[ISN] NSA helped with Windows 7 development

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141105/NSA_helped_with_Windows_7_development?taxonomyId=17

By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld 
November 18, 2009 

The National Security Agency (NSA) worked with Microsoft on the 
development of Windows 7, an agency official acknowledged yesterday 
during testimony before Congress.

"Working in partnership with Microsoft and elements of the Department of 
Defense, NSA leveraged our unique expertise and operational knowledge of 
system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft's operating 
system security guide without constraining the user to perform their 
everyday tasks, whether those tasks are being performed in the public or 
private sector," Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance 
director, told the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland 
Security yesterday as part of a prepared statement.

"All this was done in coordination with the product release, not months 
or years later during the product lifecycle," Schaeffer added. "This 
will improve the adoption of security advice, as it can be implemented 
during installation and then later managed through the emerging SCAP 
standards."

Security Content Automation Protocol, or SCAP, is a set of standards for 
automating chores such as managing vulnerabilities and measuring 
security compliance. The National Institute of Standards and 
Technologies (NIST) oversees the SCAP standards.

[...]


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