[ISN] [infowarrior] - Message To Microsoft: Only The Truth Shall Set You Free

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Date: Sun Feb 17 2002 - 22:33:11 PST

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    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 10:09:22 -0500
    From: Richard Forno <rfornoat_private>
    To: rfornoat_private
    Subject: [infowarrior] - Message To Microsoft: Only The Truth Shall Set You Free 
    
    
    Message To Microsoft: Only The Truth Shall Set You Free
    Richard Forno
    (c) 2002. Permission granted to reproduce in whole or in part, with
    appropriate credit.
    
    News Flash!  Judge Kollar-Kotelly has granted the states access to
    Microsoft Windows source code as part of this phase of the anti-trust
    ruling. Of course, the software giant is against this action, and we
    can only hope her decision stands.
    
    If so, not only will this level the legal playing field in the case,
    as Kollar-Kotelly says (by allowing the states to verify Microsoft's
    claims about the product) but more importantly, allow IT professionals
    to see exactly how secure (or insecure) Windows really is, something
    that many security professionals have been calling for a long time as
    the ONLY true way to verify and validate Microsoft's claims about the
    stability, security, and reliability of its pervasive Windows
    operating system. In Microsoft's defense, releasing the code will go a
    long way in curtailing the growing negative press and public sentiment
    about the company and its products, and could be an action that
    actually generates business for them over the long-term.
    
    Considering that nobody outside of Redmond knows what evil lurks in
    the millions of lines of code compromising Windows XP, by granting
    external access to Windows source, Kollar-Kotelly has established the
    basis for what some would call the "ultimate vulnerability disclosure"
    - namely, finally discovering the truth about Windows product's
    features, both documented and undocumented, that are the scourge of
    the IT world and subject of most of the IT-security news stories over
    the past five years.
    
    This is a long-overdue action, and I pray the decision stands.
    (Actually, one could argue that this is the penultimate example of
    what "responsible vulnerability disclosure" is all about...)
    
    Releasing the Windows source code to the states (parties outside of
    Microsoft with (hopefully) non-profit interests in justice and not
    market dominance) would be one government-initiated action that
    actually improves the security and assurance of America's critical
    infrastructures and (by extension) the world's IT sector. This would
    be a real, tangible, action that actually increases security, unlike
    the FAA prohibitions on carrying Swiss knives, knitting needles, or
    razors onboard a civil airliner.
    
    As such, given that Windows runs some pretty significant, critical
    systems in our financial, utilities, medical, and defense sectors,
    releasing the source code for external evaluation is not just a
    'nice-to-have' but a MUST-HAVE as we move towards effectively
    increasing the security of America's critical infrastructures.....for
    Microsoft, it's the responsible thing to do, given the company's
    much-ballyhooed 'renewed focus' on security, as outlined in the
    February 2002 Gates Declaration and its current month-long "security
    stand-down". (  See "The Gates Declaration and Microsoft Security Day
    at http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2002-02.html).
    
    If the company is truly committed to paying product security anything
    more than PR lip-service (which many security professionals believe is
    all they are doing,) Microsoft will embrace Kollar-Kotelly's decision
    as a significant step in improving the security of - and the public's
    trust in - the company and its products. By releasing the Windows
    source code, Microsoft can prove to the world it has nothing to hide
    and that it can be trusted as a purveyor of mission-critical software.
    This likely would lead to a restored public image and confidence in
    the company, quite possibly leading to increased business and sales.  
    So it's a win-win for Microsoft, assuming it ever gets over its
    corporate hubris and realizes the potential long-term benefits it
    could reap by simply and accurately complying with court orders.
    
    >From a business perspective, Microsoft would be wise to do the mature
    thing - quietly take its court-ordered medicine (ignoring how bad it
    might taste in the short-term) and realize that it stands a good
    chance of getting much better in the long-term.
    
    Thank you, Judge Kollar-Kotelly, for taking a pro-consumer and
    pro-security position with your ruling, one that - assuming it stands
    and is correctly acted upon in the best interests of the country -
    will be one of the few government actions actually (and effectively)
    improving the security of America's critical infrastructures.
    
    It would be a public service on an unprecedented scale.
    
    Richard Forno
    infowarrior.org
    
    -------------------------
    Further Reading:
    
    Judge grants States access to Windows source
    John Lettice (The Register)
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24095.html
    
    Analysis of the Gates Declaration & Microsoft Security Day
    http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2002-02.html
    
    Who Needs Hackers? We've Got Microsoft!
    http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2001-15.html
    
    Counterpane CRYPTO-GRAM 02-15-01
    http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0202.html
    
    The Microsoft-English Dictionary 1.5
    http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2001-04.html
    
    
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