Microsoft Security: Time for the Softies to Release Windows 12, a Phone, or a Bid to Buy Tesla?
March 22, 2022
I find the headline amusing. I don’t find the story “Lapsus$ Hackers leak 37GB of Microsoft’s Alleged Source Code” particularly amusing. The Softies have become the outfit with a bright laser dot on the company’s logo. The write up reports:
The Lapsus$ hacking group claims to have leaked the source code for Bing, Cortana, and other projects stolen from Microsoft’s internal Azure DevOps server.
Okay, let’s assume that the story is mostly accurate or meeting a higher standard than that set by the New York Times for its coverage of a certain president’s son and his non-functioning laptop.
The article points out:
Furthermore, we are told that some of the leaked projects contain emails and documentation that were clearly used internally by Microsoft engineers to publish mobile apps. The projects appear to be for web-based infrastructure, websites, or mobile apps, with no source code for Microsoft desktop software released, including Windows, Windows Server, and Microsoft Office. When we contacted Microsoft about tonight’s source code leak, they continued to tell BleepingComputer that they are aware of the claims and are investigating.
Ho ho ho. Perhaps Microsoft’s security, including Defender, lacks some capabilities?
How many breaches are necessary before stakeholders make clear that the brittleness, flaws, and questionable engineering be remediated?
Is some wizard at Microsoft suggesting a re-run of plays which have worked in the past; for example, just put out a news release of Windows or splash cash and PR for a big acquisition? Just imagine a Tesla with Windows File Explorer ads displayed on that great big center display.
Stephen E Arnold, March 22, 2022
Microsoft Defender Is On the Job
March 22, 2022
I don’t know if this write up is an early April Fool thing or actual factual. “Microsoft Defender Goofed Up As It Flagged Its Own Office Updates As Malware” states:
…the company’s Defender for Endpoint security started detecting updates for its own Office app as ransomware. The antivirus program was misidentifying the “OfficeSvcMgr.exe” as malicious software.
Let’s assume there is some truth in the statement OfficeSvcMgr.exe is malicious. My ideas are:
- Careless Microsoft coding was part of OfficeSvcMgr.exe and less flawed coding by another Microsoft technical group spotted the “flaw”
- Microsoft’s quality assurance for its “security” systems remains questionable and the business process flaws have not yet been remediated
- Microsoft is busy adding features to Teams and ads to File Manager so there’s no time or resources to deal with the outstanding Defender service.
Which is closer to the pin? I am into the flawed business processes. But the appeal of putting ads into an operating system is a close second.
Stephen E Arnold, March 22, 2022
Insider Threat News: Two Interesting Situations at Two Sophisticated Companies
March 21, 2022
As you may know, I enjoy pointing out that some big buck cyber security systems struggle with insider threats. Isn’t it easier to put the words “detect and prevent insider threats” on a marketing slide deck than implement the service?
Two events may serve to remind those who wonder about the risks insider threat pose.
First, “Microsoft Investigating Claim of Breach by Extortion Gang” explains that a bad actor entity advertised for insiders. This quote is from the cited article:
We recruit employees/insider at the following!!!! Apple, IBM, and Microsoft. TO NOTE: WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR DATA, WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE EMPLOYEE TO PROVIDE US A VPN OR CITRIX TO THE NETWORK, or some anydesk.
If accurate, this group (LKAPSUS$) is clear about the why and what it wants. The article alleges that Microsoft is beavering away to determine if its systems have been breached. Don’t the Softies use Defender and other MSFT cyber defense services? Yeah, well.
Second, Apple made headlines because an insider spoofed Apple’s security to the tune of an alleged $10 million. “Former Apple Employee Charged with $10M Fraud” reports:
… Prosecutors allege that while Prasad negotiated with suppliers and entered invoices into the purchasing system, he was conspiring to take kickbacks, using false repair orders to steal parts, and paying for goods and services never received using Apple’s money. The charges go on to allege tax evasion, wire and mail fraud, defrauding the United States, and money laundering, noting that Prasad was fired from Apple in December 2018 after a decade of employment.
How about those internal security and auditing business processes? Apple cares about privacy and security is the firm’s assertion. Again: Marketing is easier than preventing an insider threat.
Why am I bringing up a subject which is not discussed in the specific context of expensive cyber security systems? I offer these examples to make clear that what a cyber outfit says and what its products and services do are less reliable than a decade AvtoVAZ LADA. If you are not familiar with these vehicles, try to find one to drive on a long road trip through the Rocky Mountains. No LADA? Go for a Renault.
Stephen E Arnold, March 21, 2022
Microsoft: Fun Search
March 17, 2022
We have censorship. We have discriminatory spidering. We have sites which are no longer indexed. And now if ZDNet’s “real” news team is on the money, we have search fun or fun search. You pick.
“Microsoft Is About to Add More Fun to Your Windows Search” reports:
… the Windows 10’s taskbar search box and search home pane will now feature content “including fun illustrations, which help you discover more, be connected, and stay productive. Search highlights will present notable and interesting moments of what’s special about each day – like holidays, anniversaries, and other educational moments in time both globally and in your region.
Great. How about that Windows search. Do you have a Drobo or similar storage device. I bet that Windows search will make that “fun.” What about a desire to locate an actual file on the C: or boot drive? I bet Microsoft will make that fun too. And I could go on? For example, don’t you love Microsoft search syntax? And let’s not forget “unfindable” files. Yeah, that’s a winner too!
How about search that just works, includes Boolean, and provides one click access to sample syntax? That would be fun too.
Stephen E Arnold, March 17, 2022
Microsoft: The Security Supremo Cloud Pitch
February 28, 2022
I read “Microsoft’s New Security Chief Says It Is Time to Take Shelter in the Cloud.” The write up reports:
Microsoft has been hit by a series of high-profile cyber intrusions in recent years. In December 2020, the company said it had been compromised by the hackers behind the cyberattack on SolarWinds Corp.—a group that U.S. officials have linked to the Russian government. Months later, Microsoft’s widely used email product, Exchange, was targeted by a cyberattack that was eventually linked to the Chinese government.
I know. So now Microsoft wants me to trust their cloud service because it is more secure?
What’s interesting is that a former Amazon AWS executive is in charge. Apparently he has addressed assorted security concerns. He is, if true, a fast worker or a faster PR content generator.
The write up points to February 22, 2022, as the day it asserted it would repurpose the Microsoft security products for the Google cloud. Keep in mind that Microsoft security is compatible with Amazon’s cloud.
The write up includes this statement:
In addition to the SolarWinds and Exchange cyberattacks, the company in August had to repair a flaw in the Azure cloud—strategically Microsoft’s most-critical business—after a cybersecurity company found a bug that left customer data exposed. The Azure bug, which was discovered by the cybersecurity company Wiz Inc., rattled some Microsoft customers because it showed how hackers could steal data from thousands of customers by targeting one part of Microsoft’s cloud.
Saying security is different from delivering security. In some ways, Microsoft’s penchant for distraction with the wonky Windows 11 release and then the super spectacular metaverse game type thing have worked.
Now security is back in the spotlight. Oh, just move everything to the cloud. Lock in? Yep. More expensive? For some yes. Put all the eggs in one basket with some security issues? Sure, that makes perfect sense.
If you are doubtful about the cloud, navigate to “Report: 76% of IT Pros Say That Cloud Has Hit a Wall.” The main idea of that write up is that
multicloud, multitool environments have outgrown the tools and platforms that IT leaders currently rely on.
That’s what’s interesting about the Microsoft security PR. Flawed software? Seems possible.
Remember SolarWinds? Remember Exchange Server?
Stephen E Arnold, February 28, 2022
MSFT Insemination Algorithm: Too Much Herbe Matte and Twisted Bolos?
February 28, 2022
Microsoft, what were you thinking? Wired describes “The Case of the Creepy Algorithm that ‘Predicted’ Teen Pregnancy.” Creepy is right. The setting is 2018 Argentina, as legislators were debating whether to decriminalize abortion. (It did finally become legal there in 2020.) We learn:
“The Ministry of Early Childhood in the northern province of Salta and the American tech giant Microsoft presented an algorithmic system to predict teenage pregnancy. They called it the Technology Platform for Social Intervention. … The stated goal was to use the algorithm to predict which girls from low-income areas would become pregnant in the next five years. It was never made clear what would happen once a girl or young woman was labeled as ‘predestined’ for motherhood or how this information would help prevent adolescent pregnancy. The social theories informing the AI system, like its algorithms, were opaque. The system was based on data—including age, ethnicity, country of origin, disability, and whether the subject’s home had hot water in the bathroom—from 200,000 residents in the city of Salta, including 12,000 women and girls between the ages of 10 and 19. Though there is no official documentation, from reviewing media articles and two technical reviews, we know that ‘territorial agents’ visited the houses of the girls and women in question, asked survey questions, took photos, and recorded GPS locations.”
The targets of these intrusions were all poor, and many are members of immigrants or indigenous peoples. Such overbearing treatment is nothing new for those communities, nor is it unusual for Argentina’s women and girls in general. While the government positioned the technology as a way to combat teen pregnancy, it never described how that would work. Critics insist it was actually a way to blame girls and women for their situations with no consideration for context. Like the high rate of sexual violence, for example. In theory, the subjects could have declined to participate, but that would mean defying the ministry that provides them with free vaccinations and milk. A collaboration of journalist Diego Jemio, anthropologist Alexa Hagerty, and Argentine feminist activist and researcher Florencia Aranda, the article provides a detailed historical backdrop against which this affront should be viewed. Navigate to the article for that compelling, and at times enraging, account.
Argentina is eager to become a leader in the AI field. However, unlike the US or the EU, Argentina has no process to determine the impact of AI systems on citizens, never mind adequate regulations. As a result, no formal review of the Technology Platform for Social Intervention’s impact on women and girls was ever produced nor data on its accuracy or outcomes ever published. The authors could not even determine whether the program is still in operation. We suppose transparency is too much to ask from Argentina’s Ministry of Early Childhood. Microsoft, what do you have to say?
Cynthia Murrell, February 28, 2022
Microsoft: Apple Must Be Stopped
February 10, 2022
I read “Microsoft Says That If Apple Isn’t Stopped Now, Its Antitrust Behavior Will Just Get Worse.” Amazing if the information in the write up is accurate. The article states as “real” news:
Microsoft has filed an amicus brief supporting Epic Games in its appeal against Apple, and argues that, “the potential antitrust issues stretch far beyond gaming.”
But here’s the killer passage from a write up provided to legal eagles as a friend to one and all:
Microsoft’s amicus filing included below, sets out what it describes as its own “unique – and balanced – perspective to the legal, economic, and technological issues this case implicates.” As a firm which, like Apple, sells both hardware and software, Microsoft says it “has an interest” in supporting antitrust law. Describing what it calls Apple’s “extraordinary gatekeeper power,” Microsoft joins Epic Games in criticizing alleged errors in the original trial judge’s conclusions.
Okay, Microsoft had a run in with some anti-trust types a few years ago. Apple, like Facebook and Google, are increasing their communication efforts among the duly elected government officials.
But Microsoft wants to buy a game company even though there are signals that the deal for an enlightened and responsible firm will be subject to scrutiny. The mom and pop stores which look out the the little people want to make sure that the alleged monopolists don’t prevent other alleged monopolists from dominating certain markets.
How helpful. From my point of observation, one company operating in an allegedly unfair manner is probably is a good spot to recognize another outfit using the same playbook.
And how about those revenues? There’s nothing like a secure, customer oriented, friendly data environment! Some might call this hypocritical; others, ironical.
I am a simple oldster. I call it — what’s the word? “Criminal”. No. Maybe “diabolical?” No. Not that word. How about “maniacal”? Yeah, not the best but I need to check the latest Microsoft security alert on the for fee Apple news service now. Wait, wait. How about “asocial?”
Stephen E Arnold, February 10, 2022
Has the Redmond Giant Marginalized Facezuck and Googzilla
February 3, 2022
I read an interview which seems to be part of the Financial Times (paywalled, of course) and Ars Technica (not paywalled). The article is “Satya Nadella: Microsoft has “Permission to Build the Next Internet.”
I am not sure about who did what to get the interview with the softest Microsoftie, but I think I spotted which colloquially might be termed a “dis”:
To me, just being great at game building gives us the permission to build this next platform, which is essentially the next Internet: the embodied presence.
Will Facezuck and Googzilla interpret the message as, “Microsoft will build the digital world from this day.” Is the permission granted by someone of global importance, or is the permission assumed like the security of Azure and Exchange Server. Maybe the permission is generated by Microsoft’s confidence resulting from regulators’ attention attracted to other bright, sparkling companies?
I like the permission and the prediction that the next Internet is engineered for “embodied presence.” How’s that work out in the real world; for example, homeless people in Seattle, the posturing in Washington, DC, and the genuine concern in many government agencies around the world that Microsoft’s systems and software are conduits for bad actors.
Yep, embodied. Permission. Prediction.
Stephen E Arnold, February 3, 2022
Microsoft Defender: Are There Other Winners?
February 1, 2022
I believe everything I read on the Internet, of course. One of the fascinating aspects of being old and doing the 21st century equivalent of clipping coupons is coming across “real” research studies. I read “Still Think Microsoft Defender Is Bad? Think Again, Says AV-TEST.”
The write up in Make Use Of Dot Com believes in Windows Defender. It article states:
A recent report by AV-TEST revealed that not only does Microsoft Defender perform well, it actually outperforms many highly-recommended antiviruses
The article included a link to the AV-Test December 2021 Report, and I downloaded it. The AV Test outfit is “the independent IT security institute.” The investment firm Triton owns Swiss IT Security, which is the outfit which “owns” AV-Test.
What does Swiss IT Security Group AG do? Security, consulting, the cloud, and related services.
What does the SITS Group care about Microsoft and its assorted products? With Microsoft’s wide use in organizations, SITS Group probably has an above average keenness for the Redmond wizards’ constructs.
What does this mean for the victory of the Windows Defender system in the AV-TEST Report? For me, I formulated several hypotheses:
- Windows Defender is now able to deal with the assorted threats directed at Microsoft operating systems? Rest easy. Malware popping up on a Windows device is obviously something that is unlikely to occur. Thank goodness.
- Cheerleading for Windows Defender probably makes Microsoft’s security team feel warm and fuzzy which will allow their efforts to deal with Exchange Server issues a more pleasant experience.
- Bad actors will have to rethink how to compromise organizations with Microsoft software. Perhaps some of these individuals will give up criminal activity and join the Red Cross or its equivalent.
For me, institutes which do not reveal their ownership are interesting outfits. But how many antivirus vendors achieved the lofty rank of Windows Defender, according to the report dated December 2021? Here they are:
Avira
Bull Guard
ESET
F Secure
Kaspersky
McAfee
Norton 360
Total Security
Viper.
Windows Defender makes 10 “winners.”
Now of these 10 which is the one that will make SolarWinds, ransomware, compromised Outlook emails, and Azure Cosmos excitement a thing of the past? Another question: “Which of these sort of work in the real world?” And, “If there is a best, why do we need the nine others?”
These are questions one can ask Triton / Swiss IT Security Group AG / AV Test to answer?
Net net: Marketing.
Stephen E Arnold, February 1, 2022
An Encomium to Microsoft: Just Some Small, Probably Irrelevant, Omissions
January 31, 2022
I read “Don’t Forget Microsoft.” Back in the days when my boss at Booz Allen & Hamilton was the toast of business schools, he dragged me along to order bottled water and carry his serious looking briefcase. The most enjoyable part of these excursions to assorted business schools, conferences, and meetings was the lingo. There was a self-importance in the people to whom my boss lectured. The fellow had a soft, gentle voice, and it would output jargon, truisms gleaned from Norm Augustine, and BAH precepts like hire people smarter than you are and look for “Type A” people who will work 60 hours a week.
This write up reminded me of those interesting discussions with those who wanted wisdom about how to be a baller in business. If one looks at the essay/analysis of Microsoft Corporation, one sees mountain tops. These are indeed important; for example:
- The prediction that MSFT will become a $10 trillion dollar company. Translation: Buy stock now.
- The cloud and the new things Microsoft is doing. Translation: AWS and Google are toast.
- Games. Yes, the meta thing. Translation: If you are a coding young gun, apply for a job and ride the tsunami named Softie.
And there are other peaks poking above the intellectual “clouds.”
However, I noted a small, probably irrelevant, omission or two from the write up. These are my opinions, and I assume that those younger and much smarter than I will point out that I am a crazy old coot. Here goes, so take a deep breath.
- Microsoft is unable to address the security issues its software and systems spawn; that is, the cat-and-mouse game between bad actors and good actors pivot in a large part on the seemingly infinite number of security-related issues. These range from decades old Word macros to zippy new methods like those still creating headaches in the aftermath of the SolarWinds’ misstep, the Exchange Server issues, and the soothing information presented on the Microsoft Security Alert page which has not been update for four days as I write down my thoughts. (MSFT tells me that it will take only two hours to read the document.
- Issues related to stuff that happens between different Microsoft employees. I don’t want to belabor the point but “Microsoft Will Review Sexual Harassment Investigation Of Bill Gates, Others” presents some interesting information.
- Clumsy distractions as innovation. I am thinking of the Android enhanced Windows 11 and the announcement of a big deal for an electronic game company. These “big” moves distract people from other facets of the organization.
Net net: Interesting essay, quite positive, and only a few minor omissions. Who cares about security, employee well being, and masterful public relations? I sure don’t.
As my former boss and mentor at BAH told me, “As long as it generates money, everything will be okay.” Plus, I haven’t forgotten Microsoft, okay?
Stephen E Arnold, January 31, 2022
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