Slashdot Log In
Microsoft Says Vista Most Secure OS Ever
Posted by
Zonk
on Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:42 PM
from the that's-evar dept.
from the that's-evar dept.
darryl24 writes "Microsoft senior vice president Bob Muglia opened up TechEd 2006 in Boston Sunday evening by proclaiming that Windows Vista was the most secure operating system in the industry. But a bold statement can only go so far, and much of this week's conference has been spent reinforcing that point. Microsoft also acknowledges that nothing is infallible when it comes to computer security. In turn, the company has employed black hat hackers for what is called a penetration, or pen, test team."
Related Stories
[+]
Longhorn Server's "Improved" Security 151 comments
An anonymous reader writes, "The 'most secure Windows ever' may be very secure from hackers and malware — but what do you do when Longhorn Server lets you install the OS, set up Active Directory, and initialize the domain without once asking you even to create an administrator password? From the article: 'What happened to Windows Server? Where did all of the stringent security checks and ultra-protection of Windows Server 2003 go? Windows Server 2000 was quite insecure, and Windows Server 2003 turned over a new leaf... But it seems Microsoft is more than willing to flip that page back — even Windows Server 2000 required an Administrator password at the very least.'" Inevitably, Dave Barry's years-old quote comes to mind: "Microsoft has a new version out, Windows XP, which according to everybody is the 'most reliable Windows ever.' To me, this is like saying that asparagus is 'the most articulate vegetable ever.'"
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Microsoft Says Vista Most Secure OS Ever
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 440 comments
(Spill at 50!) | Index Only
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
MS Airforce Attacks OpenBSD Leader, Servers (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.saintaardvarkthecarpeted.com/blog | Last Journal: Monday March 05 2007, @11:58PM)
CALGARY (ADP) - In a stunning development in the open source movement, the OpenBSD project, led by developer Theo de Raadt, was bombed and strafed by a hitherto-unknown air force belonging to private software corporation Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT).
de Raadt's home, and the University of Alberta data center holding the OpenBSD CVS servers, were attacked nearly simultaneously. Though the attack only lasted fifteen minutes, it left hundreds of innocent Windows users injured.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has sent a "sharply worded" protest to the United States government.
Shortly after the attack, Microsoft has released a publicity photo of Bill Gates, standing on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, underneath a banner saying simply, "Mission Accomplished."
Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman could not be reached for comment. Sources close to Stallman said he was "somewhere underneath Cheyenne Mountain, importing the OpenBSD source tree into the Hurd."
Black hat? (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://www.gcnaddict.com/)
Could someone explain the difference between the two so I can make sure I didnt screw up?
Re:Black hat? (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Wednesday August 14 2002, @12:33PM)
What would you think if an airport employed terrorists as security personnel because they know better what to look for?
Maybe true today, but (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Friday August 27 2004, @01:39PM)
As always, future history is yet to be written--although it tends to reflect and repeat the past.
No they are speaking the truth (Score:5, Interesting)
(Last Journal: Friday August 17, @05:34AM)
Claiming Vista to be the most secure OS ever when it has already had a security flaw is just insane and tells us that MS still just don't get it. Or maybe they do get it. After all they make billions. It is sad but lying to the gullible pays better then telling the truth to the clever. There are just so many more gullible people. Last count about 6 billion.
can't break what you can't see!! (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://www.netsavior.com/)
Re:can't break what you can't see!! (Score:4, Funny)
The Slashdot Criteria (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://slashdot.org/~eldavojohn/ | Last Journal: Tuesday October 16, @03:26PM)
Re:The Slashdot Criteria (Score:5, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/~Infonaut/journal | Last Journal: Tuesday July 31, @02:22PM)
Or, as in this case, any story with a headline that will start an instant flame war.
Hey, it works for Dvorak. Why shouldn't it work for Slashdot? ;-)
Meanwhile... (Score:4, Insightful)
Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
1) The OS is not used by anyone when the "most secure" sentence was released.
2) The only OS existing in the Microsoft world has the one made by Microsoft (excluding OS/2).
Depends on the definition. (Score:4, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Sunday November 05 2006, @05:31AM)
-jcr
Re:Depends on the definition. (Score:5, Interesting)
(Last Journal: Sunday November 05 2006, @05:31AM)
The user, probably.
-jcr
Well, I suppose in the end, it *is* secure... (Score:5, Funny)
(http://jason.c.kay.googlepages.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday December 06 2006, @01:32AM)
"You've just inserted an insecure piece of removable media. Are you sure you want to proceed?"
*clicks yes*
*launches Internet Exploiter*
"You are attempting to connect to the internet. The internet is a very insecure place. Are you sure you want to do?"
*clicks "Yes"*
"Are you really sure? I mean, there are viruses out there on the internet. Do you know what a virus is? I mean, this stuff can really mess your computer up! Are you absolutely sure you want to connect to the internet?"
*clicks "Yes"*
"Oooooh, sorry - you don't have sufficient privileges to connect to the internet. Contact your Administrator or type your Administrator password now."
*types password*
*connects to internet*
"You are attempting to send an IP packet over an unsecured interface. This is how viruses get on your computer. Are you sure want to send this packet?"
*sighs* *clicks "Yes"*
*beep beep beep* "USER ALERT: Your computer has received an unsecured packet from the internet! This packet could be part of a virus! Are you certain you want to allow this packet into the application for processing?"
*clicks "Yes."
"You are attempting to send an IP packet over an unsecured interface. This is how viruses get on your computer. Are you sure want to send this packet?"
*sighs* *clicks "Yes"*
*beep beep beep* "USER ALERT: Your computer has received an unsecured packet from the internet! This packet could be part of a virus! Are you certain you want to allow this packet into the application for processing?"
*kicks computer*
*installs Linux/BSD or buys Mac*
VERY secure, indeed.
Acronyms (Score:5, Interesting)
I noticed in this article that they're treading on our acronyms.
SDL - Security Development Lifecycle
Relatively inconspicuous. Simple DirectMedia Layer has nothing to fear from this in terms of mindshare. But then again, they knew that SDL was in use. Why not show a bit of cooperation?
RMS - Rights Management Something
This one is amazing, because it's basically DRM named after Richard Stallman. Someone at Microsoft either has a sense of humor [linuxvirus.net], or is a complete prick. I really doubt that this was accidental.
It's superficial, but I think both examples are very symbolic.
Re:Acronyms (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm sorry, but rms has meant "root-mean-square" to me for about 15 years, or roughly 8 years longer than I've known about GNU or Linux, and it's meant that to mathematicians for a lot, lot longer than that.
Since when does anyone "own" an acronym? Talk about overly touchy...
Re:Acronyms (Score:4, Funny)
In the case of MS-DOS, both.
Hold The Font Page! (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.nymar.demon.co.uk/)
Re:This doesn't work. (Score:4, Funny)
(http://www.beryllium.ca/)
Combined.
This is laughable (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe it's just marketspeak, or maybe it's more of the same arrogance that they know better what is secure than reality does. I'll sit back and wait for a few years, thanks.
Re:This is laughable (Score:5, Insightful)
It's bad enough to be prompted every 15 minutes for a restart after I've installed updates, EVEN IF I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING. Yes, Windows will pull me out of full-screen just to tell me that it has finished installing updates. To top it all off, I wont be able to browse the internet or insert CDs without some twat at Microsoft building the program to assume that I dont know what the fuck I'm doing with my computer? Sounds like a brilliant security strategy. Piss people off enough so that they never use your OS.
That kind of treat-you-like-you're-stupid shit is what makes me dread installing updates. I dont give a shit that I need to restart to install updates. Windows has waited for weeks for me to restart, and I dont need the constant nagging while it's waiting. Let me know when Vista has had its obligatory "dont treat me like I'm a mindless twat computer user" update. Then I'll get it.
Pass the linctus (Score:3, Informative)
(http://ettlz.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Sunday February 12 2006, @06:53PM)
Sorry about that. Did someone say Microsoft thinks they've got "t3h m0st s3cur3 05 ev4r lollll!!!!1111" or something?!
Similar Headlines (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Wednesday November 07, @10:09AM)
* White Star Lines Pronounces Titanic "Unsinkable"
* Hindenburg Safest Way To Fly
* Ford Pinto Named Safest Car For 1973
Black hat?? Come on guys. (Score:5, Informative)
(http://youtube.com/thedarkener)
By definition, if you employ hackers to test an operating system, they are NOT "black hat" hackers - they are, at best, "grey hat" hackers.
Definition from Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
Usually a Black hat is a person who maintains knowledge of the vulnerabilities and exploits they find as secret for private advantage, not revealing them either to the general public or the manufacturer for correction.
Re:Open BSD users everywhere... (Score:5, Funny)
(http://winterblink.com/)
I declare the Vega class starship the fastest ever (Score:5, Funny)
And it's not shipping yet either.
My OS is just as Secure ... (Score:3, Funny)
(http://lists.clickers.org/linuxsig/index.html | Last Journal: Friday November 09, @11:00PM)
... and you will be able to run it in five minutes.
Five minutes pass.
GOTO LINE 1.
No NT 4 and Windows2k are the most secure OS's (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.livejournal.com/users/sinistertim101 | Last Journal: Saturday March 24 2007, @12:32PM)
So until holes appear in either platform I think we can trust Microsoft when they say something is secure. After all I never heard of a single security hole in WindowsXP or IIS or any server product from MS. Have you?
In Similar News... (Score:5, Funny)
(http://morningcuppa.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday September 25, @02:23PM)
3D Realms gave a presentation of the all the features that will help Duke keep the number one spot in the market. It also outlined the TV channel, movies series and theme park spun from the elements of the game.
Check it out! [wikipedia.org]
Tommy Boy (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://www.exacttarget.com/)
For some reason, MS saying that makes me think of that line...
(Sorry if I butchered it a bit).
Secure? (Score:3, Insightful)
But I would never, ever, ever utter the words Vista, OpenBSD, and security in the same sentence in a positive tone.
Trusted Solaris (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://www.geocities.com/redoregon/crunch | Last Journal: Monday July 17 2006, @11:30AM)
bummer of a birth mark... (Score:5, Insightful)
From my favorite FarSide cartoon: Two deer standing in the woods, one has a bullseye on his chest, the other one says, "Bummer of a birth mark Hal."
It's True! (Score:5, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/)
Tip: You must update to latest cvs of rdesktop, something about key size.
Re:Microsoft + Stupid Claims = ... (Score:4, Funny)
Of course it's the most secure OS ever. No one can compromise an OS that hasn't even been released yet.
Re:Microsoft + Stupid Claims = ... (Score:5, Informative)
They haven't told us about any exploits they've found, but some crackers hold their exploit until the day of release and use it on retail, instead of beta. This allows them a '0-day release' that would be impossible otherwise for something with this much 'security'.
Re:Microsoft + Stupid Claims = ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, I think Vista is their Titanic and they just solidified this feeling by claiming that it's 'unsinkable'
Ahoy! Iceberg ahead...
Microsoft + Stupid Claims = ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Microsoft + Stupid Claims = ... (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Thursday January 15 2004, @06:55PM)
1. They made PR claims about
2. Based on 1. only Windows exist.
3. MS was bitching about computer without OS, meaning Linux and others in their eyes are not OS
4. Based on 4. Windows is the only OS
5. So this will be most secure Windows ever.
6. In MS eyes 2. and 4. equals to most secure OS ever.
Re:Hackers? (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://emulation.victoly.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday November 30 2006, @06:03PM)
Following this line of reasining, if MS really employed "black hat hackers," wouldn't such hackers immediately say, "Gollee, this OS is super secure! I couldn't find a single way to compromise it!" Meanwhile, they're digging around inside (being careful to erase traces of their visit), getting extremely familiar with an OS that hasn't even been released yet. 0-day exploits indeed....