A website residing at microsofts(dot)us/speedlogin/ wants you to know that your “computer is out of date”, and that you should “update your Windows installation records” due to a high risk situation.
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As it turns out, updating your Windows installation records is a simple matter of selecting your email provider then handing over your login credentials. Wait, what?
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To coin a phrase, whoops. And what happens after you hit “Sign in”? This:
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Yep, you’ve given a random website your login credentials and you’re rewarded for your efforts with a page telling you to go to the Microsoft website and, er, download some updates.
Forgive me for wondering why an end-user would have to bother doing anything with this website at all, but let’s humour them and assume the “You have to be using IE 5 or above to use this website” message is accurate and see what happens when we switch browsers and try to login again:
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Oh dear.
End-users concerned about their Windows Updates should go to the official Microsoft website and read all about it – handing over email credentials is most certainly not part of the deal, and sites asking for logins should be treated with the suspicion reserved for wolves dressed up in chicken costumes and lurking in hen houses. Readers should also note that VIPRE Internet Security 2013 now includes Easy Update which looks for (and updates) outdated versions of Adobe Flash, Oracle Java and FoxIT PDF to name but a few – helping users steer clear of Malware which targets non-updated programs.
Wolf vs VIPRE? No contest.
Christopher Boyd
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