Security Software Makers Upset Over Windows Vista
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The companies say the new version of Windows hinders them and steers users to MicrosoftÂs security offerings.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft has touted Vista as aÂ more secure version of Windows, but on the day ofÂ Vista's official launch, a security company has identified malware already in circulation that can infect computers running the OS. Sophos identified three viruses typically spread through e-mail that can infect Vista customers who use a third party Web e-mail client. While Vista's e-mail client stops Stratio-Zip, Netsky-D, and MyDoom-O, the malware slips past Vista's defenses when users receive infected messages through a Web-based e-mail service, Sophos said. Stratio-Zip topped Sophos' list of malware affecting computer users in the month of November, accounting for 33.3 percent of malware in circulation. Combined, the three viruses that can affect Vista users make up 39.7 percent of all malware in circulation during the month, Sophos said. However, even if the malware Sophos identified slips through in an e-mail, customers won't necessarily be affected, another researcher said. Additional Vista security mechanisms should protect users, said Mikko HyppÃ¶nen, chief research officer at F-Secure. If a customer opens an infected malware file, Vista would warn and question the user before allowing the malware to wreak havoc. "These particular examples of malware probably wouldn't still be able to successfully infect the machine unless the user specifically allows it," he wrote in an e-mail exchange. Sophos applauded the security improvements in Vista, saying that the variety of popular third party applications used by consumers inevitably will open doors to hackers. Other anti-virus companies haven't been so kind.Â McAfee has been highly criticalÂ of changes in the operating system that it says will make Vista less secure than previous versions of Windows. Symantec said itÂ has discovered vulnerabilitiesÂ in Vista's networking software which makes it less stable than Windows XP. Sophos found that overall, the proportion of infected e-mail remained low in November at 0.28 percent, but identified a record number of new threats, 7,612, during the month.
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NEW YORK -- Microsoft Corp. took great pains to improve security in its newly released computer operating system, Windows Vista, redesigning it to reduce users' exposure to destructive programs from the Internet. Outside researchers commend the retooled approach -- yet they say the changes won't make online life much safer.
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MICROSOFT Corpâs recent release of Service Pack 2 for Windows XP saw the company dealing head-on with the security issues that have plagued the operating system since its release.
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(InfoWorld) - Top executives from the security firm McAfeeÂ went on the offensive Monday against Microsoft, saying Vista will be even less secure for customers than previous versions of Windows. The day after McAfee took out a full-page advertisement in the Financial Times to publicly air its grievances over the security of Vista, McAfee Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) George Samenuk, Vice President and Chief Scientist George Heron and Chief Security Architect John Viega delivered the same message in person in New York. "We are disturbed by the fact that with Vista, end customers will be less secure," Samenuk said. "Customers trust us ... To erode that trust would hurt all Internet users, all PC users. I don't think Microsoft wants that, nor does McAfee want that." Two security elements in Vista fare chief among McAfee's concerns, executives said. In Vista, Microsoft is locking down the kernel of the OS through a feature called PatchGuard on 64-bit versions. Microsoft's argument is that this will keep miscreants out of the OS and prevent the incidence of attacks, and it is something for which customers have been asking. "Fooling around with the kernel while it's running is like changing the sparkplugs on your car when the engine is running," said Stephen Toulouse, a senior product manager at Microsoft. "It's never been a good thing for users." But McAfee said since PatchGuard also prevents third-party security companies from getting inside the OS, they can't activate crucial security measures in their software to protect the OS from intruders. PatchGuard is not new in Vista, said Bruce McCorkendale, a distinguished engineer with McAfee competitor Symantec Corp., which shares McAfee's consternation over the feature. He said Symantec has been petitioning for Microsoft to change the feature since the company introduced it in its 64-bit version of Windows XP, but the company will not budge. "If you ask any security vendor that offers advanced protection, you'd get the same answer [about PatchGuard]," McCorkendale said. "It's just inhibiting the way security vendors do their jobs." However, according to Jupiter Research, only 5 percent of companies with 100 employees or more are running Windows XP in its 64-bit version, and that adoption is not supposed to ramp up significantly anytime soon, said analyst Joe Wilcox. "If this new [feature] affects 64-bit only and nobody is using 64-bit, what's the problem?" he said. The other big concern with Vista for McAfee lies in a new security interface called Windows Security Center (WSC). Microsoft will not allow this interface to be turned off, so McAfee and other third-party users can't install their own security-management consoles on Vista machines, executives said. McAfee's argument is that third-party security products can better detect potential or existing security problems that Vista inherently can, and unless those can be surfaced through the interface, users will not be alerted to them, Viega said. Some believe security vendors are crying foul over Vista because Microsoft's ability to control security features of the OS is a threat to their livelihood. Companies such as McAfee and Symantec have all but built their businesses on the fact that Windows is inherently insecure, and add-on security software is needed to protect it from intrusion. "Historically, when Microsoft has gotten into a market, the number of competitors goes down," Wilcox said. However, he said there is a legitimate concern, supported by precedence, that not only will vendors be pushed out of the market, but there will be less innovation in Windows security products and more problems will arise. Wilcox cited Internet Explorer as an example of an area in which Microsoft beat competitors, but then did not innovate on the product until it faced competition once again. "Microsoft won the browser war and for years abandoned the territory," Wilcox said. If Microsoft successfully reduces the number of competitors by building security into Windows, it might also become lackadaisical about security improvements, thus opening the OS up to more attacks.
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Now that Microsoft has released the Windows Vista operating system and the Office 2007 productivity suite, talk has shifted from months of launch-date speculation to concerns over specific safeguards needed to ensure that the new software is secure.
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Malware blocking credentials questioned Windows Vista has only just left the starting blocks but security watchers have wasted no time in challenging claims that it provides improved security defences.â¦
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Security software vendor Symantec claimed this week that Microsoft is withholding information about its new Vista operating system in an attempt to create an unfair advantage for its own security software.
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Another potential delay for Vista looms from the security front, as European Union regulators and Microsoft square off over planned features in the upcoming operating system.
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Both involve vulnerabilities within Windows; one marked critical includes Windows Vista.
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Microsoft's top legal advisor in Europe has urged the European Commission not to insist that key security features be stripped from its new Windows Vista operating system, amid an ongoing dispute.
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Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system has only been available for a day but it has already made the company some new enemies, with the UK's Green Party and Computer Aid International lining up to voice their environmental concerns about the new operating system.
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While security experts applaud Microsoft&#39;s recently released Service Pack 2, some companies that distribute their software over the Web are watching the product&#39;s introduction with dread and suspicion.
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The key security update for Windows XP looks set to cause trouble for thousands of firms reveals a survey.
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Red tape vs Redmond...the never ending story The European Commission has hit back at suggestions it has got it in for Microsoft over security features built into the heavily-delayed Windows Vista.â¦
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Stoopid human Improved technology and design alone will not be enough to keep Windows Vista and Office 2007 users safe from hackers and identity thieves, according to Bill Gates.â¦
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Updates pushed out last week by Microsoft to Windows Vista users to prep PCs for next month's release of Service Pack 1 have crippled some machines, according to messages posted to the company's support site.