[Video] Why Microsoft is by Far the Biggest Foe of Computer Security (Clue: It Profits From Security Failings)
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Security as an Add-on?
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THE other day we published a pair of articles with links to op-eds at The Register. Microsoft is accused of being a threat to national security and is rightly blamed for making security a lot worse. The CyberShow will soon have an entire episode about that as well.
That's not to say only Microsoft has security lapses, but Microsoft actively pursues profits by piggybacking its own holes, looking to sell snakeoil and upgrades, even when they do not improve security. Only abandoning Microsoft altogether would contribute towards a solution.
This new article/thread shows how 'bastardised' Linux causes problems at Cisco. "Cisco is quite poor in security," an associate of ours tells, "as is Oracle. Though the latter manages to stay out of the press in spite of that. Adobe, however, is almost as bad as Microsoft and on top of that has used (apparently) illegal bundling in addition to going whole hog on the subscription trap and trapping people's data on Adobe's own servers so a ransom has to be paid to keep access and even to preserve the material."
Moreover, Microsoft is "still conflating attacks with successful breaches, and their press helps with that lie." They are "treating security as an aftermarket add-on" (Microsoft-sponsored media says "Security budgets are growing, but so is vendor sprawl").
"There is a lot happening," the associate insists, "and especially a lot to cover in the government, but the news just isn't there. The Net Neutrality topics barely got a mention. Same for the CISA crap which has been bent to protect Microsoft." We wrote about that 4 days ago.
The bottom line is, Microsoft is infiltrating policy-making bodies, ensuring real security is never pursued. █