Techsurvivors
Archives => 2003 => Topic started by: Paddy on March 21, 2003, 11:06:00 PM
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Microsoft to Fund University Virus Testing Course
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If I were 30 years younger and had the same amount of computer savvy as I have now, I think that course would be a blast!
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I am almost speechless in my outraged incredulity! (those of you who know me, know that it takes a lot to render me speechless) But I'll pull it together to 'speak' anyway...
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M$ makes it sound as if they just found out about this problem last year, and now they've gotten the message and by golly, they're really gonna handle it!
Maybe it's just me, but I can clearly recall reading quite a few articles in computer magazines ten, twelve, maybe even fifteen years ago, when this relatively new OS, Windows, was beginning to become very popular.
These articles, written by programmers and other computer professionals, warned that Windows was inherently weak from a security perspective, and that it was designed to permit (or not designed to deny) easy exploitation by any competent programmer who might want to cause trouble.
And this was Windows 3.1 that was being criticized. Didn't they 'rewrite the code from the ground up' in the development of WinNT? And again with ME, and again with XP? Did their programmers just keep making those same mistakes, over and over, and keep missing those pesky security holes? Dang!
It's not like this is news to them folks. These guys (M$) are as bad (or as good, depending on your perspective) as politicians are at Spin and Damage Control.
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PS - I read some M$ spokeperson admit recently that 'they ignored security for years, in favor of adding features, because features are easier to sell than security or lack of vulnerability'.
kbeartx
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Well, it is a good thing they are working on the security of their system i guess
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MS is to Security as MS is to Innovation.
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I thought it was hilarious...kinda like having a bunch of arsonists teaching at the fire academy...how to put out the fires!
quote:
Over the past year, Microsoft has worked hard to stamp out software glitches. It has sent 11,000 of its code writers, testers and programmers through training to better identify potential holes in computer source code.
Under the new initiative, Microsoft will train instructors at the University of Leeds in northern England in these bug-testing techniques. They will then incorporate them into specialized classes beginning next January.
"What hasn't existed until now is specialist courses to teach good practices for writing secure code and testing it."
No kidding. Or apparently just plain old "good practices for writing secure code" ... And by inference they are trying to tell us that things have improved since those 11,000 code writers had their training? Considering the number of security alerts I still receive on my PeeCee....
Spin, lovely spin...I'm getting dizzy here...
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Well at least they're innovating words.
"The Windows NT 4.0 architecture is much less robust than the more recent Windows 2000 architecture, Due to these fundamental differences ... it is infeasible to rebuild the software for Windows NT 4.0 to eliminate the vulnerability."
http://www.macobserver.com/article/2003/03/28.4.shtml