The Unofficial
Microsoft Weblog discusses a new and very serious Windows vulnerability and points to the SANS Internet Storm
Center's comprehensive FAQ about the exploit that affects all Windows users. Two items of note from
the FAQ bear serious attention. The first is that a new variant of the exploit was released last night that makes
prevention even more difficult and, as of this writing, has not been successfully blocked by any of the major
anitivirus players. Second, and this should make you sit up and take notice if you are still running Windows 98 or Me,
SANS states the following chilling opinion (emphasis added):"What versions of Windows are affected?
All. Windows 2000, Windows XP, (SP1 and SP2), Windows 2003. All are affected to some extent. Mac OS-X, Unix or BSD is not affected.
Note: If you're still running on Win98/ME, this is a watershed moment: we believe (untested) that your system is vulnerable and there will be no patch from MS. Your mitigation options are very limited. You really need to upgrade."


1. Upgrading to one of the mainstream Linux distributions would actually allow you to forget all the headaches with MS Windows viruses, worms and unpatched vulnerabilities.
Posted at 7:27AM on Jan 3rd 2006 by Anonymous Coward