[color=#000000
ost_uid0]The appearance of the following story on the Reuters news service today, less than one day after the publication of "Contagion," is presumably just a coincidence....
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October 15, 2003
Microsoft Warns of 5 New Critical Security Holes
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced five new "critical" flaws in its software and provided patches to fix them in order to prevent hackers from gaining access to personal computers by deploying a malicious program similar to the devastating Blaster worm.
The world's largest software company said it recognized the difficulty the multiple patches posed for companies trying to apply them.
"Because so many critical patches were issued today, companies will face a difficult challenge trying to quickly identify the necessary patches, test systems and roll out patches to all servers and workstations," Microsoft said in a statement.
Microsoft made the announcement with Shavlik Technologies, a security software and services firm, which helps companies apply the software patches.
"But they are very serious," said Parker. A compromised computer could be used by attackers to run malicious programs and launch attacks on other computers, he said.
Microsoft announced a total of seven software flaws and patches on Wednesday, of which five were given the company's most urgent security rating of "critical."
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