Microsoft’s network is hacked

October 27, 2000 6:41 AM

Microsoft’s network is hacked It's gotta be tough for MSNBC to report this...
posted by chiXy (14 comments total)

Please....It's gotta be tough for any of these media outlets to report anything. The way things are now-a-days the parent company most likely has some share in the product or service they are reporting about. GE (NBC) is a great example. I mean I just learned the other day that General Motors owns DirecTV, who knew?
posted by brian at 8:08 AM on October 27, 2000

Well, /.'s already full of gloating, and admittedly if this was really caused by an e-mail attachment it's a huge embarrassment. (I've done my share of "don't run .exes you morons" around the office with little effect, of course.) Stupid since it'd be so easy to fix: just allow users a 'run executable in limited-capability context', ie. as an unprivileged guest user on a user-based system like NT.

What's interesting to me is that they don't even know if the code has been altered! Surely the definitive code should live on a secure version-control box?

And have MS's certificate signing keys been compromised?

posted by BobInce at 8:40 AM on October 27, 2000

After spending 2 years working at MSNBC, I can assure you there is no editorial slant toward MS. Sure there tends to be a technological bias, but hey, what would you expect? The journos there really tend to be vigilant about that, and had a lot to prove from the beginning - to avoid any appearance of bias. Believe what you will, I know the folks at /. do, but MSNBC is not a mouthpiece for Microsoft.
posted by kokogiak at 9:06 AM on October 27, 2000

I'm with kokogiak. The only people who think MSNBC is a mouthpiece for Microsoft are people who do not read MSNBC. Their tech section publishes evenhanded coverage of Linux and other alternative OSes, the Bug feature covers Microsoft as much as anything else, and so on. I'm really tired of this, but on the other hand, it's a clear barometer of the poster's attitude.
posted by dhartung at 9:12 AM on October 27, 2000

Oh, anyway, it's just the same WSJ article that was linked somewhere in the Slashdot thread. MSNBC and WSJ have a republication agreement. It's actually the best place to look if there's a WSJ article you can't get at because they really do make you pay to read their site.
posted by dhartung at 9:14 AM on October 27, 2000

MSNBC is not a mouthpiece for Microsoft

Of course not. That's what the Ayn Rand Institute is for.
posted by ethmar at 9:31 AM on October 27, 2000

Hell I 'almost' feel bad for M$. Here's an interesing opinion piece by weld pond and abner.

posted by chiXy at 10:01 AM on October 27, 2000

Bah. MSNBC reporter Brock Meeks is one of the most outspoken and critical anti-MS reporters I know. MSNBC is hardly hampered in its reporting by its parent company.
posted by bkdelong at 10:22 AM on October 27, 2000

Everyone seems a little defensive, not quite sure why. Unless of course, a lot of Microsoft employees and investors like to comment here. My original comment was only to point out that it must be tough (as in embarrasing) for MSNBC to report this. It is a rather stunning revelation that their systems have been comprimised for three months-- it most certainly could (and most likely will) be a devastating event for MS.

posted by chiXy at 10:55 AM on October 27, 2000

"it most certainly could (and most likely will) be a devastating event for MS."

And the last time MS stock took a tumble, so did the rest of the market....and that correction is still feeding F*ckedCompany.com some of its best stuff.
posted by bkdelong at 11:15 AM on October 27, 2000

Actually, Brian, *I* knew. :-)

DirecTV is a unit of GM Hughes Electronics, which, IIRC, is actually a joint venture in the geostationary satellite business between GM and the remains of Howard Hughes' empire.
posted by baylink at 11:48 AM on October 27, 2000

I will note that this break-in is deescribed in the story as "extraordinary". it doesn't sound extraordinary to me. it sounds like a regular, ordinary break-in caused by a regular, ordinary employee stupidity.

I have a number of friends at ms who are constantly enraged at the level of cluelessness on the part of people who should know better. the melissa virus, for example, was spread when a friend's manager opened the email....

rcb
posted by rebeccablood at 11:57 AM on October 27, 2000

The only bit of interesting news here is that MS has finally been (publicly) hit with the results of the swiss cheese security they have inflicted on the rest of the world for so many years.

As far as the "it's MSNBC reporting so it must be hard for them", I doubt it. From what I know of MS employees, a lot of people inside Microsoft itself are probably laughing about this one. Believe it or not, MS isn't a monolithic single-minded borg... it just looks that way.

And no, I've never worked there, so don't even start. :-)

-Mars
posted by Mars Saxman at 12:23 PM on October 27, 2000

There are hackers in my pants!
posted by Aaaugh! at 1:27 PM on October 27, 2000