MyDoom.b - even smart people do dumb things

I've just had some email regarding the latest internet worm. One was from someone I know telling me his brother had just become infected and the other was from Microsoft getting the word out about this wom. I'd have ignored the second mail, had I not got the first one.

Basically, what is clear by this virus/worm is that even smart people can do dumb things at times. With that in mind, I have no hesitation in passing on the advice I got from MS. If it helps just one person, its worth.

So why not take a quick peek at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/alerts/mydoom.asp.

MBSA 1.2

MS has today announced a new version of Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA).

This new version provides better language (ie non-American!) support, plus support for Exchange 2003, MS Office, Microsft Java Virtual Machine, B iztalk, Commerced Server, Contene Management Ser ver and Host Integration Server, MSXML, MDAC. MBSA solves a number of other problems too!

A useful upgrade, but where's SUS 2, MSI 3, etc??

Using Adminpak.msi to Install a Specific Server Administration Tool

In Windows 2000 (and 2003!) you can install the MMC snapins on your computer by runing adminpak.msi. One question that I've seen, but never managed to work out was a simple way of adding one, but not ALL the snapins. It turns out that it's not all that difficult, according to KB article 314978 - How To Use Adminpak.msi to Install a Specific Server Administration Tool in Windows 2000.

The format is not overly friendly. For example, to install the DNS console, you'd type:

msiexec /i adminpak.msi ADDLOCAL=FeDNSConsole /qb

Cool .NET Linking Tool

Now this little tool: Remotesoft's Salamander .NET Linker is pretty cool. It allows you to link .NET assemblies, including system files, into a single file. Once linked, you can deploy your applu without installling the whole .NET Framework.

The tool links MSIL code on demand putting together only the required classes and methods. The tool then builds a minimum set of the Microsoft .NET runtime to ship with your application. This usually results in installation size substantically smaller and faster then traditional .NET apps.

And by linking them this way, it's easier to obfuscate the code. A neat tool!

NetMon 2.1 - Part of SMS 2003

One of the less trumpted components of SMS 2003 is an update to Network Monitor. SMS 2003 now ships with NetMon 2.1. I'm still delving into to find the differences. But the one difrerence I really like is in the network selection dialog. Instead of putting up the card's MAC address - the name of the connection is shown. Finally!

Microsoft TechNet Events

Microsoft UK provide a great deal of free technical information for IT Professionals (MCSEs/MCSAs, etc), under the banner of TechNet. UK TechNet events are meant to convey technical information to IT Professionals. TechNet events include evening seminars, road shows and Web Casts. Personally, I love the evening events at Microsoft's Headquarters in Reading: cold beer, warm pizza, and good sessions.

I was able to give some of these events in 2003 (and will be giving more in 2004). In December, I gave a talk on patch management and SUS. You can get a recording of this session athttp://www.placeware.com/cc/emea/view?id=msft0912cs&pw=RMG9GT. This uses PlaceWare, so to see the full webcast, you will need to load some software (you will get prompted for it).

The overall UK technet site is http://www.microsoft.com/uk/technet/learning/ - enjoy!

Thomas