Bonum Certa Men Certa

The (Microsoft) Nightmare Before Christmas

No, not the film

THIS TYPE OF THING happens almost every year. It's another familiar 'emergency Christmas' that may lead to higher blood pressure.

Data in Microsoft Databases Under Threat



Just before the holiday, Microsoft decided to give people fewer reasons to rest well, having recently patched half a dozen critical flaws.

Desktop users running the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine or SQL Server 2005 Express could be at risk in some circumstances, Microsoft said.


They have been negligent enough not to fix this in 8 months. Microsoft keeps known flaws to itself until it's too late and damage is being done.

Microsoft Corp. today confirmed that it has been working on a critical vulnerability in SQL Server for more than eight months, but declined to say whether it has had a patch ready since September, as an Austrian security researcher has alleged.


Another emergency patch (almost the third in a month [1, 2, 3]) is likely on its way. Microsoft Fanalysts [sic] are explaining the severity of this as well.

News Analysis. Microsoft has warned of a zero-day vulnerability affecting SQL Server. Do take Microsoft's security advisory seriously.

Remember SQL Server slammer, which struck nearly six years ago? IT administrators were lucky the worm spread a month after Christmas. The new SQL Server vulnerability could bring coal to your Christmas stocking, if left untended.


Scareware and Fakes



There are other new attacks that piggyback on Microsoft.com.

Miscreants are exploiting weaknesses in more than one million webpages operated by the federal government, media companies, and even Microsoft to trick unwitting visitors into installing harmful software that takes over their computers.


More here:

Fake Antivirus Peddlers Helped by Microsoft, IRS



Just weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission shut down two companies accused of selling fake antivirus software, a new player has moved into the market, aided by glitches in the Microsoft and U.S. Internal Revenue Service Web sites.


As always, there are fake greeting cards too, whose harm is only Windows compatible (where "clicking" translates to "executing", frequently with full system privileges).

A new worm has emerged that could be much worse than the notorious Storm worm, which ruled the botnet world for nearly two years.


Zombies on the Cloud



We wrote extensively about the threat of zombie PCs. Botnets seem to have recruited almost one in two Windows PCs although most nodes in this network remain unused, so the seriousness remains mostly uncovered -- for now. 98% of the Windows PCs out there are potentially ripe for hijacking, according to Secunia, so it's down to the mercy -- or wrath -- of botmasters.

This has serious ramifications when it comes to security and the United States too can be crushed by botnets, according to this new simulated attack.

US cybersecurity defences fail to thwart mock cyberattack



The basic scenario involved exercises in electronic disruption accompanying a national emergency, a sequence of events played out in Estonia last year and more recently in Georgia. Defenders drew on established defence procedures but these turned out to be inadequate, for reasons not explained in any detail by participants.


Speaking of security, problems may also be introduced by Microsoft's so-called 'cloud' (Azure), which we remarked on in [1, 2, 3, 4].

Amitabh: Microsoft provides a computing infrastructure on which developers can build applications. It is the responsibility of the developer to ensure that their applications, content and services comply with applicable laws and do not engage in malicious conduct. For more information refer to http://www.microsoft.com/azure/termswindowsazure.mspx


Looking at that URL:

# Indemnification.

[...]

You agree to indemnify, pay the defense costs of, and hold Microsoft and its successors, officers, directors and employees harmless from and against any and all claims, demands, costs, liabilities, judgments, losses, expenses and damages (including attorneys' fees)

[...]

# Modifying the Terms.

[...]

Microsoft may at its sole discretion modify this agreement at any time. You can access the most current version of the agreement via the link


That's not so reassuring. For similar reasons, we constantly warn about Microsoft's so-called "open source" licences. Microsoft totally controls the way they evolve.

International database

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

GNU/Linux Grows at Windows' Expense and Microsoft Trolls Infest and Maliciously Target Articles About It
Microsoft is - and has long been - organised crime
They Say I'm Mr. Bombastic
They didn't take good lawyers
 
Computers Got Smaller, So GNU/Linux Got Bigger
Many people here recognise the lack of urgency (or need) to get expensive new laptops
BetaNews is a Plagiarism and LLM Slop Hub, the Chief Editor Isn't Addressing This Problem Anymore
SS Fagioli is basically a parasite leeching off or exploiting other people's work
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Windows TCO and Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VI: Political Stunts by Former President Edyta Demby-Siwek and the Connection to Profound Corruption at EUIPO
it's like a money-laundering operation where one politician rewards another at taxpayers' expense
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Pipelines and Splitgate
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 08, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 08, 2025
Links 08/06/2025: Tiananmen Carnage Censorship Persists, North Korean Goes Offline
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/06/2025: Love as an Ethnographic Method and Monitorix Gemini-Frontend v0.1
Links for the day
Links 08/06/2025: Exposure of More GAFAM Surveillance and Social Security Records Compromised
Links for the day
Linux Foundation is a Mediator for Microsoft et al, Not for Small Companies That Support Rather Than Attack the GPL
Many people still wrongly assume that because it is called "Linux Foundation", then it is pro-Linux and represents the same mindset
This Past Friday, Confirming What We Said All Along About Brett Wilson LLP: It's Shrinking, Has Considerable Debt, Loss of Net Assets Despite the Microsoft SLAPP Money
The documents only became publicly available less than 2 days ago
Some of the Many Reasons We Sued Microsofters for Harassment
perpetrators of harassment
For 20 Years Many People Were Sharecropping for Canonical's Oligarch, Now He's Deleting All Their Contributions
"Ubuntu has erased instead of archiving the trove of material at Ubuntu Forums"
There Was Always Too Much 'Crazy Stuff' Going on Around Freenode
What many IRC users lost sight of
Exposing Crime is Not a Crime (It Never Was)
In the eyes of rich and powerful people, those who speak about their crimes are the "criminals"
GNU/Linux Distros Abandoning Microsoft GitHub
Will curl be next to leave Microsoft GitHub?
Expect More XBox Mass Layoffs Soon If the Rumours Are True
From a Microsoft media operative
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 07, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 07, 2025
Europe Needs to Move Away From GAFAM; The Sooner, the Better
Europe - not just the EU - must abandon GAFAM as soon as possible
The Issue Isn't GNOME's Promotion of Diversity But GNOME Corruption, Abuse, Censorship, and Worse
So-called "Conservative" (republican, pro-Trump, bigoted) people want you to think the problem with GNOME is politics
When the News Sources Become Scarce and Increasingly Full of Polluted/Contaminated 'Content' (With LLM Slop and Slop Images)
Integrity matters
"Linux" Sites That Spew Out LLM Slop
We're lacking enough material for another "Slopwatch"
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part V: Breaking the Law, Just Like EPO
We'll hopefully cover some of the pertinent details later this year
Links 08/06/2025: Security Lapses, CISA Cuts, and More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: Mime Types and Geminisphere Introduction
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: Slop Companies Retain All Private Data, More Books Banned in the US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: "A Monk's Guide to Happiness" and "Wireless Earbuds"
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: More Rumours of Mass Layoffs in Microsoft's XBox Division, New COVID Variant
Links for the day
Drug Addiction is a Real Problem, It Destroys Families
a rather sensitive matter
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IV: Political Scrutiny and Errors/Inconsistencies in Official Documents
When such organisations receive scrutiny they start focusing on cover-up and muzzling of facts (or crushing people who say the truth)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 06, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 06, 2025