Symantec attacks Vista
July 19, 2006 by admin
Filed under Microsoft, Windows Vista
As we all know, Microsoft and Symantec don’t really get along that well. As a result, Symantec is now reporting that Vista will be less secure than Windows XP! Symantec says they found several security bugs and determined that Vista’s networking technology will be less stable, at least in the short run, than Windows XP’s technology.
“Microsoft has removed a large body of tried and tested code and replaced it with freshly written code, complete with new corner cases and defects,” the researchers wrote in the report, scheduled for publication Tuesday. “This may provide for a more stable networking stack in the long term, but stability will suffer in the short term.”
In the Symantec paper, titled “Windows Vista Network Attack Surface Analysis: A Broad Overview,” the researchers put the networking technology in Vista under a magnifying glass to determine its exposure to external attacks. The team said it found several flaws in build 5270 of Vista and even more in earlier test versions. However, these were all fixed by Microsoft in build 5384, the version of the operating system that was publicly released in May as Beta 2.
The researchers wrote: “While it is reassuring that Microsoft is finding and fixing these defects, we expect that vulnerabilities will continue to be discovered for some time… A networking stack is a complex piece of software that takes many years to mature.”
In a response on blogs.msdn.com, Tripp Parks writes: “Don’t be fooled by scare mongering. Research your options and make the proper solutions.”
Well, it’s clear that Symantec is throwing with dirt. But history has shown that (Windows) software always has a lot of bugs, so if I were MS I wouldn’t be making any hard promises;)
Surprise, Surprise, Symantec voicing against Vista… well I would be against Vista too, if I was Symantec . However betting that XP is more secure than Vista is same as saying, that Seattle has more sunny days than Miami; wishful but untrue
The reality is that with a built-in firewall, free anti spyware, anti-virus , Phishing filter and parental control etc, Vista will deliver the ultimate peace of mind to consumers and ultimate blow to the bottom-line and sales of companies like Symantec…
I believe that Microsoft did their homework and kept security as the corner stone requirement for next flagship of Windows Operating system. In fact, based on analysis of various security experts “Black Hat” ethical hackers conference, Vista is most secured OS created by MS and might become a baseline for others to follow.
Omer Qureshi
I think Microsoft is very interested in entering antivirus market after she has relased the windows defender. So, Symantech should be really aware that they might be swept out of antivirus market one day.
In a second report on Vista, Symantec takes on a security feature called User Account Control (UAC), in the operating system. Symantec researchers have tried out privilege-escalation attacks on the February release of Vista: “We discovered a number of implementation flaws that continued to allow a full machine compromise to occur.”
More on this at: http://news.com.com/Symantec+continues+Vista+bug+hunt/2100-1002_3-6097976.html
A third report, examining the Vista core, or kernel, is scheduled to be published this week on Symantec’s DeepSight security intelligence service.
When is Bill Gates ever going to own up to the security that his old partner puts into the Mac systems? Vista is the most horrible POS in my opinion, XP is way easier to manage when it comes to viruses, system resources, and cleaning up that mess. And it is sad because Mac’s never get attacked, and almost everyone buys a Windows OS. I think its about time Windows’ coding changes completely