Sometimes life is truly ironic. Microsoft’s efforts to enhance stability and security for its new operating system might ironically lead to Vista being less stable and introducing new vulnerabilities.
New Operating System, New Vulnerabilities
Symantec experts have thoroughly examined the network technology in the Vista beta versions and discovered numerous security vulnerabilities. A conclusion that could shock Microsoft and astonish users is that Vista’s network technology is less stable than that of Windows XP, at least at this moment.
“Microsoft has removed a large amount of old code and replaced it with entirely new code. This could create a stable network foundation in the long run, but in the short term, it will cause certain difficulties“.
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| Source: CNET |
Scheduled for widespread release in January 2007, Vista is the most significant upgrade to the Windows operating system for personal computers since XP. With Vista, Microsoft has focused intensely on security, as this area has been a hot topic over the past five years.
However, Symantec’s report raises doubts about Microsoft’s goal of “enhancing security,” as well as the actual barriers to achieving that goal.
The Art of Deteriorating Relations?
In response to this report, Microsoft asserts that Vista has been developed with “the highest level of focus.” The issues identified in the Vista test builds do not accurately reflect the quality and depth of the networking features in the final product.
Microsoft also emphasizes that Vista is the first client operating system to go through the entire A-Z security development cycle, a process designed to identify vulnerabilities and bugs before the product is shipped.
Once long-time allies, the relationship between Microsoft and Symantec is currently deteriorating significantly. The two giants have suddenly transformed into adversaries in the security sector.
At the end of May, Microsoft introduced Windows Live OneCare, a suite of online user security software, and is also preparing to launch a business product suite. Meanwhile, Symantec has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft for “abusing data storage technology” that Symantec licensed to Microsoft.
Despite this, Symantec admits that after each beta release, Vista’s code has become “a bit more stable.” The bugs identified by Symantec in build 5470 were gradually fixed in builds 5471 and 5472.
In an effort to maintain and enhance performance and stability for the system, Microsoft has developed Vista’s network technology almost from scratch. This choice also allows the company to introduce many brand-new features to Vista, such as support for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
Hunting for Vulnerabilities
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| Source: SecurityLabs |
“We do not intend to say that Vista’s network is unsafe at the time of release</em," said Oliver Friedrichs, director of new technologies at Symantec Security Response.
“Vista is one of the most important technologies released in many years and for the foreseeable future, but consumers need to understand the multifaceted nature of a new technology“.
In addition to security vulnerabilities, according to Symantec’s report, many features supported by the network technology could also put PCs at risk of hackers.
For example, Vista being the first Windows operating system to support IPv6 also poses risks. This is the default technology standard that allows information exchange between different computer networks.
“IPv6 and the technologies associated with it could allow hackers to access the hosts of private internal networks without the admin being aware. They are almost invisible behind firewalls“.
Symantec advises that businesses need to quickly upgrade their security systems, such as firewalls and intrusion detection tools, to prevent such situations from occurring.
However, Symantec’s report is merely a preliminary look at Vista’s security. Experts have only studied the new operating system within a very limited scope. Moreover, the operating system has not yet reached its final level of completeness, and it will certainly undergo further changes until its release.
Destiny
