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MS sees the light!
Microsoft had to ask itself, "What can we do to make sure that this system right out of the box is as rock solid as we can make it, so that the user doesn't have to do anything?"

Wow, this basic philosophy more than anything else is what windows has been fundamentally been missing in the area of security! If they had built XP (or any previous OS) with this philosophy a huge number of problems could have been avoided. Still, better late than never! If they take this to heart they will be able to make a real difference for new Windows purchasers (those who aren't security minded today largely won't install SP2, but MS had to start somewhere). Although, as MS defenders frequently point out, much of the security risk with windows is due to their near 100% market share. So this, along with a significant market share drop, could be what the web needs to become reasonably safe for e-commerce, online banking, etc.

As for the chorus for MS to build a more sophisticated firewall into windows, I couldn't disagree more. As even the article points out, this would suffocate the existing sw firewall market. Better to have three or four entrenched solutions, so one vulnerability doesn't turn into a firestorm on the web. Besides, those too complacent to download Zone Alarm or Sygate's free firewall probably would ignore the extra features. MS deserves credit for avoiding this temptation.
Posted by: enduser_z   Posted on: 08/08/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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MS sees the light!  enduser_z | 08/08/04
Outbound blocking  Jomo_z | 08/09/04
There is NO WAY to make Windoze secure !  realitycheck101 | 08/08/04
You're right ..  worknman | 08/09/04
Ech..  sshreve@... | 08/11/04
You're right, but...  friedcow | 08/09/04
"UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius t  bsfisher | 08/09/04
Sure there is...  rbochan | 08/09/04
You guys are forgetting...  ollie_z | 08/09/04
Not just home users  Anton Philidor | 08/09/04
Windows Security  gsquared | 08/09/04
Nope...  Linux User 147560 | 08/09/04
Arrogance or ignorance? BOTH  Squawkbox | 08/08/04
seems you missed the point  zijiang | 08/08/04
Good point HOWEVER  Squawkbox | 08/09/04
Hope you mean metaphorical rats  Anton Philidor | 08/09/04
Yes Yes metaphorical rats  Squawkbox | 08/09/04
MS has different requirements than 3rd party vendors  dsnyder_z | 08/09/04
Thanks NOW I understand, that is why I asked  Squawkbox | 08/09/04
Processes  sshreve@... | 08/11/04
Ironic comments  Nigel Johnstone | 08/09/04
Incremental security step  Anton Philidor | 08/09/04
No mention of hardware firewalls  wdlists@... | 08/09/04
There you go with that common sense approach again.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/09/04
Why not hardware.  donford74@... | 08/17/04
Why outbound blocking is so important  friedcow | 08/09/04
It is "game over"  toadlife | 08/09/04
Answer this then  Taz_z | 08/09/04
Answers  toadlife | 08/09/04
Good answers  Taz_z | 08/09/04
easy  tamuhockey | 08/09/04
I hadn't thought of that.  enduser_z | 08/09/04
Not sure, but I don't think so.  tamuhockey | 08/10/04
Why outbound blocking gives a false sense of security  johnrich | 08/13/04
The "Outbound blocking" myth rears it's ugly head again  toadlife | 08/09/04
Mostly wrong  Taz_z | 08/09/04
All I'm saying is that outbound blocking is an overblown feature  toadlife | 08/09/04
All good answers  Taz_z | 08/09/04
It saved me  enduser_z | 08/09/04
admin is needed  toadlife | 08/09/04
Damned if they do, damned if they don't.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/09/04
But half-a$$ed works  Anton Philidor | 08/09/04
Al about persecption.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/09/04
"... great ..."?  Anton Philidor | 08/09/04
Who said anything about selling it?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/09/04
You're right; I left out a step.  Anton Philidor | 08/09/04
Except IE an WMP aren't free  voska | 08/09/04
Re:Except IE an WMP aren't free  Michael L Hereid Sr | 08/15/04
Amen, Brother Ax!  ollie_z | 08/09/04
One problem, I don't trust MS  voska | 08/09/04
come again?  tamuhockey | 08/09/04
RE: Microsoft is the reason we need AV software  Scrat | 08/12/04
Forget Windoze, you Lindoze instead  FilledOut | 08/09/04
ANTI-TRUST around the corner?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/09/04
Hmmm, and not a single responce.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 08/09/04
Anti-Trust  blacksheepxlch1 | 08/09/04
Because we all know your right  voska | 08/09/04
UNIX  bsfisher | 08/09/04
It is almost funny!  blacksheepxlch1 | 08/09/04
firewalls  half@... | 08/09/04
Outbound filtering is overrated!  omdguy | 08/09/04
Not that good at all!  htotten | 08/09/04
Sorry, but  richdave | 08/09/04
UNIX hard to use? errm SCO has run on a lot of tills (and so does linux)  hipparchus2000 | 08/09/04
elbow / butt label co-ordination problem.  richdave | 08/09/04
Not perfect, but much better than the alternative.  JonathonDoe | 08/10/04
Competition, no; enterprise/user satisfaction, yes.  Anton Philidor | 08/10/04
it is a freebe firewall  V Sanders | 08/10/04
Ironically this motto  michael-t | 08/10/04
Consiracy Theory  noetze | 08/12/04
Better than nothing... maybe!  jwschull@... | 08/12/04
The average user is the problem.  rwire@... | 08/12/04
hooray!  CheeseToast | 08/13/04
Long Way To Go  isowipe | 08/12/04
Educating the public  Chiatzu | 08/13/04
If they blocked outbound then...  msdead | 08/13/04
ABS FUD  ArturoWeenie | 08/15/04
re "SP2's new firewall: Not good enough"  V Sanders | 08/16/04
Windows Firewall(XP sp2)  coolone1232001 | 12/08/04

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