>>Although I love a good conspiracy I think this one is unlikely in the extreme.
>>
>>Okay - I feel better now!:)
>
>Yeah so would I except for that Tempest system that can read my screen from a distance ... :)

Maybe we should go back to paper tape!

Another way to look at it - what if the "flaws" in IE and the OS, usually discovered overseas, were not really an "accidental oversite" issue, but intentional. What if MS never expected that 3rd parties would find them. Every release they've made has been shown to have "back doors", or, in the jargon of the IT press, "security holes".

What would plan "B"? Mine would be to do a better job (next time) at hiding them! THey have really good engineers at Microsoft. Their stuff is pretty magical. So how could those same engineers missed those so called "security holes"? One monday, last month, microsoft had 8 (count `em, eight) patches on the queue for the download.

Why does Microsoft get so excited when a nerd publishes the code to take advantage of the "security holes"? Thats what they (MS) should have done. It would have notified administrators of the problem. What better way do demonstrate a security issue than publish the code that can defeat it. At least it would kick start the effort to fix it.

Things are desperate. Ethics are usually the first to jump ship!:)