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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">To Whom It May Concern:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>I would like to request that each receiver of this letter (my Congressman, two State Senators) start an inquiry on the Department of Home Land Security (DHLS).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Recently, I learned that the DHLS decided that Microsoft (MS) XP would be the standard operating system for both DHLS and DHLS supported agencies.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I believe this is an ill-considered decision.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>I have programmed many applications on PCs, Minis, and Main Frames over 30 years.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I’ve learned that </SPAN><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: red">Microsoft Products are not secure!</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For example, the two major patches to XP Professional, do not address features or bugs, but are exclusively on security.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The recent MSBlaster Virus hit XP Professional.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>One only has to run a program like Ad-ware or Spybot to view all the spy ware that is aimed at Microsoft machines.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>Microsoft claims to be a target because they are the biggest game in town that is the target of hackers and virus makers.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>However, you can’t have Active X, D-COM, and other distributive network programs, plus a secure OS at the same time.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Microsoft, at a conference last year, revealed that six ports are left open for their use as a hidden feature.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>One of the ports is an RPC agent (Remote Procedure Call – which allows another to take complete control of your computer.)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>Now even if MS claims they will deliver an operating system with all ports closed, the problem still remains. For example, non-operating system programs like MS Office routinely try to open a port to send data to MS marketing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Fortunately, more secure operating systems exist. i.e., Linux, Solaris, BSD, and even Mac OS-X, to name a few.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The real problem is that MS tries to be everything to everyone.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Even were they to secure the existing XP operating system, when someone adds a media player, etc. these tries to open up the machine ports to collect statistics, thus leaving the whole operating system vulnerable.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">To further illustrate look at WMI (</SPAN>Windows Management Instrumentation<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">), which yields everything you want to know about another’s machine, except how to read the password file (also not well constructed.)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>I have done consulting for some of the largest corporations and having traced down why certain decisions are made I believe that usually someone low on the totem pole picks something without adequate technical know-how.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>To make this point, consider the following two items:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>At one of our major </SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">US</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"> corporations with a large Navel contract, I stopped three million dollars worth of wrong equipment from being ordered. That equipment was the responsibility of an administrator, but this person m!
erely
placed a call to a new hire at the corporate help desk who in turn gave their opinion based on some catalogs without even interviewing or knowing what the equipment was going to be used for.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>At another major US Corporation, I interceded to stop an 800 million dollar order just before it was placed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nearly 140 people in the business division had reviewed the specifications, and these people failed to communicate with any of the 30,000 + qualified Engineers. The basis of decision by these unqualified was predicated on their use of spreadsheets, and these people were ordering machines that would have eventually been used Field Engineers and as diagnostic machines.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I believe that this Home land Security pick is of a similar nature.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt">To make a Microsoft Operating system secure, I can say with certainly, that would ether have to use a different one or create one from scratch.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I therefore ask for a congressional investigation on this decision.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN>I ask the receivers of this e-mail to review this e-mail, and add their own experiences and forward it to their appropriate representatives.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 5"> </SPAN>Concerned Citizen,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt"><SPAN style="mso-tab-count: 5"> </SPAN>Ronald Lee Browning<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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