Promises
Promises
by Juha Saarinen, 22.06.2004, NZ Herald
Ed. Microsoft Corporation has made another promise that `the
next release'
of its software will fix the bugs and plug the holes'. Please
excuse my
high level of skepticism, I've been hearing that line from MSC
since 1986.
I remember how DOS 3.3 was going to be the mother of all operating
systems
for PCs. People bought that line then, and are buying it to
this day,
including the writer of the article below.
It'll never happen, nobody and no-thing is foolproof. If MSC
would just
face up to the realities of their software and price it accordingly
and
publicise it accordingly and allow others to have a go in the
market... I
reckon the computer industry and it's billions of users would
be a lot
better off. Linux showed and shows the way.
..................
The Microsoft security patch for Windows and computer security
are two
concepts that have traditionally refused to marry, despite much
talking
over the past few years.
Windows is arguably the most popular computer operating system
in the
world - not just with consumers, but also hackers and virus
writers. These
digital vandals have been hugely successful at turning Windows
PCs into
remotely controlled "zombies" that can be used to
send out spam in huge
quantities and serve up sometimes illegal web content.
When the "zombies" awake behind their broadband connections,
they can even
be used to take out large international networks, as they did
recently to
Akamai, through large, co-ordinated attacks that pump out overwhelming
amounts of data. The attack caused service interruptions for
Yahoo, Google
and ironically, Microsoft's websites.
The sad fact is that there is precious little effort involved
in creating
these "zombie armies". Usually, the vector of attack
is just a simple
email with an attachment that users launch, and that's it: the
computer is
under control by someone overseas, and you could be in severe
trouble,
financially and legally, if you don't notice it in time.
This problem will get much worse in the near future, because
there is
money to be made in compromising computers. Spammers are buying
"BotNets"
or blocks of remotely controlled computers from virus writers,
with
organised crime getting in on the act, according to recent media
reports.
Current estimates say that around 80 per cent of all spam now
emanates
from "zombie" machines.
Clearly, there is a need for Microsoft to act to bolster security
in
Windows, because despite anti-viruses and firewalls, its customers
are
getting hit in large numbers.
Microsoft's answer to the security woes is being readied. Prosaically
named Service Pack 2, it is a large update for Windows XP with
a big
emphasis on security.
Service Pack 2 is being tested by many people around the world
- Microsoft
says the number is around a million - and if no "show stopper"
bugs are
found, should come out at the end of next month in its final
version.
What are the security enhancements in Service Pack 2? For starters,
you
get a fully functional firewall that checks both incoming and
outgoing
traffic. The firewall in the original Windows XP looks only
at incoming
traffic, and thus does not prevent data from your computer leaking
out to
the internet, giving attackers clues about what to go for.
Most people will notice the long- overdue pop-up blocker for
the Internet
Explorer web browser. Browser pop-up (and worse, pop-under)
windows are
abused by malicious website operators, sometimes trying to plant
spy
software on your computer.
So-called "social engineering" (asking users to unwittingly
run dangerous
software), the technique favoured by many virus spreaders, should
be a
little more difficult thanks to the changes Microsoft has made
to its
email and instant messaging programs. Even if you run unsafe
programs (and
trust me, people will never stop doing that), these are isolated
in
Service Pack 2 and won't be able to affect critical parts of
the computer.
Service Pack 2 also nags you to turn on automatic software updates
and
warns if you don't have anti-virus software, or if you should
have the
temerity to turn off the firewall. There is whole slew of warnings
for
users concerning the consequences of their actions, which we
can only hope
will be adhered to.
Underneath the hood there are even more changes, like core components
being re-coded and rebuilt to plug security holes. Some of these
changes
will invariably cause headaches with older software that wasn't
written
with security in mind, but that's a small price to pay.
I've been running pre-release versions of Service Pack 2, and
my advice
for any Windows user would be to upgrade as soon as possible.
The
additional security is great and nothing important has broken,
even with
trial versions of Service Pack 2.
Nevertheless, I am left with a feeling that while Service Pack
2 is a good
thing, it should have come out much sooner.
Many of the changes introduced in Service Pack 2 are just plain
common-sense and available on other operating systems, so what
was
Microsoft thinking about all this time?
Service Pack 2 may also create two security problems. First,
Microsoft has
stated Service Pack 2 will not install on computers with pirated
versions
of Windows. That's fair and square, because why should Microsoft
support
thieves?
But if you think about how many pirated copies of Windows there
are in
China alone, the policy becomes questionable, as it leaves many
computers
unprotected.
Second, Service Pack 2 also marks Microsoft's second try at
producing an
anti-virus, to be released this year. It's likely the anti-virus
software
will be offered via subscription to avoid another anti-competition
trial,
and not bundled with Service Pack 2.
The decision to once again produce an anti-virus could undo
all
Microsoft's security effort in Service Pack 2, simply because
it will be a
big fat bulls-eye for virus writers.
Microsoft will tell you that the new software is due to customer
demand.
But Microsoft would also do well to remember its first disastrous
anti-virus effort, and resist the temptation of entering a market
it knows
precious little about.
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