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Posted in Site News at 7:39 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Co-authored with G. Forbes
Proprietary software is technological warfare
Summary: A faint Stuxnet admission helps show that the use of Windows is not guaranteed to respect national security of nations other than the United States
“Senior Defense Official Caught Hedging on U.S. Involvement in Stuxnet” is the sort of report we are always hoping for. It further exposes not only distressing government involvement with regards to technology but also reinforces the very real dangers of Windows and by relation other proprietary Microsoft software. Wired has covered this special report:
=> ↺ has covered this special report
In “CodeWars: America’s Cyber Threat,” correspondent Melissa Lee asks Lynn outright: “Was the U.S. involved in any way in the development of Stuxnet?”Lynn’s response is long enough that an inattentive viewer might not notice that it doesn’t answer the question.“The challenges of Stuxnet, as I said, what it shows you is the difficulty of any, any attribution and it’s something that we’re still looking at, it’s hard to get into any kind of comment on that until we’ve finished our examination,” Lynn replies.“But sir, I’m not asking you if you think another country was involved,” Lee presses. “I’m asking you if the U.S. was involved. If the Department of Defense was involved.”“And this is not something that we’re going to be able to answer at this point,” Lynn finally says.
For background, also see:
Ralph Langner Says Windows Malware Possibly Designed to Derail Iran’s Nuclear ProgrammeWindows Viruses Can be Politically Motivated SometimesWho Needs Windows Back Doors When It’s So Insecure?Windows Insecurity Becomes a Political IssueWindows, Stuxnet, and Public StoningStuxnet Grows Beyond Siemens-Windows InfectionsHas BP Already Abandoned Windows?Reports: Apple to Charge for (Security) UpdatesWindows Viruses Can be Politically Motivated SometimesNew Flaw in Windows Facilitates More DDOS AttacksSiemens is Bad for Industry, Partly Due to MicrosoftMicrosoft Security Issues in The British Press, Vista and Vista 7 No PanaceaMicrosoft’s Negligence in Patching (Worst Amongst All Companies) to Blame for StuxnetMicrosoft Software: a Darwin Test for IncompetenceBad September for Microsoft Security, Symantec Buyout RumoursMicrosoft Claims Credit for Failing in SecurityMany Windows Servers Being Abandoned; Minnesota Goes the Opposite Direction by Giving Microsoft Its DataWindows Users Still Under Attack From Stuxnet, Halo, and ZeusSecurity Propaganda From Microsoft: Villains Become HeroesSecurity Problems in iOS and WindowsEye on Security: BBC Propaganda, Rootkits, and Stuxnet in Iran’s Nuclear FacilitiesEye on Security: ClamAV Says Windows is a Virus, Microsoft Compromises Mac OS X, and Stuxnet Runs WildWindows Kernel Vulnerability for Thanksgiving, Insecurity Used for Surveillance AgainCablegate Reveals Government Requesting Access to Microsoft Data, Kill SwitchesUse Microsoft Windows, Get AssassinatedIran Shows the Downside of Using Proprietary SoftwareWhitewashing Inherent Windows FlawsPolitically-motivated Proprietary SoftwareWhen Windows Kills
Remember that the NSA, which also provided Microsoft-friendly Web statistics a few months back, recommends Vista 7 [1, 2, 3], secretly because the back doors are ‘free’, as in free of charge, with all editions. It will probably recommend Vista 8 as well. Unfortunately for Microsoft and the NSA, Windows is losing its foothold. Cringely writes about the falling usage in “Steve Ballmer’s Nightmare”:
=> 1 | 2 | 3 | ↺ Vista 8 | ↺ Cringely writes about the falling usage
Ballmer confirmed back in January that the next major version of Windows would have a version for power-sipping ARM processors, which are mainly installed in smart phones and tablet computers. He reinforced this idea more recently by explicitly saying Windows 8 would run on all the hardware platforms Microsoft currently supports right down to phones, calling the next version of Windows Microsoft’s “riskiest yet. ”Ballmer is correct: Windows 8 is make-or-break for Microsoft.
Envision a world where everyone used programs with source code that could be audited. It certainly would make Microsoft’s and some of the NSA’s deceptions nearly impossible to say the least.
In today’s news we find that “North Korea [is going] to have its own laptops” and “the laptops could be running on “Red Star”, an operating system based on Linux developed by the North Koreans.” █
=> ↺ “North Korea [is going] to have its own laptops”
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