Hackers getting smarter, Microsoft CEO says

This seems to fit in the "uh huh" category... Are we sure that it's the fact that "hackers" got smarter? Maybe someone else got "dumber" along the way? :D

Quote:

---

Source: The Globe and Mail

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Microsoft Corp.'s chief executive believes it's naive to suggest the software giant can eliminate all security vulnerabilities in its various products even though engineers are trying hard to do so.

Hackers get smarter, too, Steve Ballmer told several thousand information-technology workers at the Gartner Symposium ITXPO.

But Mr. Ballmer said engineers were making progress, such as adding security enhancements to Windows Server 2003 when its next big update, Service Pack 1, comes out.

"I think we've learned a lot more about security basically than anyone else in the world," he said. "That's kind of the good news and bad news, being the position we've been in with our kind of market share."

Microsoft's operating systems run on more than 90 per cent of the world's personal computers. Even if Microsoft can make its products completely invulnerable, customers wouldn't upgrade all their systems, Ballmer said.

Mr. Ballmer also explained Microsoft's decision to drop an advanced file storage system from the 2006 release of its next generation of Windows, code-named Longhorn. The new file system, called WinFS, would allow a single search to find anything on a computer.

"It's making good progress but not good enough progress to make an '06 shipment," Mr. Ballmer said. "We thought we needed to get clarity, internally and externally, in terms of what we would be able to ship and when."

Last week, Google released its version of software that scours computers for information. WinFS will be included in later versions of Longhorn.

---

Someone else getting dumber seem's more the pressing statement when it comes to Microsoft, however I have to second the statement that hacker's are getting smarter. Atleast this "generation" of them are, in terms of exploits and the coding/use/knowledge of them. It's also not the hardest thing to find them either.

Quote:

---

The new file system, called WinFS, would allow a single search to find anything on a computer.

---

i was talking to a lad i know who works at microsoft and he said he ``tried their new search feature'' and that it is extremely fast! must have been with WinFS.

My theory is that hackers are not getting smarter they are getting more numerous. Due to the ever expanding useres of pc's and the internet. So you have a bigger pool of knowledge.

The knowledge pool definitely grows, not just with users but the resources that is provided and how easily it's provided to them.

You mean to tell me that they didn't see this coming??? WOW someone must be sleeping in their job.

Cybr1d: When it comes to Microsoft, I wouldn't doubt it if EVERYONE slept on their job. :D

My view on it is that IT professionals and instructors don't differenciate what you use your new found info on. Wether black, grey or white hat usage. It's he who has the money that can sit in on any class ranging on any subject (which begs the question, who is sitting in on the IT security classes??)

The problem really isn't that the "hackers" are getting smarter..... lets face it, buffer overflows and stack smashing has been around a long time now. Breaking program security has been around since programs began being distributed - that's where I started 20+ years ago.... :eek:

The issue is party "bloat" and partly distribution.

When I started I had 1k, (yes folks, you read that right, one kilobyte), of RAM. My programs were _tight_, memory was a premium thing.... Then came the "standard" 640k... OMG.... I don't need to worry about memory usage, I don't have to limit user input etc. Now look.... Gig's of RAM... programmers just program - resources are irrelevant in the creation of the "masterpiece". Unfortunately, the lack of attention to the resources also leads to the lack of checking for acceptable input length etc.... Thus the issues that, with some of the memory monitoring tools available, make finding the "holes" rather easy.
"
Secondly, distribution...... When 50 people had computers they were the *geeks*. They always wanted the most up to date sh1t available and they got it..... They _updated_! Then computer's became affordable, (nay, essential), and now there are 50 billion computers out there. Most of the owners only have them so they can say they have one..... having the "latest and greatest" isn't relevant.... They have it, it works.... bingo.... a script kiddie heaven.....

Remember... there were no script kiddies 20 years ago..... You did it yourself or relied upon a friend that lived in the same village to do things for you....

The "hackers" are no smarter than they ever were..... they just have more opportunity.....

Opportunity is definitely the keyword here. TS has, once again, hit the proverbial nail on the head. And M$ shows once agasin why they are the "leaders" of the software world. Only the leader of something would be this far behind in terms of common sense.

Doh!

of course with the advancement of technology hackers are getting smarter. New attack methods and exploits come out all the time....

maybe not smarter? but discovering new ways to do things is always gonna happen

Quote:

---

Originally posted here by fyrewall
New attack methods and exploits come out all the time...

---

Your so full of ****ing **** it's squirting outta your ****ing ears, nose, and esspecially your muda-****in' mouth. Name something so particularly ****ing new...

Actually I dont really agree with the idea that hackers aren't getting smarter, but TS has a great point. I think they are getting smarter, but only because we are seeing a new generation of hackers, both blacka nd white hats.

I started in computers around the same time frame as TS did, using CPM on an osborne I, and a C64. At the time it was all completely ailen to my parents, and they were amazed at the speed of which I picked it up.

Fast forward to today, and I watch as my 7 year old helps my wife out with her Windows Apps, then he goes to his Pc and uses RH9 or upstairs Mac OSX. Pc's are more then every a daily part of life, and the younger generations seem to be much more at ease with computers and the concepts behind them.

I dont know if that makes them smarter so to speak, but I do believe that it makes them more likely to understand and take advantage of flaws. New idea's and orginal thinking.

Specialist: Seems to me that the had to be a better way to state your response. Maybe one that didn't make a senior member sound like the poster child for the dangers of inbreding....