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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
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| Before the *nix and mac users come out...
As a network manager, I have to admit I am fed up with the holes that are discovered in Microsoft products. I run the automatic update in Windows XP and it seems there is a new patch every 2 weeks or so. Ballmer says Microsoft is going to work more on security, and I see a lot of improvements.
Patches are coming out quicker than in the past. When Windows 95 was released, trying to get patches was a pain in the ass. Microsoft drug their feet and released patches in a very untimely matter. After Windows 98 was released, Microsoft was a lot better. Today they are still improving, but just like any system it could be better than it is.
Now, before all the *nix and mac users come out to gloat, lets make something very clear here. Hackers are constantly looking at all kinds of systems. Obviously, the most used product is going to be the most examined. Most of these hackers want to find something that is going to make life miserable for the most amount of people in the quickest amount of time. Same thing with people who create viruses. They don't want to make a virus that is only going to affect one to five percent of the PC's out there. They want something that is going to spread quickly resulting in the "Look what I did!" syndrome (otherwise known as ego boost). Therefore, all Microsoft products are a viable target. Windows 9x, 2000, and XP are the software products on about 95% of the PCs right now.
It is no wonder you hear about all these exploits and potential problems. The media releases the news and people complain that Microsoft "should have seen it coming" and "should have had a patch out for it" already. Windows XP has millions of lines of code. The code is being written by humans. Therefore, you can expect mistakes, potential holes, and problems. There are holes lying dormant in ALL SOFTWARE, not just Microsoft products. This is where I believe Microsoft can improve. From the time a bug is found and they are notified, they should have their engineers working on it and have it finished within 1-3 days instead of the week or two it takes now. That would put them down in my book as "improving".
As I said above though, things are getting better but there is still improvement to be made.
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KoolMoe
Aw Man
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| IMO, it comes down to making more of an effort to release stable code before the desire to 'make money'. Of course, that's the company's overall goal, right? To make money! How could it not be when you're public in this society?
BUT it still needs to be tempered. If nothing else, perhaps this 'commitment to security' will give them a break when they keep pushing back release dates for their software. OR maybe they'll build an extra month or so for specific 'hole tests' into the schedule next time round...
Windows 98 was released with HOW many bugs? 23,000? And how many of these recent exploits are due to buffer overflows? Ya think they'd start being a little more focused on such holes at some point.
I agree overall, that MS is a huge target, but they're not blameless. Sloppy code is sloppy code.
KM
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
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| Ok, lets examine this.
Windows 95 was created half assed, I will agree to that. However, lets look at Windows 98. Win98 was released to 200,000 beta testers. Win2k was released to over a million. You give all these copies away and many people install the OS and report the bugs. However, what happens when it is released to 20x more people? You think all bugs are going to be found in a beta test? How many beta tests are needed?
I guess my question to you is, do you believe there is any software out there today that doesn't have holes or exploits in it? I can't think of a single one. Don't get me wrong here, I am not saying Microsoft should just release a product carelessly. What I am saying is you can beta test all you want, and with the hundreds of thousands of different hardware combinations you are still going to run into problems. That still doesn't count in the hacker and cracker community who constantly look for exploits and such.
Sorry, I don't buy the whole sloppy code arguement. Any popular OS would be nailed with similar problems...which is why you have patches.
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SAM Hunter$
join:2001-05-11
USA
| reply to Nightfall
said by Nightfall:
Ballmer says Microsoft is going to work more on security, and I see a lot of improvements.
Excellent post by every standard! Well done!
I just quoted the first part of your post to make sure we are on the same page. I take it you mean that includes a much more diligent and responsible effort and attitude by Microsoft in writing the code for their products? That would cover not only security issues but other bugs or glitches as well. Nobody is perfect but Microsoft should do a better job of trying to achieve it! | |
Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
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| said by Lost in Space:
Excellent post by every standard! Well done!
I just quoted the first part of your post to make sure we are on the same page. I take it you mean that includes a much more diligent and responsible effort and attitude by Microsoft in writing the code for their products? That would cover not only security issues but other bugs or glitches as well. Nobody is perfect but Microsoft should do a better job of trying to achieve it!
Yes, that is what I mean. 
Of course, it goes far beyond just writing the code. It also has to do with supporting the code they write. Mind you, they do that now, but at the rate exploits are found they need to do it faster and better. Any system can be better and while Microsoft has improved, I expect to see more improvement from them down the road. Especially if they continue to have a stranglehold on the OS market.
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