Courtesy of OSWeekly.com

(Column) - Today I wanted to address my thoughts on recent news of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expressing serious concerns regarding a specific dangerous vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows operating system.

In reality, it's not all that shocking to see something like this from DHS, as Windows has long been a favorite among the "hack the world" crowd. But it is rather striking to see the DHS requesting assistance from US residents. Is this a sign of a lack of faith in Microsoft's ability to make sure Windows PCs are set to automatically keep themselves up to date? You had better believe it.

The fact of the matter is that Microsoft has no reliable way to make sure that users all over the place are keeping their systems patched and operational. It's just not going to happen. Now for the really scary part of the equation - no matter what improvements are being made to the next-generation of Windows operating system, the issue at hand will remain a consistent problem with Windows XP. You know, the OS that most Windows users use at work and at home.

Hindsight In 20/20. If only Microsoft had the foresight to go back to the time when Windows XP was being developed and make sure that security features being offered with SP2 were available as they are today, things would’ve been a whole lot better. This alone could have saved millions of users a lot of time, headaches and perhaps even a few repair bills along their Windows' voyages.

This, however, is simply not going to happen. Unless Microsoft is able to develop "Time Travel - Home Edition," the likelihood of Microsoft being in a position to undo their past mistakes is simply a wish in the wind.

One thing that both DHS and Microsoft ought to be doing is appealing to the affected users by working out a serious TV-based ad campaign. Sure, the cost would be sizable. However, we must ask ourselves whether or not the perceived cost might pale in comparison to the havoc that even more unpatched PCs might provide for. See how this works? Both ways it’s going to be uncomfortable, and frankly that's too bad. But one fact remains - there are options, just not the ones that these two entities want to consider, it seems.

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