Geosense: The first ‘really really cool’ Windows Sensor
WithinWindows launches:
Geosense is a Windows Sensor that feeds the Windows Sensors and Location Platform relatively accurate positioning information, a lot like a GPS device. Instead of communicating with expensive satellites, we simply gather some metrics (i.e. your IP address, WiFi access points) to securely query huge databases with. In return, the databases provide location data for us to share.
Right now, Geosense plugs into Google Location Services for WiFi and IP triangulation. If the sensor becomes an overnight sensation, we’ll add support for others such as Skyhook Wireless and Navizon, to ensure you receive the most accurate data, regardless of where it came from. We’re also thinking about the implementation of mobile broadband (cell tower) detection – but that’s low on the list, due to lack of supportive hardware. (Anyone want to donate some hardware?)
So what can you do with Geosense? Sadly, the Windows Sensor ecosystem is thin, likely due to the learning curve associated with writing drivers. You’re limited to the Weather Gadget (in Windows) and… well that’s about it. As you read this, though, we’re cooking up new and innovative ways to use the sensor – stay tuned.
Call to action: Think of how location-awareness in Windows could help a friend or family member. Download Geosense and sling some code. If you’re not the coding type, share your idea – you never know, we (or others) may bring it to fruition.
Geosense The first ‘really really cool’ Windows Sensor – Within Windows
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: Geosence
Microsoft Security Essentials upgrade 1.0.1959.0
In the past 2 weeks I noticed that on Microsoft download center Microsoft Security Essentials was re-published. But when I tried to install it, it stated that it was already installed, telling me it was the same version.
Now it is published again and now it is a new version (build) 1.0.1959.0.
Download and run it directly and it will upgrade.
Download details Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.
Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so you’re free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
*Your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials. Learn more about genuine.
Watch videos to help you get the most from Microsoft Security Essentials.
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: Anti Virus
Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2.0
Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2.0 (MBCA 2.0) can help you maintain optimal system configuration by analyzing configurations of your computers against a predefined set of best practices, and reporting results of the analyses.
Best practices are developed by a product development team or domain experts, and are packaged in the form of a best practice model. Models are available as separately-downloadable packages that can be run and analyzed by MBCA. MBCA lets users work with best practice models in a consistent, user-friendly way.
Download details Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2.0
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: Windows (general)
MDOP 2010, Med-V SP1 RC Launches
Today Microsoft announced important updates for business customers considering Windows 7 deployment. Specifically, Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2010 is now available and includes App-V 4.6, supporting Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 for RDS and Office 2010. The App-V support for Office 2010 means customers can do a one-touch deployment and do not have to wait for Office 2010 to deploy Windows 7.
Additionally, Microsoft released the MED-V 1.0 SP1 Release Candidate, which creates managed virtual machines running previous versions of Windows and Internet Explorer so users can upgrade to Windows 7. The RTM version of MED-V 1.0 SP1 will be available in April, but customers can start taking advantage of the technology now.
Along with these MDOP updates, Gavriella Schuster, General Manager of Windows Product Management, shared new information from Forrester around Windows 7’s Total Economic Impact (TEI), as well as details from IDC on Windows 7 deployment and how Microsoft partner Alinean’s ROI calculator can help companies determine the type of return they can expect once they’ve deployed Windows 7.
Lastly, several customers and MVPs that have provided extensive feedback and you’ll see examples of this in the various Microsoft blogs, as well as the independent MVP blogs.
Microsoft Blogs:
MVP Blogs:
- Ment Van Der Plas talks App-V deployment with System Center Configuration Manager and Sequencing Office 2010.
- Daniel Nerenberg shares App-V Real World Experience from an MVP perspective on his blog.
- Tim Managan talks about App-V and Windows7 integration on his blog.
- Ruben Spruijt, App-V MVP, describes the power of App-V’s Shared Cache in his blog.
- Kevin Kaminskis discusses Sequencing 64-bit apps on his blog.
- Rodney Medina talks about how App-V is helping his customers deploy Windows 7 in his blog.
Related Blogs
- Related Blogs on MED-V
- microsoftNOW: MED-V 1.0 is here!
- MED-V: More info « Software Ruminations
- 4sysops – MED-V 1.0 guide – Windows Mobile 7 release date – Adobe …
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: MED-V
Everything you need to know about DHCP as a Systems Administrator
Abstract
This article will help you to learn everything that you need to know as a systems administrator (or SysAdmin) about this protocol(DHCP) and what can you do with it
What’s DHCP? And why it’s recommended to use it?
Imagine that you’re working as a SysAdmin for a large company with 500 desktop computers; you need to set to each desktop computer IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, DNS servers, and other network settings. How could you do that?
If you’ll try to perform this task manually you’re probably going to waste a lot of time on sitting on each computer 5-10 minutes, beside time, you can for example accidently enter a wrong IP address to several clients, or to type the same IP address . Which will create unnecessary downtime. In order to solve these “problems” you can use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (or DHCP) in your network.
DHCP allows you manage the networks’ IP addresses scopes and other TCP/IP settings like DNS, Default Gateway, etc. from central place, this central place called DHCP server. Beside the management, if there’s any problem you don’t need to run between your clients, you just need to connect to your server and to check the DHCP settings, as I mentioned – the DHCP works from a central place, so if there’s a problem, it’s probably from the server.
The DHCP server can provide IP addresses to clients automatically so you don’t even need to configure and set options on the client side, all you need is to setupa DHCP server, configure scope options and some other TCP/IP settings on the server side and that’s it. You can provide to your clients IP addresses from the selected range that you’ve configured.
Note: DHCP in my opinion can called “The next generation of BOOTP”, because the BOOTP came first before DHCP, and today we’re using BOOTP in order to deploy operating systems by booting from the network. Beside this, DHCP was developed in order to support very large networks – something that BOOTP can’t provide.
How DHCP works?
Without entering into related technical information (DORA process) the DHCP client requests from the DHCP server an IP address , the length of time that the DHCP client can use the dynamic IP address that the DHCP server provided. This is called a lease, just like the name: lease means that the client “rent” an IP address for a specific time from the DHCP server, if the client wanst to continue using the specific IP address the client needs to re-assign the address by renewing the lease, this will happen before the expiration time of the lease if the client is still in the network.
More in depth, the DHCP service works by using the DORA (Discover, Offer, Request and Acknowledgment) process (you can trace on the whole process using a network monitor utility):
1. DHCPDISCOVER – The client broadcast a DHCPDISCOVER packet in order to locate a DHCP server in the network, in some cases that the DHCP server isn’t in the same subnet of the client, you’ll need to configure in your network devices (usually routers) a DHCP Relay Agent, in order to transfer the DHCPDISCOVER packet to the DHCP server.
2. DHCPOFFER – The DHCP server broadcast a DHCPOFFER packet to the client which includes an offer to use a unique IP address for the client.
3. DHCPREQUEST – The client broadcast a DHCPREQUEST packet to the DHCP server with an answer, and “asks” from the server to “rent” the unique address that the server offer to her.
4. DHCPACK – The DHCP server broadcast a DHCPACK packet to the client, in this packet the server acknowledge the request from the client to use the IP address, and provide to the client the IP address lease and other details such as DNS servers, default gateway, etc. if the server cannot provide the requested IP address or from some reasons the address is not valid the server sends DHCPNACK packet in stand of DHCPACK, more information about DHCPNACK is under the specific subject – DHCPNACK.
Note: DHCP service uses port 67/UDP in the DHCP server, and 68/UDP at the DHCP clients.
It’s recommended to check that your firewall doesn’t block these ports in order for the DHCP server and clients to communicate, and also that your network devices support DHCP Relay Agen. iThis is used in case you have addresses on a different subnet.
In some cases you’ll notice another DHCP messages like these:
1. DHCPDECLINE – If the client recognizes that the IP address that the DHCP server offered is in use, the client will generate a second request for another IP address (in the DHCPREQUEST step).
2. DHCPRELEASE – This message is commonly used when the client “gives up” and release IP address.
3. DHCPRENEW – This is the request packet to renew and continue “renting” the IP address lease.
4. DHCPINFORM – The DHCPINFORM is a packet that the client sends to the DHCP server in order to get more details from the server, for example DHCPINFORM can be sent in order to locate other DHCP servers on the network.
DHCPNACK
The DHCPNACK or Negative Acknowledgment is a packet that the server sends if the IP address is not available instead of DHCPACK (in use with other client . Also this address can be no longer or the address is no longer valid. In case of DHCPNACK the client must restart the lease process in order to get an IP address.
DHCP Scopes, Exclude and Reservation
DHCP Scope is a range of IP addresses that you configure in your DHCP server as a range of addresses for distribution to the clients.
For example, if you set a scope with a range from 10.0.0.100-10.0.0.200, you can easily provide only from this range to your clients.
You can also create more than one scope, but it’s recommended to check that your scopes aren’t duplicating one another with one another. At the scope creation process you can add some more TCP/IP parameters such as subnet mask, IP addresses lease time, router (default gateway), DNS servers, etc. so when the clients gets the IP addresses they will also recived other parameters that are included in the scope.
In some cases, you’ll need to prevent the clientfrom using some of the addresses, for example if your scope is from 10.0.0.1 up to 10.0.0.100, and your servers using 10.0.0.1-10.0.0.10, you can exclude these IP addresses from the scope and exclude the DHCP to distribute them to the clients.
Reservation is a great option if you’re planning to providea specific dynamic IP address from the DHCP server to unique DHCP clients. For example in the 10.0.0.1-10.0.0.100 scope you want to provide a unique address that will be always be attached to that client. You could easily set a reservation for the client using a unique identifier – the MAC address, the MAC of Media Access Control is a unique hexadecimal physical address for network adapters.
DHCP & DNS
When you’re installinga DHCP server you can configure the DHCP server to set DNS updates to any DNS server that supporst dynamic updates. More information about the combination between DHCP and DNS you can find right here.
Active Directory & DHCP Servers
In Microsoft Windows Server with Active Directory you need to authorize your server in order to work with the DHCP service.
In the past you could install few DHCP servers – as you wish, this action occurs problems like server crashing, etc.
In the new Windows 2000 Server/Server 2003/2008 you must authorize your server in order to start the DHCP server, if there’s an authorized DHCP server in the Active Directory environment and a non-authorized server is trying to start the DHCP service in order to distribute IP address, the server will fail and the DHCP service in the local computer will stop.
DHCP Relay Agent
DHCP Relay Agent is any kind of host (usually a router or server) that listesn for DHCP/BOOTP broadcasts from clients on subnets without local DHCP servers.
The DHCP Relay Agent forwards the packets from the clients and the DHCP server thats sitting on a different physical subnets. This is used in order to supply ‘a connection’ between the DHCP Server and the clients, andthe opposite (from the clients to the server).
In conclusion
Using DHCP service can easily help you as a System/Network Administrator to manage y clients by assigning, tracking and re-assigning IP addresses.
Good luck
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: Windows Server 2008
New Microsoft Live Labs Pivot Technology Brings Information to Life
At TED2010 this week, Live Labs Director Gary Flake presents an experiment in data visualization that allows people to make more sense of the growing amount of information that surrounds them.
A Microsoft technical fellow and director of Live Labs, Gary Flake has made a career out of building technologies that glean insight from information.
Today at the TED2010 conference in Long Beach, Flake will show off Live Labs’ latest development — a data visualization technology called Pivot, designed to help people make better use of digital information.
“We’re at a really interesting point in the history of the Internet,” says Flake. “Pivot was not possible to build five years ago. But it is possible to build today.”
Pivot is an experimental technology that allows people to visualize data and then sort, organize and categorize it dynamically. The result is that correlations, exceptions and trends become immediately apparent in ways they can’t when information is stuck in rows and columns.
The program is designed to provide a much more natural way for humans to digest large palettes of information without losing their way — an idea that anyone who has analyzed giant spreadsheets may welcome. And while it has something in common with spreadsheets and many other technologies, Flake says Pivot is so new and different that it’s difficult to even picture what it does without seeing it in action.
“With Pivot you can interact with data in a way that is powerful, informative and fun,” Flake says.
Pivot combines related data — anything from pictures, videos and maps to batting averages and financials — into large collections that can then be manipulated, sorted, filtered and examined visually. In this way, the data itself can help shape and inform the way it is presented.
Perhaps Pivot’s most compelling feature is its ability to smoothly and quickly arrange collections according to common characteristics and then zoom in for a closer look, by either clicking on a particular item or filtering the collection to get a subset of information.
“With Pivot you can swim through the data, taking little twists and turns,” Flake says. “If you are looking at all the information at once, the proverbial forest, you can click on any one item or filter and smoothly zoom into the trees without any interruption.”
The example right of a Pivot view makes it clear how pitchers outnumber other players on Major League Baseball teams. Subsequent views can display salary, performance against salary, and other information on the fly.
Flake says that Live Labs’ research with users has found that the continuity and smoothness Pivot provides in surfing through data is important to help users understand what they’re looking at, and how they got there.
“We found that if you make it a sudden transition, people lose their way,” he says. “But if you make it very smooth and continuous, people have a mental model of how they got to where they are.”
Because Pivot works with almost any kind of data, its potential uses are as varied as the types of information available today — in other words, practically infinite. A Pivot collection designed to help study the history of movies, for example, could sort by male or female leads, and then sort again to find their most frequently occurring co-star. The user could then “pivot” the information again, to shape the display of the movies themselves, perhaps by decade.
Realizing that the horizon for Pivot’s possibilities was far beyond what one research group could hope to imagine, Live Labs released the technology on a limited basis last fall at the 2009 Professional Developers Conference. After only a couple of months, says Flake, the examples started rolling in.
“Just as we anticipated,” Flake says, “people are using it in ways that we never anticipated.”
Live Labs has made Pivot downloadable to people who want to give it a try and think about new scenarios it enables.
Source: Microsoft Live Labs Pivot Technology Brings Information to Life At TED2010 this week, Live
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: pivot
February 2010 Security Bulletin Release
Today Microsoft released 13 bulletins addressing 26 vulnerabilities. 11 bulletins affect Windows and 2 affect older versions of Microsoft Office.
| ID | Bulletin Title and Executive Summary | Maximum Severity Rating and Vulnerability Impact | Restart Requirement | Affected Software |
| MS10-006 | Vulnerabilities in SMB Client Could Allow Remote Code Execution (978251)
This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker sent a specially crafted SMB response to a client-initiated SMB request. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must convince the user to initiate an SMB connection to a malicious SMB server. |
Critical Remote Code Execution |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-007 | Vulnerability in Windows Shell Handler Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975713)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. Other versions of Windows are not impacted by this security update. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an application, such as a Web browser, passes specially crafted data to the ShellExecute API function through the Windows Shell Handler. |
Critical Remote Code Execution |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-008 | Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits (978262)
This security update addresses a privately reported vulnerability for Microsoft software. This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP, Important for all supported editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, Moderate for all supported editions of Windows Server 2003, and Low for all supported editions of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page that instantiates an ActiveX control with Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. This update also includes kill bits for four third-party ActiveX controls. |
Critical Remote Code Execution |
May require restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-009 | Vulnerabilities in Windows TCP/IP Could Allow Remote Code Execution (974145)
This security update resolves four privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if specially crafted packets are sent to a computer with IPv6 enabled. An attacker could try to exploit the vulnerability by creating specially crafted ICMPv6 packets and sending the packets to a system with IPv6 enabled. This vulnerability may only be exploited if the attacker is on-link. |
Critical Remote Code Execution |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-013 | Vulnerability in Microsoft DirectShow Could Allow Remote Code Execution (977935)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft DirectShow. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opened a specially crafted AVI file. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. |
Critical Remote Code Execution |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-003 | Vulnerability in Microsoft Office (MSO) Could Allow Remote Code Execution (978214)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office file. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. |
Important Remote Code Execution |
May require restart | Microsoft Office |
| MS10-004 | Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office PowerPoint Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975416)
This security update resolves six privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office PowerPoint. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted PowerPoint file. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. |
Important Remote Code Execution |
May require restart | Microsoft Office |
| MS10-010 | Vulnerability in Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Could Allow Denial of Service (977894)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. The vulnerability could allow denial of service if a malformed sequence of machine instructions is run by an authenticated user in one of the guest virtual machines hosted by the Hyper-V server. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally into a guest virtual machine to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users. |
Important Denial of Service |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-011 | Vulnerability in Windows Client/Server Run-time Subsystem Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (978037)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Client/Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS) in Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. Other versions of Windows are not affected. The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to the system and starts a specially crafted application designed to continue running after the attacker logs out. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability could not be exploited by anonymous users. |
Important Elevation of Privilege |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-012 | Vulnerabilities in SMB Server Could Allow Remote Code Execution (971468)
This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker created a specially crafted SMB packet and sent the packet to an affected system. Firewall best practices and standard default firewall configurations can help protect networks from attacks originating outside the enterprise perimeter that would attempt to exploit these vulnerabilities. |
Important Remote Code Execution |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-014 | Vulnerability in Kerberos Could Allow Denial of Service (977290)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow a denial of service if a specially crafted ticket renewal request is sent to the Windows Kerberos domain from an authenticated user on a trusted non-Windows Kerberos realm. The denial of service could persist until the domain controller is restarted. |
Important Denial of Service |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-015 | Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (977165)
This security update resolves one publicly disclosed and one privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logged on to the system and then ran a specially crafted application. To exploit either vulnerability, an attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally. The vulnerabilities could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users. |
Important Elevation of Privilege |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
| MS10-005 | Vulnerability in Microsoft Paint Could Allow Remote Code Execution (978706)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Paint. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted JPEG image file using Microsoft Paint. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. |
Moderate Remote Code Execution |
Requires restart | Microsoft Windows |
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- Related Blogs on Microsoft
- 140Char » Did Microsoft China copy and clone Plurk?
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: Microsoft
Attend Microsoft TechDays 2010
Tech•Days is the learning Microsoft conference on both current technologies and new products like Windows 7, Exchange 2010 and much more. You can find out everything you need to know during more than 100 dedicated sessions for IT Pro’s and developers.
When: March 30-31 April 1
Where: Antwerp, Belgium
Venue: Metropolis
Top speakers for IT Pro sessions:
- Raymond Comvalius (Windows 7 deployment)
- John Craddock (Active Directory)
- Vittorio Bertocci (Windows Azure)
- Maarten Goet (System Center)
- Tom Decaluwé (ForeFront)
- Bryon Surace (Hyper-V)
- Scott Schnoll (Exchange)
- Ilse van Criekinge (Exchange)
- Daniel Pearson (Windows internals)
- Jorge de Almeida Pinto (ForeFront: Identity Management, Unified Application Gateway)
Related Blogs
- Related Blogs on Microsoft
- 140Char » Did Microsoft China copy and clone Plurk?
Views 2037 times by 50 visitors
Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: Microsoft
13 security bulletins next Tuesday!
Bulletin 1
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems(Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Bulletin 2
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Bulletin 3
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation not affected)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Bulletin 4
- Affected Software:
- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Bulletin 6
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 – Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation not affected)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Important Security Bulletins:
Bulletin 7
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3
- Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Bulletin 8
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2002 Service Pack 3
- Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 Service Pack 3
- Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Bulletin 9
- Affected Software:
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)
- Impact: Denial of Service
Bulletin 10
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Impact: Elevation of Privilege
Bulletin 5
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
- Windows 7 for x64-based Systems
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems (Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Bulletin 11
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 4
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Impact: Denial of Service
Bulletin 12
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2
- Windows Vista x64 Edition, Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1, and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation affected)
- Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2
- Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems
- Impact: Elevation of Privilege
Moderate Security Bulletins:
Bulletin 13
- Affected Software:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
- Impact: Remote Code Execution
Other Information:
Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool:
Microsoft will release an updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services, and the Download Center.
Open security advisories
A summary of the three open Security Advisories so customers know what to expect on Tuesday:
· Advisory 980088, Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Information Disclosure: this advisory was released yesterday (Feb 3). We do not have an update for this issue planned for the normal February bulletin release. However, this vulnerability only affects versions of windows older than Vista in their default configuration, and there is a “Fix It” available so customers in non-default configurations can protect themselves.
· Advisory 979682, Vulnerability in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege: we are on track to release an update for this issue next Tuesday.
· Advisory 977544, Vulnerability in SMB Could Allow Denial of Service: we are still working on an update for this issue so it will not be addressed in the February bulletins. As a reminder, this issue cannot be used to allow an attacker to take control of a system remotely, but instead results in a system becoming unresponsive due to resource consumption.
We are not aware of any attacks on these vulnerabilities and continue to encourage customers to implement the mitigations and workarounds outlined in the advisories.
Windows versions end of support:
Important information about Windows versions that are reaching the end of their product lifecycle. Customers using these versions should consider upgrading before support for these products end as, once they do, we will no longer provide security updates:
- Windows XP Service Pack 2 will no longer be supported as of July 13, 2010. Many customers are still on this version, so we encourage upgrading to Service Pack 3 or to Windows 7 as soon as possible.
- Windows Vista RTM will no longer be supported as of April 13, 2010. Service Pack 1 will still be supported until July 12, 2011 but we recommend customers update to Service Pack 2 or Windows 7 at this time.
- Extended support for Windows 2000 will also be retired on July 13, 2010. At that time, we will no longer provide security or any other updates for Windows 2000.
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: Microsoft
Microsoft to modify the VECD licensing
An area where Microsoft doesn’t seem particularly active is the so-called virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
So far the company made just a few progresses, letting its partner Citrix dominate the scene and compete head to head with VMware.
Rather than on products, Microsoft is focusing on VDI licensing.
In July 2009 it introduced two new VDI licenses, the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Standard Suite and the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Premium Suite, on top of its well-known Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD).
Now the company may perform additional adjustments to its offering.
A couple of days ago TechTarget reported that Microsoft plans to modify the VECD to reduce the cost per user ($23/seat/year if you are a Software Assurance customer, $110/seat/year if you are not).
Continue: Microsoft to modify the VECD licensing virtualization.info#disqus_thread
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Categories: MIcrosoft Solutions Tags: VECD
