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Microsoft - Same old Tactics

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CajunCenturion

CajunCenturion

Programmer
Mar 4, 2002
11,381
US
We've heard the marketing hype that MS is serious about security. We discussed if and how MS uses unethical business proactices to keep it's dominance.

Regardless of how you personally feel about these issues, the following article should give pause for thought.


Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
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Interestingly, Geer's quitting/being pressured to quit/firing has generated more press than the report itself. Which, by the way, can be found at:
Also, CXO Media offers a for-pay direct mail and email service to advertisers, where clients can send information to subscribers of CXO's "CIO" and "CSO" magazines. According to this report ( CXO refused to allow the CCIA to use the service to send out their report to CXO's subscriber base. CXO claimed the report was "too sensitive".

Here's a followup report from the Boston Herald dated 2003-09-27:

To be honest, there is no evidence that Mi¢cro$oft put direct pressure on @Stake to fire Geer. It sounds to me a lot like a T.V. new reporter's being told to avoid a controversial topic in a filing because "the producer thinks the advertisers won't like it".

However, Mi¢ro$oft has admitted it knew about the report in advance of Geer's "leaving @Stake" and the report's publication.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
 
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I read the article a while back. On a different note, if you notice the adds for the free security from M$, you'll notice the fine print says XP and W2K2003. I find it interesting that M$ is supporting software for operating systems that you have to keep registering. (I don't include W2K2003, since I don't know about that o/s) I won't us xp because I was told that if you re-load the o/s so many times, you then have to contact m$ and get a new acctivation key. This means M$ is trying to be big brother. I routinely wipe out o/s's after backing them up to fix problems that just aren't worth wasting my time with. F-disk, re-install, you're up and running. My 2 cents.

Glen A. Johnson
"To fear the worst oft cures the worse."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616); English dramatist, poet.

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It sure seems that AtStake's firing of Geer was unethical. If MS knew what was good for them, they would offer Geer a job and have him be one of their security consultants. Sounds like the guy is a straight shooter and won't bend in the wind. Just the kind of person I would want on my team or in my employ.

Slighthaze = NULL

[ul][li]FAQ184-2483
An excellent guide to getting a fast and accurate response to your questions in this forum.[/li][/ul]
 
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<side note>
[bold]
Glen,
[/bold]
That's just some anti-MS FUD, about a certain number of times. No one's paying that close attention to what you do, however, if you go for a complete wipe out then it's everytime. It's all easily circumvented if you know what you're doing and do a little legwork before format though.
</side note>
 
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That's not my point. I don't like the fact that M$ is doing the big-brother thing at all. (And I'm M$ certified)

Glen A. Johnson
&quot;To fear the worst oft cures the worse.&quot;
William Shakespeare (1564-1616); English dramatist, poet.

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884
 
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The report itself is directly critical of MS, a very subjective approach. Coming from the CTO of a company working closely with MS, not a very bright idea. Couching it in the abstract might have been a tad better.

Interesting questions (which will probably never be answered):

1. Did Geer really expect no repercussions from a direct public attack on a major customer of his employer?

2. Did MS apply any pressure on @stake to fire him?

3. Did @stake have a real belief that this would damage their commercial relations with MS?

I'm not familiar with the other authors, how credible are they?

It will be interesting to see where Geer finds his next employment.


Rosie
If you haven't seen this try it
 
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[rofl]
Rosie, post that on it's own. It's hilarious.

Glen A. Johnson
&quot;To fear the worst oft cures the worse.&quot;
William Shakespeare (1564-1616); English dramatist, poet.

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884
 
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rosieb:
Great link...

Bruce Schneier, one of the other authors, might be familiar. His book Applied Cryptography is pretty much the standard for the subject. He also developed an encryption algorithm that was one of the finalists for the AES.



Want the best answers? Ask the best questions: TANSTAAFL!!
 
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sleipnir214
Thanks, it's difficult to keep up with whose expertise is relevant. Don't read as much as I ought.
 
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It is an old history, but I like this tactic.

Ion Filipski
1c.bmp

ICQ: 95034075
AIM: IonFilipski
filipski@excite.com
 
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Well, he just lost all hopes of getting my respoect. During a professional news interview he says this, &quot;...dissing me...&quot;

Come on now...

01000111 01101111 01110100 00100000 01000011 01101111 01100110 01100110 01100101 01100101 00111111
The never-completed website:
 
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