Bedeviled already by security flaws against which a number of pestiferous viruses and worms have launched this year, Microsoft's news went from bad enough to potentially worse: a class action lawsuit was filed September 30 in California, claiming Microsoft's software is too vulnerable to bugs that can cause "massive, cascading failures" in computer networks around the world.
According to Reuters, the suit also claims Microsoft security warnings were "too complex" for the general public to understand and did nothing substantial other than tipping off the bug writers.
The suit also charges unfair competition and consumer rights laws violations, one of which went into effect this year and was aimed at protecting personal information in computer databases, Reuters said. The action was filed by Newport Beach attorney Dana Taschner on behalf of a film editor and PC user, Marcy Levitas Hamilton, whose Social Security number and bank details were allegedly stolen online, Reuters added.
"Something fundamental," Taschner told the news wire, "has to change to protect consumers and businesses." The suit seeks unspecified damages and legal costs plus an injunction barring Microsoft from unfair business practices.
But if the computer industry is to be held, ultimately, to the kind of liability standards now imposed on such industries as the auto industry, some analysts think that could make software both more secure and more expensive. "It's obvious Microsoft does not bear 100 percent of the responsibility for these problems, but it's just as obvious that they don't bear zero percent," Counterpane Internet Security chief technology officer Bruce Schneier told Reuters.
