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23 Oct 2006
Symantec and McAfee “should have prepared better” for Microsoft Vista, rival IT security firm Sophos claimed today.
Symantec and McAfee have recently made high-profile complaints that they are being "locked out" of the Vista operating system kernel by Microsoft's PatchGuard technology. It is claimed that this allegedly anti-competitive move by Microsoft will prevent security firms from developing host intrusion prevention (HIPS) systems for Vista to protect against new malware.
However, Sophos argues that its approach to HIPS technology has met with no problems on both the low-spec and high-spec versions of Windows Vista. In addition, Sophos claims that Microsoft has so far provided all the interfaces that Sophos needs for providing this form of protection.
"Symantec and McAfee may be struggling with HIPS because they haven't coded
their solutions with high-spec Vista in mind," said Richard Jacobs, CTO of
Sophos.
"We've taken a different approach, by focusing on catching bad behaviour before
it has a chance to occur. Additionally, we are building our technology by making
use of supported Microsoft interfaces rather than by trying to subvert them.
That's why we're ready for 64-bit Vista, and others aren't."
Jacobs added that he believes PatchGuard is a “positive step” by Microsoft to improve security in Windows Vista, and is not in itself anti-competitive, provided that Microsoft delivers on its commitment to provide the same level of kernel support and integration to third party security vendors as it does to its own security product team.
"It's clearly the case that we and other vendors will now have some dependency on Microsoft to deliver kernel interfaces for new security innovations, which could slow us all down," continued Jacobs.
"However this is more than compensated for by the additional security offered by Vista. PatchGuard is a step in the right direction for customers, and we believe that security vendors should embrace and work with PatchGuard rather than fight it."
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Do you agree?
Death of the PC
The writing has been on the wall for many years now. Apple saw it, and put their gui on top of BSD Unix (shrewdest move ever, you could run unix on your wristwatch). Each new version of Windows requires more, and works just as crappy as the last. Now 5 new versions of the desktop OS? My next computer, after using PC's for about 20 years, will be a MAC, thanks to Microsoft.
Posted by: Robert Williams 31 Oct 2006
Agree to a point
What if windows simply shuts down previous versions of Windows (xp and below) to guarantee the sales of Vista? Technically it can be done becuase XP itself is restrictable due to its hash checking to valitate the software in the past to make it genuine. I recommend an alternative path to save the computer industry from itself. Bye...
Posted by: Hid Ham 23 Oct 2006
Sophos can't even catch a cold
You implement their protection and good luck protecting your entire enterprise. Maybe good for single pc use but enterprise they arent even worth dirt.
Posted by: Steve 23 Oct 2006
Why access to the kernel is vital
It is crucial that readers understand the difference between McAfee and those companies that focus on anti-virus software alone. Single-product vendors, like Sophos, may well not have an issue with Microsoft. However, for an innovative security risk management vendor like McAfee, that offers its customers comprehensive security protection, full and unfettered access to the kernel is vital if we are to protect users as they are currently protected with XP. For years, independent security developers have partnered with Microsoft to ensure that customers have the safest computing environment. However, all that seems to have changed with Vista, because Microsoft is denying computer security companies access to Vista's underlying technology. Microsoft's flawed logic will only result in making computers more vulnerable to viruses and other attacks because we will not able to get into and monitor the kernel, which allows us to provide security at the operating system level. To protect customers from the bad guys, you don't lock out the good guys. Internet security is everyone's business, and we hope that Microsoft will return to the collaborative approach that has served customers well in the past.
Posted by: Siobhan MacDermott 23 Oct 2006