US warns on Windows attack plans
Published: 01 Aug 2003 16:10 BST
The federal government says there is new evidence that an attack is being planned on computers using Microsoft's Windows.
The Department of Homeland Security issued an updated advisory this week about possible hacker attacks on computers running Microsoft operating systems. The advisory warns that several working exploits are now in widespread distribution on the Internet.
"These exploits provide full remote system level access to vulnerable computers," the advisory states.
Microsoft issued a patch to plug the relevant hole two weeks ago.
No worm code has been reported so far. But the Homeland Security Department said there is evidence to show an increase in searches for vulnerable computers on the Internet over the past week. This reinforces the urgency to install patches on computers that use Windows operating systems as soon as possible, the advisory said.
The warning comes after hackers from the Chinese X Focus Security Group forwarded source code to several public security lists. The code is designed to allow an intruder to enter Windows computers. Microsoft has also advised customers to protect their network with a firewall.
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