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Unpatched Windows XP with SP1 Hacked in 6 Minutes

by , 1:50 PM EST, November 13th, 2007

A Windows XP system with Service Pack 1 installed, but with no subsequent patches applied, was hacked in six minutes by a security expert in London, according to C|Net on Tuesday. A Microsoft executive who watched the demonstration found himself both enlightened and fightened.

The Windows computer was not running a firewall or other anti-virus or anti-spyware software. The challenge was to connect, on a local network, and retrieve a text file of passwords. The attack was successful in six minutes and the password file downloaded in 11 minutes.

"If you were in (a cafe with Wi-Fi access), your coffee wouldn't even have cooled down yet," said Sharon Lemon, deputy director of SOCA's e-crime unit at the event sponsored by the UK's Get Safe Online. SOCA is the Serious Organized Crime Agency, a UK government intelligence group.

Another SOCA representative pointed out that the demonstration was "purely to point out that, if a system hasn't had patches, it's a relatively simple matter to hack into it." It's sensible, he added, to have SP2 applied, with all the current patches applied, and be running on a secure wireless network.

"In the demonstration we saw, it was both enlightening and frightening to witness the seeming ease of the attack on the (Windows) computer," said Nick McGrath, head of platform strategy for Microsoft. "But the computer was new, not updated, and not patched."

He also siad that Vista is not as "accessible to the average hacker" due to "operating system components."

TMO notes that there are likely many XP computers (and Macs) out there that users have failed to update because they haven't understood the importance or haven't gotten around to it. This demonstration is lesson for all Windows and Mac users; when the vendor publishes a patch, install it.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:jimothy Posts: 594 Joined: 04 Jun 2004
Subject: Seriously flawed research

Contrary to what this so-called expert says, since most coffee shops no longer use styrofoam, a cup of coffee can cool significant in the 11 minutes it takes to retrieve the list of passwords. Even in 5 minutes, the temperature will drop by several degrees. Frankly, I think this glaring error takes credibility from this supposed research.

View Name:Guest
Subject: Update wired, behind a firewall, or else!
View Name:Guest
Subject: Don't connect an unpatched system to the network!
View Name:Guest
Subject: Or get a Mac
Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1797 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Subject:

I don't find this surprising at all. This was XP SP1. SP2 fixed a LOT of things. Where I used to work we didn't even deploy XP until SP2 was available. Actually I'm surprised that it took them 6 minutes. For those planning on putting XP on our Macs, however you plan on doing it, it isn't quite this bad because any XP disk you get now will be at least SP2 and often SP2 plus some patches.

That said though the idea of downloading as many patches as you can off line and installing them before you take your XP on the web is a good one. Either that or have your system behind really tight firewall.

View Name:Guest
Subject: Coffee Cooling
View Name:Guest
Subject: Chilling facts!
View Name:Guest
Subject: Try updating XP without connecting to the Internet
View Name:Guest
Subject: Get a mac
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