UPDATE: Microsoft issues long-awaited Windows XP Service Pack 2

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Posted on 9 Aug 2004 at 17:05

'Service Pack 2 is a significant step in delivering on our goal to help customers make their PCs better isolated and more resilient in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks,' said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft. 'It is the result of sustained investments in innovation and extensive industry collaboration. It also reflects a broad recognition that as the security environment changes, the industry needs to work together to respond.'

The service pack adds a range of new features to the platform. The chief among them being the NX 'no-instruction' buffer overrun prevention technology that, when coupled with hardware that supports the technology, will prevent code passed into the system through buffer errors being executed. Such a method is often employed by viruses.

AMD and Intel are currently making their latest server processors able to use the technology, although no dates have been set for when desktop NX chips will released - by far the biggest target of viruses such as Mimail that use buffer checking errors as a means of infecting systems.

Other features are an improved firewall that is switched on by default, and a Windows Security Center, developed with other security companies, is designed for easy access to key security features within XP.

Author: Matt Whipp

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