Restricted sites added by MS security patch?

[C T]

Does anybody knows...

if a recent MS security patch adds a long list of restricted sites to the
network zones in Internet Options?

Having those sites listed seem to obstruct HTML emails from functioning
properly from within Outlook 2003.

The other, more dominating opinion is that the restricted sites were added
by a adware program like spybot or ad-aware.

Can someone please identify the MS security patch, so we can take steps to
address this issue?

Please

 

[Pat Willener]

Have you recently installed Spybot Search & Destroy 1.5? This new
version adds several thousand URLs to the hosts file. Go to Immunize,
then uncheck the last entry on the page 'Global(Hosts)'. You may need to
restore your hosts file from the backup that SS&D has taken.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Microsoft doesn't add any site to the Restricted Sites zone. However some
time ago they have modified the behavior in which the sites listed there are
being used.

See; http://www.msoutlook.info/question/27

 

[C T]

Thank you for your reply, but I was wondering if you could help me a step
further. It is obvious to myself that a MS security patch did not place those
restricted sites, but apparently some administrators in our department are
adamant that Microsoft put the restricted sites into an update, and that we
should not remove them because Microsoft did it for our protection. No joke,
this is what they are saying.

I am happy to take the word of a MS-MVP, coauthor of Configuring Microsoft
Outlook 2003, but what I need is “official†proof, directly from Microsoft
that says, “No we did not do such a thingâ€. It’s a bureaucratic thing;
please, I need your help.

Do you know of any announcements or KB articles that I can use to
specifically, unquestionably, and emphatically point and say, here is the
truth.

Please?