bit-tech.net

Gareth Halfacree · 13th Dec 2012, 10:49

No patch planned, says Microsoft.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/20...e-bug-cursor/1

will_123 · 13th Dec 2012, 10:58

Dont use it. Chrome or Firefox for me, but its worrying that they dont intend to patch it.

ShinyAli · 13th Dec 2012, 11:01

Before I and probably some others go off on an anti IE rant has anyone tested other browsers for this exploit

Gareth Halfacree · 13th Dec 2012, 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShinyAli

Before I and probably some others go off on an anti IE rant has anyone tested other browsers for this exploit

Yes, and they're not affected: it's specific to IE, as the article explains.

Bede · 13th Dec 2012, 11:50

I'm confused as to why Microsoft don't want to patch it. Is it a common occurrence to leave security holes open in software?

Anfield · 13th Dec 2012, 11:52

Microsoft says they have no plan to patch it soon? kind of funny considering what they recently tried against android on twitter.

general22 · 13th Dec 2012, 12:03

This is pretty much useless without some way to see what the user is looking at onscreen. MS are generally good with security updates and patching this probably isn't worth it.

steveo_mcg · 13th Dec 2012, 12:18

You sufer from a lack of imagination my friend. With a 6x6+1 on-screen keypad it would be fairly trivial to see a code Advertisers would love to see exactly where people are placing their mouse as then they can stick ads right under your nose. And those are just the two examples in the article the more imaginative will probably have even better ideas.

Besides all that if there is a security hole of any shape it should be patched soon after its discovered, it might be a "useless" thing to day but who knows how it will morph. Fit the lock before the horse even realises there is a door.

Snips · 13th Dec 2012, 12:22

Well the biggest and best do tend to get a few knocks every now and then. I don't foresee a problem here.

Corky42 · 13th Dec 2012, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bede

I'm confused as to why Microsoft don't want to patch it. Is it a common occurrence to leave security holes open in software?

Maybe because they cant, maybe fixing it will mean disabling some important feature.

Its not good to say your not going to fix a security related bug as that is all most people will take away from it, that M$ isn't worried about peoples security.

Snips · 13th Dec 2012, 13:14

I'd take it with a pinch of salt as this is not an official Microsoft statement. When they come out and state "they aren't doing anything about it" maybe then believe it but at the moment it's one companies word or a small company trying to gain some exposure?

fdbh96 · 13th Dec 2012, 15:13

I can just imagine an advert following the cursor around the screen. That would be very annoying, and I too wonder why Microsoft isn't going to patch it?

Snips · 13th Dec 2012, 21:03

Where did it say above that Microsoft said they weren't going to patch it? I didn't see any statement from Microsoft above or anywhere else.

Gradius · 13th Dec 2012, 23:12

I don't use IE since 2007.

Corky42 · 13th Dec 2012, 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snips

Where did it say above that Microsoft said they weren't going to patch it? I didn't see any statement from Microsoft above or anywhere else.

I have never know Microsoft to publish details of a bug before they release the update to fix it, normally you get the update and they give details of what that update fixes.

SimonStern · 14th Dec 2012, 06:30

I posted about this in software yesterday and nobody seemed to care lol

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=253175

Gareth Halfacree · 14th Dec 2012, 07:00

Article updated with official comment from Microsoft: apparently a patch, of sorts, is in the pipeline.

LordPyrinc · 14th Dec 2012, 09:29

I use IE and have recently experienced a temporarily unresponsive mouse on more than one occasion, usually lasts between 3 to 5 seconds. Considering that the mouse is wireless, I first thought it was a battery issue, but after replacing the battery the problem has happened again. If I recall correctly, most of the incidents happened on a very popular news site, formerly known as MSNBC. The plethora of ads on the site and pop-ups that get blocked sometimes crashes the browser and requires IE to try to automatically recover as well.

Snips · 14th Dec 2012, 20:18

'From what we know now, the underlying issue has more to do with competition between analytics companies than consumer safety or privacy. The only reported active use of this behavior involves competitors to Spider.io providing analytics.'

What was it I said earlier? exactly that

ShinyAli · 14th Dec 2012, 20:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShinyAli View Post
Before I and probably some others go off on an anti IE rant has anyone tested other browsers for this exploit

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree

Yes, and they're not affected: it's specific to IE, as the article explains.

Maybe not,

UPDATE 2012-12-14
Microsoft's Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president in charge of Internet Explorer, has issued a statement on the matter. 'We are actively working to adjust this behavior in IE. There are similar capabilities available in other browsers. Analytics firms can expect to do viewpoint detection in IE similarly to how they do this in other browsers,' Hachamovitch claimed.

13th Dec 2012, 10:49	#1
Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! bit-tech Staff Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bradford, UK Posts: 1,828	Internet Explorer bug tracks your mouse cursor No patch planned, says Microsoft. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/20...e-bug-cursor/1 __________________ Co-author, Raspberry Pi User Guide, Meet the Raspberry Pi \| gareth.halfacree.co.uk \| twitter bit-tech news correspondent, Custom PC columnist I'm a filthy freelancer! Hire me!

13th Dec 2012, 10:58	#2
will_123 Small childs brain in a big body Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 921	Dont use it. Chrome or Firefox for me, but its worrying that they dont intend to patch it. __________________ i5 3570k @ 4.5GhZ \| Fractal Arc Midi \| H100i \| Twin Frorz 7870 \| 8GB Crosair 1600MhZ \| Website - https://www.kerneltalk.co.uk/ BF3 - Pvt_Will123 Steam - hardcorewillie

13th Dec 2012, 11:01	#3
ShinyAli Supermodder Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: UK Posts: 288	Before I and probably some others go off on an anti IE rant has anyone tested other browsers for this exploit __________________ Al-13 Duplicity, Dual Mobo Scratch build

13th Dec 2012, 11:50	#5
Bede Ultramodder Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: England Posts: 1,146	I'm confused as to why Microsoft don't want to patch it. Is it a common occurrence to leave security holes open in software? __________________ Coolermaster 690 II Advanced (white edition) \| i5-2500K \| MSI P67-GD53 \| MSI GTX560Ti HAWK \| 16gb Corsair Vengeance LP 1600Mhz 1.5V \| Gelid Tranquillo \| Asus Xonar DS \| 700W Coolermaster Silent Pro M \| Corsair Force Series 3 60GB \| Crucial M4 128GB \| Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB

13th Dec 2012, 12:18	#8
steveo_mcg STILL ALIVE Join Date: May 2005 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 5,739	You sufer from a lack of imagination my friend. With a 6x6+1 on-screen keypad it would be fairly trivial to see a code Advertisers would love to see exactly where people are placing their mouse as then they can stick ads right under your nose. And those are just the two examples in the article the more imaginative will probably have even better ideas. Besides all that if there is a security hole of any shape it should be patched soon after its discovered, it might be a "useless" thing to day but who knows how it will morph. Fit the lock before the horse even realises there is a door. __________________ ook

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13th Dec 2012, 11:52	#6
Anfield Supermodder Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 373	Microsoft says they have no plan to patch it soon? kind of funny considering what they recently tried against android on twitter.

13th Dec 2012, 12:03	#7
general22 Multimodder Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 190	This is pretty much useless without some way to see what the user is looking at onscreen. MS are generally good with security updates and patching this probably isn't worth it.

13th Dec 2012, 12:22	#9
Snips I can do dat, giz a job Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: wiv me kids Posts: 1,284	Well the biggest and best do tend to get a few knocks every now and then. I don't foresee a problem here.

13th Dec 2012, 13:14	#11
Snips I can do dat, giz a job Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: wiv me kids Posts: 1,284	I'd take it with a pinch of salt as this is not an official Microsoft statement. When they come out and state "they aren't doing anything about it" maybe then believe it but at the moment it's one companies word or a small company trying to gain some exposure?

13th Dec 2012, 15:13	#12
fdbh96 I am a Dremel Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 1,690	I can just imagine an advert following the cursor around the screen. That would be very annoying, and I too wonder why Microsoft isn't going to patch it?

13th Dec 2012, 21:03	#13
Snips I can do dat, giz a job Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: wiv me kids Posts: 1,284	Where did it say above that Microsoft said they weren't going to patch it? I didn't see any statement from Microsoft above or anywhere else.

13th Dec 2012, 23:12	#14
Gradius IT Consultant Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 220	I don't use IE since 2007.

14th Dec 2012, 06:30	#16
SimonStern Registered Lurker Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Redlands, California Posts: 113	I posted about this in software yesterday and nobody seemed to care lol http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=253175 __________________ I may not be playing with a full deck, but I still deal... Steam: SimonStern PSN: OvaltineJenkins3

14th Dec 2012, 07:00	#17
Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! bit-tech Staff Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bradford, UK Posts: 1,828	Article updated with official comment from Microsoft: apparently a patch, of sorts, is in the pipeline. __________________ Co-author, Raspberry Pi User Guide, Meet the Raspberry Pi \| gareth.halfacree.co.uk \| twitter bit-tech news correspondent, Custom PC columnist I'm a filthy freelancer! Hire me!

14th Dec 2012, 09:29	#18
LordPyrinc Legomaniac Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: USA Posts: 453	I use IE and have recently experienced a temporarily unresponsive mouse on more than one occasion, usually lasts between 3 to 5 seconds. Considering that the mouse is wireless, I first thought it was a battery issue, but after replacing the battery the problem has happened again. If I recall correctly, most of the incidents happened on a very popular news site, formerly known as MSNBC. The plethora of ads on the site and pop-ups that get blocked sometimes crashes the browser and requires IE to try to automatically recover as well. __________________ Intel i7-920 @ 2.66GHz - CORSAIR 6GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz - Windows7 64bit 2 x 150GB WD VelociRaptor HDs (RAID 0) - 1TB WD 7200 rpm HD - Antec 850W TruePower Quattro 2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 550Ti 2GB Superclocked (Dual SLI) - 27" Samsung S27B550 LED Display HP Pavilion Elite m9040n - Q6600 @ 2.40GHz - 3GB DDR2 - Vista 32bit - BFG GeForce 9800 GT

14th Dec 2012, 20:18	#19
Snips I can do dat, giz a job Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: wiv me kids Posts: 1,284	'From what we know now, the underlying issue has more to do with competition between analytics companies than consumer safety or privacy. The only reported active use of this behavior involves competitors to Spider.io providing analytics.' What was it I said earlier? exactly that