Microsoft releases 12 security patches covering all Windows versions _ Web surfing

Sina Science and technology news US local time February 8 (Beijing time February 9), Microsoft released 12 security vulnerabilities in Tuesday, of which 8 of the highest level of harm, attackers can use these vulnerabilities to control the user's entire system, so require users to download and install these patches immediately.

Microsoft said that of the 12 security vulnerabilities released, 8 were "critical" levels, 7 of which could affect Windows operating systems and related applications, including IE, media players and instant messaging programs. A 8th vulnerability exists in Office XP. Although the other four patches have a lower level of security, they can gain some control over the system if they are exploited by attackers. These 12 patches can be used to block 16 security vulnerabilities altogether.

"We did release a lot of security patches to our users this month," said Stephen Toulouse, Microsoft's security product director. He said that any Windows user, no matter what version he was using, had to install at least one of the latest patches, and many of the latest patches also apply to users who already have Windows XP SP2 installed.

The most notable of these latest patches is a patch for IE browser vulnerabilities that have previously been disclosed. Toulouse says there are already some people who know how to exploit these vulnerabilities, except that such attacks have not yet been widely seen. But he warns that if someone starts doing this and the user does not patch them up, these vulnerabilities will be exploited by attackers at a faster rate.

Another critical vulnerability is when an attacker lures a user through an MSN or Media Player to click on a particular picture and then gain control over the computer. This attack exploits a vulnerability in the PNG image processing technology. Toulouse also reminds users that when they receive emails, links, documents, or pictures of unknown origin, they should be alerted and not easily clicked on these unknown sources.

Vincent Gulotto, vice president of security software developers, said Vincent Gullotto, his researcher, was very concerned about a vulnerability to Windows Server Software. This vulnerability is related to the server information blocking service, which is enabled by the default values for each version of Windows to allow users to share files on the network. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to initiate an attack without the user having an operation, provided that the user does not have firewall software installed. Oliver Friedrichs, senior head of Symantec's security response Department, said the vulnerability could trigger the next large-scale Internet worm attack if mishandled Friedrichs.

Windows users can go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Download to most of the latest security patches released by Microsoft. Microsoft has repeatedly urged Windows XP users to turn on the "Automatic Upgrade" service. However, because this service is not valid for automatic upgrade office, users who have Office installed must visit Microsoft's Office Upgrade site office.microsoft.com and click the "Check for Updates" link in the upper-right corner of the page.

Industry insiders say that all of a sudden upgrades to a large number of security patches may cause problems for large enterprise users. The reason is that these companies will not only upgrade the PCs of all employees, but also confirm that these upgrades will not affect their normal business activities. For this reason, Toulouse says Microsoft will provide special technical support for corporate users.

Microsoft issued a security patch, but also announced the acquisition of anti-virus software developers Sybari News, the purpose of the future to launch a fee-based security products. In recent years, various attacks from the Internet have targeted Microsoft products, and Microsoft has made security one of the top priorities for the company's development.