The Windows Update Stealth Affair Explained
section: windows, for your questions: KezNews forum, 20.9.2007
It was widely reported last week that Microsoft had automatically updated systems that had Automatic Updates set to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them".
Nate Clinton, a Windows Update Program Manager at Microsoft posted a response on his blog shortly after the widespread [misconceived] reporting had gone out.
One question we have been asked is why do we update the client code for Windows Update automatically if the customer did not opt into automatically installing updates without further notice? The answer is simple: any user who chooses to use Windows Update either expected updates to be installed or to at least be notified that updates were available. Had we failed to update the service automatically, users would not have been able to successfully check for updates and, in turn, users would not have had updates installed automatically or received expected notifications. That result would not only fail to meet customer expectations but even worse, that result would lead users to believe that they were secure even though there was no installation and/or notification of upgrades.
One misconception is that people wrongly assumed that Microsoft had updated systems when the option for Automatic Updates was turned off, in this instance the machines were not updated, only those that had the Automatic Updates tool turned on. The only stealthy thing about the whole affair is that the Windows Update service was updated without consent of the user, Nate explains above why this is so. It updated a tool to check for updates which seemed to be the problem all round.
Not such a big deal if you ask me. Oh Nate also goes on to say that Windows Update, or Automatic Updates have upgraded themselves in the past in the same manner, only now it seems has it become an issue!
source:
neowin.net
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Comments(9)
ah. so if the police go into your house and make sure all the locks work with their keys,
just in case they want to search your home, without your consent, then this is ok! boy do
i feel better now that ms has told me who i should feel about them "helping me" so much
without my consent!
do you want a cookie? :-)
emmmmm cooookiiiiessssssss
you cry so much for so little...
mommy micr0s0ft is touching me without mah c0nsent
well, instead of complaining, how about disabling automatic update service? that way, it
won't update itself anymore as it doesn't start. as explained in the article, to have a
tool to supply update, it surely need to update itself first, right?
seeing this, makes me wonder if this feature could be retooled and used to make sure your
genuine?? silent update, license check, reduced functionality mode; see the
possibilities.......
ahh... so we shouldn't be worried?
if microsoft can do this, so can a hacker who
knows how the system works, and my guess is he won't replace it with a windows update
programm!
as said before, disable the service. don't use it. if it is disabled, it won't update
itself and no hacker can hack into it.
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police state
By bend over for MS on 20.09.2007 - 21:09