Sasser shows network flaws

[tamarisk]

SEATTLE — The ability of a teenage German suspect arrested Friday to unleash the Sasser Internet worm underscores how vulnerable corporate networks remain, despite billions spent on security.

Full Article (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-05-10-sasser_x.htm)

[fireforce555]

If people would apply the damn patches this wouldnt happen, at least not on a worldwide scale. Its the same way 90% of email viruses would die out if people stopped opening attachments. But hey, we're humans.

[ROMANTICGUY50]

SEATTLE — The ability of a teenage German suspect arrested Friday to unleash the Sasser Internet worm underscores how vulnerable corporate networks remain, despite billions spent on security.

Full Article (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-05-10-sasser_x.htm)
As Soon as i heard about this and received word about it I downloadloaded the patch. I do have a good virsus program

[ferrarimodena360]

i really dont know what patch is available for sasser, when i goto microsoft updates , there arent any new critical updates

a link would be helpful

[nasrules]

i really dont know what patch is available for sasser, when i goto microsoft updates , there arent any new critical updates

a link would be helpful

You probably already have it. It says on the Windows Update site, though.

If people would apply the damn patches this wouldnt happen, at least not on a worldwide scale. Its the same way 90% of email viruses would die out if people stopped opening attachments. But hey, we're humans.

If Microsoft would iron out these problems before they released the OS, this wouldn't happen.

[fireforce555]

You probably already have it. It says on the Windows Update site, though.



If Microsoft would iron out these problems before they released the OS, this wouldn't happen.


You really cant expect an OS as large and deep as windows to be perfect all the way down the line. Airliners are designed by hundred of engineer and still they sometimes crash due to faulty design. Nothing is perfect. Not even linux.

[MoonMan]

Yeah but at least with Linux the problems are fixed by a massive community and very quickly. Can you say the same for Windows ?

[begoodbebad]

Yeah but at least with Linux the problems are fixed by a massive community and very quickly. Can you say the same for Windows ?

Well some of the problems are, not all. There are a lot more problems/challenges/issues than security to think about when choosing an OS but that's another thread.

The thing about the sasser worm was that it was coded after MS released the patch....almost certainly no one except MS or the person/company who identifed the flaw even knew of its existence until the patch was released. If big organisations like air traffic control and coast guards and banks are too dumb to patch their networks even a whole 3 weeks after a patch is available then you have to say the fault is with them, not with the software. It isn't really a Microsoft or Windows issue it's a user issue, because the situation would be the same with any OS based on any kernel from any manufacturer.

I can understand home users with a computer but without a functioning brain not knowing they should patch an OS, I can even understand they switched off the automatic updating without knowing wtf they were doing....but for sysadmins of big organisations to keep screwing up is incredible to me. You can only believe they are far too busy and that vital corporate security issues have to take a back seat to playing Doom, eating donuts, bursting the buttons on their overly tight shirts and making hairdresser appointments to get their receding ponytails groomed.*

edit@moonman: 3 f****ng paragraphs! OK 4 with the edit...I just keep improving.

*edit: also they often talk in a a very whiny way.Not relevant to this subject but I just thought I'd mention it. The twats.

[fireforce555]

Yeah but at least with Linux the problems are fixed by a massive community and very quickly. Can you say the same for Windows ?



No I cant. But can linux say it holds the same market share? Its a numbers game. Linux is held by fewer but those who use it tend to be smarter about safe computing overall. Windows is held by a cross section of the world but mostly its held my people who barely understand how to use MS word let alone properly secure their desktop. And linux is opensource, so anyone with the programming chops could make a "patch" to fix a problem. With MS its all closed and you need to wait for them to make a fix or workaround.

I agree also in that MS needs to focus more on a stable safe OS before it focuses on dumb shit though. Quite honestly I think they put more effort into making XP look pretty and advanced than what they put into making it a secure OS.

I enjoy programming VB so I use windows quite a bit but by no means am I a MS fanboy. They screw up alot of stuff.

[The Hunter]

Im running XP pro, and just got a critical update tonight.

[ferrarimodena360]

thanx janet

i got 2 updates 1 was a new , but 1 was what i had already had installed......microsoft has a bug, and an Q828026 patch was being shown as an update though i had already installed.....

really nasty problem, it occurs when u update/install wmp after installing the patch,
this is how i fixed it

-remove the Q828026 patch
-reinstall wmp
-delete registeries related to Q828026 MKLM>Software>Microsoft>Updates>WMP>828026
-rename catroot2 folder to oldcatroot2 c:\windows\system32\catroor2
-Install the patch
-most importantly, keep the faith

hope this info is helpful