06.15.09
‘Our Governments Just Aren’t Engineered for Security’
Summary: Financially-driven and favours-motivated government unable to make reasonable decisions that are defensible
SOME MONTHS after Bill Gates had advised Obama (good cop) Steve Ballmer decided to blackmail him (bad cop). Microsoft’s influence on the new government is no secret and it shows in every way. Microsoft lobbyists fund this new government and so do William Gates (Bill Senior), Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Steve Ballmer, and his wife Connie, who used to work for Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft's current PR Department. For people who think that Microsoft families are distant from Obama, think again and witness the evidence.
More recently we saw the BSA lobbying the government to put industry in charge of national security, so its no surprising that a Microsoft person was almost immediately put at the top of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [1, 2]. The government soon recruited Microsoft’s Mundie (who hates Free(dom) software) to assist with technology policy. According to new reports, President Barack Obama may make Microsoft’s security person a cybersecurity czar. This is not a joke. Yes, Microsoft and security.
Ex-government cyber official, exec mulled for czar job
[...]
Microsoft’s security chief and a veteran of Clinton’s and Bush’s national security teams are leading candidates for cybersecurity czar, a job that needs White House access and clout to protect networks that underpin the U.S. economy.
President Barack Obama promised last month that he would personally decide who would lead the fight against an epidemic of cybercrime and organize a response to any major cyber attack.
[...]
A leading candidate for the post is Scott Charney, head of Microsoft’s cybersecurity division, who has said he won’t take the job, according to a source who had direct knowledge of the matter but was not authorized to discuss it. The source said, however, that Charney would change his mind if pressed.
There is more information here:
Two leading candidates have emerged for this job. The first is Scott Charney, head of Microsoft’s cybersecurity division.
Coming from the company which says that “[O]ur products just aren’t engineered for security,” this is black comedy.
One of our readers says: “It’s a bad joke to even consider putting an alleged cyber racketeer in charge of national security. There’s conflict of interest and he’s not qualified.
“Notice that from a business perspective, MS executives have been in constant trouble with both foreign and domestic courts for both unethical and illegal practices. These range from predatory marketing, contract violations, false advertising and They maintained that long-established reputation through lots of hard work and many decisions that could have easily gone the right direction instead. These are crooks.
“On qualifications, just look at MS security track record. Microsoft’s own “childish” executives(1) point out that their software is not designed with security in mind(2) and that some (which may very well be *all*) Microsoft code is so in secure that it endangers national security. Ongoing incidents demonstrate(3) that even Microsoft HQ can’t secure its own software from Windows worms. That conclusion is made final in their bid to enter the aftermarket anti- Windows-virus software.
“Security is also making sure that material is available when it’s needed. Microsoft-style write-only backups don’t cut it. So be sure to also look at the unmitigated disaster regarding turnover of the Bush administration’s electronic records.
“Ok, that’s the tip of the ice berg for Windows security. Then there is also a conflict of interest.
“The government post must be able to fight organized crime and it is dubitable whether an individual who has been part of the problem can suddenly, simply because he is “pressured” to do a 180 and start fighting organized crime.
“Law enforcement, including police, are one of several mechanisms to mitigate social or economic damage. Dams, powergrids, hospitals, and so on are protected because of the great social or economic damage that would come from their destruction or disabling. Unfortunately, MS products have been implicated in air traffic outages, suspected in the East Coast power grid failure, and appear responsible now for great numbers of hospital deaths due to Windows worms.
“Law enforcement in many countries is usually pretty good about community outreach and crime prevention. There are even special units that deal with organized crime. An old method has been to turn a blind eye to “lesser” crimes or criminals in return for something else. Traditionally this include the use of finks to rat on their cohorts. This makes a wide, gray area around a Faustian gamble that the returns at the end will justify the means. In some cases, the give-and-take becomes a way of life rather than a means to an end. However, add the clause “…with a computer” to any known crime and law enforcement becomes paralyzed and, at best, reluctant to help.
“It would be a bad position if law enforcement had somehow become beholden to MS, now that Windows botnets are bought, sold, trade, and fought over by other organized crime groups. These Windows worms are responsible for tens of billions of dollars of damage per Worm. With Windows entering hospitals and health care, this ideology means a real body count, just like another ideologically motivated group the Taliban. Deaths and/or major damage usually are indicators that intervention is needed.
“Really, Charney, and his cohorts at MS, should be considered for a special place in the government: Camp X-Ray.” █
(1) US DOJ
(2) “… Microsoft code was so flawed it could not be safely disclosed.”
– eWeek
(3) ‘”Our products just aren’t engineered for security,” admitted Valentine,who since 1998 has headed Microsoft’s Windows division.’
– “Microsoft: “Our products aren’t engineered for security,” ComputerWeekly. (2002)
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Roy Bixler said,
June 15, 2009 at 12:36 pm
That good cop, bad cop act must go back a long way, because it brings to mind the old quote from Ray Noorda: “Pearly Gates and emBallmer — one promises you heaven and the other one prepares you for the grave.”
Needs Sunlight Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Ray Noorda is on record as having said that often. He know what those clowns were up to. Novell signed the shop over to M$ weeks after Ray Noorda died.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Months.
Needs Sunlight Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
1 month = ~ 4 weeks, 2 months =~ 8 weeks, etc.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
June 15th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
October 09, 2006.
This interesting because Novell came to Microsoft for negotiations around May.