__/ [ Freeride ] on Sunday 07 January 2007 09:36 \__
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/technology/07net.html?hp&ex=1168146000&en=d8e4c5dbbdaaa422&ei=5094&partner=homepage
>
>>In their persistent quest to breach the Internet?s defenses, the bad guys
>>are honing their weapons and increasing their firepower.
>
>
>>With growing sophistication, they are taking advantage of programs that
>>secretly install themselves on thousands or even millions of personal
>>computers, band these computers together into an unwitting army of
>>zombies, and use the collective power of the dragooned network to commit
>>Internet crimes.
>
>
>>Last spring, a program was discovered at a foreign coast guard agency
>>that systematically searched for documents that had shipping schedules,
>>then forwarded them to an e-mail address in China, according to David
>>Rand, chief technology officer of Trend Micro, a Tokyo-based computer
>>security firm. He declined to identify the agency because it is a
>>customer.
>
>
>>Although there is a wide range of estimates of the overall infection
>>rate, the scale and the power of the botnet programs have clearly become
>>immense. David Dagon, a Georgia Institute of Technology researcher who is
>>a co-founder of Damballa, a start-up company focusing on controlling
>>botnets, said the consensus among scientists is that botnet programs are
>>present on about 11 percent of the more than 650 million computers
>>attached to the Internet.
>
>
> Micro$haft should be held liable for their swiss cheese operating system.
=== Begin quote ==
"The cost of these steps could reduce our operating margins. Despite
these efforts, actual or perceived security vulnerabilities in our
products could lead some customers to seek to return products, to reduce
or delay future purchases, or to use competing products. Customers may
also increase their expenditures on protecting their existing computer
systems from attack, which could delay adoption of new technologies. Any
of these actions by customers could adversely affect our revenue. In
addition, actual or perceived vulnerabilities may lead to claims against
us. While our license agreements typically contain provisions that
eliminate or limit our exposure to such liability, there is no assurance
these provisions will be held effective under applicable laws and
judicial decisions."
Ah, from the horse's mouth: Microsoft just might be held legally responsible
for selling software that is insecure.
== End quote ==
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061122235224396
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