BBC HoneyPot

The recent BBC article by Mark Ward describing an unprotected computer/honeypot set-up is nothing but a piece produced to create F.U.D. He describes how an unprotected XP computer is attacked repeatedly when connected to the internet. Of course, as with most tech articles produced by the BBC, the only operating system that seems to exist is Microsoft Windows.

The weaknesses in his article are explored on slashdot.org, so I won't rehearse them here.

Perhaps more interesting is the BBC/Microsoft memorandum of understanding "that aims to identify 'common interests' between the BBC and Microsoft. Areas for collaboration include search and navigation, distribution, and content enablement."

To purely speculate the relationship between BBC tech articles and the MS/BBC agreement:

Microsoft is going to have a hard time selling its upcoming release of the Vistas system, specifically, getting users of XP to upgrade, and to return ex-Microsoft users to the fold (for example all the college kids that bought new Apple laptops this year). MS will probably market the new system's "security" features as a main selling point.

Articles like the one produced by the BBC, that begin to explore the all too well known security problems in current Microsoft software, help prepare the marketplace for a new "secure" system, and condition consumers to see security as a need. The new Vistas OS will then present itself as the only viable solution to the problem.

Again, pure speculation. Nevertheless, when visiting the Vistas site on microsoft.com, there rarely is a page that does not mention security in some context. BBC articles on computer technology focus very heavily on the MS OS, almost to the exclusion of others.