Windows not so “Genuine Advantage”
I’ve been complaining for a long time about Microsoft’s anti-piracy measures that go under the oxymoronic name “Windows Genuine Advantage” (WGA). In addition to continually harassing legitimate purchasers of Windows software, WGA is considered by many to contribute to security problems on the Internet. At ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a post, It’s time for Microsoft to supply ALL patches to All users. He talks about the problems caused by denying security patches unless WGA is passed:
It’s now time for Microsoft to disconnect WGA from all Windows related updates. Same goes from Office Genuine Advantage and updates for Microsoft Office. The current situation doesn’t make good sense. I don’t have a problem with Microsoft demanding that users wanting additional content (games, new apps, templates and so on) have to go through a validation process, but ALL updates should be available to ALL users, irrespective of whether users are running a genuine copy of Windows or not. Users who have unwittingly been sold a counterfeit copy of Windows shouldn’t be penalized and have their security compromised. In fact, when it comes to security updates, even those who know they are running a pirated copy of Windows should get access to all updates. It’s in everyone’s best interests that as many machines as possible are patched.
Theoretically, WGA can be gotten around for installing critical patches but, as a practical matter, it is a tedious process. At Windows Secrets, Brian Livingston gives a discussion of WGA and how it may have contributed to the Conficker outbreak. In a later issue of Windows Secrets, Ryan Russell writes Windows Genuine Advantage is still genuinely bad. He says:
Microsoft’s system for validating Windows before users can download most updates continues to be a problem for legitimate customers and for Internet security as a whole.
Despite claims of offering better security, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) serves only Microsoft’s marketing interests — but you can eliminate the need for WGA if you know the trick.
Microsoft has long been considered a marketing bully, but with WGA the company has taken its lack of consideration for its customers to a new low.
He continues:
Many people disable Automatic Updates because it’s intrusive and has been used in the past to install WGA and other nonsecurity updates. If users can’t run Windows Update as an alternative to AU, there’s a massive problem on the Internet. The battle against malware is already bad enough, and we don’t need anything to make the problem worse. When millions of computers become infected, the attacks from these machines become a problem for you, the paying customer of Microsoft.
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