“As if Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff didn’t have enough on his plate. Not only has he had to deal with Katrina and Osama. Now he’s also got to whip Steve Ballmer and the crew at Microsoft into shape. If past is prologue, that last task may be the most daunting of all,” Charles Cooper writes for CNET.

:In a remarkable declaration earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security–a bureaucracy set up to deal with stuff that generally falls under the category of national emergency–called on all users of Windows software to install a new security patch issued by Microsoft,” Cooper writes. “This wasn’t your garden variety flaw. The fear in Washington was a repeat of something like the chaos caused by the MSBlast worm in 2003.”

Cooper writes, “By now, Chertoff’s people must be thoroughly frustrated that Microsoft still turns out poorly designed products. What with terror plots being uncovered overseas and threats of airline bombings, cybersecurity obviously is not the top headline this week. But the threat of a network meltdown has not disappeared–especially when flaws so regularly turn up in Windows, the computer operating system most people in this country use.”

Cooper writes, “Defenders will argue that it’s unfair to demand perfection from Microsoft; that software is an imperfect art. And besides, they add, is the Mac operating system or Linux bulletproof? Clearly, the answer is no. But the number of security holes turning up in either operating system is a fraction of what turns up in the Windows world.”

Cooper writes, “Here’s something to consider: If bridge builders or airplane designers applied the same standards to their labors, do you believe that the public would so easily forgive the regularity with which bridges would collapse and airliners fall out of the sky?”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son" for the heads up.]

It’s really sad that so many people have to be wary about opening email, visiting websites, chatting with presumed “buddies,” or downloading music, photos, movies or other files over the Internet. No one should have to zealously guard their computers against spyware, viruses, trojan horses, or various other types of malware. Or run a bewildering assortment of (quickly obsolete) virus-protection apps. And no one should have to run a computer to a nearby computer store, so it can be “cleaned” on a routine basis. Do you know why people put up with that? If their cars didn’t drive where they wanted to go; their TVs didn’t play what they wanted to watch; or their phones didn’t connect to the party they called, how long would they keep using them? Apple provides more info online about Mac security here.

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US Department of Homeland Security: patch Microsoft Windows now or risk complete system compromise – August 10, 2006
CCIA wants U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to reconsider buying ‘insecure Microsoft software’ – August 29, 2003
U.S. Department of Homeland Security says Windows vulnerable to attack – August 01, 2003
Department of Homeland Security chose Microsoft due to time and money limitations – July 21, 2003
U.S. Department of Homeland Security awards enterprise agreement to Microsoft – July 15, 2003