Microsoft to make MSN Messenger fixes mandatory
eWeek | at | by Mike
Microsoft on Friday lashed out at two security research firms for publishing proof-of-concept exploit code for MSN Messenger hours after Microsoft released security patches for the product.
In one instance, the software giant said malicious hackers have modified the proof-of-concept code into an exploit that puts millions of users at risk of code execution attacks that require no user interaction.
Moving swiftly to blunt an attack, Microsoft has decided to push out patched versions of MSN Messenger as a mandatory update. As of Thursday evening, users of the popular instant messaging client must update to MSN Messenger version 6.2.0205 or the MSN Messenger 7.0 beta before they are allowed to log on.