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Microsoft hides behind Linux for protection

Munir Kotadia ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 27 Aug 2003 11:15 BST

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Microsoft has employed Akamai's Linux-based servers to protect its Microsoft.com Web site and reduce the site's vulnerability to viruses, worms and denial of service attacks.

Microsoft has been in turmoil over the past couple of weeks, after at least three significant worm and virus attacks. The Microsoft.com Web site was also brought down on at least two separate occasions after a distributed denial of service (DoS) attack. Deploying Linux-based servers is significant because the open-source operating system is an arch-rival to Windows.

According to Internet services company Netcraft, Microsoft changed the DNS of its Web site so that requests for pages are no longer handled by Microsoft's own network, but instead by the Akamai cache servers -- which consists of 15,000 Linux-based servers spread around the globe.

Microsoft's other option was to take the Microsoft.com Web site off line, which is exactly what the software giant did with Windowsupdate.com after it came under attack from the Blaster worm. Windowsupdate.com is less important to Microsoft's operations than Microsoft.com, and employing Akamai was the best practical step it could take to defend itself against more DoS attacks, Netcraft said.

A Microsoft spokesman told ZDNet UK: "Our many connection service providers' infrastructures are diverse; our main concern is doing whatever it takes to help ensure our customers can get to the patch to protect their computers.”

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Full Talkback thread

24 comments

  1. I have been waiting for 13 years for microsoft to... Anonymous
  2. Enough said!! Anonymous
  3. Well it is about time. MS started to give in for t... Abe
  4. It defies logic. Not the worm but Microsoft's Choi... Dariusz Zelichowski
  5. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!! Anonymous
  6. hahaha. that must be a blow to microsoft executive... Folle Rec
  7. M$ must be eating tons of crow: What a tacet admis... swbobcat
  8. I think the headline speaks volumes. enough said. Oscar Goldman
  9. Well now it would seem to me that ol M$ themselfs... Peter Nikolic
  10. Sensationalism. Iam a one-eyed GNU/Linux lover and... Anonymous guy
  11. Don't get me wrong, I'm a linux enthusiast. I've g... Simon
  12. Just because microsoft is using a Linux system to... David Guenther
  13. I think that it's great that people from Microsoft... Milan Uremovic
  14. Microsoft is not afraid to use other operating sys... Magnesium|CW|
  15. IT's so funny to see Microsoft's behaviour! The ma... Anonymous
  16. It seems that Microsoft is running from their own... Tosin A. Atolagbe
  17. It's a great move from the MS perspective. Now tho... Kunal Jain
  18. Talk about spin! MIcrosoft choose Akamai becaus... Darren DeNunzio
  19. M$ stuff is just plain junk. 2000 was said to be s... Anonymous
  20. Well, Honeslty I don't know who this company that... Conrad
  21. Someone wrote this thingie ->>> Talk about spin! M... Henrik Pihl
  22. This shows that Microsoft do not have much faith i... Anonymous
  23. Very funny! I wonder why Big Bll decided not to u... "RedHat" rik ford
  24. Quote: -------------------------------------------... Anonymous

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