http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=3767A year and a half ago, if we'd said to you that Windows and Internet Explorer were secure, you'd probably have laughed us off the Internet. However, things have come a long way since then. No really, they have.
PHP Code:$s = new signature();
$s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display();
was it 30% of UK pcs infected with spyware, or more? i'll fish out article links
ah, 55% with adware, 21% with trojans
50% I think, hilariously.
As with the "old XP installation CD" issue, unless consumers actually buy a new PC now, many will still have "issues" with their PC. Still, far more people are security aware than before.
PHP Code:$s = new signature();
$s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display();
It's not something that worries me anymore - MS are heavily Security centric now and as long as you patch actual vunerabilies are pretty much gone. I use Opera by choice now, rather than 'security through obscurity' which is what drove many to look at alternatives.
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
How many with XP tho?Originally Posted by Steve
The major problem is that many still run earlier versions of windows..
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
any version of windows other than the very latest patched one is an "older version of windows", though.
working where i do, i see a LOT of traffic from windows sysadmins which start "new microsoft security bulletins, get patching", then about three days later there are replies of "argh! my systems are all infected! the network is dying!" heppens with both hacks and viruses - and sometimes the viruses are first-seen here too.
given there are still drive-by downloads, viruses, explots, and stupid users, i'd say microsoft isn't safe and secure - people are just going with good old "mustn't grumble" attitude, because the alternatives (gasp! non-microsoft) are worse than the problem (unstable unusable POS machine)
I think it's fair to say MS is on the right track post-SP2 tho - and that's really where this topic ought to focus IMHO as at leasy then we had a basic firewall and some kind of prompting to turn on automajic updates/security centre type stuff.
Sometimes the virus checker can be worse than the darn virus too - our corporate one is driving me nuts by adding a new system tray icon every six mins and stealing input focus from my apps. Sysadmin is on hol and is a useless plank
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
I think a better article title would be microsft: safer and securer. With something as huge as windows theres gonna be holes all over the place. Its just a question of how fast they can patch them. THe SP2 firewall is great, but a lot of issues would be solved if ntl/bt/whoever incorporated nat into their modems, more or less removing the need for a firewall (i know its not complete but i personally wouldnt feel too safe about having an internet facing address for my machine.
BT's voyager 205 already has NAT in it, I use it as my 'firewall' justnow.
"If you're not on the edge, you're taking up too much room!"
- me, 2005
But what portion of dsl users have it? And i know for a fact that ntl doesnt do anything similar
also some ISPs need to be more responsible. Take plus.net, when one of my house mates decided he wanted a screen saver of a certain celebrity that was naked, and the port scanning other networks started on his laptop. My traffic shaper just let it happen because i didn't think to protect against chris's stupidity.
plus.net shut down his IP, redirecting all http requests to a page telling him what had been done. Brilliant, acording to my logs they only let him do that for 15minuites. F2S emailed me but let the traffic continue in a similar situation.
People will ALWAYS run a program, and lie to you, because they were ashamed.
throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)
My current line of work involves among other things patching in the enterprise and I've got to say, I really think that Microsoft has got their act together. They are providing us with the tools to make patch management a no brainer. WSUS server provides you with the tools to rollout (and revert) quickly and easily.
Much of the problem now lies with users that click "Yes" without actually reading the question.
"Would you like to accelerate your pc by installing AdSpywarePro Advance Edition 2006"
YES NO
very true geoff!
Take places like themexp.org, the stuff they bundle with their product.
MSN crud, with Messenger. When microsoft are setting the precident for this sort of thing its very very wrong.
throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)
I admit, 12 months ago the situation was much worse. Still, any repairs for locals and friends with kids, or idiot adults, Firefox goes straight on, and any shortcuts and easily accesible places to IE are removed. Even so, last night, I visited one local resident with a MyWebSearch toolbar in Firefox, first I'd ever seen of itHe was using a slightly older version of Firefox, as he wasn't aware it needed updating, unfortunately Firefox still has no obvious autoupdate feature, atleast you get prompts now informing you of new updates available but they are easy to miss.
I do something similar but I stick Opera on any computers I fix simply because that's my preference (plus is a smaller download with less setup time and every minute delaying the pub is a sin in my eyes). Most folk still don't know of firefox, let alone Opera and are usually very impressed by 'new' ideas like tabbed browsing and lack of popups
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
