Human Error Makes Way for Microsoft System Spammers

Written on October 14, 2010 by Adam Eve

In case you find Microsoft promoting a pharmaceutical website, just ignore it. Or better yet, report it to the company. The company might have a mis-configured system, and you just received a spam.

Microsoft launched an investigation last Tuesday, following a report on spammers using their hacked computer systems to promote online pharmaceutical websites. According to the report, two mis-configured hardware devices were compromised due to human error. After they were compromised, the two servers handled the DNS of over 1,000 fraudulent pharmaceutical websites. Both network devices that run a Linux kernel were already dispatched by Microsoft.

“We are taking steps to better ensure that testing lab hardware devices that are Internet accessible are configured with proper security controls.”

Microsoft has taken steps in recent years to improve their security, and the company has taken a firm stand against spam and spammers. And with the company’s systems misused in this way, it is very embarrassing.