A panel of security experts blasted Microsoft for vulnerabilities in its software and said the company's monopoly on operating systems is a security risk.
By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News
A panel of leading security experts Wednesday blasted Microsoft for vulnerabilities in its software and warned that reliance on the company's software is a danger to both business and national security.
The group, which debuted its report at the first day of a two-day conference hosted by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), was headed by Dan Geer, chief technology officer of @Stake, a security consulting firm.
"As fast as the world's computing infrastructure is growing, vulnerability to attack is growing faster still," Geer said. "Microsoft's attempts to tightly integrate myriad applications with its operating system have significantly contributed to excessive complexity and vulnerability. This deterioration of security compounds when nearly all computers rely on a single operating system subject to the same vulnerabilities the world over."
Ed Black, the CEO and president of CCIA, whose members include Microsoft competitors such as Sun and Oracle, was even more blunt. "Microsoft's monopoly threatens consumers in a number of ways," he said. "It's clear it is now also a threat to our security, our safety, and even our national security."
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