Posted on 02/04/2005 7:54:13 AM PST by SmithL
So about a year ago, the SO finally upgraded her Net connection to DSL, carefully installed the Yahoo! DSL software into her creaky Sony Vaio PC laptop and ran through all the checks and install verifications and appropriate nasty disclaimers.
And all seemed to go smoothly and reasonably enough considering it was a Windows PC and therefore nothing was really all that smooth or reasonable or elegant, but whatever. She just wanted to get online. Should be easy as 1-2-3, claimed the Yahoo! guide. Painless as tying your shoe, said the phone company.
She got online all right. The DSL worked great. For about four minutes.
Then, something happened. Something attacked. Something swarmed her computer the instant she tried to move around online and the computer slowed and bogged and cluttered and crashed, and multiple restarts and debuggings and what-the-hells only brought up only a flood of nightmarish pop-up windows and terrifying error messages and massive system slowdowns and all manner of inexplicable claims of infestation of this worm and that Trojan horse and did we want to buy McAfee AntiVirus protection for $39.95?
Four minutes. And she was already DOA.
My SO, she is not alone. This exact same scenario, with only slight variation, is happening throughout the nation, right now. Are you using a PC? You probably have spyware. The McAfee site claims a whopping 91 percent of PCs are infected. As every Windows user knows, PCs are ever waging a losing battle with a stunningly vicious array of malware and worms and viruses, all aimed at exploiting one of about ten thousand security flaws and holes in Microsoft Windows.
Here, then, is my big obvious question: Why the hell do people put up with this? Why is there not some massive revolt, some huge insurrection against Microsoft?
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Actually, until he entered into the MS vs. Apple battle, he was "making sense" (I can't believe I just said that!!).
I maintain a simple 5 computer peer-to-peer network, with internet connection sharing, at work. All computers run WinXP. When I set up the network I installed a software firewall on the computer that makes the internet connection, installed the free AVG anti-virus on all computers and put AdAware on all computers. AVG is set to automatically scan once a day at 3:00 am, I run a scan with AdAware once a week.
In almost 3 years we've had NO viruses, NO spyware. I spend maybe 30 minutes a week doing the scans. That's it.
My computer at home has been virus and spyware free for the same period.
By installing 3 simple and free programs you can protect your computer completely.
I find that "elegant" enough.
I agree! Along with the MS and Lotus Notes developers!
IMO Hackers are just doing what a lot of people (And a President) do - They do it "Because they can". MS has the obligation to thwart this dark side by presenting software that is less target rich. That is where they fail and the source of much of my displeasure with their products. That and their successful stifling of all competition for the past decade.
The thing that drives me crazy about XP, as a Systems admin, is that there is not a stripped down version available for business computers.
Honestly, there is absolutely no reason for MSN Messenger to load by default when one is setting up XP Pro.
I like the remote desktop capabilities of XP and the stability, but so much of the other crap is just that, crap.
I use both Windows XP and MacOS X in my home office. No comparison. MacOS X is the most stable, problem free operating system I have ever used. I have never had one minute of frustration...can't say that about XP. To each his own.
Uh huh, and stealing an unlocked car is done "just because they can."
And I thought moral equivalency only existed on the left.
Add Firefox and Thunderbird and you'll really be garbage-free.
If you want to go the full road, use Open Office instead of MS Office.
Hey don't knock it, my wife divorced me for looking at internet porn. Best thing that ever happened to me, LOL.
Lotus Notes is required by my company and I've found out many interesting things about it. It runs a started task that can get out of control and eat up ALL your storage. I think it's NTASKLDR. Try doing a Google on the name and read some of the comments. Lotes sucks wind big time.
How can she live through this horror? Oh its just too awful to comprehend.
Put her on a suicide watch right away. And its all Microsoft's fault. Why doesn't she get some money grubbing lawyers and sue just like the woman who sued McDonalds when coffee spilled on her......
Oh the horror!!!!
This is like blaming the lockmaker because the deadbolt wasn't long enough after the burglar beat in your door with a sledge hammer.
Hackers are no different than vandals and thieves (gypsies, tramps and thieves...?) never can get that song out of my head.
Anyway, those hackers that develop spyware and malware should be treated like the criminals they are.
Protect the borders of my PC!!!
"Let's go through this one more time:
1. Dump IE and go to Firefox;
2. Download and run Avast anti-virus
3. Download and run Ad-aware SE
4. Download and run Spybot
5. Download and run CCache
6. Run everything behind a firewall, harware or software
All the above packages (for 6, use Zone Alarm) are free, and I haven't had one virus or malware issue since using them."
Or buy a Macintosh, run OS X, and dont worry. Your computing environment will be elegant, virus free, and spyware free.
Huh?? What in my post provided any moral equivalence to ANY crime. Suggest you read it and fairly so. I simply acknowledged the existence of Hackers (and Car Thieves for that matter) and suggested the need for adequate protections against them. Where is the 'Moral equivalence' you cite?
Its real simple...
ANY software (windows, linux, or any other program) that is so WIDELY USED, and is basically the "standard" is a HUGE TARGET for 'hackers'.
When these people design a virus or trojan or whatever, they exploit little featurs or holes. Those features and holes are almost always exclusive to that particular software.
To put it short... windows has so many virus' because so many people run windows.
A 'hacker' knows that 92% of Home PC users (non business and so probably easier to infiltrate) run a vanilla version of windows98/2k/me/xp)... so you have a higher chance of 'success' with a "target base" (windows machines) that is many millions more than its nearest competitor.
Plus like I said.. most of the Non-Windows machines out there(IE LINUX boxes running Apache/MySql/PHP) are run by hard core IT nerds who REALLY know what they are doing. A virus designer, like a spam 'artist' will seek the path of least resistance.
So you have an 'easier' target, and many millions more 'potential' targets IF you design your 'virus' to exploit something in windows.
If 95% of 'clueless' home PC users were running some flavor of LINUX, I would expect just as many problems, exploits, or holes would be found (though due to open src, would most likely get fixed faster and more efficently)
LOL.
We use notes here at work. I agree. A more useless mail client would be hard to find.
Of course, a buddy of mine, who works with Macs, laughs all the time at me. No problem surfing the net with a mac, viruses written for them are few and far between.
A general comment that I am writing to you because it will affect your #1. MS has so many security problems because they are the ones hackers attack because they are the ones most people use. Granted it was stupid to have their browser so closely integrated with the OS, but that is a seperate problem. Hackers exploit holes in IE and Windows because that is where it can spread...that is what most people use. Firefox's greatest advantage WAS (past tense) that no one was trying to hack it because very few were using it. Now that it has (or will) hit a critical mass of users, it will start getting attention from hackers. I have been using Firefox since 0.8 and I love it...but I am looking for a new browser. Safety comes from anonymity. Anything CAN be broken, the question becomes when is it worth doing.
Another Zone Alarm fan. I've used them since they came on the market. At first the freeware, now I pay for it so I can run it on all the computers in the house.
Oh yeah, and you "get a mac" people, same goes for you.
There is nothing 'magical' about OSX... its just that the only real 'market' that MACs own is the graphic production and print industries.
As percentage of MACs grow in the 'home user' market you can expect more and more 'trojans' and 'viri' to increase proportionally.
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