14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Bill Gates announced it will begin alerting the world's governments and leaders early about cyberthreats and security flaws in its attack-prone software. Could this be an attempt from the "big man of software" to make amends with the world and not see everybody run off to open source alternatives?
The Honeypot Project put up a test to see which of Windows and Linux operating systems would do better security-wise. The unpatched Linux server was able to sit on the Internet for months before being successfully compromised while one running Windows was turned over in a few hours, according to the security report. Having these results out for everybody to see mean another concern for Microsoft. It's a well known fact that security has always been an issue for Windows and other Microsoft-made applications, and just trying to justify the great number of Windows oriented attacks by saying their OS is the most used globally doesn't seem to hold water any longer. Hence, Gates statement made in Prague yesterday, which is backed by Microsoft's experience in providing the U.S. government with early warnings about cyberthreats.
The new program intends to complement Microsoft's existing Government Security Program, in which governments and agencies may review Microsoft's proprietary source code for Windows operating systems and Office business software and evaluate for themselves the software's security and ability to withstand attacks. Governments, for instance, will be able to get information about publicly known vulnerabilities that Microsoft is investigating. The public warnings are short on details and often come after Microsoft spent weeks or months developing and testing software fixes.
Eligible participants include government agencies and ministries responsible for computer incident response, protection of critical infrastructure and public safety, and so far Canada, Chile and Norway decided to join forces with Microsoft and try to better secure their networks.