Anti-Windows Catalog

McAfee caused Microsoft to cause Google to leave China?

Written by Gordon Fecyk, 1/16/2010

MICROSOFT CAUSED GOOGLE TO CONSIDER LEAVING CHINA this week. It sounds absurd, doesn't it? Google is one of Microsoft's strongest competitors. But if you read the mainstream press and believe the likes of Dmitri Alperovitch from McAfee, a noted anti-virus firm, then Microsoft is the harbinger of doom for freedom and democracy in China.

Right. And Microsoft caused the earthquake in Haiti this week, too.

The logic goes like this:

• First Google threatens to leave the People's Republic of China over hacking attacks against GMail accounts operated by Human Rights activists.
• Second, China warns technology companies to obey their rules.
• Third, David Drummond at Google claims they were but one victim among dozens in this attack.
• Finally, George Kurtz at McAfee pipes up, after "working around the clock" -- no doubt to come up with a name for the attack -- and blames Microsoft for, one of the malware samples involved in this broad attack [that exploited] a new, not publicly known vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Again.

TWO GLARING PROBLEMS STAND OUT in both Alperovich's and Kurtz's accounts. They won't tell you what they are, so I will.

The most obvious problem is neither McAfee staff member explained how to guard against the vulnerability. Aside from, of course, updating your copy of their after-the-fact anti-virus product. We already know this doesn't work against Kurtz's vaunted zero-day vulnerabilities. By comparison, Microsoft had no problem telling you:

Data Execution Protection (DEP) is enabled by default in Internet Explorer 8 on the following Windows operating systems: Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, Windows Vista Service Pack 2, and Windows 7.

Translation: If you are running a current version of Windows, a current version of Internet Explorer, and have not messed with the default security settings, you stopped this thing cold. If you weren't doing all of those things, well, that's not Microsoft's fault.

The second, not-so-obvious problem comes from the People's Republic of China itself. China requires all foreign technology firms, including McAfee, to follow their rules. And since 2001 at the very latest, McAfee trades in malware with China.

IF WE FOLLOW MCAFEE'S LINE OF LOGIC back to the beginning of The China Syndrome, it is plausible that one of McAfee's trades with China caused Google to consider pulling out. By extension, McAfee is the harbinger of doom for freedom and democracy in China, not Microsoft.

That sounds just as absurd as suggesting Microsoft caused Google to consider leaving China. But put these statements together:

• Kurtz told the world, [McAfee] informed Microsoft about this vulnerability and Microsoft published an advisory and a blog post on the matter on [January 14th].
• Ted Bridis from the Wall Street Journal told us, China's Ministry of Public Security has been requiring Western anti-virus vendors to supply samples of malicious code as a condition of doing business with [Chinese] consumers.

So by Kurtz's admission, McAfee supplied details of the vulnerability to Microsoft. Then by China's admission, McAfee would have supplied details of the same vulnerability to China.

Who did they tell first?

But nobody would tell you that.

Related Links:

• Microsoft Security Advisory (979352), also known as, "how to prevent zero-day attacks before the fact" -- Microsoft
• China moves to limit damage from Google fight -- CBC News Technology
• The China Syndrome -- Vmyths

[Catalog Home]

Resources:

Recently Edited Categories:

Browse All Categories

Recent Commentaries:

Browse All Commentaries