Technical Tidbits™

Posts Tagged ‘OneCare’

I’m really supposed to be doing something else right now, but I couldn’t let this post wait.

At first, I thought there was a mistake due to an article I caught on CNET which said, “WSJ calls Microsoft antivirus tool ’spyware’.“ Because I thought the Wall Street Journal knew what I’ve been saying all this time!

Microsoft NEVER does anything with the users best interest in mind. There has to be some kind of spying capacity in this new thing.

But alas, the article actually refers to a graphic that was presented on the WSJ front page and of course, trying to read the freaking article on WSJ (which is a garbage piece of supposed financial journalism anyway) is impossible since they want you to subscribe to their overpriced pro Republican conservative call it a newspaper.

I actually had a Google alert waiting for me in my gmail inbox which gave me the scoop.

In a Press Release titled: Microsoft Announces Plans for No-Cost Consumer Security Offering the release states that Microsoft is ending the sales of OneCare. (Should’ve made bets on that one! DARN!)

But it also announced that since Microsoft has such an award winning malware engine (first, I never heard of any of the companies giving the awards, and secondly, wtf????), and it’s so concerned about the spread of malware and its users (Yeah, right! I believe that – NOT!), it’s going to offer this great, free solution that suckers – I mean consumers – will just want to use.

My questions to Microsoft:

1. How much is this software going to phone home with user information?

2. What data are you going to be collecting?

3. What’s in it for you (because we all know you don’t do anything without some kind of profit in it for you)?

Am I jaded? Ya think???

Lock down your PC’s folks. I’m sure this piece of fine Microsoft software will come in on a critical  auto-update! After all, does their piece of crap Malicious Software Removal Tool come in as a critical update? (I might be wrong on that one.)

Anyway, just a heads up that you’ll probably be marketed to by the brilliant minds at Microsoft to download this new piece of junk, or it will be downloaded for you.  Either way, beware of geeks bearing gifts – especially if the geeks are named Microsoft!

My GOD, I can’t learn Ubuntu soon enough!

UPDATED ADDENDUM: I just found this post from a CNET guru who claims that this is supposed to create a problem for major vendors like Symantec, Trend Micro and the like.  Sorry dude, but I have to disagree with you. Anyone with an ounce of brains in their head will never trust Microsoft with their security!

First of all, the malware creators will find a way around it, just as they have every stinking piece of M$ unsecure software.

Secondly, Microsoft has proven to the world of users that they cannot be trusted. Even if they were the next best thing since sliced bread in the Antivirus market, our recent experience with Vista alone and the lies we’ve been told about it is enough to make me vomit – let alone not trust them.

Lastly, how can anyone expect to trust Microsoft with anything security when they’ve proven they don’t know squat about it! LOOK AT THEIR SOFTWARE DUDE! IT’S NOT SECURE!

If you can’t make a secure piece of software to save your soul, why would anyone believe they know a damn thing about security???? Get serious!

Give me a solid, secure, piece of your software, and then maybe, just maybe I’ll reconsider. Until then, forget about it.

As much as I preach and preach in my courses about Microsoft and their lame excuse for security – whether within their code or in an alleged security application – people continue to get suckered into the delusional image Microsoft presents about knowing what’s best for you in security.

I’ve posted before about this so I won’t rehash the same old arguments. I’m just going to illustrate YET ANOTHER reason why I continue to harp on the subject in an effort to educate users about the subject of their security.

I was reading my RSS feeds and ran across the current Microsoft Security Bulletin summary for May. Don’t know why I felt compelled to read it – I just did.

Published on May 13th (so I’m a little behind but give me a break, our PC Security course just launched!), the bulletin summary contains a “Moderate” severity listing hidden under the lovely plus signs [+] they use liberally to discourage people from actually reading the details.

First, if you click the link to see just what a Moderate severity rating is, you are taken to a page that explains the rating in such terms as: exploitability, mitigated, default configuration, and auditing. Yeah, right! I’m sure you all understand that right?

But okay, let’s give them a break since the technical writer was probably a nerd.

Moving on….. I click the nefarious plus sign [+] to expose the underlying dirt that M$ doesn’t want us to see. And what do I get?

This bulletin title:

Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Could Allow Denial of Service (952044)

Imagine that! A vulnerability in another Microsoft product!

Okay, so I’m not surprised by that, but what interests me is the fact that it’s in the Malware Protection Engine of their product. So, hmmmmm, I wonder… “could that be one of their so-called security products?” I ask myself as I start reading further.

I hit the jackpot! Not only is it one of their so-called security products, it’s a good many of them!

Specifically, the affected software is: Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft Antigen, Microsoft Windows Defender, Microsoft Forefront Security.

So now I’m REALLY interested! I clicked the link to go to the actual full bulletin – which is located here if you want to follow the whole story with me: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-029.mspx

And once again tackling the plus signs [+] I get to see the “down and dirty” details of what’s really going on here!

There are two specific CVE references to this vulnerability:

1. Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Vulnerability- CVE-2008-1437

2. Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Vulnerability- CVE-2008-1438

(For those who do not know, the CVE is sponsored by the National Cyber Security Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and they track all reported vulnerabilities.)

The first one is pretty odd and just annoying. The vulnerability causes their software engine to “hang and reboot“. And that’s different from any other Microsoft program because?????

The second CVE report is what’s fascinating to me and interesting the way M$ plays it down in the initial bulletin.

CVE reports:

…allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (disk space exhaustion) via a file with “crafted data structures” that trigger the creation of large temporary files, a different vulnerability than CVE-2008-1437.

To translate that into common, every day language, the vulnerability allows an attacker to use a specially crafted file (crafted data structures) that when the Microsoft product scans the file for malicious content, it causes you to use up all your disk space (disk space exhaustion) by creating large temporary files on your computer which results in your not being able to use your computer (denial of service).

I vaguely remember an old virus that used to do that!

The updated fix is available, but that’s not the point. (Although if you’re running this garbage, you should update immediately!)

The point is Microsoft has been selling you a line of marketing bull sh**!

Here’s their sales pitches directly from their website:

Microsoft Forefront – Trial Downloads
Help secure your servers, clients, and network edge with these free software trials from Microsoft Forefront.

Protect Your PC From Viruses, Spyware & Other Problems
Protecting your PC is easy with Windows Live OneCare-Download a Free Trial

Microsoft Security At Home – Help Prevent Identity Theft, Spyware …
Learn about how to protect your home computer, data, and family from viruses, phishing, identity theft, spyware, and email hoaxes. Learn about online child safety. Microsoft …

Which leads you to these recommended products:

Security Products
· Windows Defender
· Windows Live OneCare
· Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner
· Microsoft Phishing Filter
· Windows Vista: Parental Controls
· Xbox Family Settings
· Windows Live OneCare Family Safety

Anyone else see a problem with this besides me? (HINT: I’ve bolded all the products they’re wanting you to use for your security that were affected by this vulnerability!) I’m going to trust a company who has never put security first since day one and can’t even build a secure product designed to be secure to protect me???

Oh, and in case you don’t want to go read what caused this vulnerability in the first place, here’s the actual cause described by Microsoft in the bulletin – under the plus signs of course!

CVE-1437 portion of the vulnerability: The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine does not properly validate input when parsing specially crafted files.

CVE-1438 portion of the vulnerability: The Microsoft Malware Protection Engine does not properly validate certain data structures when parsing files.

Now let me see….. security means, in part, authentication and validation of data, access, and execution of files. And it seems that Microsoft managed to botch the major portion of that basic programming again!

So, I reitterate: Using Microsoft and security in the same sentence is an oxymoron.

Yeah, I think I’ll trust them with my security! NOT!