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02 June 2010, 13:48

Microsoft comments on Google's Windows ban

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Microsoft Logo According to a post from Brandon LeBlanc, who is responsible for Microsoft's official Windows team blog, there is some irony that's "hard to overlook" in Google's getting rid of Windows. For instance, the renowned Yale University has apparently halted their move to Google Mail and Google Apps, citing security and privacy concerns. LeBlanc says the security of Windows isn't all that bad. According to his post, even hackers admit that Microsoft are doing a better job making their products more secure than anyone else.

Security specialist Intego says that Apple Mac OS X is not by any means a malware free option. Intego warns that popular software portals such as Softpedia, MacUpdate and VersionTracker offer applications and screen savers for Mac OS X which infect computers with spyware. Intego say that while downloaded applications don't contain the malware itself, they retrieve the OSX/OpinionSpy spyware once they have been installed. Among other things, OpinionSpy opens a back door to collect data about the user's installed files, access credentials, credit card details and online behaviour and sends this information to a server on the internet.

The Financial Times reported that Google's decision to phase out the Windows operating system on a corporate level was based on security concerns and the larger amount of malware in active circulation for this operating system. According to the paper, Google accelerated the implementation of its directive to move to Mac OS X and Linux after being hacked by intruders who were presumed to be Chinese.

The hack provided even further potential for irony: The attackers exploited a hole in Internet Explorer 6 to compromise a Google computer. However, the more secure versions 7 and 8 of Microsoft's browser were already available at the time. Experts have since puzzled over why Google's employees were using an obsolete version. Microsoft themselves have now decided to phase out Internet Explorer 6.

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(crve)

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