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Security Community Reacts to Microsoft Announcement
A number of readers have collected stories concerning the change of focus by Bill Gates to security. Bruce Schneier and Adam Shostack have written a piece, while Crag Mundie of MSFT has also chimed in, along with some commentary from ZD folks. SecurityFocus has other words, as does InfoWarrior.
I watch that MSFT3K all the time and they never talk about computer stuff... I am suspicious of the validity of this reference...
Separate Data and Control Paths
Use Secure Default Configurations
Separate Protocols and Products
Choose for Security over Features
Make it Transparent and Auditable
Give advance notice of Protocols and Designs
Engage the community
All that stuff sounds great, but I can say the same thing in far fewer words:
Start from scratch. Do it right this time.
The first thing Microsoft is going to do under their new "security first" paradigm will be to announce that due to security concerns, they can't tell us what any of their security upgrades actually are.
... All Pig Flight Training School Opens
Here's a memo leaked to me from Bill Gates himself:
-- We live in a world where lemonade is artificial and soap has real lemon.
Bottom line is, words are easy. I'm going to wait to see the action.
Chris Beckenbach
This reads alot like the dilbert where dogbert is a consultant and says something to the effect of "I'm going to make a bunch of recommendations that I know you are too cowardly to implement. Later, when you fail, I'll laugh at you for ignoring my advice."
25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
with words Security and Microsoft is Taliban and Democracy
I remember some MS propaganda stating that Linux and other Unix based OS's inherited 30 years of vunerabilities, yet NT was wonderfully secure because it was a much more modern OS. NOW they're making security a priority? Don't tell me M$ has been lying to me!
Tackhead's One-Liner:
If they put 10% of today's PR budget into the next release's security budget, they might have a chance.
Star Trek computers already
You mean computers with lots of flashing lights and unlabeled buttons that people just seem to know what to push? We already have those in casinos.
Couldn't they just pay some filthy commie hippy atheist Linux h4xx0r $10 to watch the store on Christmas day?
No, I guess not, they'd come back the 26th to find the resturaunt cleaned out. Because "food wants to be free".
Dear Bill
It saddens me to see Microsoft exiting the highway of consumer satisfaction into the dirt road of security.
As a long time fan and appreciator the Microsoft way, i feel i must stand up and ask:
Why?
Microsoft has done more than any other company to turn Desktop Computing into a thriling adventure. From the very moment i turn on my PC, i feel i'm entering a world of wonder and surprise, where new adventures can happen at any moment:
- Maybe Windows will not start-up and i end with a black screen.
- Maybe it will start in VGA mode
- Maybe clicking in the explorer toolbar wil result in a blue screen
- Maybe Word will crash when i'm editing an important document.
- Maybe installing the newest IE will make half my applications stop working.
- Maybe after installing the newest DirectX Windows will stop working.
- Maybe i'll open an e-mail an my PC starts acting funny.
- Maybe i'll get a phone call from my ISP saying a Denial of Service attack to the Whitehouse site has been detected from my machine.
- Maybe the mouse pointer will start moving by itself
- Maybe all my files are deleted.
Why? Why do you want to remove all the thrill and adventure from my life???
*What* security problems?
Think about it, if the industry plays dumb the way that Microsoft has for the past 10 years, then they will have to enumerate their history and how they might address the problems. Speculation on my part, sure, but they sure don't deserve all of these free ideas.
I'm an MCSE, and while Microsoft's lameness has provided me with a nice career for the past several years, but I still have nerdy idealism governing my attitude. :) It's been many years that my standards of quality have been much higher than Microsoft's, and now we see that they want to "lead" into the future. Well, start by catching up.
When I was a kid, we only had one Darth.
I think you typo'd
You meant "It seems like only Apple is actually interested in it's users' _money_."
I was going to do exactly what this fellow did, but he beat me to it. Clever. Let's hope this URL gets around: http://www.trustworthycomputing.com
He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.
That's my feeling exactly. If Unix is a dinosaur, Linux is a crocodile. A "dead-end" evolutionary design that's managed to survive for millions of years, crocodiles are ugly and scaly but their jaws will crush your bones like twigs. While crocodiles may not light fires or swing gracefully from tree to tree or buy Madonna albums, boy oh boy, you dunk a monkey in the river with one and you'll quickly find out which one's supremely adapted to THAT environment.
Excuse me, but you just described MacDonald's ...
There's a pretty big difference between McDonald's and Microsoft. McDonald's doesn't hold a monopoly, McDonald's offers choices to its customers -- admittedly, McDonald's still sucks, but you don't have to eat there. They can't force you to eat there. You can order only the items on the menu that you want, and the last time I checked they had plenty of competition.
The only thing they have in common is both companies start with "M" and they both suck.
When Microsoft buys McDonald's then it's REALLY time to worry...