By Heather McLean, 4 January 2002 11:05
NEWS Microsoft patches for Windows XP are adequate, the FBI stated yesterday, retracting its previous comment that the software giant was not doing enough to protect users from hackers. The FBI originally said that the free patch - issued on Microsoft's website on 21 December - was not sufficient to prevent hackers breaking into systems running XP. Microsoft found that when a user of an un-patched machine logged onto the net, an infiltrator could creep in and take control of the entire system. The FBI said the about-turn was made after a careful study of Microsoft technical materials with help from Carnegie Mellon University's federally funded research group, CERT Coordination Centre. Serious flaws in XP were revealed on 20 December last year. Early editions of some Windows ME software were also affected.
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