Security Issues w/ Windows Messenger

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.messenger (More info?)

Are there any known security risks with Windows Messenger. Our corporate
company uses it behind a firewall though on Windows XP Pro SP1.

I know the "Messenger Service" can be a security risk, but I know that is
different from Windows Messenger. Thoughts anyone?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.messenger (More info?)

Greetings Amanda,

There are no known security issues with Windows Messenger 4.7.2009 and above. Have there
been issues in the past? Yes, but those versions aren't even allowed to connect to the .NET
Messenger Service.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.

"Amanda George" <AmandaGeorge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:15137F24-0E6E-455E-882B-513B9A5FE89D@microsoft.com...
> Are there any known security risks with Windows Messenger. Our corporate
> company uses it behind a firewall though on Windows XP Pro SP1.
>
> I know the "Messenger Service" can be a security risk, but I know that is
> different from Windows Messenger. Thoughts anyone?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.messenger (More info?)

Hi Amanda,

For the extremely paranoid, I would say not to run MSN Messenger 6.2.

However, it also really depends what you consider to be a security issue, for instance, MSN
Messenger 6.x allows files to be sent directly through the Messenger server; so even if you
were to lock down ports in an enterprise environment and only allow basic functionality to
work in Messenger, users could still send files to their contacts (which could be considered
a security issue in an enterprise environment).
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.


"Amanda George" <AmandaGeorge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7211C436-2048-4924-B8C4-5E4294BAE0DA@microsoft.com...
> Thanks for your response. We have the current Messenger version in our
> environment. Do you know anything about security issues with MSN Messenger,
> version 6.2 and higher?
>
> "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Greetings Amanda,
>>
>> There are no known security issues with Windows Messenger 4.7.2009 and above. Have there
>> been issues in the past? Yes, but those versions aren't even allowed to connect to the
>> .NET
>> Messenger Service.
>> ____________________________________________
>> Jonathan Kay
>> Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
>> Associate Expert
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
>> Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
>> All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
>> You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
>>
>> "Amanda George" <AmandaGeorge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:15137F24-0E6E-455E-882B-513B9A5FE89D@microsoft.com...
>> > Are there any known security risks with Windows Messenger. Our corporate
>> > company uses it behind a firewall though on Windows XP Pro SP1.
>> >
>> > I know the "Messenger Service" can be a security risk, but I know that is
>> > different from Windows Messenger. Thoughts anyone?
>>
>>
>>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.messenger (More info?)

Hi Amanda,

No problem
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.

"Amanda George" <AmandaGeorge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4616B03D-7CA9-4358-B565-A45BA41B55DF@microsoft.com...
> Thanls, Jonathan. I don't have a concern about file sharing. I think we are
> fine using it in our office.
>
> "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Hi Amanda,
>>
>> For the extremely paranoid, I would say not to run MSN Messenger 6.2.
>>
>> However, it also really depends what you consider to be a security issue, for instance,
>> MSN
>> Messenger 6.x allows files to be sent directly through the Messenger server; so even if
>> you
>> were to lock down ports in an enterprise environment and only allow basic functionality to
>> work in Messenger, users could still send files to their contacts (which could be
>> considered
>> a security issue in an enterprise environment).
>> ____________________________________________
>> Jonathan Kay
>> Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
>> Associate Expert
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
>> Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
>> All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
>> You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
>>
>>
>> "Amanda George" <AmandaGeorge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:7211C436-2048-4924-B8C4-5E4294BAE0DA@microsoft.com...
>> > Thanks for your response. We have the current Messenger version in our
>> > environment. Do you know anything about security issues with MSN Messenger,
>> > version 6.2 and higher?
>> >
>> > "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Greetings Amanda,
>> >>
>> >> There are no known security issues with Windows Messenger 4.7.2009 and above. Have
>> >> there
>> >> been issues in the past? Yes, but those versions aren't even allowed to connect to the
>> >> .NET
>> >> Messenger Service.
>> >> ____________________________________________
>> >> Jonathan Kay
>> >> Microsoft MVP - Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger
>> >> Associate Expert
>> >> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
>> >> Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com
>> >> All posts unless otherwise specified are (c) 2004 Jonathan Kay.
>> >> You *must* contact me for redistribution rights.
>> >>
>> >> "Amanda George" <AmandaGeorge@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:15137F24-0E6E-455E-882B-513B9A5FE89D@microsoft.com...
>> >> > Are there any known security risks with Windows Messenger. Our corporate
>> >> > company uses it behind a firewall though on Windows XP Pro SP1.
>> >> >
>> >> > I know the "Messenger Service" can be a security risk, but I know that is
>> >> > different from Windows Messenger. Thoughts anyone?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>