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Microsoft: We Make Hackers Obsolete

bahamat writes "This article explains how Microsoft was forced to yank a magazine ad by the Advertising Standards Authority. In the ad MS claims that they'll make the hacker extinct. The tagline reads "Microsoft software is carefully designed to keep your company's valuable information in, and unauthorised people and viruses out. Which means that your data couldn't really be safer, even if you kept it in a safe. Which is great news for the survival of your company. But tragic news for hackers." Does MS really think that people are too stupid to remember what happened less than 2 months ago? My favorite quote from the article is "Clarke described Microsoft's claim as "laughable". "

37 of 591 comments (clear)

  1. It's just like the "switch" ads all over again. by mrjive · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wonder if they used stock photography again this time?

    --
    If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten. -George Carlin
    1. Re:It's just like the "switch" ads all over again. by Blaine+Hilton · · Score: 5, Funny

      I guess Microsoft just doesn't learn. Most companies would admit it the first time around and not do it again. MS though just keeps hitting the head for more.

  2. I cant wait! by TheAntiCrust · · Score: 5, Funny

    So where is their product that makes hackers extinct! I havent heard of the release yet! This is great new! Does someone have a link to it?

    1. Re:I cant wait! by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Its called "women" Once a hacker discovers them, he is powerless and forgets all about hacking. Fortunately the use of "women" isn't very widespread, so the saftey and security of Linux is safe.

    2. Re:I cant wait! by Unregistered · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not true! Restraining orders are just a way of saying "I Love You"

    3. Re:I cant wait! by DrMrLordX · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not quite. After hackers discover "women", they don rollerblades, get powerbooks, and start hacking Gibsons like there's no tomorrow. And the "women" help them, or so they claim anyway.

      Have you modded up a troll today?

    4. Re:I cant wait! by este · · Score: 5, Funny

      Try looking on Kazaa. I'm sure someone has a pre-release *hacked* version of it. :-)

      --
      [este]
  3. Greasy hacker? Nah.. by eodmightier · · Score: 5, Funny

    Instead of the ad showing the greasy hacker it should show the hacker with huge muscles and maybe like laser beams shooting from its eyes as it thrives in the microsoft environment. I bet then they'd run the ad.

    --
    -Eod
  4. Yeah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe they've finaly refined their product to the point where you simply can't boot it anymore. Put your safe inside your computer and feel as safe as ever.

    1. Re:Yeah! by the_other_one · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's either that or a WOFS. (Write Only File System)

      --
      134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
  5. Linux: we make manuals obsolete by GCP · · Score: 5, Funny

    Computing in Hell:

    The security of Windows, the ease of use of Linux, and a Macintosh mouse!

    --
    "Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
    1. Re:Linux: we make manuals obsolete by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Heard on a mac newsgroup ...

      why do PC's have 2 buttons?
      So you've always got one hand free...

  6. Well, technically by yobbo · · Score: 5, Funny

    It IS hacker proof - we don't have access to the source, how are we supposed to hack on the code?

    *rim shot*

  7. No, they're right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because it doesn't require a hacker to break into Microsoft products, any average user can do it.

    1. Re:No, they're right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Microsoft: Reducing the TCO of hacking since 1980

  8. uhhhh by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't believe it; someone LYING in an ADVERTISEMENT?! This threatens the integrity of the entire advertising field!

  9. To Paraphrase the OpenBSD guys... by DarkHelmet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Windows 2000 Server:
    3 vulnerabilities in 7 yea--- days!

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  10. The MS product is... by shodson · · Score: 5, Funny

    The product is called "Microsoft Offswitch"

    1. Re:The MS product is... by PhxBlue · · Score: 5, Funny

      . . .which is activated, oddly enough, by flipping the switch to the "on" position. MS execs explained this was perfectly logical, given the necessity of hitting "Start" to shutdown and CTRL-ALT-DELETE to start-up in previous versions of their software.

      --
      !#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
  11. Well it is true.. by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    " In the ad MS claims that they'll make the hacker extinct. "

    I don't see what the problem is. It's true! Why be a hacker when you can do it all as a script kiddie?

  12. What a crazy company.. by radon28 · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the Jargon Dictionary link in the article:

    hacker n. [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe]

    Why would Microsoft even care about some crude pre-modern furniture makers? I am beginning to think there was more than one reason the advertisement got yanked.

  13. linux switch ads are better by deadsaijinx* · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://phunny.drghetto.com/switchlinux3.swf

    much more creative.

    --
    YOU SUCK BALLS!
    1. Re:linux switch ads are better by swtaarrs · · Score: 5, Funny
  14. Re:Greasy hacker? Nah.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you some kind of robot? If yes, what powers do you have? Do you use them for good or for awesome?

  15. The Best MS Headline EVER by MoThugz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who needs hackers when the Windows can exploit itself over and over again...

    I believe it's called self-abuse... for the more techie, it's known as digital-masturbation.

  16. Kevin Smith said it best.... by mattACK · · Score: 5, Funny
    Banky: Alright, now see this? This is a four-way road, OK? And dead in the center is a crisp, new, hundred dollar bill. Now, at the end of each of these streets are four people, OK? Are you following?
    Holden: Yeah.
    Banky: Good. Over here, we have a publicly accessible, secure, and intelligently maintained Windows server. Down here, we have a self-hating, angry as fuck, agenda of rage, bitter Solaris admin. Over here, we got Santa Claus, and up here the Easter Bunny. Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first?
    Holden: What is this supposed to prove?
    Banky: No, I'm serious. This is a serious exercise. It's like an SAT question. Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first? The male-friendly lesbian, the man-hating dyke, Santa Claus, or the Easter bunny?
    Holden: The self-hating admin.
    Banky: Good. Why?
    Holden: I don't know.
    Banky: Because the other three are figments of your fucking imagination!


    http://us.imdb.com/Title?0118842

    --


    "My God, this must be a truly remarkable corn chip, to be so widely and confidently touted."
  17. Re:Just like Oracle's "Unbreakable" ads by sacrilicious · · Score: 5, Funny

    My daily commute to/from work near Silicon Valley takes me on highway 101 in the Redwood City area. There are tons of billboards around but one always stands out, because it is the only billboard that is electronic. It is brighter than all the others, and it changes what it shows every five seconds or so.

    One of the most commonly seen ads on this electronic billboard is Oracle's "Unbreakable" farce.

    Last week a fellow cohort of mine was driving in at 6:30am and happened to glance at the billboard. It was showing the Blue Screen of Death.

    --
    - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
  18. Hackers Obsolete by ilctoh · · Score: 5, Funny
    Now, hang on just a minute: they may be right. Now, you won't even need the skills that hackers have in order to breech Windows security. Now, "for the benefit of the customer" Microsoft will make it possible for any owner of a Microsoft Operating System to hack into a computer using Microsoft's new "Unauthorized Acess Wizard". Now anyone from an elementary school student to an old Windows Pro will be able to enjoy the excitement of breaching the highly complex layers of Windows security. For the more experienced users, Microsoft offers the "Advanced Hacking Wizard Professional Edition", which strategically sends "Fatal Exception Errors" to any 3rd party firewall or security program, causing them to shutdown while the user is able to deface websites, delete files, plant time bombs, or many more of the exciting features found in Service Pack 5: Hacker's Edition. (NOTE: Service Pack 6 should be downloaded immediatly after Service Pack 5 in order to fix what Microsoft broke the last time they tried to fix something)
    --
    How many slashes would a slashdot dot, if a slashdot could dot slashes?
  19. You know, they could be right... by isomeme · · Score: 5, Funny

    Evil l337 h4x0r: Mwah ha ha! I am going to break into this system, cause it to become slow and unreliable, trash lots of files, turn the security framework into pure unmanageable chaos, and make it send out IP packets violating several RFCs!"

    (Typing...)

    Elh: Ah, crap, it's already running Windows.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
  20. Actually it is true. by Glial · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft Disclaimer: Please uplug all Cat-5 and/or modem cables from your system and do not connect to any networks, especially the internet in order to take full advantage of our "Hacker Exterminator" Technology. Wireless networking is included in this disclaimer. Thank you for choosing Microsoft.

  21. Re:Pretty amusing coming from Microsoft.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Lock it down and (NT/2K/XP) isn't half bad

    I think you meant shut it down.

  22. Re:Greasy hacker? Nah.. by Ian+Wolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    You may have stumbled on to Microsoft's secret security strategy here.

    - Release insecure software for over a generation.
    - Watch 'real' hacker skills atrophy with time.
    - Implement all the code fixes they have been secretly stockpiling in Bill's underground lair.
    - MS systems become inpenetrable.

    Maybe this is the real reason MS wants Linux eliminated, because it keeps hackers sharp.

    --
    "The words of the prophets are written on the Slashdot walls."
  23. Too stupid? by person-0.9a · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does MS really think that people are too stupid to remember what happened less than 2 months ago?

    They don't just think it... They count on it.

    For example, just pulled from the Microsoft outlook home page:

    If you have Outlook version 2002, you already have industry-leading technologies helping to protect your data.

    Evidently, Security Bulletin MS03-003 is some of that industry-leading technology.

  24. "We Make Hackers Obsolete" by dcmeserve · · Score: 5, Funny
    Well, of course. Who needs hackers, when Microsoft will provide all such services for you, so conveniently?

    It says so in the license!

    --
    "Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" - Orwell
  25. Re:Why is everyone railing on this.... by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny
    Now what they did not say is 'we make Crackers obsolete'.

    That's because Microsoft has nothing to do with crackers. It's Frito-Lay that has made crackers obsolete. Tortilla chips have gained so much market share in recent years that crackers just don't have a chance.

  26. A Safe? by Rob+Simpson · · Score: 5, Funny

    To give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they meant an open safe, with a big arrow pointed towards it and the words "FREE STUFF!" spray painted on the wall. ;-)

  27. The fine print by Bull999999 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess you guys didn't read the extra fine print. It says that the user must... 1. Use a hardware firewall with both incoming and outgoing ports blocks.

    2. Use Mozilla instead of IE and Outlook Express.

    3. Have two anti-virus programs that checks for updates every five minutes.

    4. Sanitize all floppy disks with magnets before use.

    5. Check for and download Windows updates daily, unless the updates undoes the previous fix (e.g. Slammer) or breaks the Windows. Consumers should buy a second system and a second copy of Windows.

    6. Leave the system off. If you must use your computer, try your local library computer lab. If you must use your home computer, turn it on just long enough to do your business and turn it off when finished. Note that acorrding to EULA, by merely turning on the system, you are acting against the recommandation of MS and therefore, MS is not liable for any damages.

    7. Upgrade to the new version of Windows as soon as it is released. Delete your old partition and do a clean install as the new and improved Windows magically wipes away your past problems.

    8. If you get hacked with the latest version of Windows, that probably means that you are a pirate.

    9. If you are not a pirate, that means that you must have violated one of the clauses above and MS shall not be held liable.

    10. If you followed all the clauses above, by EULA, you must submit the problem to us, so that we can put a clause excluding your error in the future EULA (to be installed with the next patch) so that MS MS shall not be held liable. If you do not submit your error, you are in violation of EULA and MS shall not be held liable.

    --
    1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d