Experts Decry Microsoft as National Security Danger; Microsoft Lobbyist Responds

CRN: Experts: Reliance On Microsoft A Danger To National Security

"A panel of leading security experts Wednesday blasted Microsoft for vulnerabilities in its software, and warned that reliance on the Redmond, Wash.-based developer's software is a danger to both enterprises and national security.

"The group, which debuted its report at the first day of a two-day conference hosted by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), was headed by Dan Geer, the chief technology officer of @Stake, a security consulting firm.

"'As fast as the world's computing infrastructure is growing, vulnerability to attack is growing faster still,' said Geer..."

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Newsforge: ACT Responds to Security Study

"Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) president Jonathan Zuck has responded to the security study authored by well-known security experts and published by arch-rival group CCIA this morning. The ACT is funded primarily by Microsoft and two other firms: Orbitz and Ebay. Zuck often travels to testify against any legislation which might disrupt the status quo; they are perfectly comfortable with Microsoft's monopoly. This past summer, for example, he flew to Austin, Texas, in order to speak against state Senate Bill 1579, which mandated a study on the use of open source software in state government. His statement, which was entitled 'The Myth of the Monoculture: Why the CCIA Security Study is Just Another Thinly Veiled Attempt to Get the Government to Punish Microsoft and Give AOL and Sun a Leg Up' follows.

"On the back of his CCIA-funded security study, Ed Black is riding in with his own Marxist Government-mandated Software Security plan. Not surprisingly, the plan benefits CCIA's own members like Sun Microsystems at the expense of Microsoft..."

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Related Stories:

• Linux Magazine: Go Directly to Jail(Mar 05, 2003)
• The Register: Open and Closed Security are Roughly Equivalent(Feb 12, 2003)
• CNET News: Decrypting the Secret to Strong Security(Jan 17, 2003)
• InternetWeek: Report Rekindles Open Source vs. Microsoft Security Debate(Nov 23, 2002)