As part of its effort to stop the progress of the MSBlast worm, Microsoft is killing off the Windowsupdate.com address that the self-propagating program was set to attack.
Because the worm is programmed to attack only that address and not the site that it redirects to, the software giant has decided to eliminate the Windowsupdate.com address. The move is one of a series of efforts that Microsoft has undertaken to try to thwart an attack on its servers that was expected to be launched by infected computers starting Friday.
"One strategy for cushioning the blow was to extinguish the Windowsupdate.com" site, said Microsoft spokesman Sean Sundwall. "We have no plans to ever restore that to be an active site."
On Thursday, Microsoft changed the Internet addresses that correspond to the Windowsupdate.com entry in the domain name service servers that act as the Internet's address book. One source familiar with the change said that the new addresses are no longer on the same network as Microsoft's other servers, thereby insulating the company's servers from any attack aimed at Windowsupdate.com.
Sundwall stressed that the Windows Update service remains up and running, noting that the service never connected to Windowsupdate.com. Access to Windows Update is built into the latest versions of Microsoft's Windows client and server operating systems.
To get the latest patches, consumers can type in windowsupdate.microsoft.com or, as Microsoft would prefer, go to the main Microsoft.com page, where they can find information on downloading patches as well as on setting up a firewall and installing antivirus software.
The worm is programmed to start attacking Windowsupdate.com at 12 a.m. Saturday. As a result, Australia was among the first countries to be affected, with midnight hitting at 7 a.m. PDT.
http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-5064433.html?tag=fd_top
Because the worm is programmed to attack only that address and not the site that it redirects to, the software giant has decided to eliminate the Windowsupdate.com address. The move is one of a series of efforts that Microsoft has undertaken to try to thwart an attack on its servers that was expected to be launched by infected computers starting Friday.
"One strategy for cushioning the blow was to extinguish the Windowsupdate.com" site, said Microsoft spokesman Sean Sundwall. "We have no plans to ever restore that to be an active site."
On Thursday, Microsoft changed the Internet addresses that correspond to the Windowsupdate.com entry in the domain name service servers that act as the Internet's address book. One source familiar with the change said that the new addresses are no longer on the same network as Microsoft's other servers, thereby insulating the company's servers from any attack aimed at Windowsupdate.com.
Sundwall stressed that the Windows Update service remains up and running, noting that the service never connected to Windowsupdate.com. Access to Windows Update is built into the latest versions of Microsoft's Windows client and server operating systems.
To get the latest patches, consumers can type in windowsupdate.microsoft.com or, as Microsoft would prefer, go to the main Microsoft.com page, where they can find information on downloading patches as well as on setting up a firewall and installing antivirus software.
The worm is programmed to start attacking Windowsupdate.com at 12 a.m. Saturday. As a result, Australia was among the first countries to be affected, with midnight hitting at 7 a.m. PDT.
http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-5064433.html?tag=fd_top