Microsoft fixes Windows XP Firewall flaw

Microsoft fixes Windows XP Firewall flaw

Microsoft’s efforts towards improving the overall security of their flagship operating system continue this week. They have recently acquired a security firm, which specializes in developing anti-spyware applications and plan to release a product within a month.

Now they have issued fixes for the Windows XP inbuilt firewall which was enabled by default in their recently released Service Pack 2. The firewall in its original version left files on the system open to anyone on the networks if a service called ‘file and printer sharing’ was enabled. This was originally planned to work for just the local area networks (LAN).

However, this flaw enabled the service and left open files to anyone online if certain dialup ISPs were used to connect to the Internet. The flaw was originally reported back in September. The update was released through the Microsoft’s monthly patch roundup earlier this week. It comes labeled critical from the company and is recommended to be immediately installed on all the affected systems.

More details on the flaw is available on Microsoft Support pages.