"Patch previews" from Microsoft

[unixronin]

Microsoft has launched a pilot program for governments and critical infrastructure providers to gain access to in-depth technical information about operating system patches before they are released on the second Tuesday of each month.

I find this bothers me.  What makes the government so special that they should get this information but I shouldn't be able to access it?

Make the information available, or not.  But making it available just to the government and "critical infractructure providers" Because They're Somehow Special is silly.  My infrastructure is crucial to me.  How come I don't rate access to the information?  Who gets to decide whose infrastructure is "crucial"?

Comments

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

As noted in my reply to ratseal below, the question I'm really asking here is, if they're making that advance technical information available to the government and to whoever Microsoft thinks is a "crucial" service provider who needs it, does it really cost any more to just give everyone access to it?

[guppiecat]

The detailed technical information is enough for attackers to craft exploits from. That's why they want to keep it as secret as possible. While I question the belief that "friendly governments are safe", it is a very common belief in the IT security space.

It doesn't cost more in terms of dollars. It costs more in terms of perceived risk.