Windows 15 times more resilient with XP SP2
Computers running Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 2 are 15 times less likely than those running XP or XP SP1 to be infected by some of the most dangerous forms of malware, Microsoft said.
Head of the anti-malware product team at Microsoft, Jason Garms, said at the AusCERT conference in Queensland on Tuesday the improvement was revealed by internal analysis of the performance of XP SP 2. The latest service pack -- released in August as a major security update to the Windows XP operating system -- boosted the firewall , turned on auto-update by default and consolidated security controls into a 'security centre'.
"A machine that had Windows XP or XP SP1 was 15 times more likely to have one of the highly prevalent top 20 worms installed than on a machine running XP SP2," said Garms. He said the default turning-on of auto update had made a dramatic difference to users. "Within days of Microsoft releasing a patch, the vast majority of the Windows ecosystem is up to date".
