Cable, Windows 95 don't
mix
By Nick Wingfield
June 6, 1997, 1:30 p.m. PT
Subscribers to a cable Internet access service who
run Windows 95 on their computers may be
inadvertently exposing their hard disks to other
customers.
Today, Microsoft (MSFT) confirmed that
Windows 95 users who subscribe to the MediaOne
express cable modem service may be
compromising the privacy of their data if they have
activated the file- or print-sharing feature on their
PCs. Company representatives said they plan to
post a security bulletin on the Microsoft Web site
later today.
A MediaOne spokesman implied that other
broadband networks could be affected.
"To my knowledge, this is more of a problem
revolving around the open architecture of this
network. This is not unique to MediaOne express,"
MediaOne's Rob Stoddard said. "It is in fact an
issue that we have been familiar with for some time.
We have been talking to our customers about the
issue since last year."
According to Stacey Breyfogle, a product manager
at Microsoft, most users will not be affected
because Windows 95 ships with file and print
sharing turned off. The file and print features let
users on a local area network share data and
printers with each other.
Unlike most dial-up Internet service providers,
MediaOne does not use a proxy server, which
prevents users from being directly connected to the
Internet, Breyfogle said. Users of Microsoft's
Windows NT operating system are not affected by
the problem because the OS does not allow "guest"
users to log onto a computer's hard disk, she said.
News of the security risk was first reported by the
Ziff-Davis News Network. Stoddard said that
MediaOne express currently has more than 3,500
subscribers. He could not estimate how many users
were affected by the Windows 95 security
problem.
MediaOne is the broadband services division of
U.S. West Media Group.
In related security news, Microsoft last week
posted software fixes for Windows 95 that protect
passwords from being snatched off users'
computers by hackers. |
