Musings

I've sometimes been asked why computers are still so insecure, so eminently hackable. Didn't Bill Gates once shut down development at Microsoft so they could improve the security of Windows decades ago? While not quite decades ago, Gates really did shut down Windows development in 2002 and sent 7,000 systems programmers to special security training with the goal of "Trustworthy Computing."

It didn't work. While some things got better, and the rampage of worms slowed down, administrators and users continued to have to install patches frequently. In 2003, Patch Tuesday became a regular feature, followed by Exploit Wednesday for those who had ignored the routine of installing patches on the second Tuesday of the month.