04.14.12
Microsoft Deals Another Blow to Businesses While Trying to ‘Fix’ the Mess It Created
Summary: The lesser-known story about Microsoft’s actions against Windows botnets
ACCORDING TO Pogson, Microsoft betrays yet more companies. To quote these quick remarks, “It turns out they were a bull in a china shop breaking all kinds of legitimate sites and blocking the work of real security businesses.”
Here is the original complaint about Microsoft. It says:
A little over 2 weeks ago Microsoft announced operation B71. It was being brought as the biggest blow to ZeuS botnets in history, and was picked up in the media globally
This is just a Microsoft PR campaign, a bit of reputation laundering. The reality is this:
Apart from trust there is one more thing, and that is due diligence, there is no other explanation than Microsoft not having done any due diligence in their actions and verification of data and sources in this case. They wanted to have a quick win, they might have gotten their quick win, but in the process sacrificed a lot. The advice is, check where the data is coming from, check it with your sources, get the confirmation that you can use it. Do not proceed until you are sure everyone has agreed and everything has been verified as much as can be possibly expected from you. Listing and seizing sinkholes and legitimate domains should be limited to a few and not dozens as was the case here.
This whole thing started when Microsoft’s incompetence led to trouble and Microsoft wanted to claim credit for ending a mess that it itself should have been made liable to. Sites like Slashdot were always happy to help this kind of reputation laundering and a case of distraction from the real problem: Microsoft. █
