Why would Microsoft be blocked?

Many corporate environments have a central server that downloads the MS Updates and pushes them out to workstations.

If you're not a network admin, why do you need access to updates?

Or they had IE set to use Tor proxy, Windows Update happened to do an automated check and used the currently configured proxy.

Any competently managed corporate environment won't have users pulling patches from Microsoft directly, there are a variety of solutions that give administrators more control and also reduce internet bandwidth.

@ George Orwell, Network admins do not block Microsoft websites. These a days there are thousends of rogue spywares and other viruses that block users from accessing Microsoft website and also from accessing Anti Virus websites. i.e. the most popler virus Kido Conficker blocks most antivirus and microsoft websites . The aim to block these website is to prevent user from getting updates and from getting a security software from website that would remove the virus. So the user who appears to be using firewalls or proxies to access microsoft or security websites, must be infected by some virus or spyware wich is blocking him/her from accessing these sites.

Source: Personal Experience

Non sequitur.

Could you please get some clue and refrain from spreading that kind of nonsense? Thank you.

cu

Actually, we do block them from most desktops in a domain environment, you really have no business going to a MS site while at work.

Most Admins setup a solution to push patches to workstations, they open the MS site from the server inside the network, so that the server can download and make them ready, once the admin has approved the patches/downloads they will mark them for deployment and the workstations will get the updates.

This stops ignorant users from trashing their machines in a well administered environment.