| VerifyMyPC catches Microsoft with pants down |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Media Contact Information:
CubicleSoft
1956 Penobscot Drive
Okemos, MI 48864
Voice: +1 (517) 803-4197
E-mail: Thomas Hruska
VerifyMyPC catches Microsoft with pants down
Okemos, MI - August 26, 2007 -- CubicleSoft today caught Microsoft with their pants down with the CubicleSoft flagship product VerifyMyPC. Yesterday, many Windows users experienced the inability to use Windows as a result of the loss of a critical Microsoft service.
Late Friday evening, Microsoft pushed out a secret Windows Update worldwide via Windows Automatic Updates. Analysis using a VerifyMyPC-enabled system caught the entire sequence of updates and flagged them as major changes to OS that had been made without user consent. These changes were done on a system which specifically had the "Notify me but don't automatically download or install [updates]" option selected.
Sometime early Saturday morning, Microsoft Corporation started receiving not-so-subtle hints on their forums that legitimate users of Windows were being flagged as having pirated the operating system. Engineers at Microsoft confirmed later that all of the Windows Genuine Advantage servers were down. Microsoft engineers spent their Saturday morning and part of the afternoon bringing the servers back online. Meanwhile, many customers worldwide were without the ability to use their computer systems.
"VerifyMyPC catching a secret update from Microsoft, and, mere hours later, users are indirectly complaining about the Windows Genuine Advantage servers being down, is a little more than suspicious. It says to me that the two events are directly related. Also, had the engineers had VerifyMyPC installed on the servers, they could have found and fixed the problem in ten minutes. They could have been at home relaxing on Saturday instead of spending all day at the office scrambling around to avoid another PR disaster," says Thomas Hruska, President of CubicleSoft.
Of additional interest, Microsoft Product Support in India responded to user support requests saying the Windows Genuine Advantage servers would be down for several days. Microsoft is dealing with this issue.
To learn more about VerifyMyPC, visit:
VerifyMyPC
Additional resources:
BoingBoing article
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