RE: Computerworld op/ed on vulnerability patch cycle

["Alexander Antonov" <aantonov () cigital com>]

Ken,

I believe the issue of automatic updates was already discussed on other security-related lists. There are two main 
problems:

- everybody who has subscribed is at a complete mercy of the software manufacturer, if a new bug is introduced in a new 
release, then everybody becomes vulnerable before getting a chance to test and approve it themselves
- this automatic delivery mechanism becomes a single point of failure: if it is hacked, then everybody is hmm... not 
secure :-)

Alexander Antonov
http://www.cigital.com

> FYI, I just saw an opinion piece on Computerworld written by 
> Bill Addington 
> called "Slow down the security patch cycle".  (See 
> http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,92037,00.ht
> ml for full 
> story.)  In the article, the author discusses some possible 
> solutions for 
> improving the distribution of vulnerability and patch information.  


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