Bonum Certa Men Certa

Kaspersky Slams Windows for Insecurity, Microsoft Delivers Bad Patches and Leaves Windows Exposed

Eugene Kaspersky



Summary: Security guru Eugene Kaspersky has harsh words for Microsoft, which still fails to secure its platform and even patch software without breaking it

IT HAS been another tough week for Windows, which simply cannot be secured, not even with 'snake oil' software that's called "anti-virus" (unless the placebo effect counts).



A few months ago we wrote about Microsoft being allowed into Ford cars. There are already security concerns about that at Ford. They worry about Windows/WiFi in the car getting hijacked.

“Sadly, we live in a world where Microsoft pressures journalists to misreport incidents.”We wish to discuss for a moment an interesting phenomenon. When a car breaks down (let us say a Toyota), the news will say a Toyota car is having issues, it won't say that cars in general have issues. That's because the market is full of choices. Yes, choices, diversity, not "fragmentation" as Microsoft would probably put it. If "Windows" is embedded in PCs, then Windows can become interchangeable and synonymous with "computing". Then, people would not realise what's really wrong and that they also have better choices. Sadly, we live in a world where Microsoft pressures journalists to misreport incidents. Taken from a long discussion we've had by E-mails for a few days now, consider the fact that we have documented examples where journalists received mail from Microsoft's PR agencies (e.g. W-E) to tell them off and ask them to change articles about Windows security. The Inquirer is good in that regard because without much reluctance it spilled the beans when that happened. We have given articles from them where content was being tempered by Microsoft PR agencies, whose job was to spin the vulnerabilities in Vista.

Reporters who are contacted because they describe Windows security problems as just "computer problems" often cite the "popularity" myth of Windows as the cause. It's PR. Given the widespread use of GNU/Linux in servers and devices everywhere, people should struggle to reason about lack of cracking as related to "popularity". Windows is not popular by the way, it's just ubiquitous*. Moreover, Microsoft commissions and manufactures its own 'studies' where it hides flaws and reports bogus numbers. There are many examples to that effect.

Here is what Eugene Kaspersky said about Windows earlier this month:

Security chief Eugene Kaspersky has launched a scathing attack on Microsoft's security record.

[...]


There are already some new examples of Microsoft's poor patching. Last week Microsoft delivered broken/rogue security patches and later admitted the problem which had the following effect:

Microsoft confirmed today that a security update for its Excel spreadsheet had turned English text in an important Windows tool into Chinese.

The admission was the second in the past two days from Microsoft's Office team of a gaffe involving a recent security update.


How does Microsoft break languages while fixing a security problem? One might remark that this implies poor software design.

Speaking of Office, this area is in a state of transition in an economy where people use Free software or access software in the form of a service. Don Reisinger, typically a troll/baiter who writes bizarre reversals of truths at CNET, explains some of the issues and Microsoft resorts to more AstroTurfing by offering money to those who create "viral Office 2010 videos" for YouTube.

Want a chance to win $10,000 for your small Seattle business or start-up? The Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Microsoft have partnered up in a contest for making videos about Office 2010.


In case it sounds familiar, it should. Microsoft also hires people to post comments favourable to Windows in social networking sites.

Anyway, going back to the subject of insecurity, someone writes a guest post at ZDNet about "the cadence of Microsoft security patches" and ECT notes that Windows is already vulnerable again, as usual.

The expected batch of patches wasn't the only thing Windows users got with Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday update. The set of fixes was accompanied by a warning about an unpatched zero-day exploit for Internet Explorer.


All that Microsoft can offer is a workaround:

Microsoft has revised their advisory for the newest IE 0Day vulnerability to note that working exploit code is now available and that they are aware of "targeted attacks attempting to use this vulnerability." They have also created "Microsoft Fix it" links to disable and re-enable the vulnerable software components.


The Inquirer wrote:

The flaw in Internet Exploder versions 6 and 7 allows an attacker to take control of a victim's computer.


Internet Explorer was the cause of a lot of damage earlier this year [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]. In 4 countries, authorities recommended that citizens abandon Internet Explorer. ____ * It's more about reminding reporters that people choose to buy a computer, they don't choose to buy Windows. Calling Windows "popular" is like calling cockroaches "popular" because there are many of them out there. It ought to be one of those things that people should train themselves to avoid saying because Windows is not "popular".

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Uses LLM Slop to Defraud (or Rob) Shareholders
Microsoft is basically defrauding its shareholders by LLM slop
The "Davos Effect": Tarnishing the Reputation of Places Not by Overtourism But by Oligarch Infestation
The last Venice needs is an affiliation with Venetian oligarchs
 
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Distraction-Free Writing and Hytale Mismanagement
Links for the day
Links 01/07/2025: "Beauty of Blogging" and "Etiquette of Collapse"
Links for the day
The Web is a Dead End
We need to adopt alternatives
When Words Lose Their Intended Meaning
examples of words that, at least in the technical spheres, don't mean what they sound like
People Who Disagree With You on Technical Matters May or May Not Agree With You on Political Things (But Usually They Do)
What bothers me a great deal is seeing left-leaning people accusing other left-leaning people of being "nazis"
"Too Much Choice" and "Too Many Programming Languages"
What IBM and its apologists aim for was attempted in the 1930s and it failed
Microsoft Lost 400,000,000 Windows Users, According to Microsoft
more people adopt smaller computers and many people replace Windows with GNU/Linux, as they don't really need a new computer
Half a Year Gone, What's to Come Next
In the second half of 2025 we expect to be done with the Microsoft SLAPPs
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 30, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 30, 2025
People at the Very Top of Microsoft Know How Bad Things Really Are
There's no product that can replace the former profitability of Windows licensing and stuff that went on top of Windows
Gemini Links 01/07/2025: Mid Year and a Tour of Old Languages
Links for the day
EPO Presentation Bemoans Misuse of Slop in Decision-Making on Patents and in Classification (Which is Likely Illegal Too)
We habitually mention failed use cases of LLMs on the Web
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Confirmed, "XBox Hardware Is Dead"
It's possible that over 20% of the staff will be laid off
Links 30/06/2025: Kyrgyzstan vs Media Freedom, Dalai Lama Succession
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: Backend Programs in Gemini and Dynamic Content Without The Scripting
Links for the day
Links 30/06/2025: Zuckerberg’s Tax-Evading Scheme Harms Kids, US Copyright Office Lacks Leadership
Links for the day
Microsoft Isn't Laying Off Tens of Thousands to 'Invest' in Slop ('Hey Hi'), It's Laying Off Tens of Thousands Because It's Running Out of Money (and Willing Lenders)
the layoffs are a sign of the business failing, not "hey hi" (whatever that is) replacing staff
Intel Lays Off 20% of Its Workforce, Microsoft is Doing the Same This Year
Like a yoyo, whatever goes up will come back down
Microsoft XBox Layoffs: Almost 2,000 Layoffs Became "Over 2,000"? (Over 20% of the Staff)
over 20% of staff will be let go, not counting staff that leaves voluntarily
GNU/Linux Rises to New Highs in Angola, Africa in General is Abandoning Windows
Western media barely covers Microsoft layoffs in Africa, but in recent years Microsoft culled the workforce and even shut down entire operations
Summer Plans in Techrights and Elsewhere
massive layoffs at Microsoft
Destination Geminispace (in the Age of LLM Slop and Slop Images That Infest the Web and Social Control Media)
Geminispace isn't vast, but at least it is - on average - a lot "cleaner"
GNU/Linux Growing in Sierra Leone This Year
Based on what statCounter is seeing, this year there are more and more people there who adopt GNU/Linux
Serial Sloppers Gonna Slop
More sites out there ought to call out the cheaters
Quartz (qz.com) is Spam and a Slopfarm
It used to be OK. Then they fired the staff.
Links 30/06/2025: US Economic Woes, Extreme Heat
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 29, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 29, 2025
Gemini Links 30/06/2025: "The AI Hype" and New AuraGem Ask
Links for the day
Our Desktops Are Not Your Experiments, X is Not an Experiment
Breaking what already worked
Microsoft's Big Lies Regarding This Week's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (and They're Already Being Spread by Slopfarms)
Microsoft is the "market leader" in slop
Explaining the Full Story of SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff
For every action there is a reaction, for every attack there will be proportionate consequences
The Openwashing Shills Initiative (OSI) - Part III: IRS and Status of OSI
"They lied to the US IRS and there’s a paper trail"
IBM Red Hat's Dogmatic Fanaticism Under a Thin Veil of "Modernism"
IBM now has the audacity to paint people who don't agree as "nazis"
Microsoft's Share in Guatemala Fell From 97% to 14%
Eventually Microsoft will get stuck in a loop of layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs
They Made Technology Scary and Taught Us That It's Innocent, Friendly, Even "Social"
Rejection of all this "apps" and "gadgets" and "Smart" (whatever that means!) status quo isn't a rejection of society
The Media is Under Attacks Partly Because There's Little Other (Remaining) Press to Speak in Its Defence
The biggest danger here is that when there's very little press or no "opposition media" left it becomes even easier to crush critics because there aren't many people left to speak about the matter
If Your Web Site is Run by Bots, Eventually Nobody Will 'Read' It Except Bots (People Don't Want to Read Slop)
Eventually people learn from mistakes
Links 29/06/2025: Microsoft Releases False/Fake Benchmarks, "Google Wants You to Watch Ads or Take Surveys to Read Articles"
Links for the day
Links 29/06/2025: Data Breaches and Online Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/06/2025: "The Price Of Eggs" and Gemini 3D Tic Tac Toe
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 28, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 28, 2025