FC: Weekly column: White House appears soft on Microsoft's security

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2010-1074-957970.html
   
   Microsoft's new deal with Uncle Sam
   By Declan McCullagh
   September 16, 2002, 4:00 AM PT

   WASHINGTON--Why does the White House refuse to tell Microsoft to get
   tough on security?
   
   On Wednesday, the Bush administration is scheduled to publish its
   proposal to increase the security of the Internet. Properly titled the
   "National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," it's said to talk with great
   earnestness about helping home users safeguard their computers, about
   thwarting online intrusions into business systems, and about providing
   better training to federal network administrators.
   
   But, according to people familiar with the draft report, it pays scant
   attention to Microsoft, which has been responsible for more online
   security woes than any other company in history.
   
   Such an absence would be glaring. Intentional design choices and
   unintentional bugs in Microsoft Windows, Outlook, Word and Explorer
   have created vulnerabilities so numerous they've become legendary.
   Shoddy default settings have practically begged intruders to plunder
   Windows-equipped PCs. Any serious look at Internet security has to
   start with the world's largest software company.

   But the Bush administration appears to have punted. During an
   invitation-only briefing last Thursday, a National Security Council
   official told about two dozen attendees from civil liberties groups
   and trade associations that the White House had no problem with the
   Internet's "monoculture" environment. Biologists warn against plant
   monoculture, which permits pathogens to spread like wildfire. The same
   principle applies to malicious code and our largely-Microsoft Internet
   environment.

   [...]




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