U.S. government says Windows vulnerable to attack

The US federal government says there is new evidence that an attack is being planned on computers using Microsoft's Windows.

The Department of Homeland Security issued an updated advisory this week about possible hacker attacks on computers running Microsoft operating systems. The advisory warns that several working exploits are now in widespread distribution on the Internet.

"These exploits provide full remote system level access to vulnerable computers," the advisory states.

Microsoft issued a patch to plug the hole two weeks ago.

No worm code has been reported so far. But the Homeland Security Department said there is evidence to show an increase in searches for vulnerable computers on the Internet over the past week. This reinforces the urgency to install patches on computers that use Windows operating systems as soon as possible, the advisory said.

The warning comes after hackers from the Chinese X Focus Security Group forwarded source code to several public security lists. The code is designed to allow an intruder to enter Windows computers. Microsoft has also advised customers to protect their network with a firewall.

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Talkback 1 comments

  1. What I want to know, is the US government going to discontinue the use of windows OS based on reports presented to the homeland security counsole? dean king -- 10/09/03

    What I want to know, is the US government going to discontinue the use of windows OS based on reports presented to the homeland security counsole?


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