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posted by n1 on Tuesday June 10 2014, @02:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the incomplete-updates-are-available dept.

Darren Pauli writes at the Register that researchers who scanned 900 Windows libraries have uncovered a variety of security functions that were updated in Windows 8 but not in Windows 7. Researcher Moti Joseph speculates Microsoft had not applied fixes to Win 7 to save money. "Why is it that Microsoft inserted a safe function into Windows 8 [but not] Windows 7? The answer is money. Microsoft does not want to waste development time on older operating systems ... and they want people to move to higher operating systems," Joseph said in a presentation at the Troopers14 conference.

Joseph along with Marion Marschalek developed a diffing (comparison) tool dubbed DiffRay which compares Windows 8 with 7, and logs any safe functions absent in the older platform. In a demonstration of DiffRay, the researchers found four missing safe functions in Windows 7 that were present in 8 (Youtube). Future work will extend DiffRay's capabilities to find potential vulnerabilities in Windows 8.1 (PDF), add intelligence to trace input values for functions and incorporate more intelligent signatures used to find potential holes. "If we get one zero-day from this project, it's worth it," says Joseph.

Editor's update: For those who prefer, the Presentation Slides (PDF) are also available.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 10 2014, @05:06AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 10 2014, @05:06AM (#53598) Journal

    if someone actually found it funny... well ok, I feel a little sorry for the modder... thanks, now I'm sad.

    When younger, I used to have a name for the symptoms you just exposed above: hypoalcoholemia syndrome a.k.a. "too high concentration of blood in alcohol for far too long".
    The clearest sign for it: the sufferer can't just let go, always seem to take everything as a grave matter and seems tense or depressed about the reality of this world, either for long periods (a chronic condition) or just for absolutely trivial matters (an acute attack).

    if it's a second account being used to mod up an inane comment then there is something wrong with that

    If it helps you, trust me... I know for sure it is not the case this time.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by EvilJim on Tuesday June 10 2014, @06:02AM

    by EvilJim (2501) on Tuesday June 10 2014, @06:02AM (#53612) Journal

    You might be on to something with the alcohol there. I'll take that advice with gusto and get back to you... if capable.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 10 2014, @06:12AM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 10 2014, @06:12AM (#53617) Journal
      Good luck... I hope it helps.
      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford