Problem is, security patches are like treasure maps pointing to exactly where a vulnerability exists, and how it could be exploited. Exploits that would be hard to find otherwise can be reduced to practice in a matter of hours after seeing a patch. (See, for example, the NYTimes on this issue back in 2003: "Fixing Flaws, Microsoft Invites Attack.")

So a consequence of giving the US Government early access to patches, before anyone else has a chance to apply them, is giving those close to the government's IT oeprations backdoor access to other Microsoft-based software in the private sphere and worldwide.

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