Bonum Certa Men Certa

All Versions of Windows Vulnerable, Under Attack, So Microsoft Gets Botnets

Water



Summary: A US court gives Microsoft botnets-operating domains after Windows failed to stay in the users' hands (due to faulty design of Windows, lack of disclosure, and lack of urgent patches)

DUE TO Microsoft's insistence on silent patching, it is impossible to know just how many flaws in Windows require fixing (Microsoft is ranked worst for patching). Microsoft says that 13 more are coming, but the real number might be far higher because the company patches without disclosing (for secrecy/vanity purposes).



According to the company’s advance notification for this month’s Patch Tuesday, there will be a total of 9 bulletins (four rated critical) addressing flaws in all versions of Windows, including Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008.


Yes, the 'legendary' Vista 7 too is a block of Swiss cheese. Is anyone surprised? Now that Windows XP is being pulled (SJVN gave some dates and there is corroboration)), some of the world is left to rely on some 'newer' versions of Windows which are not necessarily more secure.

“[W]hen nobody is using Windows, there will be no botnets”
      --Eben Moglen
Professor Eben Moglen said quite recently that "when nobody is using Windows, there will be no botnets" (watch the video where he has even harsher words for Windows).

How about this new report from Ryan Naraine? All versions of Windows appear to be affected by a new worm and OpenBytes says that "victims include Disney, Nasa AIG and others," at least based on the sources Tim read.

Windows is reported to be yet again under attack and as usual it is the end-user who suffers. The BBC is reporting that a worm, spread by unsuspecting souls opening a PDF attached to an email, see’s their Outlook address book hijacked with the worm sending itself out to everyone contained therein.


Those E-mails are sent through botnets, which are of course zombie PCs running Windows. It's a brute force- and remote access-reliant cyber crime. Symantec is concerned:

A fast-moving email worm that began spreading on Thursday has been able to affect hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, anti-virus provider Symantec warned.

The email arrives with the subject “Here you have.” An executable screensaver that's disguised as a PDF document then tries to send the same message to everyone listed in the recipient's address book. The .scr file is a variation of the W32.Imsolk.A@mm worm Symantec discovered last month.


Watch Microsoft responding. It "Acquired its Own Botnet," said Pogson, pointing to this new report. [via]

CONTROL OVER 275 DOMAINS that are used by operators of the malware botnet Waledac has been given to Microsoft by a US court.

Microsoft can now shut down the sites and the company does not expect an appeal against the judgment. It said that the botnet's operators have objected to the move in other ways, such as launching a denial-of-service attack on its legal team.


This is becoming an embarrassment. Microsoft is getting possession of botnets, which are still being created by the hundreds of millions (in terms of node count), so it's really just a futile attempt to correct the uncorrectable (unless Windows gets abandoned by everyone).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
 
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025