Security Flaws May Be Microsoft's Undoing

tarpitt writes: "According to this article in the LA Times, repeated software flaws in Microsoft products has begun to raise concerns that they 'threaten the stability of a major piece of the world economy and to raise questions about Microsoft's future.' Flawed security is seen as a stumbling block to accepting Microsoft sponsored on-line services. It is also driving discussion about making software manufacturers liable for damages caused by flawed products." This piece in eWeek on troubles with XP's automatic updates is an interesting companion; releasing often doesn't seem to be enough. Update: 01/15 15:00 GMT by J : Bruce Schneier's January Crypto-Gram came out this morning, and is also topical: "Microsoft treats security vulnerabilities as public relations problems. Until that changes, expect more of this kind of nonsense..."

Comments

Re:Impossible

[jlower]

I disagree. Many of the virus problems that have plagued MS are because they included features along with brain-dead defaults that made it easy for viruses to propagate.

For example, hiding known file name extensions by default often tricks users into launching an executible attachment when they think it's a jpg or somesuch.

For example, executing code automatically, especially in preview windows was a stupid default.

The list goes on and on. The bottom line is the features and defaults were seemingly determined by marketing personel.