Flashes of Panic

“…that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.”

That’s the description on three of the four updates waiting when I booted the WinXP box today. (It sits unused for long blocks of time, so updates can build up.)

With all the worms bouncing around the ‘net claiming to be an emergency security patch from Microsoft, just trust us and double-click the attached file, you’d think that Microsoft would be a bit more specific about the details of updates, even in Windows Update, instead of cutting and pasting this null-content boilerplate. How easy would it be to spoof a Windows update now that we’ve all been trained that there’s no important information in the update description field? “Oh, the details aren’t important,” says Microsoft, “just trust us and install the update.”

The vague description is reflexive—it applies to itself.

It’s making me more inclined to believe the “Windows as a virus” theory.

Now Playing: Earn Enough For Us from Skylarking by XTC