More security libraries
Michael Howard posts about security libraries that can be used as drop-in replacements for the older, less-secure stuff. I’ve covered StrSafe and IntSafe before; looks like there are a couple of others too that I didn’t know about.
Update: Doron just posted saying that ntstrsafe has also been recently revised to handle UNICODE_STRINGs more elegantly, too.
Peter Wieland blogging
When it rains, it pours! First Doron Holan starts blogging, and now it seems that Peter Wieland, another Microsoft kernel-type guy, has started a driver-related blog as well. Go check it out. The number of Windows driver development blogs just tripled!
It’s really high time for me to update the blogroll. Soon, I promise.
5308 WDK initial testing
I downloaded and installed the 2 gigabyte 5308 WDK this evening. I continue to be impressed with the improvements Microsoft is making in the kit; it’s nice to see what happens when the company really prioritizes something.
This is a pretty complete kit - PreFAST, SDV, WDF (both KMDF and UMDF, according to the install screen), […]
Randomness and personal security
It’s funny how synchronized the world can be at times. Last night I was having a conversation with someone about the random part of social security numbers, and today Bruce Schneier points me at this interesting phishing attack, which was successful in part because of exactly the same problem.
The security issue is this: people are […]
New CTPs available
The February CTP builds of Vista and WinFX are available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getthebeta/default.aspx. Enjoy!
Here is a great blog post showing some of the new features and changes in this build. Screenshots!
Shakespeare and Dies Irae and Berlioz
This is completely nontechnical, but it’s been on my mind all morning. Feel free to fast-forward.
So, one of my favorite plays of Shakespeare is Macbeth, and one of my favorite scenes is Act IV, Scene 1, in which the three witches make some very equivocal prophesies to Macbeth. These lines pop into […]
Compiler lab RSVP extended
I just got a comment from Kathy at Microsoft that the compiler lab RSVP has been extended to March 3. More details are available on her blog.
Don Quixote of Kansas City
I’m listening to Jorge Luis Borges’s excellent Harvard lecture series This Craft of Verse this week. It’s really fantastic; his was a great intelligence, and he was extremely well read.
One thing he said really struck me. About midway through his first lecture, he commented on the title of Cervantes’s Don Quixote de La Manca, saying […]
dangriff wonders about trusting the compiler
A friend of mine always builds everything from source. I don’t know why, but I vaguely remember hearing something about security. Over at Microsoft, dangriff has a post about the assumption that the compiler is safe.
It’s an interesting question; I’ve often wondered about hiding rogue code in plain sight in large code bases (and GCC, […]
Hotpatching beta
I covered hot patching before. Now it looks like Microsoft is opening up a beta to see how well it works in the field. Beta enrollment instructions are provided.
via Outside The Cube