Talking to the mirror

Summary: Microsoft is trying to divert attention to Google while Windows machines continue to generate the lion's share of SPAM

TECHRIGHTS wrote a great deal about Microsoft's contribution to SPAM [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] (it kills E-mail as a reliable medium) several years ago. We try not to repeat old news, so let us leave that aside. In the corporate press, spam-spewing Windows boxes are often just called "botnets" rather than "Microsoft Windows botnets". Well, based on this report, Microsoft staff is busy coining terms like "Android botnet" and to quote one resultant article: "An international botnet could be using infected Android handsets to send out massive amounts of spam, Microsoft antispam engineer Terry Zink said in a Thursday blog posts on MSDN."

"It should not be too shocking that spammers intrude Windows too; it's just not coded for security."It takes some nerve for Microsoft of all companies to point the finger at others in such a fashion. Does it not want a monopoly (on SPAM)? People who accused Windows of having government backdoors used to be called paranoid; after Stuxnet revelations they deserve apologies because now we know that Microsoft is even letting governments intrude Windows. It should not be too shocking that spammers intrude Windows too; it's just not coded for security.

Here is more Android security FUD from Windows insecurity firm, Trend Micro. It is part of a trend of FUD that we wrote about before. Here is a rebuttal to the FUD that came directly from Microsoft. It says: "Terry Zink, a Microsoft 'researcher' who earlier claimed that Android devices were used to send spam, has now admitted that he 'guessed' the source of the spam. Guessed!

"This change in stand came after Google did its own investigation and found that was not the case. In a statement Google said, "Our analysis suggests that spammers are using infected computers and a fake mobile signature to bypass anti-spam mechanisms in the email platform they're using."

"Google's response turned Terry's 'claims' into a wild guess. But Terry did not miss the opportunity to take a dig at Google's Android when reporting the botnet, "I’ve written in the past that Android has the most malware compared to other smartphone platforms, but your odds of downloading and installing a malicious Android app is pretty low if you get it from the Android Marketplace.""

Watch out for claims that Android is not secure. If people knowingly install untrusted applications, then it's social engineering, not an innate security problem like in Windows. The reality distortion field is showing. Microsoft tries to accuse others of its own offences (the "equally evil" pattern of defence). ⬆