The flaws could allow hackers to remotely gain complete control over a computer running XP when the victim is on-line. The vulnerabilities could also be exploited to launch a distributed denial of service attack from the computers of unwitting XP users.
The company yesterday made available a patch for downloading. It addresses what is being widely described as the most serious vulnerability ever found in a Windows operating system.
The flaws were discovered and alerted to Microsoft by eEye Digital Security, a small group of former hackers.
The judge overseeing the settlement of over 100 private lawsuits against Microsoft yesterday postponed his decision on whether or not to approve terms proposed by parties to the case. A decision had been expected mid-December on a proposed settlement which would involve Microsoft donating software and cash to schools.
The proposal has received criticism from around one third of the 100 parties to the class action. In addition, Apple Computer perceives the plan as a threat to its own dominance of the education market, one of the few markets not already controlled by Microsoft. The judge’s decision is now expected at some point after 10th January 2002.
According to CNet news, Microsoft yesterday asked a court to stop a Linux start-up from using the name Lindows for its new product which would be a version of the Linux operating system able to run applications written for Windows. Microsoft is alleging trade mark infringement.