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Microsoft uses viruses
SOFTWARE giant Microsoft has decided to boost its distribution chances by infecting users with a virus.
That is not to say that you will visit a website one day and suddenly your computer will run Vista, the Vole has not got that desperate yet.
But according to New Scientist Vole is looking at the use of friendly worms to distribute software patches.
The worms will be self-replicating and seek out new computers to infect.
Volish boffins are researching the technology as a way of reaching vulnerable machines faster.
According to Milan Vojnovic, the friendly worms were better at seeking out vulnerable, unpatched machines and can infect a network of computers using the smallest number of probes. They were also more intelligent.
Of course there is a great risk that the nasty virus writers will catch one of these worms, retroengineer it and stick a nasty payload on the back of it.
More here. µ
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As usual, Farrell ignores reality in favor of some trite lies. MS may not be the paragon of virtue, but the worm/virus idea is being kicked around deep in their research department, and they have no plans to even do *development* on it let alone *deploy* it.

But hey, don't let that get in the way of saying "Microsoft to use viruses".

The Inq deserves a severe, severe smackdown for this kind of crap. It was bad enough when it was just inane... this is almost unbelievable!

Heh - converted wife's laptop to Ubuntu last week after Windowz blew up. Now there's only the two game computers and my antique P3 IBM running Windowz, and the P3 get's converted next week

Let's face it - Microsoft has been messing up badly for years. More and more people are migrating, and unless they get their act together they won't have any customers left.

You people are talking like these patches will be sent around unencrypted and anyone with a text editor will be able to throw malicious code into it... Properly implemented I think this is could be a wonderful idea. As for the comment about cases where networking has been shut off, they said nothing about removing the current manual system so nothing will be any different in that respect.
Hahaha! Windoze lusers should beef up their internet connection... MS software is always incredibly big in size...

Lol..., +20MB viruses...
And of course theese things will work badly. Failing to patch, patching systems that are not suposed to be patched... hanging systems..etc..etc.

Its hillarious! Its grea!t I hope they do it! Another failure..another nail in the enormous coffin called 
microsoft...
Ye Olde "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" Ploy/Play.

Nick,

"Of course there is a great risk that the nasty virus writers will catch one of these worms, retroengineer it and stick a nasty payload on the back of it." ..... Only if it is a dumb worm... and that is most unlikely in an Age whenever we are all Learning More and becoming Naturally IntelAIgent ... Much More Acutely Astutely Aware.

The SMARTer Enter the Dragon carriers carry a nasty payload on their backs/in their racks for any and all who would think and attempt to retroengineer it and stick a nasty payload on the back of it...... although given what they may be carrying may be just the Binary Medicine that they need, such Negative Waves may be just so much Hot Air and Sour Grapes. 

Which may be double dutch to many but to dDutch IntelAIgents, a Facility Provided for Free carried on the Horny Backed Monitor Mentoring Interest Streams....... Tributaries for Tangents.
What happens if they're patching something that doesn't leave a hole in your networking, say a malicious website can ask IE7 to run code that is "signed by Microsoft", when the code will break your computer. Will they leave a back-door in Windows so the virus can spread? I for one don't want such doors in my Windows.

Did they consider the ramifications of someone writing a different worm to "duct tape" the networking hole closed? Duct tape could destroy all the windows world-wide!
Cor Blimey! The Windows got worm rot! 
Voles is what spreads the flea-bagged plague! Krite! I've got helters on me skelters!

...to switch to Linux...
This scheme is illegal, isn't it?
Can Microsoft think of NOTHING new?
This was done way back in space year 1998 with the Autostart 9805 worm for Mac OS 7.
A version of the worm was patched to delete not the intended Graphics files but the original version of the worm.
It spread so well that it even made it on to some driver CDs from HP!!
But seriously this idea is older than that, it was written about in the chapter on viruses in the computer science book I read for Middle School over 15 years ago.
Microsoft already uses viruses.

Remember the forced patches last year that overrode all XP machines ... even the ones with the updates turned off??

The worst polymorphic stealth virus on record is their latest OS ... Vista !!
There is just so much wrong with this idea. I can't even put into words what an incredible mistake this is.
"[...]the friendly worms will be used to distribute updates to users without forcing them to download anything from a central server."


So instead of forcing of forcing you to download the update from Microsoft.com, the update will be forced on you by an unknown group of PCs who have previously been left open to attack. Good job, team!