CNN - Tech Microsoft: New 'critical' security flaws detected

Do you think that the flaws can be fixed, or is it only time until someone does it again?

I think it is pretty well imposible to design a perfectly safe OS. There is just no way to prepare for every possible eventuality.

Bandikoot

I think it is pretty well imposible to design a perfectly safe OS. There is just no way to prepare for every possible eventuality.

very true, however look at linux vs windows, os x vs windows, firefox vs IE, opera vs IE.

total security is imposible, however that does not mean we should not try. A mac was put online by stanford with a simple statement, "Hack me if you can" this mesage was broadcast over the web (posted on slashdot) and in 48 hours no one managed to get into it. 48 hours open to the entire internet.

windows pc, 15 mins.

SEL (security enhanced linux) can be broken quickly, however the number of people who know how to do that are the same people who made the software to begin with.

I'm a windows user myself and a firefox user as well. i see the significant difference. as far as safety and security is concerned, the only thing that's most effective is proactiveness.

i have had calls back when i was in dell about customers complaining that their computer gets infected and blames dell for it. it's really sad to think that these people do not know how to perform manual scans. i mean it's basic.

linux is a very stable networking os. the only problem is that it's not the industry standard. most, if not all companied stick to win2k or sun microsystems or even ibm's OS. windows just have so much flaws. especially during the time when service pack 2 initially came out. i got calls from those "victims" and we ended up doing a full format reinstall. i guess that was also the first time in my life that microsoft had a free phone support for the SP2 victims.

nevertheless, the SP2 improved though the months and that's what's installed in my pc right now.

i still have faith in microsoft... somehow... =)

my two cents.

I recently picked up a 15" MacBook Pro, i stilll have a windows desktop since PS isnt ub yet, and because i still play games sometimes.
I have fully locked down my xp comp, and its secure right now, but if you dont know what your doing, xp can be really dangerous.

Every operating system has some flaws because it's done by humans, whom are not perfect. Some of the weak points may be intended to be useful features (like the RPC=remote procedure call which allows you to execute programs on a remote computer with some linux version and which can be used to cause severe damages because it requires no authentication so basically averyone can execute programs on that computer if they know its IP and rpc port).

An operating system can be weak mainly because of its architecture. Let's take Windows for example: the files have no protection (unlike linux where we have all sorts of access levels and wrights); yeah, sure we can restrict access for a common user on windows but it's still not as secure/powerfull as linux. On the other hand Linux has all sorts of nice commands which can sometimes do catastrophical damage (/dev/null is a very intriguing feature of linux...for conaisseurs only :P).

A second issue which can render an operating system weak is its popularity: the more popular it is, the more people know about it, and then the more they find out about its flaws.

To fix the flaws...well it can be done if the system it's modular and "accepts" ....hmm..how should I say this...updateing or addition of new patches (all that came out so wrong...XD). Otherwise said: they better fix them, people paid money, they should provide quality.

To end up i'll say to you all what it was said to me: the computer doesn't do what you want him to do, it does what you tell him to....so be carefull what you do tell him :D

zenda

Every operating system has some flaws because it's done by humans, whom are not perfect.

And you are saying that there is something out there that can make a perfect OS. Doesn't matter who or what makes it, a OS will still have flaws to exploit.

Well, popularity is our weakness when it comes to software use. we always choose the "known-ones" and the "industry-standard" despite the fact that they have bugs...

even if i am a windows user, i really admire the features of both linux and mac. mac is actually a very stable os. i have a friend who has an i-book and he is a happy camper. he has not experienced any sort of crash for the last
1 ½ years... now that's impressive.

as far as linux is concerned, i can only say that it's not popular since novice users naturally would have a hard time navigating it. but they just don't know how powerful and effective that OS is. (i'm thinking that bill gates only copied the UNIX architecture for his DOS)...

XP is still based of an old platform and therefore it's still weak. Vista on the other hand has been built from the ground up it will be more secure then any of the other Windows before it, but serously if you are worried about security then stop using Microsoft, it's like the biggest target on the planet.

mikageryuji

well, popularity is our weakness when it comes to software use. we always choose the "known-ones" and the "industry-standard" despite the fact that they have bugs...

You got a point there the main reason why hackers go after Microsoft OS is cause the one that is mostly used.

well, popularity is our weakness when it comes to software use. we always choose the "known-ones" and the "industry-standard" despite the fact that they have bugs...

You got a point there the main reason why hackers go after Microsoft OS is cause the one that is mostly used.

Makes perfect sense...it's half and half...half are with Microsoft...the other half with Mac.

I'm a bit weary of Microsoft's security, especially after a recent incident where third-party programmers fixed a problem before Microsoft's people could. (It might be the same one mentioned in the article.) But then again, Windows is the most popular os, so it's bound to get the most attacks.

I honestly don't think that popularity is the main reason to consider for an OS being very insecure, because if you look at web servers, apache is the web server that dominates the market with IIS (by microsoft) in 2nd place. However when you look at the tally of bugs and holes, IIS wins by 2 fold. Simple conclusion: No software is perfect, but there will always be more imperfect software :P.

--trigger-happy

It is possible to have a perfect security... don't use the Internet and you're computer will never be vulnerable. Windows is inherently unsecure because of the way it was written. In order to be productive on a windows machine you have to be a user with administrative rights or else you can't get anything done. Linux and OSX are setup so you only use root or sudo when you need to install a program or modify a system setting. Also, having a browser integrated into a OS is bad practice because that is a direct target into your computer. The reason why people use Opera/Firefox is that the programs are separate from the OS so even if they are cracked the hacker can't majorly trash the system.

WindowsXP as far as security goes has been Microsoft’s worst OS ever produced. The OS has been stable for me and I've had only 1 or 2 blue screens of death in the last 5 years of use. BSOD's happened almost on a daily basis for me with win98. Microsoft has the tendency to be overly confident and that will be their downfall unless they can get their act together with Vista. Their biggest mistake was refusing to support the EFI standard for motherboards that is currently the wave of the future that will end up replacing the BIOS. I also think Microsoft has a landfill type of coding strategy where once they lay down code they keep adding more layers of trash on top of it. What they need is to rewrite their OS from the ground up which may never happen. People always talk about the rise of Linux and Apple two or three years from now. What is ironic is the same comments were said several years ago and nothing has happened today. Sounds like wishful thinking more than anything else. I think the bottom line is people are willing to go with the majority, which is windows and they are at the point where it is too scary to try a new operating system.

Meh, i am yet to see a perfect OS, program, forum software, website script. Any programs/scripts that are used have bugs and problems. In the end its up to the user and the program maker to keep it safe.

Thats what i think. As long as you keep updating you will be fine.