Anyone running Windows XP? A few hours ago Tech TV reported the biggest security hole I've ever seen. Seems that you can have your hard drive wiped by simply going to a webpage.
And the webpage is easy to set up. Microsoft has supposedly tried to keep this silent, under the rug, even though they have known about it for 11 weeks.
Service pack 1 fixes it. Unfortunately people that have dial up will have a hard time DLing SP1. Most people dunno what a service pack is.
There is a quick fix. Search for a file: uplddrvinfo.htm and either rename it or delete it. (applies to all versions of Windows XP only)
More....
grc.com
Attention Windows XP Users
A little-known but critical vulnerability exists in Windows XP.
It has recently been repaired in Service Pack 1.
This vulnerability allows the files contained in any specified directory on your system to be deleted if you click on a specially formed URL. This URL could appear anywhere: sent in malicious eMail, in a chat room, in a newsgroup posting, on a malicious web page, or even executed when your computer merely visits a malicious web page. It is likely to be widely exploited soon.
This vulnerability is so dangerous that it would be irresponsible for me to say more. Microsoft has known of this problem for months and has, inexplicably, done nothing before now. Although XP's Service Pack 1 is not small (approx 30 MB for express installation or 140 MB for the network install), and even though a much quicker and easier solution to this problem exists, the only thing I can safely recommend (without revealing too much) is to urge all XP users to somehow obtain and install Service Pack 1 immediately. (If you have a slow Internet connection, perhaps a friend can download the executable Service Pack file and burn it onto a CD for you?)
This problem does not affect any systems other than Windows XP. If you have any friends or co-workers running Windows XP, please urge them to update their systems' too. Once the details of this vulnerability have leaked through other channels I will provide additional information. |
