Microsoft Urges Users to Shut Down Windows Gadgets or Risk Attack
Microsoft Urges Users to Shut Down Windows Gadgets or Risk Attack
Posted: 11 Jul 2012
Rather than fix vulnerabilities with Gadgets and the Sidebar in Windows Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft is advising users to disable the features altogether.
Gadgets and Sidebar allow users to add visual information and small programs to the Windows desktop, including clock faces, music players and RSS feed readers.
Now, Microsoft has issued a Fix It solution to disable Gadgets and the Sidebar. These features, if left enabled, may allow the execution of arbitrary code, and could allow attackers to take complete control of a person’s system, Microsoft warns in a Knowledge Base article.
I now somehow feel vindicated for never having bothered with it in the first place and having it off my system from day 1... (Program Features --> Windows Gadget Platform unticked)
I feel bad for those who use it as part of their daily Windows life though.
I like to use gadgets like cpu meter, gpu meter, and network meter. They are really good gadgets. I never download any others except those because those are the only gadgets I see useful.
Computer Type: PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number: HP Pavilion P7-1010 OS: Windows 7 Professional x64 Service Pack 1 CPU: AMD Athlon X4 645 Motherboard: Foxxcon N-Alvorix RS880 Memory: 6GB DDR3 1066 Graphics Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 5670 512MB GDDR5 Sound Card: Realtek Integrated Audio Monitor(s) Displays: HP 2011x Screen Resolution: 1600x900 Keyboard: HP OEM- Made by Chicony Mouse: HP OEM- Made by Logitech PSU: Seasonic S12 II Bronze 380 Watt Case: HP OEM Cooling: Coolermaster Heatsink, AVC Case Fan Hard Drives: 1. Crucial M4 128GB SSD
2. 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 RPM
3. 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green 5400RPM Internet Speed: 20MBit Down/4 Up Browser: Internet Explorer 10 Antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials
Geeze, what next, announcing that the DLing of /any/ third party software is likely to be an unfixable security risk and recommend against it? Maybe even providing a tool to remove all third party software that was not purchased through the Microsoft store for your benefit?
I like to use gadgets like cpu meter, gpu meter, and network meter. They are really good gadgets. I never download any others except those because those are the only gadgets I see useful.
Exactly and all those useful gadgets are from trusted sources, believe it or not Microsoft we users aren't quite as stupid as you seem to think.
It's should be quite obvious to all of us that installing ANYTHING from an untrusted source is obviously not very smart. If the gadget function has vulnerabilities then they should be fixed by Microsoft rather than abandoning a very popular feature that millions are already using.
Msoft please stop trying to tell us what to do. We aren't dummies like you seem to think.
And if you even think of removing this feature from Windows 8 RTM I can guarantee you that I will never purchase Windows 8, NOT EVER! And I will make sure that all of my clients and friends also won't.
I've had Enough of this foolishness from Microsoft.
Computer Type: PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number: Bruce ... somewhere in his 40's OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit SP1 CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2400 MHz Motherboard: INTEL/D975XBX2 Memory: 4 GB Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro Monitor(s) Displays: Samsung SyncMaster 914v Screen Resolution: 1280 x 1024 Keyboard: Standard PS/2 Keyboard Mouse: Microsoft PS/2 Mouse PSU: Rocketfish 700 W Case: G.Skill Gigabyte Chassis Hard Drives: 2/500GB each ... ST3500630AS ATA Device.
One is not connected Internet Speed: DSL Browser: IE 11 Antivirus: Avira Internet Security Other Info: ATI HDMI Audio
I'm some what confused about what all I have read. Is it really urgent to disable Gadgets or is it just a matter of not installing 3rd party Gadgets (which I have never done)?
Is there no end to all of this security vulnerabilities in some of the major applications and Windows in particular?
I am no expert as everyone will know so I don't understand the nitty gritty of a lot of the system / coding design and apart from beginning to find my way around the BIOS and registry stuff I am mainly interested in the hardware side of things.