“Microsoft’s skill at using its Windows monopoly to kill
competitors is legendary, and now Kerberos seems to be the next
target….“
“Windows 2000 is Microsoft’s first implementation of Kerberos.
Microsoft has struggled in the past to convince the enterprise
market segment that Windows NT is ready to take its place alongside
Unix. Certainly Microsoft’s reputation for poor security
implementation has not helped it in that cause. By embracing the de
facto Unix standard for secure authentication, it hopes to become
more acceptable in that regard.”
“All of which is well and good, except for one thing. Microsoft
didn’t just embrace Kerberos, it has extended it in the classic
manner. Microsoft’s implementation of Kerberos includes unpublished
changes to the ticket, a security token that allows a client to
identify itself to other resources on the network. By taking a
public standard private, Microsoft appears to be making another
effort to force the adoption of its flagship product with the
weight of its market power.”