[IS&T Security-FYI] SFYI Newsletter: October 24, 2008

[Monique Yeaton]

In this issue:

1. Out of Cycle Microsoft Security Patch Released
2. Report: 30 Million Fall Victim to Fake Antivirus Programs


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1. Out of Cycle Microsoft Security Patch Released
---------------------------------------------------------------

This message was sent out from the Network & Infrastructure Services  
Team at MIT yesteday:

MS08-067 Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code  
Execution (958644)

Microsoft has released a critical security patch outside of the normal  
monthly patch cycle. This patch addresses a Remote Procedure Call  
(RPC) vulnerability in the "Server" service on Windows systems.  
(Remote Procedure Call is a protocol that one program can use to  
request a service from a program located in another computer in a  
network without having to understand network details. A procedure call  
is also sometimes known as a function call or a subroutine call.)

Affected Software:

  * 2000 SP 4
  * XP SP 3, XP x64 Edition and XP x64 SP 2
  * Server 2003, x86 and Itanium-based Systems, x64 Edition, SP 2
  * Server 2008, x86 and Itanium-based Systems, x64 Edition
  * Vista SP 1, Vista x64 Edition, SP 1

This patch has now been approved for deployment on MIT WAUS and  
registered systems will begin installing the patch this evening.

Server Service Vulnerability: A remote code execution vulnerability  
exists in the Server service on Windows systems. The vulnerability is  
due to the service not properly handling specially crafted RPC  
requests. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability  
could take complete control of an affected system. On Windows Vista  
and Windows Server 2008, the vulnerable code path is only accessible  
to authenticated users. This vulnerability is not liable to be  
triggered if the attacker is not authenticated.

Details about the patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx

Note: To check whether your Windows XP computer has received the  
update already, go to the control panel for Add/Remove Programs and  
check the box for "Show Updates." Look for the update with the number  
KB958644.


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2. Report: 30 Million Fall Victim to Fake Antivirus Programs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

More than 30 million Internet users have fallen victim to fake  
antivirus programs that snatch up people's money and personal  
information, security research firm PandaLabs has announced. The  
phenomenon may not be a new one, but it's growing more and more  
popular as the scammers are getting more crafty. There are now over  
7,000 variants of this type of adware, says PandaLabs, and the number  
of infections caused by it is increasing rapidly.

Read the full article here:
<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081017-report-fake-antivirus-programs-claim-30-million-victims.html 
 >


=========================
Monique Yeaton
IT Security Awareness Consultant
MIT Information Services & Technology (IS&T)
(617) 253-2715
http://web.mit.edu/ist/security

---------------------------------------
Come to Security Awareness Day at MIT!: November 5, 2 - 5 PM, in  
Bartos Theater (E15-070) and Lobby http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/security/campaign2008/securityday.html




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