Unprotected PCs Fall To Hacker Bots In Just Four Minutes

Techweb ^ | 11/30/2004 | Gregg Keizer

[avg_freeper]

"Mac OS used to be CLI free and therefore fairly well protected."

Whether or not a system has a CLI has nothing to do with its degree of security. Classic Mac had a CLI. You probably never used it. Most people would panic and just reboot their Mac when they accidentally entered it.

moof

[ThinkDifferent]

Yes, unlike all other operating systems, SP2 is completely impenetrable. (GE, is that you?)

[processing please hold]

I don't know why I get on these threads. They scare me. I can turn this thing on and off and run the printer, that is my expertise with computers.

I see all this stuff and I want to know what it is but there is a part of my brain telling me: do not absorb...do not absorb.

But goofy me, I keep coming coming back. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

[UseYourHead]

Wasn't that more of a terminal than a CLI?

[IndyMac]

"No SP2 machines were hacked"

True, but they weren't being used either. Nobody was cruising the net, reading and writing emails, or downloading any software. OSX and other unix OS's are inherently less vulnerable to attacks that come from these activities. For example, it is very difficult for even a legitimate user to gain root access under OSX, which makes system level exploits extremely difficult.

Having said that, I use an XP box for my engineering work and recently upgraded to SP2, and am very happy with it (just don't do email on it).

[processing please hold]

I only open e-mail from people I know. That's what my daughter told me to do. I have an average of 1500 unknow e-mails every day. I just delete them all at once.

That's right? Right?

[It's me]

bump

[Starter]

"... along with former hacker Kevin Mitnick, a co-investigator in the experiment."

Huh. I thought Mitnick wasn't allowed near computers as part of his parole, or is that no longer the case?

[devolve]

What can anyone do with a virus-proof worm-proof MSFT internet gizmo?

Run 24 hours a day while computers are in the shop or messing with firewalls, software, patches, security programs, popups -

More to come soon.

Gloat-A-Thon

http://members.fortunecity.com/00access/CountryRoads.html

Bond -- James Bond

http://pro.lookingat.us/007.5.html

56K dialup if yer rig is slow

http://pro.lookingat.us/009.html

Prairie Chapel

http://00access.tripod.com/TexasRancher.html

Heinz-Kerry Real Estate Section

http://pro.lookingat.us/ThisOldDump.html

Jukebox

http://www.angelfire.com/film/macny/Braveheart.html

Freedom!

http://pro.lookingat.us/Braveheart2.html

Gloat-A-Thon with an Irish flavor

http://pro.lookingat.us/FakeIrish.html

The Swimmer

http://pro.lookingat.us/MaryJo.html

Marines

http://00access.tripod.com/GreenGrass.html

[texasflower]

I'm having a lot of problems with firefox. It crashes frequently.

Any suggestions?

[dhs12345]

Firefox runs fine on my win98 computer. Takes a little longer to load than IE but is safer.

Try Firefox instead of Mozilla -- from same company. Mozilla has features that you may not use.

[processing please hold]

TY.

[dhs12345]

Yup....download and follow the installation instructions. It is free.

Also, run your sypware program virus programs. It is likely that you have at least some spyware, benign or not, on your computer. You should do this at least once a week.

[RhoTheta]

Ping

[processing please hold]

Ummmmm, maybe I should run a virus program, if this computer was any slower, I could deliver this post personally to you, and still beat it.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I still feel vulnerable. :-(

That's ok...really.

I hear chicks dig that stuff.

[processing please hold]

How very rude of me, Thank you!!

[Salo]

It's false. I just de-roached a PC that had nothing but a dial-up connection. Thousands of worms, viruses, trojans and spyware. Use a firewall.

We've been told we don't have to worry about a firewall because we have dial up. Is that true?

[Cyclone59]

a ping for later reference

[dhs12345]

Could be you have tons of spyware bogging down your computer, too. Let it run during the day or overnight until it has completed (spyware and virus check).

Also, a cheapest way to upgrade and increase performance is to add more memory.

Also, run disk defragmeter under: start...programs...accessories...system tools...Disk Defragmenter.

This takes a while too but will speed up your system if you haven't run it for a while.

Good luck.