Pirates Activate Copies of Vista Over Spoofed Server
Despite all the talk surrounding its security and beefed up anti-piracy measures we all knew that it wouldn’t take long for hackers to take a stab at Vista’s activation scheme. Cracked copies of Windows Vista started flooding the internet soon after the operating system was released to manufacturing and ahead of its official release.
Microsoft’s new Volume Activation 2.0 system requires that each copy of Vista for volume licensees be activated through Microsoft servers. This wasn’t the case with Windows XP numerous pirated “corporate” editions of the operating system flooded the internet.
Microsoft’s solution for making Volume Activation 2.0 easier for administrators has been attacked, however. Hackers have spoofed Microsoft’s Key Management Service (KMS) server which allows corporations with 25 or more networked computers to activate Vista installations. The software hack is making the rounds around the web and in a nod to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is named after his wife, Melinda.








