McAfee unafraid of Microsoft's security effort

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Hardware Level Securty

When IBM had its antitrust troubles, security was defined to be a function of the Operating System. IBM's OS/2 would be an example of understanding security to be a core function of the Operating System. There is a reason why the cash machines use OS/2 and other operating system products and not a Microsoft OS.

Microsoft has never taken adequate responsibility for security and I have come to believe that this is owing to poor advise from legals who have run Microsoft from day one.

By pretending that security is the responsiblity of third parties and end users, Microsoft creates the possibility that it is immune from charges of gross neglegance, that might be leveled against the company owing to viral attacks.

This is not unlike the possibility that a boat designer is immune from liabilty if he calls in an engineer or architect to test the integrety of his design and places warning lables for the boat owner all over his creation.

But it is unlike auto manufactures who can and are held liable for everything they put in the car - including potentially falty Microsoft OS products :>)

There is so much work to do. But where Microsoft has created a shield by outsourcing the core function of security, it has also created a need. Pre Xeon Intel Chips assume that security is at the Operating System Level. All the chips now being produced by Intel do not make that assumption. Security is burned in at the hardware level. See:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310ap_encryption_on_a_chip.html

But also note that all the Intel Multicore lines take the approach that the hardware manufacturer is totally liable. Del might want to rethink its stance against Itanium. The Auto business has a lot of case law supporting the notion that Del will be held liable for viral damage. It needs better partners than Microsoft in this new age.

Posted by: mighetto   Posted on: 04/10/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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