Hi, The Washington Post has an article in today's paper saying that Microsoft is mulling over making the Auto-Update feature of Windows XP be turned on by default. The article can be found here: Microsoft Weighs Automatic Security Updates as a Default http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11579-2003Aug18 This move by Microsoft sounds pretty scary to me. I am willing to bet that if Microsoft proceeds with these plans, the Windows Update Web site could easily distribute and install new software on hundreds of millions of Windows computers in a day or two. The risk here is that the system could be exploited by a disgruntled Microsoft employee and become the ultimate malware distribution system. It seems to me that the Microsoft is in the process of creating a single point of failure for the world's economy. I am wondering what sort of security and accounting systems that Microsoft has in place to prevent an insider attack on the Windows Update Web site? As one data point, yesterday I updated my wife's Windows Me laptop at the Windows Update site to repair the DCOM security hole. One of the 20 patch files I downloaded was something for DirectX. This patch file caused the laptop to blue screen of death in some VxD near the end of the Windows boot process. Luckily for me, the system seem to repair itself after the 4th reboot. I really didn't relish the idea of explaining to my wife how I broke her laptop. Richard M. Smith http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com
