Computer Security Complacency

My thanks to Chris Rehm for bringing these links to my attention at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TYR
message # 5791

You might want to start with

http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/sec/2001/00764755.html

This is a summary of the statements made by Purdue University Professor Gene
Stafford when he received the US National Computer Systems Security Award &
there are links in this article to his full remarks & to more info on some of
the topics he raised.

I also suggest that you use the link at bottom of Network World Fusion
article to their archive of other Security newsletters,
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/sec/

then use the search option to locate other articles on UCITA & make your next
one that you look at, part 4 in the series by Associate Professor Mich Kabay
of Norwich University Computer Information Education, dated Jan 7, 2002.

I think it clearly identifies a nightmare we are headed for if Microsoft &
other major vendors of flawed software are allowed to continue to have
legislation that forces a gag rule on end users with respect to what we can
do to get software flaws & computer lemons resolved, and changes the Uniform
Commercial Code
(that allows businesses to require that products & services conform to a
contract or customer set of criteria that needs to be met),
such that computer vendors would be exempted from requirements to adhere to
contracts, repair bugs, but at the same time have the right to shut customers
down if they only suspect infringement of licenses that the customers would
not neccessarily have any right to see.

There's lots of links to arguements for & against this possible future
reality.
I may have misconstrued part of the situation, so you need to check these
links out for yourself.

But these articles also identify other problems, that we cannot blame on the
major vendors, that are contributing to making Computer Security problems
worse, and that we all need to address.

MacWheel99@aol.com (Alister Wm Macintyre) (Al Mac)