WatchGuard's UTM Appliances Provide Zero-day Protection for Latest Microsoft Vulnerability
WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:WGRD), a leading provider of Unified Threat Management (UTM) solutions, today announced that its Firebox X Unified Threat Management appliances provide “Zero-Day” protection against a new threat to the latest Microsoft vulnerability involving maliciously crafted Windows MetaFile (.WMF) formatted pictures. Late yesterday, several security researchers discovered this dangerous new exploit circulating on the Internet.
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WatchGuard customers can thwart this new threat by blocking potentially malicious Windows MetaFile (.WMF) formatted pictures with the “Zero-Day” protection provided by its Intelligent Layered Security, specifically, the HTTP and SMTP proxy capability. While an organization might require these image formats for conducting day-to-day business, WatchGuard highly recommends that users block them until Microsoft releases a patch for this vulnerability or until your Anti-virus vendor can provide a signature. Microsoft has not had time to release a patch for this newly discovered flaw yet. WatchGuard’s UTM appliances provide an additional layer of “Zero-Day” protection, defending against new and unknown threats, proactively blocking viruses, worms, spyware, trojans, and blended threats through its proprietary Intelligent Layered Security architecture.
The malicious exploit takes advantage of an unpatched and unreported vulnerability in one of the graphics rendering engines that ships with Windows. By enticing a user into visiting a Web site containing a maliciously crafted Windows MetaFile (.WMF) formatted picture, an attacker could remotely exploit this vulnerability to gain complete control of a user’s computer. For administrators managing Windows machines, WatchGuard recommends temporarily blocking all .WMF files at the gateway and inform users of this new threat. The exploit succeeds against completely patched and updated Windows XP SP2 systems, making it particularly dangerous.
“This is another practical, real-world example of the stronger security provided by WatchGuard’s Unified Threat Management appliances,” said John Stuckey, WatchGuard vice president of marketing. “WatchGuard users have zero-day protection from this new and previously unknown threat, without requiring a patch or signature update that is needed with other vendor’s products.”
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