A computer security expert who contributed to a paper deeply critical of Microsoft has been dismissed by his employer, a consulting company that works closely with the software giant.
Dan Geer, a longtime computer security researcher, and several colleagues released a controversial study on Wednesday that called the ubiquity of Microsoft software a hazard to the economy and to national security. Although independently financed and researched, the study was distributed by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a Washington-based trade association largely made up of Microsoft"s rivals.
Cambridge, Mass-based @Stake, where Geer worked as chief technical officer, said in a statement Thursday that the researcher had not gotten his employers" approval for the study"s release, and that he was no longer associated with the company. "Participation in and release of the report was not sanctioned by @Stake," the security and consulting company said. "The values and opinions of the report are not in line with @Stake"s views." A Microsoft spokesman said the software maker had not pressured @Stake to make any decision on Geer"s status. However, @Stake did call Microsoft late Tuesday night (after news of the report"s contents first broke) to say that Geer"s findings did not reflect his employer"s opinions, the spokesman said.