[Info-vax] OpenVMS x64 Atom project

[Simon Clubley]

On 2021-06-03, Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
> On 6/3/2021 1:31 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>
>> So David, do you still think that VMS doesn't have a problem in this
>> area ?
>
> I wasn't aware of that, no, but I did read "handled quietly".
>
> "Handled quietly" really doesn't help with the problem.  Saving face is 
> another of those things that just makes problems worse.  One might 
> wonder why there wasn't hollering and screaming for generators when the 
> Japanese Nuclear station needed them, didn't get them, and things rolled 
> downhill.  Can't convince me that there were no generators in the whole 
> country, or outside the country, that could not be airlifted in to help 
> in time.
>
> Regardless, I'm guessing most of the software used in ransomware targets 
> other than VMS.  Would you agree?
>

If VMS is in use at a target site, it will be probed and current VMS
is a softer target than other server operating systems available today.

>> VMS doesn't even have the application isolation and security containment
>> features that are present as standard in some other operating systems
>> such as Linux.
>
> And that has helped prevent the attacks that have taken place?
>

Yes. It's another barrier that needs to be penetrated to compromise
your target, so used properly it is going to help either stop some
attacks or help keep an attacker contained if they do manage to get
a foothold into a part of your system.

Of course, on operating systems that do have these capabilities they
are still no good unless they are used on the site, but the point is
that other operating systems have tools to help handle this that are
not available in VMS.

>> Stopping the use of unencrypted communication protocols on your internal
>> networks would be a good idea as well.
>
> What?  Encrypted data cannot be hashed up to make it unusable?
>

Huh ? How does that relate to my comment about stopping the use of
unencrypted communication protocols on your internal networks ?

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.