Scott Charney

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Scott Charney is Microsoft's corporate VP for Trustworthy Computing, a project started at Microsoft a few years ago as a followup to Bill Gates' shattering public apology to the world at large for the miseries and woes caused by Windows. But it never had anything to do with making Bill's systems more secure - it's always been about protecting IP. Things Peter Gutmann wrote about. The rest was just MS ActiveSpin™.

And whilst Microsoft's latest systems are no more secure than those of yestermillennium, things get only worse for the Internet. 92-97% of all SMTP traffic is spam (think about it) and 100% of that spam is generated by Microsoft systems.

Microsoft systems are the only systems attacked. Things like Conficker and Zeus are plucking billions out of SMB, crippling airlines, operating theatres, warships, you name it.

Anyway: Scott's got a Great Idea™. An idea he's been pushing before. But today he's actually getting wind in his sails. What's his Great Idea™?

Quarantine all infected computers. Don't let them on the Internet.



'For more than two decades, people have struggled to understand the cyber threat', laments Charney. Poor guy.

In a move reminiscent of John McAfee, Charney suggests a worldwide health organisation to hold computer users to the same high standards as occurs in the world of medical health. He's even produced a PDF 'white paper'.

Scott Charney - or any representative of Microsoft - talking about cleaning up the Internet is like listening to Al Capone talk about clamping down on jaywalking. The comments on his ridiculous article sum things up adequately.

Oh no you didn't just go there! Thanks for the blog fodder for my website! Microsoft touting removing insecure PCs from the Internet and networks?? By that logic we need to remove every machine running Windows! Great job Microsoft!
 - Debbie Mahler

If Microsoft isn't competent enough to make software that is safe, how are they going to be able to make an Internet quarantine that works?
 - ribose

'Lead by example'. You can't just ask a 'digital quarantine' of all infected devices when almost 100 per cent of all systems that are part of a botnet are using Windows as their main operating system. You want isolation? Fine, integrate it in the next version of Windows and: 1) Try to convince the consumers that this is necessary, and 2) Deal with the fact that you'll have to lock-down your own product to keep the Web 'safe'. Do it yourself Microsoft, do it if you dare, just don't go around asking for a 'global solution'. There's one tiny little thing called 'net neutrality', and no, you can't mess with it.
 - Lisandro Pardo

Good idea! Get all Microsoft machines off the internet once and for all. How did you manage to type all that without getting the blue screen of death at least three times?
 - Alan