the most part, 134.5 days has been the window between notification and vulnerability patching for the last 2 years from Microsoft. (That is for vulnerabilities that were submitted to Microsoft through the normal process…)
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Symantec fixes possible rootkit issue
Brian Krebs at the SecurityFix has the story. Symantec, has fixed a problem with their SystemWorks and SystemWorks premier software that could allow malicious software to hide in the Norton Protected Recycle Bin. That software, could have used the nprotect directory to evade detection by antivirus and antispyware programs.
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WordPress 2.0 plugins
One of the real hesitations I had in moving current sites to WordPress 2.0 was the thought of “what plugins will break?” From what I saw the supported plugins list was short and so was the “broken” plugins list. Which said many were likely untested. So, after I installed a new wordpress 2.0 setup… I started copying over some of my favorite plugins (from my 1.5.2 sites) to see how they did.
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Microsoft Patch Tuesday January
Sounds like this patch Tuesday will have a couple of updates in spite of the early release of the WMF vulnerability fix. Thanks to Microsoft for yielding that fix as soon as the testing was done. I would hope that it wasn’t just public pressure, but a sense of what the right thing to do is when there are exploits actively targeting a vulnerability.
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XP Home support period
This is something you should consider if you are looking to abandoned a pre-Winxp operating system in favor of a flavor of XP. The product life cycle. In their infinite wisdom, Microsoft has different support plans for consumer products than “business-products”. As such… arstechnica.com has a post explaining why support for Windows XP Home will end the end of this year 12/31/06 and Windows XP Pro will continue to be supported perhaps as long as December of 2013.
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The D-Link DWL-800AP+ as a wireless repeater to extend wireless range – Part 7
So, according to D-Link there is a short list of access points that the DWL-800AP+ will repeat for. They are all d-link branded access points. It seems that there have been firmware updates to improve the compatibility with more models (of d-link access points.) Some of the incompatibilities have been with WEP encryption from what I’ve read.
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Network Security guide for the home or small business network – intermission…
At this point I’ve exhausted all the topics on network and computer security that I was eager to cover. As things change/ ideas strike I may well add to this series. One direction I see it going is talking in detail about several network utilities and more advanced topics like looking into web site ownership, email header analysis, good topical books/etc.