Microsoft researchers target worms, buffer overruns

Researchers at Microsoft showed off some forward-looking technologies on Wednesday, including new ways to protect systems against Internet worms, prevent hacker attacks and measure available bandwidth on home networks. At its fifth annual TechFest, Microsoft Research presented about 150 projects at the company's Redmond, Washington, headquarters. The event was expected to attract about 6,000 Microsoft employees. Its main purpose is to promote the exchange of ideas, or "tech transfers," between Microsoft Research and product teams at the software maker.

One of the technologies on display, dubbed Vigilante, proposes a detection and protection system for Internet worms. The system would consist of "honey pot" computers connected to the Internet that would serve as bait for the worms. Once an attack was detected, the computers would analyze the attack and create alerts that included details on how to protect against the new worm. The alerts then would be pushed out to other computers, which would automatically put up shields and filter traffic to block the worm, Microsoft researchers said.