Fergie's Tech Blog

Microsoft wants to meet more hackers

Joris Evers writes in C|Net News:

Microsoft wants its "Blue Hat" date with hackers to become a regular affair, with twice-yearly events where outsiders demonstrate flaws in Microsoft's product security.

In March, Microsoft invited several hackers to its Redmond, Wash., headquarters for the first time. The two-day meeting of Microsoft insiders with independent researchers provided each side with a glimpse into the other's world. That get-together was such a success that Microsoft is planning more of the events.

"We want to try and do it twice a year," said Stephen Toulouse, a program manager in Microsoft's security unit. "It had a huge benefit to our developers." The event gives executives and developers a different look at product security, he said.

At one point in the March meeting, a hacker lured a laptop running Windows onto a rogue wireless network. He did it in front of the people who developed the operating system. "You're seeing how the technology that you created could potentially be misused, so you come out of that with a much deeper understanding," Toulouse said.

posted by Fergie @ 8/01/2005 04:13:00 PM