Security Issues Continue To Dog Microsoft

A report issued by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) last week suggested that Microsoft's monopoly is bad not only for business, but also for national security. It recommends that the U.S. government diversify its operating systems to reduce the cascading effect of a rapidly spreading Windows infection.

"Our point is about monoculture. You don't put all your eggs in one basket," said Dan Geer, former CTO of Cambridge, Mass.-based @Stake Consulting and a principal author of the report. "Part of the solution has to be that our infrastructure has to have more diversity, and obviously, that can't happen from Microsoft's side," he said.

Geer reportedly was fired from @Stake one day before the release of the report last week. The company would not specify whether he was fired or resigned, but sources said his dismissal was the direct result of the report.

The State Department breach is the latest headache for Microsoft and its CEO, Steve Ballmer, who recently said he is humbled by the outbreak of viruses that have wreaked havoc on Windows computers worldwide.

According to a State Department statement, "The department continues to use active network intrusion detection, firewall and antivirus, but unfortunately, these fast-growing computer viruses appear to be the wave of the future."

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft declined to comment specifically on the State Department fiasco. However, the company said it is working to be responsive to vulnerabilities.

Microsoft lobbyists such as CompTIA dismissed the report as a political attack.

Still others blame the government's lax attitude. Partners and security solution providers say there's plenty of blame to spread around, but until Windows-based PCs are fully inoculated, the problems will continue.

One software reseller said a multiple-OS approach is interesting but not practical. "Everyone else has a version of this problem,there are Mac OS X, Unix and Linux viruses and worms as well. They get less attention, but they do exist," said John Parkinson, chief technologist for the North American region at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Rosemont, Ill.

"Increasing the diversity of the operating system is a theoretically interesting approach and will happen on the server side, but on the desktop, a user doesn't use the OS; they use the [user interface]," he said.