Questões de Concurso

Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension

    A routine security update for a Microsoft Windows component installed on tens of millions of computers has quietly installed an extra add-on for an untold number of users surfing the Web with Mozilla's Firefox Web browser.
    Earlier this year, Microsoft shipped a bundle of updates known as a "service pack" for a programming platform called the Microsoft .NET Framework, which Microsoft and plenty of thirdparty developers use to __[VERB]__ a variety of interactive programs on Windows.
    The service pack for the .NET Framework, like other updates, was pushed out to users through the Windows Update Web site. A number of readers had never heard of this platform before Windows Update started offering the service pack for it, and many of you wanted to know whether it was okay to go ahead and install this thing. Having earlier checked to see whether the service pack had caused any widespread problems or interfered with third-party programs − and not finding any that warranted waving readers away from this update − I told readers __[A]__
    I'm here to report a small side effect from installing this service pack that I was not aware of until just a few days ago: Apparently, the .NET update automatically installs its own Firefox add-on that is difficult − if not dangerous − to remove, once installed.
    Annoyances.org, which lists various aspects of Windows that are, well, annoying, says "this update adds to Firefox one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities present in all versions of Internet Explorer: the ability for Web sites to easily and quietly
install software on your PC." I'm not sure I'd put things in quite such dire terms, but I'm fairly confident that a decent number of Firefox for Windows users are rabidly anti-Internet Explorer, and would take umbrage at the very notion of Redmond monkeying with the browser in any way.
    Big deal, you say? I can just uninstall the add-on via Firefox's handy Add-ons interface, right? Not so fast. The trouble is, Microsoft has disabled the "uninstall" button on the extension. What's more, Microsoft tells us that the only way to get rid of this thing is to modify the Windows registry, an exercise that − if done imprecisely − can cause Windows systems to fail to boot up.
    Anyway, I'm sure it's not the end of the world, but it's probably infuriating to many readers nonetheless. Firstly − to my readers − I apologize for overlooking this..."feature" of the .NET Framework security update. Secondly − to Microsoft − this is a great example of how not to convince people to trust your security updates.

(Adapted from http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/05/microsoft_update_quietly_insta.html)

Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension

    A routine security update for a Microsoft Windows component installed on tens of millions of computers has quietly installed an extra add-on for an untold number of users surfing the Web with Mozilla's Firefox Web browser.
    Earlier this year, Microsoft shipped a bundle of updates known as a "service pack" for a programming platform called the Microsoft .NET Framework, which Microsoft and plenty of thirdparty developers use to __[VERB]__ a variety of interactive programs on Windows.
    The service pack for the .NET Framework, like other updates, was pushed out to users through the Windows Update Web site. A number of readers had never heard of this platform before Windows Update started offering the service pack for it, and many of you wanted to know whether it was okay to go ahead and install this thing. Having earlier checked to see whether the service pack had caused any widespread problems or interfered with third-party programs − and not finding any that warranted waving readers away from this update − I told readers __[A]__
    I'm here to report a small side effect from installing this service pack that I was not aware of until just a few days ago: Apparently, the .NET update automatically installs its own Firefox add-on that is difficult − if not dangerous − to remove, once installed.
    Annoyances.org, which lists various aspects of Windows that are, well, annoying, says "this update adds to Firefox one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities present in all versions of Internet Explorer: the ability for Web sites to easily and quietly
install software on your PC." I'm not sure I'd put things in quite such dire terms, but I'm fairly confident that a decent number of Firefox for Windows users are rabidly anti-Internet Explorer, and would take umbrage at the very notion of Redmond monkeying with the browser in any way.
    Big deal, you say? I can just uninstall the add-on via Firefox's handy Add-ons interface, right? Not so fast. The trouble is, Microsoft has disabled the "uninstall" button on the extension. What's more, Microsoft tells us that the only way to get rid of this thing is to modify the Windows registry, an exercise that − if done imprecisely − can cause Windows systems to fail to boot up.
    Anyway, I'm sure it's not the end of the world, but it's probably infuriating to many readers nonetheless. Firstly − to my readers − I apologize for overlooking this..."feature" of the .NET Framework security update. Secondly − to Microsoft − this is a great example of how not to convince people to trust your security updates.

(Adapted from http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/05/microsoft_update_quietly_insta.html)

OpenOffice Installs Insecure Java Version
By Brian Krebs
February 4, 2009; 5:30 PM ET

    An alert reader let me know that the latest version of OpenOffice, the open source alternative to the Microsoft Office productivity suite, also installs a very old, insecure version of Java.
    Users who accept the default installation options for OpenOffice 3.0.1 also will get Java 6 Update 7, a version of Java that Sun Microsystems released last spring (the latest version is Java 6 Update 12).
    This is notable because not only could attackers target security vulnerabilities that were fixed in subsequent versions of Java, but Java 6 Update 7 was released prior to Sun's inclusion of a feature known as "secure static versioning," which is intended to prevent Web sites from invoking even older versions of Java that may be present on the user's system.
    Starting with Java 6 Update 11, Sun included a feature that uninstalls older versions, but that functionality for whatever reason did not automatically remove versions prior to Java 6 Update 10.
    It's not clear why OpenOffice ships with this outdated version. For what it's worth, the latest version of OpenOffice appears to work just fine with the latest, Java 6 Update 12. I've sent a note to the OpenOffice security team to find out, and will post an update if I hear back from them.
    Finally, I should note that Sun only released Java 6 Update 12 a few days ago. However, Sun says there are no security updates in this latest version, so there is no need to update if all you care about is having the most secure version of Java.
    Update, Feb. 11, 3:09 p.m. ET: The OpenOffice.org security team responded that the newest version of Java caused installation problems with the latest version of OpenOffice. The group plans to ship the latest Java version with the next version of OpenOffice, due to be released at the end of March. In the meantime, a version of Open Office without the older Java version can be downloaded here

(Adapted from http://voices.washingtonpost.com.securityfix/2009/02/openoffice_installs_insecure_j.html)

OpenOffice Installs Insecure Java Version
By Brian Krebs
February 4, 2009; 5:30 PM ET

    An alert reader let me know that the latest version of OpenOffice, the open source alternative to the Microsoft Office productivity suite, also installs a very old, insecure version of Java.
    Users who accept the default installation options for OpenOffice 3.0.1 also will get Java 6 Update 7, a version of Java that Sun Microsystems released last spring (the latest version is Java 6 Update 12).
    This is notable because not only could attackers target security vulnerabilities that were fixed in subsequent versions of Java, but Java 6 Update 7 was released prior to Sun's inclusion of a feature known as "secure static versioning," which is intended to prevent Web sites from invoking even older versions of Java that may be present on the user's system.
    Starting with Java 6 Update 11, Sun included a feature that uninstalls older versions, but that functionality for whatever reason did not automatically remove versions prior to Java 6 Update 10.
    It's not clear why OpenOffice ships with this outdated version. For what it's worth, the latest version of OpenOffice appears to work just fine with the latest, Java 6 Update 12. I've sent a note to the OpenOffice security team to find out, and will post an update if I hear back from them.
    Finally, I should note that Sun only released Java 6 Update 12 a few days ago. However, Sun says there are no security updates in this latest version, so there is no need to update if all you care about is having the most secure version of Java.
    Update, Feb. 11, 3:09 p.m. ET: The OpenOffice.org security team responded that the newest version of Java caused installation problems with the latest version of OpenOffice. The group plans to ship the latest Java version with the next version of OpenOffice, due to be released at the end of March. In the meantime, a version of Open Office without the older Java version can be downloaded here

(Adapted from http://voices.washingtonpost.com.securityfix/2009/02/openoffice_installs_insecure_j.html)

OpenOffice Installs Insecure Java Version
By Brian Krebs
February 4, 2009; 5:30 PM ET

    An alert reader let me know that the latest version of OpenOffice, the open source alternative to the Microsoft Office productivity suite, also installs a very old, insecure version of Java.
    Users who accept the default installation options for OpenOffice 3.0.1 also will get Java 6 Update 7, a version of Java that Sun Microsystems released last spring (the latest version is Java 6 Update 12).
    This is notable because not only could attackers target security vulnerabilities that were fixed in subsequent versions of Java, but Java 6 Update 7 was released prior to Sun's inclusion of a feature known as "secure static versioning," which is intended to prevent Web sites from invoking even older versions of Java that may be present on the user's system.
    Starting with Java 6 Update 11, Sun included a feature that uninstalls older versions, but that functionality for whatever reason did not automatically remove versions prior to Java 6 Update 10.
    It's not clear why OpenOffice ships with this outdated version. For what it's worth, the latest version of OpenOffice appears to work just fine with the latest, Java 6 Update 12. I've sent a note to the OpenOffice security team to find out, and will post an update if I hear back from them.
    Finally, I should note that Sun only released Java 6 Update 12 a few days ago. However, Sun says there are no security updates in this latest version, so there is no need to update if all you care about is having the most secure version of Java.
    Update, Feb. 11, 3:09 p.m. ET: The OpenOffice.org security team responded that the newest version of Java caused installation problems with the latest version of OpenOffice. The group plans to ship the latest Java version with the next version of OpenOffice, due to be released at the end of March. In the meantime, a version of Open Office without the older Java version can be downloaded here

(Adapted from http://voices.washingtonpost.com.securityfix/2009/02/openoffice_installs_insecure_j.html)