Security watchers lambast Vista

...Microsoft develops a bit of competence in security, and the various anti-malware vendors don't snipe at each other like teenagers.

They've got one area of competence...they left enough holes in Windows to justify the name and then have competently decided to charge for antivirus to place a bandaid on a hatchet wound.

Gotta love the irony in that...Helios over at lobby4linux loves to hammer that point home.

The worst thing is they used a nebulous 'security' argument (equiv. of "think of the children") to take a HUGE amount of control over the industry with 64 bit Vista. All kernel drivers must be signed in 64 bit Vista (not 32 bit), which doesn't stop hackers, but does stop legitimate companies that need kernel drivers. You have to pay a lot of money and submit them to Microsoft for review, testing, and signing, which takes a couple months, and then if you change even a line of code, you have to resubmit. The net result is only Microsoft can quickly update a kernel driver, and they can drag their feet with the review process for competitors. E.g., the anti-virus companies are in a panic over this and are trying to find ways to get around the signing, as they know they're going to get screwed otherwise.

So it's not about security at all. **Big surprised face** Gracious goodness me-o, who'd a thunk it.

Quoting:Since vbootkit becomes the part of kernel itself, it can basically do anything that the kernel could do.

http://www.rootkit.com/newsread.php?newsid=671

oh you MS-bashers, always looking for the dark cloud. In my own words- Vista Is The Most Secure Widnows Ever.

Which could be true!

You are coming to a saaaaad realization. Allow or deny?

NoDough: Tuxchick is right. Vista IS the most secure Windows ever. That doesn't mean it isn't leaky like a seive.

I was comically referring to this... http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/apple/getamac/apple-getama...

Yes, Vista is much more secure. You now only have to reinstall the OS twice a month.

> You now only have to reinstall the OS twice a month.

Yes, but now you have to pay again each time ;-)

Actually, I've been dying to buy the most secure version of Windows ever. Unfortunately, I can't afford it. Guess I'll have to suffer with this Linux stuff.

giggle.

NoDough: I got it :) I even saw the commercial on an old-fashioned television set. It was an awesome experience- nice big bright picture, smooth video streaming, and the sound and video were synchronized!

If you read Dave Aitel's "Daily Dave" email list, you will have seen him write something like "with XP SP2 in complete collapse"...

I don't find the article in any "Daily Dave" archive, but perhaps it's too recent of an article to show in the archives yet.

As I understood him, Dave Aitel was saying that XP SP2 is just so full of holes that you can't count on protecting it. How long until Vista gets to that point? The ANI thing, and now this, in only one short week. Things aren't looking good for Vista's prospects.

OK, I found the message in my email file. He wrote it in a message titled "runonce and birds.", and indeed, I can't find it in any on-line archive so far.

Dave Aitel writes: [2] This was shoddy work. It's just as bad as every bank putting their login page on a cleartext connection, as if MITM can't rewrite a form. The SDL should say "No default outbound non-signed and sealed connections". But it doesn't. A while back everyone made a big hubbub over Michael Howard's feeling that there should be LESS vulnerabilities in modern Microsoft OS's. I got the feeling he was saying "or else we're all fired". XP SP2 is essentially in complete collapse. If this happens to Vista, a lot of companies might just make the decision to move their data security requirements over to hosting on Google-farms...

Like most here, it seems that most of my friends and family feel like I am free technical support. My response is usually pretty standard. It goes something like "Do you see a logo that looks kinda like window when you try to boot? Yes? Well, you most likely have a virus. Yes, a virus. It's called windows. Fix it? Umm.. do you have a magnet or big hammer?" At that point they leave me alone. If they don't, I usually fish a PCLOS CD out of my bag and dispense with aspirin.

CMatters: I do that too. I simply refuse to support my family's Windows boxes anymore. I'm happy to provide Linux support though :-)

> Allow or deny?

And the average Windows user is most qualified to make that decision? MS trained them to be dumb, now, they're supposed to be the last line of defense.... Oh my! That is a very sad realization.