Hackers hijack Windows Update's downloader

Friday, 11 May 2007, 12:02 AM EST

Hackers are using Windows Updates' file transfer component to sneak malicious code downloads past firewalls, Symantec researchers said today.

The Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) is used by Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems to deliver patches via Windows Update. BITS, which debuted in Windows XP and is baked into Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista, is an asynchronously file transfer service with automatic throttling - so downloads don't impact other network chores. It automatically resumes if the connection is broken.

At Computerworld.

[ Read more ]





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