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A Look at Microsoft's Security War Room

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the but-can-they-call-jack-bauer dept.

Josh Fink writes "C|Net has an interesting piece about Microsoft's Security War Room, or rather, shall I say rooms. This room came about when Microsoft's security chief, Mike Nash, had issues finding open conference rooms. The response; a dedicated room only for him and his staff to handle emergencies. "And while he was at it, why not have two? That way, the folks working on fixing a security crisis could have a little breathing room from those drafting the public and customer communications around the issue. ""

8 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. on the door? by mseidl · · Score: 5, Funny

    "No Penguins Allowed"

    1. Re:on the door? by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's on the front door only. How many back doors do these rooms have?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:on the door? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm posting anonymously because of NDA implications. I used to work at a network security firm that supplied MS with a security console for detecting, investigating, and mitigating attacks on their network. (Hint, they use the same one as the Pentagon's network security war room.) This system relied upon certain defacto standards in their networking gear, but MS had purchased gear that did not support that feature, and were blocking much of their gear that did. MS's proposed solution, distribute a few hundred Linux boxes all through their network to serve as probes.

      It was an unworkable idea, and we eventually worked around their problems in a different way, but it does indicate that some of the head security guys at MS may not be as opposed to Linux as you'd think. So long as they don't have to make it public, they seem happy to use OSS. Note, the servers that provide their security system run a highly customized version of either OpenBSD or Linux, depending on which version they're using.

  2. Interesting photo question... by dada21 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anyone notice that all the swivel chairs are bolted to the ground? I wonder why they made them fixed and permanent.

  3. Two rooms by ShiningSomething · · Score: 5, Funny

    When I read there were two rooms, my first reaction was: one to work on the current security threat, a second to work on the security threats created by the first one...

  4. The reason for having a second room... by MiniMike · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a backup for when the first room crashes!

  5. Re:war room? by Geste · · Score: 5, Informative
    "Is it just me or is slashdot's headlines as of late running parallel to the average idiots way of describing everything as a war?"

    In somebody's defense, they probably just picked up the concept and terminology from large telcos. If you go to a large network operations center (say like what AT&T operates in Piscataway, NJ) you will find two or more good-sized conference rooms provisioned with 10-15 workstations each that sit idle 99 percent of the time. Just used in cases of major outages/problems or sometimes for network upgrades. Known as the "war rooms" for as long as I am aware.

  6. Re:Are those liquor bottles? by iONiUM · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, you are right. The GP either doesn't drink alcohol, or doesn't drink coffee. Either way, what the fuck is he doing on slashdot.