Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Microsoft Still Suffers Insecurity Complex

    By
    Jim Rapoza
    -
    January 7, 2002
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Microsoft just endured one of its worst years ever when it comes to security problems, which is really saying something. And to top things off, it ended the year with a near flood of trouble—from new viruses attacking Outlook to holes in IE 6.0 to vulnerabilities in SQL Server to a serious hole in its “most secure” operating system, Windows XP.

      Whenever I bring up Microsoft security problems, someone is bound to say something like “They have the most problems because they are targeted more than anyone.” There is a bit of truth in that, but the company could make life a little harder for people who are targeting it.

      Instead, Microsoft—again and again—allows security to play second banana to whatever cool, new productivity feature it wants to add, no matter how much lip service it pays to improving security.

      When Microsoft introduced active content in Outlook, we, along with many in the security community, said it would create a security risk. But Microsoft blew these warnings off as theoretical and, instead, touted the gains that would be made by making mail more automatically responsive. The same things were said about programming in Office documents, ActiveX in browsers and poor default configurations in IIS.

      Every time, Microsoft decided to tout marginal features now and deal with the security fallout later.

      Now we have a major problem in Windows XP that makes it possible for attackers to remotely take over systems. Was this a surprise?

      Of course not. Every review we did brought up the potential security risks of all the remote management and automated remote features in Windows XP. But Microsoft simply responded that Windows XP is the most secure Windows operating system ever, and, hey, arent those remote features cool?

      Will this change?

      On the server side, Microsoft seems to be making good moves to make systems more secure by default. However, when it comes to productivity and general-use products, I think that worries about potential security risks will always be pushed aside to make way for the latest cool, new feature.

      Does Microsoft sacrifice security in favor of new features? Let me know at [email protected]

      Avatar
      Jim Rapoza
      Jim Rapoza, Chief Technology Analyst, eWEEK.For nearly fifteen years, Jim Rapoza has evaluated products and technologies in almost every technology category for eWEEK. Mr Rapoza's current technology focus is on all categories of emerging information technology though he continues to focus on core technology areas that include: content management systems, portal applications, Web publishing tools and security. Mr. Rapoza has coordinated several evaluations at enterprise organizations, including USA Today and The Prudential, to measure the capability of products and services under real-world conditions and against real-world criteria. Jim Rapoza's award-winning weekly column, Tech Directions, delves into all areas of technologies and the challenges of managing and deploying technology today.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×