An interesting turnabout took place over last weekend when Microsoft Corp. posted on its Product Support Services Web site a detailed knowledge base article that provides step-by-step instructions on how to change volume-licensed product keys for Windows XP. But the move, which started as a customer service to help users legitimately change keys, could actually serve as a blueprint of sorts for hackers to access XP keys, some said.
Unlike consumer customers, Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., provides XP to volume-licensed customers with keys that unlock re-quested applications and validate their installations. But shortly after XP's release last fall, hackers seized on a method of accessing such keys to open their pirated versions of the operating system.
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