---
title: "The danger of IT monocultures"
url: https://campbell-online.com/blog/2006/05/24/the-danger-of-it-monocultures/
description: "Dan Geer is an extremely well respected security expert. When he worries about something, people listen. One of the things he has worried - and warned - about is the."
published: 2006-05-24
updated: 2006-05-24
---

# The danger of IT monocultures

Published 2006-05-24

May 24, 2006 · [Knowledge work](https://campbell-online.com/blog/category/knowledge-work/) · [Tools and techniques](https://campbell-online.com/blog/category/tools-and-techniques/)

> Dan Geer is an extremely well respected security expert. When he worries about something, people listen.
>
> One of the things he has worried - and warned - about is the danger represented by IT ‘monocultures’ - the situation that arises when everyone uses the same software, for example, and therefore everyone shares the same vulnerability to a computer virus or other security threat.
>
> […]
>  As it happens, Dan’s bomb went off a few days ago, with the breakout of the “Backdoor.Ginwui” virus, a malicious bit of code that [Symantec](http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/backdoor.ginwui.html) introduced in an alert as follows:
>
> > It has been reported that Backdoor.Ginwui may be dropped by a malicious Word document exploiting an undocumented vulnerability in Microsoft Word. This malicious Word document is currently detected as [Trojan.Mdropper.H](http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.mdropper.h.html).

[The ConsortiumInfo.org Standards Blog: “Monocultures and Document formats: Dan’s Bomb Goes Off”](http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/)

Comments are closed.