[ISN] Microsoft Catches Flak for Lack of Vulnerability Disclosure

From: InfoSec News (isn@private)
Date: Wed Apr 26 2006 - 22:42:24 PDT


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1. In Focus: Microsoft Catches Flak for Lack of Vulnerability 
Disclosure

2. Security News and Features
   - Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   - Novell Acquires e-Security
   - GRISOFT Boosts Its Security Offerings with Acquisition of Ewido
   - New Antiphishing Toolbar Takes an Obvious Approach

3. Security Toolkit
   - Security Matters Blog
   - FAQ
   - Security Forum Featured Thread
   - Share Your Security Tips

4. New and Improved
   - Bring Systems Back in Line

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==== 1. In Focus: Microsoft Catches Flak for Lack of Vulnerability Disclosure ====
   by Mark Joseph Edwards, News Editor, mark at ntsecurity / net

News stories last week discussed a blog entry (at the URL below) by 
Matthew Murphy of SecuriTeam that hammered Microsoft for what Murphy 
thinks is a lack of adequate vulnerability disclosure. Murphy's beef 
with Microsoft relates to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-015--
Vulnerability in Windows Explorer Could Allow Remote Code Execution. In 
a nutshell, Murphy wants Microsoft to offer more details about 
vulnerabilities. (MS06-015 also happens to be the security bulletin 
that proved to be buggy--an update was due to be released yesterday.)
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=282CD:4FB69

Many think that Microsoft's disclosure practices border on the silent 
fixing of security issues. It's no secret that in the past Microsoft 
has silently fixed security problems and sometimes has misinformed the 
public about the ramifications of security problems. Microsoft and many 
other companies don't like the publicity related to security problems, 
so they try to keep matters as quiet and calm as possible. 

Granted, each company is free to establish its own policies about 
disclosure and few are forthcoming with complete details in any given 
instance of vulnerability discovery. For example, Apple silently fixes 
security problems and rarely if ever releases any substantial details 
about them. But then people interested in security don't place Apple 
under the same microscope as Microsoft. 

When Microsoft releases a security-related patch, numerous independent 
researchers go to work to analyze the patch to find everything that's 
changed in the related files. If they detect anything that isn't 
documented, the researchers either call Microsoft on the carpet or they 
keep their mouths shut for any of several reasons, including the 
ability to exploit the undocumented bugs in systems that don't have the 
patch installed. Thus the patch could actually aid in the proliferation 
of malware and increase the overall risk of security breaches. 

Of course, Microsoft's disclosure practices have improved over the 
years, but there's still room for improvement, particularly if the 
company expects the masses to more fully buy into the Trustworthy 
Computing ideology. 

Again, we're back to the same old issue of disclosure being a double-
edged sword. While many businesses and researchers have seen fit to 
adopt some form of responsible disclosure in terms of timing the 
release of vulnerability details, another important point of contention 
remains. Microsoft and other companies argue that too much disclosure 
creates a more dangerous network environment. But many security 
researchers contend that not enough disclosure creates a more dangerous 
network environment. Obviously, the situation calls for balance, and I 
think there is balance. However, when the balance tips too far toward 
either perspective, then risk levels increase. 

Here's an interesting thought, even if it's only tangentially related: 
What if software as a service or applications on demand become 
commonplace? Think of a scenario in which you no longer have an OS and 
sundry applications installed on your desktops and servers, but instead 
everything is driven by some hardware-based technology that loads 
everything from a remote location that you don't control. That would 
just about put an end to many aspects of security research, security 
administration, and the disclosure debate, wouldn't it? 

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==== 2. Security News and Features ====

Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   If you subscribe to this newsletter, you also receive Security 
Alerts, which inform you about recently discovered security 
vulnerabilities. You can also find information about these 
discoveries at
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=282C2:4FB69

Novell Acquires e-Security
   With e-Security's Sentinel solution under its wing, Novell says its 
customers will enjoy a more comprehensive view of user, network, and 
application events that will help streamline processes, augment 
compliance monitoring, and cut costs.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=282CC:4FB69

GRISOFT Boosts Its Security Offerings with Acquisition of Ewido
   GRISOFT aims to bolsters its cross-platform antivirus and firewall 
solutions by adding Ewido Networks' award-winning anti-malware 
protection to its suite of offerings.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=282CA:4FB69

New Antiphishing Toolbar Takes an Obvious Approach
   TraceSecurity developed a different and rather obvious approach to 
an antiphishing toolbar. Instead of looking for known phishing sites, 
the free TraceAssure Toolbar searches for legitimate Web sites by 
matching domain names to IP addresses. 
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==== 3. Security Toolkit ==== 

Security Matters Blog: Rubberhose: A Useful Form of Data Encryption?
   by Mark Joseph Edwards, http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=282CF:4FB69

Instead of making it glaringly obvious that data is encrypted, 
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FAQ
   by John Savill, http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=282CE:4FB69 

Q: Does Microsoft provide a different level of support for applications 
and services running under a VMware virtualization host rather than 
under a Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 virtualization host?

Find the answer at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=282C8:4FB69

Security Forum Featured Thread: Is Someone Trying To Hack Our System?
   A forum participant has Windows 2000 Advanced Server with Terminal 
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==== 4. New and Improved ====
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