Microsoft's Security Meeting Causes Unease

Tony Maclennan writes to tell us that there were many mixed feelings at this year's Microsoft Security Response and Safety Summit. Many who attended the conference felt that the presentations were sadly lacking in the technical details that were shared in previous years. With Microsoft entering the arena as a competitor to these anti-virus companies, one has to wonder about the effect on the free flow of information that ultimately benefits the consumer.

Comments

Ballmer needs a gift...

[PornMaster]

Personally, I think that this points out why people should be buying Steve Ballmer gifts.

Maybe there's nothing to report?

[Black Parrot]

After all, they spent a whole month cleaning up their security problems.

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Nobody remembers who got second post. U r teh l0053r, su(|{ my 8utth073 it is teh h41r3333!

I could be wrong, but ...

[value_added]

Another session discussed how malicious software could leave traces on Vista PCs even after it is removed, McAfee's Kuo said. The trace is in the form of a so-called symbolic link, a technology introduced in Vista. These are designed to make it easier to locate items on a computer, and are somewhat similar to current shortcuts in Windows XP and aliases in Mac OS systems.

"Symbolic links can clutter up your machine with lots and lots of links that point nowhere" after the malicious software is removed, Kuo said. Protective tools will probably end up doing the clean-up, he said. It's a sign that on Vista systems, security software has more work to do than on earlier versions of the operating system.

This new symbolic link technology sounds like serious stuff. I hope they hold back on the release date until they it's working correctly.

Re:I could be wrong, but ...

[pimpimpim]

yo man, have you ever removed a symbolic link to a directory in *nix and then forgot to not put the /-sign after it?(*) There goes your original directory! These symbolic links have been a pain in the ass for *nix users for decades already.

(*) or was it the other way around? Just confusing everybody here to make things worse ;)

Re:Yes!

[Tx]

You imply that the GP posters spelling is substandard, however I would contend that it is perfectly acceptable. From the dictionary definitions quoted below, clearly by "evet terrists" he was talking about extremist newt activists.

Evet (n.)[See Eft, n.]
(Zoöl.) The common newt or eft. In America often applied to several species of aquatic salamanders. [Written also evat.]

Terrist (n.)
A neologism referring to environmentalists who engage in actions considered by some to be terrorism, (eco-terrorism) including destruction of property as well as various types of nonviolent direct action. It is also a moniker used by individuals who concern themselves with the world (Terra) that is the home of the human species (Homo sapiens).

(Security By Obscurity) Naw...

[ackthpt]

If they gave technical details they might be used by h4x0rz or evet terrists!

More like Financial or Market Security Through Obscurity. Like every other market, Microsoft wants a cut of it and to assert their will upon the rules by which it runs. It's utter madness, however, because if Microsoft did their work right the first time this market would be considerably smaller and segements wouldn't exist at all!

That Microsoft seeks to profit from protecting customers from the holes in their software is ludicrous, heinous even! Never fear, McAfee, Norton, MicroTrend, AdAware, etc., you can go on to sell products which protect consumers from the holes in Microsoft's security security!

And then they went on to prosper beyond their wildes dreams...

Re:security by obscurity

[dgatwood]

RFC 666: Notice of proposed definition-making

terrist - n.
1. A person who is an advocate of or expert in the planet Earth.
2. Informal. An eco-terrorist.
3. Slang. A person who does not bathe.
See also: open source developer.

:-D

Re: We Live Upon a Ship of Fools

[Skippy_kangaroo]

Sorry, I've never heard of cognoscenti, charlatans, and ignorami.

Ignorami is a variant of the ancient Japanese art of paper folding. (Ignorami practitioners have been known to leave their creations on sidewalks creating serious public safety issues.)

Charlatans are a salamander-like creature that can originally be found on the Galapagos islands, but who are now becoming a problem in urban areas because of specimens escaping from zoos. (Hence society being infested with them.)

Cognoscenti just refers to employees of Cognos.

Translation to twitterese

[Anonymous Coward]

What'$ our$ i$ our$ and what'$ your$ i$ our$, right? What a flamebait a$ $ertion, that M$ $hould keep the detail$ of how they do thing$ to them$elve$ but that other$ $hould go out of their way to $hare what they manage to claw from the void. Typical.

M$'$ behavior and the re$ult$ are entirely predictable by thi$ point. They want to own the market $o they are withholding what other$ need. A$ in every ca$e of M$ putting a "competitor" out of bu$ine$ $, the Windoze market will be that much poorer when the competitor$ are all gone. All everyone i$ left with i$ the decidedly inferior M$ offering which will $ub$equently be neglected and $uck more and more a$ time goe$ by. Windoze $ecurity wa$ already a lo$t cau$e, $o it won't matter that much. The $pam and Do$ will continue to flow a$ long a$ M$ ha$ market $hare. The only people thi$ really matter$ to are tho$e about to lo$e their job$.

Yuo are wrong good sir

[Greego]

Cognos employees are known as Cognomen .

Cognoscenti are people who smell like employees of Cognos.