Windows firewall exploit no cause for concern

THE CASE OF THE crumbling firewall vulnerability in Windows XP is "easily fixable" say insecurity experts

The vulnerability lies within the Windows Internet Connection Service (ICS), a component that lets users share one computer's internet connection with other machines on a local area network.

And, according to security company Sunbelt Software most users do not even use the ICS component.

Alex Eckelberry, president of Sunbelt Software, maintained that any attack would have to take place from a computer within the LAN, and that the vulnerability is not exploitable by any outside attack methods such as specially-crafted web pages or emails.

Security firms Sunbelt and Secunia offer a simple fix for the vulnerability by using a router to share internet connections on a LAN, rather than relying on ICS. µ

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