Problems with Internet Access (Windows Update and ZoneAlarm)

So when I arrived this morning and booted up my XP system after running a couple updates the night before, I found my Internet access at work was down. I’m one of the few people who consider multiple firewalls on a system a good thing. So if I have problems with the Internet access, I can usually guess the cause.

Although the only guy among my cubicle mates to lack access, this afternoon I found out that I was one of several ZoneAlarm users who faced an access problem this morning. The Register had an article with updates detailing the problem:

“Microsoft released four patches – all rated important – as part of its regular Patch Tuesday update cycle, one of which left ZoneAlarm users locked out the internet. The most significant of the quartet fixes a flaw in Windows’ implementations of the Domain Name System protocol (MS08-037.mspx). Multiple vendors are subject to the DNS-spoofing vulnerability, which stems from a fundamental weakness involving a lack of entropy in DNS queries rather than a specific security bug.”

“Unfortunately Microsoft’s fix creates problems in itself, leaving users of the popular ZoneAlarm firewall unable to access the internet after they apply the patch.”

From what I have read so far, it’s hard to say which company cause the problem. ZoneAlarm published a list of recommended workarounds to dealing for the problem. More advice on workarounds can be found at the HighPosition.net blog. IDG had an extensive explanation of the most recent Microsoft patches.

Tags: internet, internet access, microsoft, windows update, zonealarm, zonealarm conflict