McAfee Personal Firewall Plus Safeguards Home Users Against Attacks Exploiting The Recently Discovered Microsoft Windows Operating System Vulnerabilities

Consumer Users Concerned About the Latest Two Windows OS Vulnerabilities Can Be Protected With McAfee Personal Firewall Plus

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Network Associates(R), Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leader in intrusion prevention solutions, today announced that its McAfee Personal Firewall Plus software effectively protects consumers — and high-speed broadband users — against attacks exploiting the Windows operating system vulnerabilities announced recently by Microsoft(R). McAfee Security experts at Network Associates recommend that consumers update their systems with the Microsoft patch available at: http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/ms03-039.asp .

Microsoft recently published an advisory regarding two newly discovered “critical severity” vulnerabilities present in the Windows(R) Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service. These new vulnerabilities are in addition to the RPC buffer overflow vulnerability announced by Microsoft on July 16, and are very similar to the Microsoft vulnerability exploited by the Lovesan (Blaster) and Nachi worms. The first of these vulnerabilities could allow a buffer overflow to enable hackers to execute arbitrary code; the second could result in a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. McAfee Security offers a comprehensive personal firewall product to help protect home users from past, present and future RPC vulnerabilities.

“The latest vulnerabilities discovered in the Microsoft operating system underscore the need for home users to deploy an effective desktop firewall solution to monitor their PC for suspicious activity,” said Tracy Hulver, director of product management, McAfee Security consumer division at Network Associates. “While Microsoft makes a great attempt to issue patches, many home users don’t ever download them, leaving themselves vulnerable to infection. The most effective answer to vulnerabilities such as these is to simply download a personal firewall, and, of course, update your operating system software with the latest Microsoft patches.”

McAfee Personal Firewall Plus is an always-on barrier that continually safeguards PCs against hostile online events including denial-of-service, backdoor trojans, data theft, and other threats. Recent attacks by Internet worms have highlighted the need for consumers to employ a desktop firewall to monitor their PC communications over the Internet, especially for users with high-speed broadband connections. Unlike typical computer viruses, which usually arrive as email attachments, Internet worms (such as Lovsan) enter a user’s PC through open communication ports on vulnerable systems, often without the operator’s knowledge. Once inside the user’s PC, the worm can spread itself and infect other unprotected systems. Fortunately, users employing the online version of McAfee Personal Firewall Plus were able to block these worm attacks from entering their PCs as well as prevent damage caused by the worm’s buffer overflow.

For more information on McAfee Personal Firewall Plus, visit www.mcafee.com.

McAfee Security Consumer division at Network Associates, Inc., delivers world-class retail and online solutions designed to secure, protect and optimize the computers of consumers and home office users. McAfee’s advanced retail desktop solutions include premier anti-virus, security, encryption, and desktop optimization software. McAfee’s managed Web security services employ a patented system and process of delivering software through an Internet browser to provide these services to users online through its Web site www.mcafee.com, one of the largest paid subscription sites on the Internet with over two million active paid subscribers.

About Network Associates, Inc.
With headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Network Associates, Inc. creates best-of-breed computer security solutions that prevent intrusions on networks and protect computer systems from the next generation of blended attacks and threats. Offering two families of products, McAfee System Protection Solutions, securing desktops and servers, and McAfee Network Protection Solutions, ensuring the protection and performance of the corporate network, Network Associates offers computer security to large enterprises, governments, small and medium sized businesses, and consumers. These two product portfolios incorporate Network Associates’ leading McAfee Security Sniffer(R) Technologies and Magic Solutions(R) product lines. For more information, Network Associates can be reached at 972-963-8000 or on the Internet at http://www.networkassociates.com/ .

NOTE: Network Associates, McAfee, McAfee.com, Sniffer, and Magic Solutions are registered trademarks or trademarks of Network Associates, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the US and/or other countries. Sniffer(R) brand products are made only by Network Associates, Inc. All other registered and unregistered trademarks in this document are the sole property of their respective owners.

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