Window Update Breaks Zone Alarm
By“In This Corner, Window Update!”
Flaming your firewall
Today after automatically downloading and installing a Windows networking update, KB951748, thousands of XP users found they no longer had access to the internet. Zone Alarm, a popular 3rd party firewall, interpreting the update as an attack declared internet access denied. So what lesson have we learned?
While IT consulting and, even now, I never allowed Windows to automatically update via the normal consumer windows process. Only if pushing out updates via SMS (Systems Management Server) or alike, would I allow any type of automation.
This exact situation has burned me so many times. You arrive at the office or get the 6AM call from your site admin who is screaming ‘the internet is down no one has access, I checked 5 different computers’. So now you can’t even access the systems remotely to troubleshoot. You call the ISP and they say ‘we can ping the router’ and now before you have even had your coffee, your incompetent.
Now, several hours later, you arrive at the office, sleep deprived and incompetent, surrounded by dirty looks. They have all missed a deadline, lost their bonus and, it’s now your fault because you are the one who is there to fix it.
Related SEM-Answers Posts- Week in Tweets Ending Saturday 2009-07-18 @royljestr Thanks For The RT! in reply to royljestr # @PearlFlipper Thanks For The RT! in reply to PearlFlipper # RT @outdoorinterior: #FF @HomeFashionMag @designsecrets @tkpleslie @JWcorbett @HomeImproveNow @TimDeclueDesign @themediamatters @mediatwit # RT @allantowns: Spreading drive-by luv on #FF @jwcorbett @BrianWoodKATU @melindafulmer @urbanreporter @zenforlunch @rveep @nickbelardes # Your Personal......
- Week in Tweets Ending 2009-05-09 RT @natecheeley Finally found a free and simple way to expand my reach on Twitter. A nice 20 second process. http://tpq.me/rt90s # Google: The cloud is cheaper http://ow.ly/5PBw # Report: US air-traffic control systems hacked http://ow.ly/5PAP # Great Link Building Resources http://ow.ly/5Pza # Integrated Ads Through Social Media Apps......
Stumble It |
Ping this!
|
- How Using A VoIP Phone Service Can Cost You Your Life VoIP Phones are all the rage. These Internet phones are becoming increasingly popular with the general public as well as among the technologically gifted avant-garde i.e. geeksRus. Chances are high you know someone who uses one or you may even use one yourself. But did you know it can cost......
- Microsoft to Improve User Access Control in Windows 7 I was just reading a Slashdot article about Microsoft improving User Access Control (UAC) in Windows 7. In the cited PC Pro article, Microsoft engineer Ben Fathi says: We've heard loud and clear that you are frustrated. You find the prompts too frequent, annoying, and confusing. We still want to......
Stumble It
Ping this!


3 Comments
5:15 pm
If I am manually installing Microsoft updates, how can I know which ones will conflict with software installed on my machine?
I got hit by this schemozzle yesterday and it cost me an afternoon’s work. Currently I have my system operating because I dropped Zone Alarm’s Internet Security down to medium. I know that’s not ideal, but I also have some firewall protection via my ADSL router (Dlink DSL-504T). My inclination is to keep going as I am, rather than uninstall the Microsoft update. And I’ll wait for a patch from Zone Alarm, which I suspect won’t take long! How safe do you think my strategy is? My worry is that if I uninstall the MS update, it won’t get installed again and presumably it contains _some_ stuff that’s desirable.
7:22 pm
John, often times Microsoft will release kb updates with white information at
HTTP://support.microsoft.com/kb/UPDATENUMBER
you need to keep in mind that they will not know all the possible conflicts that can arise.
I think you should be fine with the action you have taken providing you *practice safe surfing* as they say.
8:27 am
I would suggest making sure your firewall is up to date too.
windows 7 is out soon it looks good on the surface and will have even more protection built in,I wonder what we have in store, how many more dirty looks?