Microsoft is being sued over Windows' lack of security and,
according to Reuters, the lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks class action
status. It says software flaws and Microsoft's monopoly combine to
leave networks vulnerable to "massive, cascading failures."
Reuters reports that the lawsuit was filed on behalf of one party in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, with a class action provision that could result in millions of claims.
The suit argues that the average person cannot understand the security warnings issued by the software giant, but that hackers are able to use the information in them to develop worms and viruses that will exploit the flaw.
This happened in August when the publication of a flaw in Windows led to government warnings and the creation of the MS Blaster worm which caused havoc among business and personal computer users and damage that some have estimated as costing $1.3 billion.
According to Reuters:
"The suit claims unfair competition and the violation of two California consumer rights laws, one of which is intended to protect the privacy of personal information in computer databases. It asks for unspecified damages and legal costs, as well as an injunction against Microsoft barring it from unfair business practices."
The lawsuit follows the publication of a report at a meeting of the Computer and Communications Industry Association warning that computers and critical technological infrastructure worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to attack because of the security practices and dominance of Microsoft software in desktop computing.
Microsoft has made no comment as yet.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association report is available as a 25-page pdf at:
www.ccianet.org/papers/cyberinsecurity.pdf
