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MS Opens Vista Kernel To Rivals

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CIO Today is reporting that Microsoft has given security companies access to the Windows Vista kernel. Hopefully this brings the ongoing feud between Microsoft and McAfee and Symantec to an end.

Microsoft sent some holiday cheer in the direction of security vendors this week by releasing new programming interfaces for developers working to create software that can interact with the Windows Vista kernel.
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So what happens when someone takes advantage of an exploit to one of these products that has access to the Vista kernel? Is the Vista kernel then compromised? Maybe MS should have stuck to their guns with that argument. I am not a programmer, so maybe someone can educate me if I am incorrect in my worries.
 
MS is damned if they do, damned if they dont. Hopefully they did it right and gave each vendor a seperate key to the api, so they can track which one screws them.
 
darthdana said:
MS is damned if they do, damned if they dont. Hopefully they did it right and gave each vendor a seperate key to the api, so they can track which one screws them.
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They most likely did. They wouldn't give out this access without some kind of failsafe.

At the very least they would have someone to blame.
 
Oh great, now the large inept company like Norton will automatically out perform free AV companies.
 
darthdana said:
MS is damned if they do, damned if they dont. Hopefully they did it right and gave each vendor a seperate key to the api, so they can track which one screws them.
Click to expand...


I agree. Since when is microsoft responsible for anyone else's bottom line? Who gives a crap if this cost Norton/Mcafee money?

I dont blame microsoft for this one. I blame the damned legal system that allowed this to happen.
 
Best thing to do is vote with your wallet. Avast!, Sophos, eTrust, and TrendMicro all have AV products that don't require direct access to the kernel, and I'm willing to bet there are more than just the above available too. Avoid bloated, recobbled code from McAfee and Symantec home products and choose another vendor. Force them to innovate or die.

Considering how difficult McAfee makes it to uninstall some of their software, and how some of their AV software doesn't even have the decency to tell you how many days until your subscription expires, I consider their software as barely better than stuff written by malware jockeys anyway. And both their software and Symantec's home products have a level of CPU/memory usage that I consider unacceptable anyway (Symantec's corporate products are the only ones I'll consider from them). It's time for both companies to stop resting on their laurels, and/or keeping money flowing through social engineering tactics, and to start making money the old fashioned way --earning it through solid, innovative products that get the job done, while being lean, mean, and speedy.
 
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