[ossig] Cisco exec: Windows Vista is scary - Security - News - ZDNet Asia

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http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,61953636,00.htm

*Cisco exec: Windows Vista is scary*
By Tom Espiner 
<mailto:zdnews-asia at cnet.com&Subject=Feedback%20on%20%27Cisco%20exec:%20Windows%20Vista%20is%20scary%27>, 
ZDNet UK
Tuesday , September 19 2006 09:45 AM

*LONDON--Bob Gleichauf, the chief technology officer in Cisco Systems' 
security technology group, has raised concerns that integrating Vista 
into a complex IT infrastructure could present problems. *

"Parts of Vista scare me," Gleichauf said at the Gartner Security Summit 
here on Monday. "Anything with that level of systems complexity will 
have new threats, as well as bringing new solutions. It's always a 
struggle in security, trying to build for what you don't know."

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Gleichauf told ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK that Cisco views the 
Microsoft operating system update, set for broad release in January, as 
a bearer of possible solutions to security problems, but also as a 
potential trigger of security issues.

"Vista will solve a lot of problems. But for every action, there's a 
reaction and unforeseen side-effects and mutations. Networks can become 
more brittle unintentionally," Gleichauf said.

The Cisco executive's remarks come as Microsoft and the European 
Commission move deeper into a tug-of-war over security features in 
Vista. The company wants regulators to set clear guidelines as to what 
it can include in the operating system, but the Commission will say only 
that Microsoft must abide by its competition rules.

Systems complexity needs to be taken into consideration in any action 
plan for Vista 
<http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,61952997,00.htm> 
implementation, he added.

"If you're embracing Vista, it's not going to be 100 percent initially. 
It's going to create more heterogeneity for a while," Gleichauf said.

Analysts from Gartner have also found that many businesses are nervous 
about integrating the security features in Vista 
<http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,39377696,00.htm> with 
their legacy systems.

"Most organizations are cautious about Vista," said Eric Ouellet, vice 
president for research, security and privacy at Gartner. "(Companies) 
already have security tools which are being built into Vista. The risk 
is to go to another system. There's always going to be some hits," 
Ouellet told ZDNet UK.

"The risk you have to manage is: Is Microsoft going to get it right 
first time? Maybe yes. But are businesses going to take that risk?" he 
asked.

Microsoft has not helped to reassure customers by pushing back the 
release date of the operating system and changing some of the promised 
features.

"People don't know what's coming down the pike," Ouellet said. "TPM 
(Trusted Platform Module) is now not fully integrated--you can't rely on 
the feature and function set. Microsoft's moving the goalposts is 
definitely adding to the heartburn."