Microsoft’s Windows Vista has a date with some of the world’s smartest hackers. The software maker will use the spotlight of the Black Hat security conference in August to show off some of the key security features and functionality being fitted into Vista. Microsoft’s appearance on the Black Hat stage is a first on many fronts. Microsoft will be the first software vendor to present an entire Black Hat Briefing track on a pre-release product. It is also the first time a representative from Redmond will make an official presentation at the controversial hacker confab. Meanwhile, a patch Tuesay passed by.
– I couldn’t resist.
HA! Thats a good one!!!
I wonder how well THEY know each other?
My Motto:
“Anything a man can make, a man can Break…”
Yeah, security…^_^
Edited 2006-06-13 23:49
Vista exploits to hit the ‘net within a week of the conference.
You did mean “whithin one week *BEFORE* the conference”, didn’t you?
I’m sure they’ll have a working exploit written by the time MS have finished their presentation.
I’m sure both Kroc and RenatoRam are mistaken.
I think history speaks for itself.
I fail to see how such a badly managed project that keeps losing features is going to contain exemplary secure code.
I wonder if Microsoft will be gracious to Gary McKinnon and let him join in. That would save him his life and reputation, at least internet-wise.
…reminds me of that TV dating show.
Microsoft: “We are here, any black hats willing to give Vista Beta 6 a crack?”
Black Hat: “Hmmm no”
Black Hat 2: “Not me”
Black Hat 3: “Looks pretty secure from over here”
Microsoft: “Look we separated IE from the OS, it’s in a sandcastle all by itself”
Black Hat 2: “You mean ‘sandbox’ ”
Microsoft: “Yea that’s it now come over here and feel this keyboard, it’s just like the old IBM style, click click see?
Black Hat 3: “We’ll pass.”
Microsoft: “Look we’ll pay money, we gots lots of that you know”
Black Hat: “Yea we know”
Microsoft: “Look, what do we have to do to get you guys to crack Vista for us?”
All Black Hats: “RELEASE IT!!”
/+1 funny…
Enjoyed your comments much.
WOW MS must have found the dumbest managers in the world. How is this whole sharade going to convince anybody that Vista is secure? Plus this isn’t even the final release. Damned MS get your act together and higher some testers or something. Maybe next time rather than adding new features you guys could fix the old ones first … just a though …
Hmm… What are you talking about?
They are going to show off new stuff, and talk about how they have stuff in there that protects against various kinds of attacks.
In what way does holding Black Hat briefings imply that Vista is insecure?
by letting them know what wont work you are saving them a lot of time in cracking the product. way to go MS, zero day exploits for everyone!
Do any of you fools think that maybe … just maybe … the reason Vista has been so long delayed, is that they really *are* trying to make sure that it’s much more secure than previous releases?
Nah … that couldn’t be it …
Actually from a source I have within “The Organization” no, it isn’t.
This person just the other day was telling me a nightmare of errant code is lying in Vista just waiting for someone to find it. This is gonna be big people. I mean really big.
Are they “legitimate” security people (i.e. Symantec, McAfee, etc.) that are there to share their experience/knowledge with each other so they can improve their products, better secure their environment (create new security policies, restructure network, include/exclude OSes and applications), etc., or are they budding script kiddies?
Gah, these announcements are the same every time a new Windows version or service pack is to be released. “No, really, we focused on security this time!”
Microsoft’s promises for security are like articles about Duke Nukem Forever. At some point you just stop caring.
Okay… They’re gonna parade around with their new “secure” OS at a conference full of hackers. Now, anything made secure, can be found to be insecure by someone willing to try hard enough. That is, anything man can make, another man can break. When the hackers expose the OS’s weaknesses, they’ll have egg all over their face. Nice PR move…
Someone needs fired! How about Ballmer?
“When the hackers expose the OS’s weaknesses, they’ll have egg all over their face. Nice PR move…”
Why do you think they would do this? This is what they WANT to happen. That way they can actually get some things fixed. This is a smart and good move by MS in actuality. There would be no egg on th eface as you put it, since the OS is not released, and is only in beta. Beta by definition means buggy, and this way they will find out what the holes are and at least have the opportunity to fix them. The egg on the face will only come after release, if holes found during this period and after this event are not closed.
That’s a pretty big maybe.
Maybe the pope is protestant too?
IF MS develops software at ‘close doors’ they are ‘the bad guys’, if they openly offer betas, alphas, omegas, etc for everyone to try/hack/ they are, again, ‘the bad guys’… Sounds like boring.
Stay focused! Don’t just open your mouth to spit out your own frustration!