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Promethus
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Battle Creek, Michigan
Jan 2002
time: 00:25
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Worm Hits Microsoft, Which Ignored Own Advice
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
The frantic message came from the corporation's information technology workers: "HELP NEEDED: If you have servers that are nonessential, please shut down."
The computer system was under attack by a rogue program called SQL Slammer, which affected servers running Microsoft software that had not been updated with a patch — issued months ago — to fix the vulnerability. The worm hindered the operations of hundreds of thousands of computers, slowed Internet traffic and even disrupted thousands of A.T.M. terminals.
But this wasn't happening at just any company. It was occurring at Microsoft itself. Some internal servers were affected, and service to users of the Microsoft Network was significantly slowed.
The disruption was particularly embarrassing for Microsoft, which has been preaching the gospel of secure computing. On Jan. 23, the company's chairman, Bill Gates, sent a memo to customers describing progress in improving its products since he announced a "trustworthy computing" initiative a year ago.
"While we've accomplished a lot in the past year, there is still more to do," he wrote. He cited the hundreds of millions spent to shore up Microsoft's products, and its plans to deliver more secure products in the future. He also listed "things customers can do to help." The first item was "stay up to date on patches."
The paradox was not lost on computer security experts. "Microsoft has been blaming the users, saying they have to keep their patches up to date," said Bruce Schneier, founder and chief technical officer of Counterpane Internet Security Inc., a company that manages security for customers. "On the other hand, their own actions demonstrate how unrealistic that position is."
A spokesman for Microsoft, Rick Miller, confirmed that a number of the company's machines had gone unpatched, and that Microsoft Network services, like many others on the Internet, experienced a significant slowdown. "We, like the rest of the industry, struggle to get 100 percent compliance with our patch management," he said.
"We recognize — now more than ever — that this is something we need to work on. And, like the rest of the industry, we're working to fix it."
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And they said "It Can't Happen Here!"
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Asher
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Calgary, Alberta
Nov 1999
time: 22:25
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Since a MS thread is already here: http://www.msnbc.com/news/865157.asp?0bl=-0
quote:
Judge quashes some Microsoft suits
Consumer antitrust suits in four states are tossed out
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 — A federal judge Monday granted a motion by Microsoft Corp. to throw out five of the consumer antitrust lawsuits filed against the company in four states. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz struck down lawsuits filed in Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland and Oklahoma, saying laws in those states do not allow consumers to collect damages from Microsoft unless they purchased software directly from the company.
MOST CONSUMERS purchase Microsoft’s Windows operating system and the its other software through retailers or get it pre-installed on the computers they buy.
In each of the cases dismissed on Monday, Motz said, state courts have ruled that so-called indirect purchasers cannot collect damages.
The cases are part of a slew of class-action lawsuits filed against Microsoft on behalf of consumers in the wake of the government’s landmark antitrust case against the company.
The judge is overseeing many of the consumer lawsuits, as well as civil cases filed by Sun Microsystems Inc., AOL Time Warner Inc. unit Netscape Communications, Be Incorporated and Burst.com.
In the class-action cases before Motz, the plaintiffs allege Microsoft abused its monopoly power to prevent competition in the market for personal computer operating systems, leveraged its Windows monopoly to obtain monopolies in the markets for word processing and spreadsheet software and used its monopoly positions in these markets to overcharge purchasers of Windows, Word, Excel and Office software.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in 2001, reviewed the government suit and agreed that Microsoft had illegally maintained its monopoly in the Windows computer operating system but rejected breaking the company in two to prevent future violations.
A settlement of the government suit was endorsed by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in November, although Massachusetts and West Virginia are appealing. |
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28-01-2003 10:08
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