Cisco: Windows Vista is 'scary'
updated 03:50 pm EDT, Mon September 18, 2006
Cisco Worries Over Vista
Microsoft currently touts the overhauled security of Windows Vista as a benefit that prevents malware from damaging the operating system without the user's consent. This assumed security is being called into question by security experts, reports CNET. Cisco security technology CTO Bob Gleichauf says that certain aspects of Vista have him "scared" from a security standpoint and that such a major change in architecture is likely to introduce its own share of security problems. Doubts have also been expressed by businesses whose existing layers of security are now being found as part of Vista. These organizations are hesitant to take on the risks associated with integrating Vista's security into their networks or replacing older defenses outright, according to the Gartner analyst group's Eric Ouellet. The uncertainty caused by Microsoft's frequent changes to Vista is preventing companies from depending on its feature set. The upcoming operating system, due to ship en masse in January, has previously alarmed security expert Steve Gibson because of its 'virgin' network stack that may be subject to attacks that were originally patched as part of Windows 95 updates.
