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Microsoft Releases Super-Secure XP to US Air Force

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the true-security-through-obscurity dept.

Wired is reporting that Microsoft is releasing the most secure version of Windows XP ever created, but only if you are the US Air Force. "The Air Force persuaded Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to provide it with a secure Windows configuration that saved the service about $100 million in contract costs and countless hours of maintenance. At a congressional hearing this week on cybersecurity, Alan Paller, research director of the Sans Institute, shared the story as an template for how the government could use its massive purchasing power to get companies to produce more secure products. And those could eventually be available to the rest of us. Security experts have been arguing for this "trickle-down" model for years. But rather than wield its buying power for the greater good, the government has long wimped out and taken whatever vendors served them. If the Air Force case is a good judge, however, things might be changing."

4 of 507 comments (clear)

  1. ha by nicolas.kassis · · Score: 0, Troll

    yeah, so this prove that Microsoft makes no money fixing their product. They stop when it's good enough to sell I guess.

  2. The Obvious by Kludge · · Score: 0, Troll

    how the government could use its massive purchasing power to get companies to produce more secure products.

    Stop purchasing Microsoft products. Duh.

    1. Re:The Obvious by jedidiah · · Score: 0, Troll

      Sure you can!

            Just buy a Mac...

            or run any other Unix.

      Once again, we come back to the same old problem. The fact that Microsoft
      is the computing equivalent of McDonalds does not automagically mean that
      they got their dominant position through actually making a good product.
      Infact, their long held dominant position (which predates any real version
      of Windows) pretty much gaurantees that what they make is crap because they
      never had to get used to making anything better.

      When you're fat and happy and have never run a day in your life it's hard to whip yourself into shape.

      Most people simply don't have the will and Microsoft is just a human aggregate.

      Yes, Microsoft is really just that much worse than everyone else.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  3. How they made it secure by DesertBlade · · Score: 0, Troll
    • Disable autorun
    • Only allow 3 programs to run, explorer, Antivirus and firewall
    • opening any program causes blue screen
    --
    Half of writing history is hiding the truth.