Home » Technology » Computer Security » Computer Security Weekly, March 22, 1999

Computer Security Weekly, March 22, 1999

© Robert Slade

OK, so Windows 9x staying up for 50 days in a row is a joke. But NT is supposed to be more robust. Speaking personally, I'd say that was true. (I can only blue screen NT about every two months, as opposed to every couple of days for 95.) Anyway, Texas Micro figures that with the right hardware (theirs, naturally) you can keep downtime to five minutes per year. They plan to be ready just in time for Y2K ...

---

Are web sites truly concerned about your privacy? Ernst & Young LLP is hosting the Georgetown University Internet Privacy Policy Survey, which will try to look at whether companies have policies, whether they post them, and whether they are any good at protecting the consumer.

---

Last week I tried to explain the NT screensaver problem. This week Microsoft has admitted the situation and come up with a security bulletin and patch on the problem. Check out this Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q221991 and bulletin.

Also, some downloads:

• X86-based Windows NT Workstation and Server 4.0 (including Enterprise Edition)
• X86-based Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition
• Alpha-based Windows NT Workstation and Server 4.0 (including Enterprise Edition)
• Alpha-based Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

---

Can't wait to get your hands on Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 5.0 (IE5)? Neither can anyone else. The MS download sites are slow as molasses in, well, March, I guess. (Makes it hard to download all those security patches.) But there are a few reasons you might want to wait. Eudora users may lose some functionality viewing e-mail prepared with HTML formatting, or e-mailed Web pages. At the moment, your best bet is simply to revert to IE4. If you run into the problem, check the Eudora site for updates.

Of greater concern is the AutoComplete function, which some are claiming can be abused by malicious web page programming in order to reveal more than you might wish, such as sites visited, or even usernames and passwords. Because the AutoComplete feature even extends to forms, it is possible to envision scenarios where name, address, phone, and even credit information can be obtained.

For programmers, the problem is a little more mundane, but also immediate: IE5 interferes with Visual Studio 6.

Oh, and there's also a bank in Boston whose online banking service no longer works if you use IE5.

---

Microsoft has issued a patch to bring Office 95 into full year 2000 compliance. The patch covers all Office 95 applications. It does not require either of the service packs to be installed, but it does not work with Office 95 being run off the CD-ROM, naturally.

The copyright of the article Computer Security Weekly, March 22, 1999 in Computer Security is owned by . Permission to republish Computer Security Weekly, March 22, 1999 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.