“If Microsoft really cared about securing the millions of Windows computers in the world, it would have enabled the firewall component in XP by default. It also would have disabled a long list of services and protocols that do little for you and me, yet make us bait for any hacker smart enough to exploit them,” writes Robert Vamosi for CNET.
“…Trouble is, Microsoft hasn’t been aggressive in locating its own software flaws–it still leaves that job to third-party security experts. And even when it finds out about problems from others, it doesn’t always fix them in a timely manner. Internet Explorer, for example, contains 31 flaws that are known yet unpatched. Moreover, I’ve yet to see new software from Microsoft that is actually more secure than previous versions,” Vamosi writes.
“I’m thinking about this last issue right now because the final shipping code for the next version of the Microsoft Office suite just arrived on my desk today. This is the version that’ll run on new computers sold this holiday season. It won’t be in stores until Oct. 21, but I’ve got an advanced copy so my colleagues and I can evaluate it before it ships,” Vamosi writes. “Though Microsoft’s PR folks are touting the new Office as the latest and greatest, I have reservations about the application suite from a security standpoint. More to the point: Will it be any more secure than earlier versions of Office?”
Vamosi writes, “Am I to believe, as the Trustworthy Computing initiative promised, that Microsoft developers have reviewed every line of code to make sure Office 2003 is free of security vulnerabilities? Or that Microsoft has redesigned Word, Outlook, and Excel, employing the latest security techniques? When I expressed these concerns to Microsoft’s PR reps, they simply answered: ‘We’ll get back to you.'”
Full article here.
Why bother unless it starts to eat into your monopoly profits? Even then, I think Windows is messy and they’d have a heck of a job to do to get it as secure as Mac OS X already is now.
Yep, the only way this is ever going to change is if it ever starts to hit Microsoft where it really and truly counts…in the pocketbook. Until then, they’ll never really get serious about making their software more secure. They’ll pay it lots of lip service and make some ceremonial gestures, but until they start losing money because of it, they will never truly change.
Love the rhetorical question in the title – “will Microsoft ever get secure?”
M$ has got to figure out what the definition of “secure” is before they can ever hope to “get” it… oh, wait, not gonna happen as long as it’s called “windows”. Maybe they shouldn’t have called their OS that in the first place – after all, windows will always be broken, opened, or jimmied, no matter how “secure”… oops, once again, I’m wrong – it’s the PERFECT name!
The answer to that little question is a big ‘NO’!!!
One definition of windows is, “A means of access or observation”
Isn’t that the premise of Microsoft Windows for easy access?
Equal access for users, spyware, Spam Central, Popup windows, Hackers, viruses, worms and the ilk.
“M$ has got to figure out what the definition of “secure”…”
I doubt that. Bill Gates even had to ask the definition of “is” during DoJ-MS trial. “Secure” has more syllables than “is”.
And to think, old Billy boy just gave over $250 million to malaria research, which in itself is a good thing, but maybe he should have put that money into producing half decent software, not half arsed software.
Somehow I think the new office will not be too good….
Well why M$ should ever get more secured? Without a constant afflux of patches how would they justify the new scam scheme of their licensing support. Why Corporates should pay upfront 3 years of support for updates and patches when all that you get is a couple per year.
No need for M$ techs to support installing one patch every now and then.
Or am I wrong?
As others I believe nothing will change unless Micros**t starts losing money over the security issues.
BTW, I received the first Micros**t bogus email claiming it carries the update. Virus smashed. I am impressed: the email is extremely well done. Will scam more than one. This virus fakes very well a legit one.
BTW, I received the first Micros**t bogus email claiming it carries the update. Virus smashed. I am impressed: the email is extremely well done. Will scam more than one. This virus fakes very well a legit one.