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Virus writers in search of street cred are nothing new. Nor is the billion-dollar antivirus industry that has sprung up since the mid-1980s. Their cat-and-mouse game evolves every time a flaw is found in Microsoft Windows, which runs on 95% of personal computers worldwide. And flaws in Windows are as plentiful as mosquitoes in August. The other problem is the infrastructure of the Internet itself, which is almost as rickety as Northeastern power lines. Up to 70 security holes are noted every week...
Nevertheless, there is much to embarrass Microsoft in the latest crop of worms. Blaster and Welchia both relied on the same security loophole that was found in Windows in July. There was a fix available--the one Welchia tried to download--but it was among dozens the company puts out every month. Windows XP made its debut in 2001 with some 45 million lines of code and a lot of mistakes, many of which have yet to be uncovered. Because of its complexity, "no other product could potentially be so flawed," says Jerry Ungerman, president of Silicon Valley's Check...
...according to Microsoft. "This is more like your car being threatened by a new caliber bullet," says Mike Nash, the company's vice president for security. Still, a Bill Gates memo last year admitted Windows needed to be more "trustworthy." The company placed ads in national newspapers last week reminding users to turn on Windows XP's internal firewall and employ the operating system's automatic-update feature. That is, you can allow the company to fix its unintended mistakes constantly and quietly in the background. Windows XP does not ship with this feature turned on because...
Security experts are willing to cut Microsoft a lot of slack. In some ways, they say, Windows is a victim of its success. if rival operating systems like Linux or Mac OS had a 95% market share, the virus writers would be hard at work probing them for holes. Whether they would find as many is a different question altogether. Linux and, to a lesser extent, Mac OS are open source, which means they're subject to constant peer review by engineers and software writers all over the world. The energy that goes into finding fault with Windows exists...
...much energy into organizing concerts as mastering organic chemistry. They are the ones who set a tone, deliver an edge. And now, thanks to Cornerstone Promotion, a youth-culture marketing agency that founded Fader magazine, they're also the kids who are marketing brands like Sprite, Microsoft, Disney and Sony Ericsson on campuses across America. When Cornerstone started the FARM (Field Academic Research and Marketing) Team in 2000, the thinking was to let the hipsters, rather than some suit at a folding table, introduce the newest and greatest products to the college set. Cornerstone employs 85 students to launch products...