DNS attacks “imminent,” warns Microsoft

DNS attacks are "likely imminent," Microsoft has warned in a security bulletin.

A massive domain name system (DNS) spoofing attack hit earlier this month, which took advantage of vulnerabilities in DNS clients and servers, which enable an attacker to redirect traffic. For Microsoft, it affects Windows 2000 and XP, as well as Windows Server 2003 and 2008.

Microsoft said that the publication online of the detailed exploit code has increased the risk, writing that "attacks are likely imminent due to the publicly posted proof of concept".

But the warning noted that Microsoft has not seen any of its customers hit by attacks using the exploit code.

The software giant warned its customers to update their systems using a previously released patch.

Last week, the researcher who found the DNS hole warned that system administrators have not done enough to protect users.