Windows for Warships

[mattg2k4]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09..._for_warships/

Originally Posted by The Register Almost three years ago the naval systems arm of major UK defence contractor BAE Systems took the decision to standardise future development on Microsoft Windows. an immediate effect was to commit BAE's joint venture CMS subsidiary, AMS, who specialise in naval Combat Management Systems, to implementing a Windows 2000-based CMS system for the new Type 45 Destroyer. But this prompted strong internal opposition from some of AMS' engineers, who had a sound background in Unix and who had, despite resource starvation and a companywide policy to standardise on Windows, been investigating open source alternatives as a foundation for future combat systems. ...

It's a bit troubling in my mind. Imagine, instead of a crash, or a security breach, simply losing your data, or releasing private information, you could have a missile launched at your city.

[IronMentality]

Oh please... I'd trust the Mac OS or UNIX... not Windows on world security matters!

[jimmyrules712]

dont og bashing windows now. Windows is only seen as less secure because it is the one that hackers target. not many people use macs or linux so not many people are looking for loopholes in those operating systems. Start running lots of major things with linux or MAC and youll start seeing security breeches there too.

[mattg2k4]

The popularity of Windows is definitely a factor in the number of exploits against it, but it is only one factor. The fact that it's built as a hodgepodge of interdependencies is another factor, and I recall a thread from a few weeks back where we debated which was more responsible for the succesfull attacks agains components of the Windows OS.

To quote Gerald Wilson from the Windows for Warships article, who seems to be somewhat versed on the topic

Originally Posted by Gerald Wilson Anyone with elementary knowledge of computer science can see that Microsoft Windows, as described here by Gates, is inherently insecure by design. If this is a flagship Operating System, then Dijkstra’s life was in vain.

While we're on that topic, another Register article, linked in the first article, is a more detailed analysis of why open source software tends to be more secure.

Besides, Windows is simply not a program I have enough confidence in for a mission critical application.