"Mary Fisher" wrote in news:41c20527$0$2652$ snipped-for-privacy@master.news.zetnet.net:
Trouble is, windoze is the only os available to those whose brain is smaller than all outdoors and don't speak klingon.
Until that changes mortals will have to use windoze and try to protect themselves; Antivirus, firewall, spyware and adware detector, email protection (and not using OE or IE)
mike
I'm serious, not being flippant.
Mary
WWWWWAaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:-)
I'll look another time, I'm supposed to be preparing for going to Wales for Christmas! No computer there ...
Saved to folder though ... as is this whole thread.
Mary
The point is, I guess, that the Morris worm just exploited a bug in a user mode (but partially privileged) program, i.e. sendmail. Such a bug could still occur today.
Modern linux distributions are not as daunting as they used to be. However as you say they do require more knowledge to install than windows but once installed they are easy to use. My wife happily uses linux and finds it very similar to windows in day to day usage. Not that I'm implying she's got a brain smaller than all outdoors of course ... time to quit digging this hole whilst it's not too deap I think.
This is an often stated fallacy. The majority of web servers are non Windows, yet most hacked web servers are Windows. It's just easier.
LOL!
Mary ps - can she spell?
Good question!
In this case the answer is "because you trust the person giving the advice".
However normally it would be because you were using a web browser unlikely to be vulnerable to web based exploits, your virus scanner will be running, it's signature files up to date. So to your firewall. You will have installed the Sun JVM as a replacement for the Microsoft one and made it the default.
However if you are visiting a site you are unsure about you will have turned off both Java and Javascript, at least initially.
If you still have doubts, type the URL into google and see if there are discussions raging about it.
Don't be an early adopter, wait for a couple of others to post responses to what they have read. If they are not complaining about an itchy feeling in their bin directory, chances are you will be ok as well!
Oh yes can she ever unlike me as you've probably noticed!
Hmm. I might have been groomed just for this ...
I assume it is.
I don't use the MS one.
That's a good idea, actually, thanks!
:-)
I'm going to bed. I'll look tomorrow!
Mary
In message , Mary Fisher writes
Because I posted the URL, that's why
In message , Bob Eager writes
Does it have bells on ?
How many of those non-Windows web servers are on small hobbyist machines compared to the fewer Windows servers running high-profile sites that are more worth hacking?
I know that Apache is the most common webserver 'out there', but I read some time ago (sorry, no links available) that very few Fortune 500 companies use it, instead going with Windows.
Who is going to hack into some random blogger's website when they can deface a major corporation's website?
John.
Doesn't the next generation PlayStation run Linux ? If so then there is a very worthwhile user base to write viruses for.
implementation,
Glad to see somebody else has realised this. Not that it provides total protection but at least it's a start.
Now, now. Apple Macs are designed for those sort of people.
This is another common misconception among the "I love MS" brigade. Very few enterprise level applications run on IIS. Pick a bank, any bank, and check what their online banking app is running on. It'll be *nix or Solaris.
It's my job to realise it! I teach operating system theory...!
nightjar to do so. The relativly better security probably does protect it from the
I would be very supprised if the systems that build the core of the internet backbone, coupled with those that run the highest profile sites are not subjected to the most deliberate attacks going.
If you were a black hat looking to do mischief, what would be a bigger prize.... A big pile of Windows boxes? or eBay, the BBC News site, and Telehouse in docklands?
Well, I can verify what he is saying in this instance... attach whatever significance you wish to that.
If you want to get a feeling for the workings of the Microsoft mind, there are two sources I would point you at. The first are the (now famous) "Halloween Documents" - these are internal policy study documents that leaked out of Microsoft. A fully annotated set here make for very interesting reading:
There is an argument of scale here, i.e. more installs of a competing product would lead to more possibility of virus spread.
However there are very real architectural differences between windows and most other OSs that make this far harder to happen. Also there is the issue of the MS dominance of the desktop being a monoculture, which provides a largely uniform target. The multitude of variants of the different *nix platforms create a less uniform target and hence harder to exploit even if they had the same penetration on the desktop as Windows.
Finally remember that the systems to which you refer *are* already ubiquitous in the servers and infrastructure that run the internet.
There were undoubtedly some very poor decisions made with regard to OE and outlook. Many of these were driven by a desire for integration with MS Office. Many of these have now been reversed or excised. However the legacy of some is still with us. Take for example the inclusion of the ability to generate and render HTML markup in emails. Prior to MS making this popular, email was predominantly a text only platform. Without HTML, email would be far less attractive platform to spammers/marketers, less suitable for phishing, and about 1/5th the size.
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