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Parliamentary Hack Update: The WMF Connection
John Stith
Staff Writer
2006-01-23
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Last week it was reported British Parliament computers were hacked over the Christmas break. A number of emails were sent to various people throughout parliamentary offices with Trojans in order to gain control of the respective computers. Here's the catch: the hackers were making use of the WMF vulnerability in Windows to get in. Redmond, we have a problem.
This is more a follow up to a previous feature a few days ago. Microsoft now has something to worry about. They're product and its vulnerabilities have been used in an attempt to hinder the national security of a major government, namely the United Kingdom (U.K.). The U.K. has been an ally of the U.S. for quite some time and is currently closely allied in the war in Iraq and a number of other endeavors. Hence an issue of U.S. national security.
Microsoft is also trying to put together a strong business model in China. They went to war with Google over Kai Fu Lee. They've censored journalists in Beijing. The journalist thing got them a lot of bad PR all over the world. Microsoft is also dumping $120 million or so into improving its global image. OK. But the company still has a responsibility to protect its existing customers from hacks.
A problem many critics of Windows have had for years has been the security flaws in Windows and how easy it was to exploit. Windows: Vista was delayed because Microsoft had to pull people from the project to improve XP security enough that it wouldn't be more of a disaster than it was.
Critics have also levied charges that Microsoft doesn't work through its code closely enough to root out flaws. Now that national security is a problem with their software, are they willing to correct the problem? While companies and governments have a responsibility to add their own external security, if Microsoft wrote stronger code with fewer problems, then it might not be as much of an issue. Not all flaws can be found but more could be done to make sure the product is better.
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About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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