[access-uk] SP2 some changes geared at future hardware

Microsoft have also released SP2 to harden its operating system; in other 
words, Microsoft recompiled all its Windows system binaries to include a new 
flag, GS, which will mitigate buffer overflows, a common method used by 
criminal hackers (crackers) to overwrite legitimate code with malicious code on 
your PC. A buffer overflow is the method the Sasser worm used to infect PCs. 
Windows XP SP2 also makes important changes to core Windows components, such as 
DCOM and RPC. (Flaws within the DCOM RPC led to the damaging MSBlast attack 
last year.) And SP2 will also bring every Windows XP system up-to-date, whether 
or not you've ever performed a Windows update postinstall. Once you've 
installed SP2, you'll have SP1's updates plus all the security patches released 
up through MS04-025. 
To fully block the aforementioned buffer overflow and the Internet worms that 
feed on them you'll need to have the latest hardware. The No Execute setting 
isn't present in the current hardware architecture of most 64-bit and 32-bit 
processors on the market today. This data execution protection, or DEP, is 
currently available only on newer AMD and a handful of Intel's Itanium server 
chips. In other words, the new Windows DEP changes won't help you unless you're 
running XP SP2 on a machine with AMD or Intel Itanium processors. 

Regards
Colin
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