Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft's Security Meeting Causes Unease

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the signing-an-nda-with-the-competition-never-fun dept.

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.

4 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe there's nothing to report? by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  2. Anti-trust? How about RICO? by Biff+Stu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So you're stuck with our crummy OS. Want to buy some protection?

  3. I could be wrong, but ... by value_added · · Score: 5, Funny
    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.

  4. Job security, for me by RickBauls · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Microsofts poor security and anti-virus is what keeps bills paid for me and a lot of people I know. If you ask me, malware can be a good thing in a capitalist run country like USA. If it wasn't for malware, the entry level jobs at a lot of IT companies would be gone.