Viruses & Malware

It was a scene that would be familiar to officials of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. A Microsoft executive watched as a government official told a gathering of reporters that there was a serious problem with a Microsoft product. But unlike the case with faulty Firestone tires, Microsoft's problem wasn't life-threatening, and it didn't lead to a massive product recall. Instead, it's costing businesses around the world more than $1 billion, by some estimates, and hundreds of man-hours to fix.

Advocacy groups urge FTC to force Microsoft to change Windows XP, possibly delaying launch. As they threatened, a handful of consumer advocacy and privacy organizations have asked the Federal Trade Commission to force changes in Microsoft Windows XP that could delay the product's release.

The groups are concerned that Microsoft's Passport authentication system has "the potential to track, profile and monitor users of the Internet ... [with] far-reaching and profound implications for privacy," according to the formal complaint, filed Thursday.

The anti-virus protection offered by Microsoft's Hotmail service
hasn't been updated to protect users against the prolific SirCam
worm.



Register readers have written in to inform us that the McAfee virus
scanning engine used by Hotmail does not stop users either sending
or receiving the bug which has become a major nuisance for Internet
users this week.