Microsoft Thursday confirmed a security hole in Windows 95 and Windows 98 that could result in problems for Web surfers or users of particular email programs.
Published:
15 March 2000 y., Wednesday
The hole could also potentially be used to create more significant system damage, experts say. The vulnerability, which was just discovered, works by forcing a computer to process a certain sequence of characters. A user could encounter this situation in several instances: when downloading a Web page that has been embedded with malicious code, when opening an email message on Hotmail or some other Web-based email service or simply by typing the code at a DOS prompt. When a computer encounters the sequence of characters and tries to process them, it crashes. "Basically, if you have a certain combination of certain strings in a file name, it gives the user the blue screen of death," said Elias Levy, chief technical officer at SecurityFocus.com and moderator of the BugTraq mailing list, which has been following the issue for the last week. Microsoft confirmed the vulnerability, which is a type of "Trojan horse," and said it is working on a patch. "It is a vulnerability in which Windows 9x machines can be caused to crash," a spokesperson said. "Microsoft is aware of the issue and is developing a patch that will eliminate it."
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Software company announced new structure_ of it_s business.
more »
The iPhone's new “ATM Hunter” is a a free iPhone application built by MasterCard that allows users to quickly find the ATMs that are closest to them.
more »
In security breach cases last year, such as Hannaford Bros. supermarket and the card processing firm Heartland Payment Systems, cybercriminals gained access to millions of consumers' credit card details.
more »
Ingenico, a provider of payment solutions, says contactless technology will split the retail market this year, improving sales figures for early adopters and costing those who shun the additional investment in this burgeoning technology.
more »
Widevine Technologies today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has reconfirmed the validity of many claims of Widevine's U.S.
more »
Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of cell phones, is making a large investment in California-based Obopay Inc., a startup that's pushing person-to-person mobile-payments technology.
more »
The increasing amount of overlap and duplication of data, tasks and processes in their anti-fraud and anti-money laundering divisions is driving banks to seek synergies between compliance, risk management and security, according to a new report from Datamonitor.
more »
The total number of IPTV subscribers worldwide passed the 20mn mark at the end of 2008, according to new figures from Informa Telecoms & Media, taking into account both disclosed and estimated figures.
more »
The IPTV World Forum opened its doors this morning on a bright London day, and the mood was equally optimistic indoors, with the conference rooms packed for keynote presentations from Christopher Schläffer of Deutsche Telekom, Christophe Forax from the European Commission and the BBC's Richard Halton, charged with making Project Canvas a reality.
more »
A new Gartner Inc. report suggests that financial fraud could drive consumers away from banks and into the arms of electronic payment systems, such as PayPal, that they perceive to be more secure.
more »
In the last year this more than doubles the number of cards and devices in circulation around the world.
more »