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Overhype

by Mike Masnick

Fri, Jul 9th 2004 1:19am





Day Is Night: Microsoft Says Security Is Its Competitive Advantage

from the you-have-got-to-be-kidding dept

Really not quite sure what to make of this, but apparently Microsoft believes that if they just say something it must be true. In the past few weeks there have been so many major Microsoft security problems, it's been nearly impossible to keep count. Yet, Steve Ballmer is going to stand on stage with a straight face at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference and claim that security is their competitive advantage. Even worse, he's doing this despite claiming the same thing last year, which included a number of promises about Microsoft's security upgrades, most of which they haven't actually done. Now, there are plenty of sites that bash Microsoft for being Microsoft, and that's really not worth wasting time over. However, if Microsoft really wants to claim they're serious about security, shouldn't they show us they're serious about security, rather than just telling us?

5 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Where did this come from?

    identicon
    momo, Jul 9th, 2004 @ 6:23am

    I think they've been taking PR lessons from Bush.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Re: Where did this come from?

    identicon
    thecaptain, Jul 9th, 2004 @ 7:34am

    "Yes sir...security is our strength, we are the most secure software out there and we're going to keep making it even MORE secure...."

    "...now watch this drive."

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Security

    identicon
    Mark, Jul 9th, 2004 @ 8:22am

    Microsoft is a company completely in the thrall of marketing, so you have to understand "security" as a marketing buzzword. One of the basic tenets of marketing is the customer is driven by the perception you create of the product. No doubt Ballmer and others at MS truly believe that if they just keep congratulating themselves for their excellent security, customers will fall in line. And to be honest, they might be right; after all, there are plenty of people out there who think Bill Gates is a brilliant programmer.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    security

    identicon
    achacha, Jul 9th, 2004 @ 1:34pm

    Given the track record of Microsoft claims, I suspect he was trying to say:

    "We hired a lot more security guards for our campus, security is our competitive advantage since we are stealing other companies ideas and they can't steal anything from us..."

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    preaching to the sheep (IT managers)

    identicon
    aNonMooseCowherd, Jul 9th, 2004 @ 10:01pm

    They probably assume that most IT managers are so inept technically that they have no way of evaluating Microsoft's claims, and if the company says its products are secure, then it must be true.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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