Microsoft has shut down AutoPatcher, a popular tool that allowed people to install all security patches to a Windows system without the need of an internet connection in the machine that the patches were going to be installed. To be fair, Microsoft has a similar service, but what I don’t buy is the argument that Microsoft killed AutoPatcher due to malicious code concerns.
From Neowin:
[T]he concern at Microsoft had more to do with the possible malicious code that could be redistributed with certified Microsoft updates.
We know who makes AutoPatcher. We’d know who is distributing viruses if they came from AutoPatcher. There’s absolutely no way someone could easily sneak a virus in an AutoPatcher release without setting off anti-virus alarms. Seriously, AutoPatcher has a face, something that malicious code does not.
Even if Microsoft insists in this argument, I won’t buy it. WGA, on the other hand, has been fighting with the user community since day one. It wouldn’t be surprising in the least if it was the cause of the “concern” at Microsoft. Much more surprising would be if a virus actually got into an AutoPatcher release.