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 Windows Messenger service to be turned off in Windows XP
October 29, 2003
Security holes and tons of spam have affected Microsoft's decision to turn off its bothersome Windows Messenger service in the next Windows XP update, a company executive said Tuesday.
Not to be confused with Windows Messenger, Microsoft's instant messaging platform, Windows Messenger Service is used by applications to communicate with each other, and often by enterprise network administrators to alert users of such things as impending server shutdowns or the unavailability of print servers.
Most users will have had at least some experience with Windows Messenger Service, which is used by some spammers to send advertisements that pop up in gray boxes on people's desktops.
Security experts attacked Microsoft with concern about company's unwillingness to shut down the service, saying that Messenger was not a vital Windows component and was ripe for exploitation by another Blaster-like worm.
Last week, America revealed that it automatically disabled Windows Messenger Service on the Windows desktops of 20 million of its users as a precaution.
The change to Messenger service will be included to the next update, Windows XP Service Pack 2, which is due in the first half of 2004.
Microsoft also revealed some details of Service Pack 2. So the company plans to activate the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) by default on Windows XP machines in an effort to keep computers protected from malicious attacks.
ICF firewall is the most basic form of a firewall so it is recommended for users to install personal firewall from third party developers.
Another change will be in Remote Procedure Call service, which will be updated with a new API (application programming interface) that limits access to resources on the local machine. The new API will enable developer to more easily control the flow of data to and from Windows applications and apply more specific security policies that cover actions taken by client and server applications
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