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 ...
25 months ago the frustration level with our Pentium Compaq machine became so great that I threw up my hands, collected the wife, the credit card, and headed to the Mac store.
I was less than pleased to do this for a few reasons:
1. I had invested so much time on the PC that learning even 50% more to be an advanced Mac user was a thought almost too much to bear.
2. The fear of not being being compatible with 90%+ of the world's computers was worrisome.
3. Those Apple machines were expensive.
The result:
-The Mac is so easy to use, I have since FORGOTTEN 50% of what I've learned about computers.
-There isn't any computer with which I have compatibility issues.
-A couple months went by, the credit card charges were paid off and forgotten.
Further, in the last two years there have been a grand total of ZERO crashes on the (TWO) machine(s). Every device that I have plugged into it has worked flawlessly and simply. I have no viruses (virii?). I have no spyware. There isn't anything that I can't do on the Mac that I can on a PC, but I can do much more than a PC will allow.
I suggested in a PC help thread here on FR that the user should switch to Mac. One Freeper jumped into my stuff suggesting that switching from "a Ford" to "a Chevy" was unhelpful, useless and cynical. My retort, should I have posted it, would have been that Chevys and Fords do indeed break down at similar intervals. The dirty truth is that PCs have serious, maddingly and unacceptably high failure rates and that the Mac is a true alternative. In other words, the Ford-to-Chevy and Apple-to-PC comparison is worthless.
In the past, I have been excited to get a new computer or OS, but that excitement usually wore off in a few weeks. Two years later I am STILL excited about what my Mac can do. As a footnote, I am neither an Apple zealot nor a Metrosexual, just a very satified customer.
Do yourself a HUGH favor and check out the new $499 Macs. You can still use your old keyboard, mouse, display and printer. All that you lose is the Advil.
"Outlook is an e-mail client."
Not a very good one, and not one that I would run...
If the lock was defective I WOULD have a problem with the Manufacturer. Does this mean I absolve the burglar - Hell no!
I fail to see where my post offers any excuse for a Hacker's nefarious activities. I do acknowledge the existence of the Dark Side of the human condition that seeks to senselessly destroy and degrade value but that is in no way any excuse for their activities.
Problem #1 here? They installed the Yahoo DSL software. XP, hell, most OSes since 95, can be configured to run DSL without any proprietary software. READ THE FREAKING MANUAL!
Next? When you get a popup that says you MIGHT be infected, you should click on the little X in the corner or you WILL be infected. Pop ups don't show up for no reason. They show up because you installed something you shouldn't have or didn't know existed.
I encourage ALL new PC users to go out to their Add/Remove Programs control panel and look for things that don't belong there. Did you purposely install "PornoBot 2004" or "Shopping Coupons 4 U"? If not... delete. If you did, stop reading this, unplug your PC and throw it in a bathtub full of water... you're useless.
Finally... ask your computer manufacturer to send you a CLEAN copy of the OS on your machine. Some will comply, and you'll get a barebones copy of XP. MANY PC companies install HUNDREDS of useless, inane or otherwise space-consuming programs that may be linked with your email address or offer ads to your computer BECAUSE THE COMPANY HAS A CONTRACT WITH THEM. Yes, many companies do make advertising revenue with companies for adding ad-ware to your new PC.
And one other thing... do you use AOL? If so, why? You do understand that AOL is NOT the internet. It's simply another operating system installed on your PC that is a horrendous memory and hard disk hog and will reconfigure things faster than you can say Bill Gates. Consider some research into the use of AIM, Yahoo IM or MSN messenger, get yourself Mozilla or Firefox, and get on the REAL internet. Content is prolific, and you don't pay $19.95 on top of your already pricey ISP.
I've never had a virus or worm, knock on wood. This writer blames Windows, but the real culprit was probably Internet Explorer (which, since it is packaged with Windows, may be what the writer means). Microsoft is pretty fast at patching up Windows security flaws, which are available by activating automatic updates.
So I agree generally with your list (post 32), but the most important are Zone Alarm, uninstalling IE (it's not enough just to leave it on your computer while using another browser), and using another browser. I've been using the old version of Mozilla (Firefox's parent) for years with great results.
Then there as some simple practices that can keep your computer clean--something like good hygiene:
1. I quit using a local email client and use Yahoo exclusively. They screen all attachments with up-to-date virus checkers, and do a pretty good job of screening out spam.
2. Don't click on any mail or open any attachment from someone you don't recognize. Mark it spam, which dumps it.
3. Don't maintain an address book in your browser or email client. A lot of malwear uses this to send itself to your friends and associates, who then open it, thinking it is from you. Do your friends a favor by keeping their addresses in other software.
4. Install all Windows updates immediately.
Without the burglar the is no need for the deadbolt...unless you don't want to be caught doing something wrong by your mother...
Dittos to that. My daughter uses Peachtree on a Gateway pc for our business. This machine is a stand alone and not connected to the net.
I was using Avast and something(s) got into my machine, Avast was unable to detect them.
I downloaded and tried KAV antivirus, found 8 viruses in 30 files.
KAV, supposedly, is one of the best at catching viruses. However the there is only a trial version which lasts one month, then its 40some dollars for a year.
Honestly, if it works out well, I'll gladly pay for it.
Somebody should interrogate the author of this piece (which describes a significant problem at length without one attempt to blame it on George Bush or the Republican Party) to find out who he is and what he did with the real Mark Morford.
Actually, it isn't Microsoft. Microsoft bought the company (Giant) to get their anti-spyware product.
And by the way, I learned something on one of those "Microsoft is Evil" threads. Microsoft has rigged the product to install spyware and then find it so you think it's a good deal. It must be true if I read it on FR.
http://project.honeynet.org/index.html
A pal running a Linux honeypot saw longer average lifetimes before compromise (days and even weeks), but he also observed successful Trojan installations taking less than 15 seconds using scripted attacks.
An interesting little tool which will show you the attempts against your system is NFR's BackOfficer Friendly.
I just wanted to join in with the Lotus Notes bashing. We use it at work and it's the biggest piece of crapola ever.
And they never seem to blame the a**wipes who actually write and deploy that stuff either!
If a burglar broke into your house and took your stuff, would you blame him or the guy who built the door or window?
Use a DSL router with a firewall! One's PC should never have a public IP address!
Well, she's a woman now. Probably wasn't born that way.
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