Posted on 08/14/2003 10:01:47 AM PDT by paulat
1) MSFT knows it put out flawed software.
2) MSFT knows that a hostile hacker could take malicious advantage of the flaws.
3) MSFT knows that no one has been downloading the patches they've been sending out.
4) MSFT sends out a relatively benign worm that does not destroy data, but gets users to update their machines.
5) MSFT deflects suspicion by putting a "Billy" message in the worm, and intimates that the real weapon will be directed at MSFT on Saturday.
5a) MSFT doesn't direct the worm at old versions of Windows because they don't care about them any more and provide almost no support.
6) MSFT gets mildly annoyed customers to download the patches, and, probably, to pay more attention to patches in the future.
7) On Saturday, MSFT can claim that it has successfully fought off the worm.
8) Ergo, MSFT has covered its posterior.
9) Someone in Redmond will be getting a big, big raise.
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