Windows Update and Firefox

Jon M · 16-08-2005, 10:19

It had to happen sooner or later:

http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/

Yes, I've tried it.

Yes, it worked perfectly.

No, I won't be held responsible if things go horribly wrong for you if you choose to try it yourself.

AndrewJ · 16-08-2005, 10:24

Quote:

If you're running Internet Explorer, please upgrade your browser. Choose from the links below:

brilliant, I am not a lover of Firefox I love my IE6, don't know why I just do not like Firefox's style.

ikthius · 16-08-2005, 11:40

is that a legitimate site, thats gives you real updates, or just give you spyware?, it does not look right. not sure why

ik

Nemesis · 16-08-2005, 11:44

works fine for me

AndrewJ · 16-08-2005, 13:12

Seems a legit site, to me but I am a IE fanboy as you say

TheBlueRaja · 16-08-2005, 14:06

Hmmm,
Not sure i trust this all that much - having a poke around the web dosent turn up anything obviously wrong but - any site which also carries viruses (and this one does) is a bit sus in my book and dosent deserve the benefit of my doubt until it proves itself.

Im causiously keeping the contents of my registry to myself for the time being.

Jon M · 16-08-2005, 14:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBlueRaja

any site which also carries viruses (and this one does) is a bit sus in my book and dosent deserve the benefit of my doubt until it proves itself

When you say "carries viruses" do you mean this one? :

Quote:

Kaspersky identified a page on our site as containing "Exploit.HTML.CodeBaseExec". This was a false positive and has been corrected in their database from 2005.08.03

http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/security.php

TheBlueRaja · 16-08-2005, 15:32

No - i mean the page that begins...

Quote:

Virus samples on this page are real viruses!

Click on any of the links below to view actual virus source code. These are stored as plain text files and so will not cause any problems when viewed using your web browser, or notepad. However, since most of these are actual unmodified viruses, your virus scanner will complain. If you leave them as TXT (text) files, they will not cause any problems. The links on the left are to sanitized HTML files - you'll be able to see the virus code, but your virus scanner should not complain.

We have only included source code for a small fraction of the viruses out in the wild to show you how easy it is to write one. Making public the source for viruses, will not make any impact to the huge number of viruses out there - virus writers are aware of the loop-holes and procedures used by these viruses anyway.

* html.redlof.a (vbs, decoded)
* MyDoom.A (C source code)
* Bagle.AD worm (assembler source code)
* AnnaKournikova
* cih (assembler source code)
* homepage (vbs)
* iloveyou (vbs)
* kak (vbs)
* tune (vbs)
* melissa
* W97M/Marker.C
* JS/Seeker.B (original)
* VBSWG-AQ (original)
* mawanella (original)
* OUTLOOK.PDFWorm (vbs/pdf)
* others...

Etc...

I will not post the link however.

bonzoe · 16-08-2005, 19:21

When I want to update Windows I'll use the official MS site, why risk anything else?

I like and use Firefox, but stick to IE and MS for updates to Windows. After all, IE comes with all versions of Window AFAIK.

Paul K · 16-08-2005, 20:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBlueRaja

No - i mean the page that begins...

Etc...

I will not post the link however.

Just seen the page in question, nice to see that they are willing to have that form of data about in case anyone wants to create a suprise for a friend

This made me laugh

Quote:

Please don't ask us to help you write a virus. We have much better things to do with our time.

Why should people ask when they are providing the source codes for several off the shelf virus files?

AndrewJ · 16-08-2005, 21:44

I wonder if this is a breach of the t/c of the hosting company ( if one is being used ) or some other area of the internet of which they could be reported?

Jon M · 16-08-2005, 23:55

This thread is about Firefox and WindowsUpdate.. I don't give a

about the rest of the site, as I said in post #1, don't use it if you don't trust it...

Lets get this back on topic please.

Paul K · 17-08-2005, 07:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon M

This thread is about Firefox and WindowsUpdate.. I don't give a

about the rest of the site, as I said in post #1, don't use it if you don't trust it...

Lets get this back on topic please.

Sorry I disagree, the contents of the site bring into the question the integrity of the data/ service provided by the updates section of the site. It only takes one dirty file to infect all PCs using the service.
If you don't like people discussing the site you have posted a link to then don't post links to it. People have a right to discuss the links and information given on this forum, especially when the links point to sites with areas of dubious content on them.
Forewarned is forearmed and some of our new/ less technical members need as much information and guidance as possible when it comes to some areas so pointing out that a site holds text files which contain virus source codes is a good idea in my view.
People have a tendency to click around when people post site links, they rarely stay on just the page linked to therefore care has to be taken when posting links in my opinion.

TheBlueRaja · 17-08-2005, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Forewarned is forearmed and some of our new/ less technical members need as much information and guidance as possible when it comes to some areas so pointing out that a site holds text files which contain virus source codes is a good idea in my view.

Couldnt agree more - without floating my own boat, if i have uncertanties surrounding this site, then i think it better to voice my opinion than (possibly) allowing other less technical people to think - hey what a great idea - i'll just install this and think nothing more off it.

Not pointing out the risks given what the rest of the contents of that site contains is a bit daft IMO.

It was/is a great idea and well done for spotting it (were not ganging up on you) it would just be better if it came from a more reliable and trustworthy source, especially given that on one hand they provide this great services and then on the other provide source to virii for all and sundry.

Jon M · 17-08-2005, 10:02

When did I say not to point out dangers within sites?
I was just asking if we could discuss the topic instead of going off onto a virus/site discussion

If I didn't want you two to voice your concerns I could easily have removed the OT posts, but I didn't as I agree there should be a proper amount of caution with ANY site.
However, turning the thread topic into a security discussion was not the original point of the thread, you've said what you wanted to say, you've warned everyone about the misgivings you have, now lets move on please.