Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3153229.stm

<quote>
The news that Microsoft is going to start shipping Windows XP with its
various security features enabled by default should be welcomed, even if it
is does not solve the bigger problem.

After all, it still leaves tens of millions of users with an operating
system that was set up to make it easy for them to play online games and use
e-commerce websites, and at the same time giving virus and worm writers lots
of ways to attack their computers.

And that is to say nothing of the Windows 98, NT and 2000 installed base,
where security is more a matter of hoping and installing third-party
software than using anything provided by Microsoft.

But it is a start.

The decision to change the standard installation of XP is a result of this
week's fuss about the MSBlast worm, which has infected hundreds of thousands
of internet-connected computers and continues to cause problems on the net.

This could get significantly worse on Saturday when infected computers are
programmed to send fake requests to the Microsoft website and try to make it
inaccessible.

Firewall trouble

MSBlast is another embarrassment for Microsoft, but it could mark a turning
point in how we think about online security.

At last ordinary Windows users will have to do something - actually turn off
their firewall - if they want to expose themselves to risk.

So far everyone has been so focused on ease of use and not getting in the
way that they have designed and built systems which are intrinsically
insecure.

Then it is been left to untrained, unskilled and unaware users to make the
changes which limit risks. Few of us, even the technically skilled among us,
bother to do this. And few of us do it all the time.

</quote>

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

Who would want to use XP ICF anyway? It lacks many features a normal free
software firewall has.


"Howard Johnson" <hojos@xx.xx> wrote in message
news:A_x%a.11878$9f7.1367698@news02.tsnz.net...
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3153229.stm
>
> <quote>
> The news that Microsoft is going to start shipping Windows XP with its
> various security features enabled by default should be welcomed, even if
it
> is does not solve the bigger problem.
>
> After all, it still leaves tens of millions of users with an operating
> system that was set up to make it easy for them to play online games and
use
> e-commerce websites, and at the same time giving virus and worm writers
lots
> of ways to attack their computers.
>
> And that is to say nothing of the Windows 98, NT and 2000 installed base,
> where security is more a matter of hoping and installing third-party
> software than using anything provided by Microsoft.
>
> But it is a start.
>
> The decision to change the standard installation of XP is a result of this
> week's fuss about the MSBlast worm, which has infected hundreds of
thousands
> of internet-connected computers and continues to cause problems on the
net.
>
> This could get significantly worse on Saturday when infected computers are
> programmed to send fake requests to the Microsoft website and try to make
it
> inaccessible.
>
> Firewall trouble
>
> MSBlast is another embarrassment for Microsoft, but it could mark a
turning
> point in how we think about online security.
>
> At last ordinary Windows users will have to do something - actually turn
off
> their firewall - if they want to expose themselves to risk.
>
> So far everyone has been so focused on ease of use and not getting in the
> way that they have designed and built systems which are intrinsically
> insecure.
>
> Then it is been left to untrained, unskilled and unaware users to make the
> changes which limit risks. Few of us, even the technically skilled among
us,
> bother to do this. And few of us do it all the time.
>
> </quote>
>
>
>

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

"anon" wrote
> Who would want to use XP ICF anyway? It lacks many features a normal free
> software firewall has.

My mom... she doesn't need the advanced features, and just needs a simple
Firewall, nothing too hard.

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 10:11:33 +1200, "Howard Johnson" <hojos@xx.xx>
wrote:

>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3153229.stm
>
><quote>
>The news that Microsoft is going to start shipping Windows XP with its
>various security features enabled by default should be welcomed, even if it
>is does not solve the bigger problem.
>
<snip />
</quote>

This is silly. All the naive Windows XP users are now going to think
that they are protected. What a shock for them when a) they receive a
virus in email b) they can't f'rinstance run ftp or use kazaa or
netmeeting, or MSN Messenger.....

Of course, the first thing any future email virus is going to do is to
switch off the ICF.

Cheers,

Cliff
--

Signed and sealed with Great Seal of the Executive
Council of the Internet, by The Master of The Net.

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

"Enkidu" <enkidu@cliffp.com> wrote in message
news:38otjvk1kkqimjofhf7m0kah790g349hkk@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 10:11:33 +1200, "Howard Johnson" <hojos@xx.xx>
> wrote:
>
> >http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3153229.stm
> >
> ><quote>
> >The news that Microsoft is going to start shipping Windows XP with its
> >various security features enabled by default should be welcomed, even if
it
> >is does not solve the bigger problem.
> >
> <snip />
> </quote>
>
> This is silly. All the naive Windows XP users are now going to think
> that they are protected.

They already did.

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

"anon" <aannnnoooonn@invalid.adress> wrote in message
news:3f3ebe2f@news.iconz.co.nz...
> Who would want to use XP ICF anyway? It lacks many features a normal free
> software firewall has.

Between 300,000 and 1.5 million infected victims of the DCOM exploit.

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

> This is silly. All the naive Windows XP users are now going to think
> that they are protected. What a shock for them when a) they receive a
> virus in email b) they can't f'rinstance run ftp or use kazaa or
> netmeeting, or MSN Messenger.....

Messenger should still work, as it uses upnp calls to get a port opened, so that
it works behind ICS, from what someone at microsoft was telling me some time
ago, upnp is the only way to get ports past the firewall, he lead me to believe
that there was no way to open them manually.

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 17:58:55 +1200, Richard Malcolm-Smith <rich@ihug.co.nz>
wrote:

>> This is silly. All the naive Windows XP users are now going to think
>> that they are protected. What a shock for them when a) they receive a
>> virus in email b) they can't f'rinstance run ftp or use kazaa or
>> netmeeting, or MSN Messenger.....
>
>Messenger should still work, as it uses upnp calls to get a port opened, so that
>it works behind ICS, from what someone at microsoft was telling me some time
>ago, upnp is the only way to get ports past the firewall, he lead me to believe
>that there was no way to open them manually.



Please tell my Why these people did not bother to get the XP Updates, as that
is on by default..?

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 17:58:55 +1200, Richard Malcolm-Smith
<rich@ihug.co.nz> wrote:

>> This is silly. All the naive Windows XP users are now going to think
>> that they are protected. What a shock for them when a) they receive a
>> virus in email b) they can't f'rinstance run ftp or use kazaa or
>> netmeeting, or MSN Messenger.....
>
>Messenger should still work, as it uses upnp calls to get a port opened, so that
>it works behind ICS, from what someone at microsoft was telling me some time
>ago, upnp is the only way to get ports past the firewall, he lead me to believe
>that there was no way to open them manually.
>
Urgh! I disabled uPnP when the first exploit arrived and haven't
restarted it since. I haven't checked whether there have been any
exploits recently.

You can get *any* port past the firewall. All you have to do is open
it. What is a little more trouble is if the internal addresses are
NATted to an external one.

This is the URL for uPnP.

http://www.upnp.org/

"The UPnP Forum is an industry initiative designed to enable simple
and robust connectivity among stand-alone devices and PCs from many
different vendors. As a group, we are leading the way to an
interconnected lifestyle".

I *think* what they are saying later in the page, is that if you are
connected to the Internet and uPnP and the discovery service are
activated, someone could, in theory, easily use your printer, your
hard disk, your CD....

Cheers,

Cliff
--

Signed and sealed with Great Seal of the Executive
Council of the Internet, by The Master of The Net.

Re: Microsoft new policy, XP to ship with firewall switched on
 

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 18:27:27 +1200, Robert Mathews
<r.math@nopost.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 17:58:55 +1200, Richard Malcolm-Smith <rich@ihug.co.nz>
>wrote:
>
>>> This is silly. All the naive Windows XP users are now going to think
>>> that they are protected. What a shock for them when a) they receive a
>>> virus in email b) they can't f'rinstance run ftp or use kazaa or
>>> netmeeting, or MSN Messenger.....
>>
>>Messenger should still work, as it uses upnp calls to get a port opened, so that
>>it works behind ICS, from what someone at microsoft was telling me some time
>>ago, upnp is the only way to get ports past the firewall, he lead me to believe
>>that there was no way to open them manually.
>
>Please tell my Why these people did not bother to get the XP Updates, as that
>is on by default..?
>
....and many vendors switch it off. As I suspect they will do for the
ICF.

Cheers,

Cliff
--

Signed and sealed with Great Seal of the Executive
Council of the Internet, by The Master of The Net.