Microsoft Source Code leaked onto Internet

[Brian Turner]

The ever security conscious, concerned about exploits, Microsoft corporation does it again.

Microsoft source code leaked out


Computer software giant Microsoft says parts of the tightly guarded blueprints of its Windows operating system have been leaked over the internet.


Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla said the company did not know how much of the source code had been leaked, or how many people may have access to it.

Hackers with the code could exploit the operating system and access machines running Windows.

It is the second major security headache for Microsoft in a week.

Hackers On Tuesday, it said there was a flaw in its latest Windows operating systems that could allow hackers access to many of the hundreds of millions of computers worldwide using those systems.



The company could not immediately pinpoint the source of leak, and has contacted law enforcement authorities.

It is thought to comprise parts of the source code for Windows 2000 and Windows NT.

Mr Pilla said there was no indication the code leak was a result of a breach of Microsoft's corporate network.

There was no known immediate impact to Microsoft customers, he said. But the other threat to Microsoft is the fact that such access could provide a competitive edge to its rivals, who would gain a much better understanding of the inner workings of Microsoft's technology.

From:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3484545.stm

[Suzanne]

I hear Torvalds had a similar problem, only he did it on purpose and it helps make the world a better place.

[trevHCS]

Personally I think Bill Gates did it then he'll have an excuse for when the next 20 hacks appear for Windows XP.

I suspect most hackers aren't likely to be too worried about what Windows looks like inside. Many will have reverse engineered it or used whatever other techniques they have or will just go after Outlook Express users as their a much easier target anyway.

Trev

[dotcomguy]

Originally Posted by Brian Turner

The ever security conscious, concerned about exploits, Microsoft corporation does it again.

Microsoft source code leaked out


Computer software giant Microsoft says parts of the tightly guarded blueprints of its Windows operating system have been leaked over the internet.


Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla said the company did not know how much of the source code had been leaked, or how many people may have access to it.

Hackers with the code could exploit the operating system and access machines running Windows.

It is the second major security headache for Microsoft in a week.

Hackers On Tuesday, it said there was a flaw in its latest Windows operating systems that could allow hackers access to many of the hundreds of millions of computers worldwide using those systems.



The company could not immediately pinpoint the source of leak, and has contacted law enforcement authorities.

It is thought to comprise parts of the source code for Windows 2000 and Windows NT.

Mr Pilla said there was no indication the code leak was a result of a breach of Microsoft's corporate network.

There was no known immediate impact to Microsoft customers, he said. But the other threat to Microsoft is the fact that such access could provide a competitive edge to its rivals, who would gain a much better understanding of the inner workings of Microsoft's technology.

From:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3484545.stm

gross mis-conduct

microsoft are in such a position of responiblity this should not happen they power the world finanical institutions, goverments, business, univertisties.

they need to fix the problem.

[bumfluff]

It would only be a matter of time before those security holes would be found and exploited anyway, I'm not sure how much difference this makes.

Any security holes should be fixed before release anyway - if MS know they are there, then they've got no excuse not to.

We had a brief discussion about Linux on here before. The latest versions are easier to install than Windows, so don't be worried about trying it out. I installed Mandrake Linux on here over the weekend, it took about 20 minutes. It would have been faster if I didn't customise the setup first. Its no more difficult than Windows, honestly. Once you've got it running, some things are more difficult at first, but thats only to be expected because most of us are already used to Windows or the Mac OS. If you have some space on your hard drive, give it a try - you can opt to keep Windows on your computer when you install, and you can choose which operating system you want to use each time you boot.

The mandrake version of Linux is a good one for newcomers. You can get it from here