F
Frank
Flightless Bird
On 3/6/2010 3:41 PM, Alias wrote:
> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>> On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 16:29:55 -0500, "Spring Sprung"
>> <spring.sprung@not.an.address.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Just a general comment:
>>>
>>> Windows 7 users have a lower malware infection rate than XP users -
>>> mainly because, now, more malware is spread by social engineering
>>> than by frontal attacks and Windows 7 makes social engineering more
>>> difficult. Microsoft / AMD / Intel have closed many of the vectors of
>>> attack malware writers used to depend on, so they rely more on social
>>> engineering now - i.e. tricking users to run their stuff.
>>>
>>> Computer infection is it still is a serious issue - more so even - as
>>> "organized" crime has gotten involved. But I'm not one for
>>> legislation / which means more taxes / then police / which means even
>>> more taxes / etc. etc. ... all of which disagrees with me.
>>>
>>> Instead, IMHO, the best way to fight this stuff (other than through
>>> hardware / software improvements), is simply to make sure people are
>>> aware of and informed as to why it is important to keep one's
>>> computer(s) uninfected and how to go about it no matter what
>>> operating system they are running. An ounce of prevention of worth a
>>> pound of cure, as the old saying goes.
>>>
>>> My computers here seem to never get infected. I watch out a bit and
>>> have the security settings of my and my family's software just a
>>> notch higher, I use the MVP hosts file on the machines and it weeds
>>> out innumerable and useless 3rd parties from the websites we visit
>>> and so on.
>>>
>>> A tiny bit of effort goes so far has gone a long way. My infection
>>> rate over the last 14 years nears that of Apple uses - one real
>>> infection on one computer (mea culpa -- deliberately ignored a
>>> Windows 2000 IIS patch from Microsoft back in 2001), maybe a second
>>> on XP a few months later (not sure, not my fault, and didn't take the
>>> time to investigate -- just wiped and reinstalled at the suspicion),
>>> yet I've run and enjoyed Windows on upwards of 20 computers in the
>>> house since 1996 (turning off HTML & JavaScript in email probably did
>>> wonders in those days lol).
>>>
>>> Anyway, that's a fair number of computers with four people using them
>>> a lot over 14 years.
>>>
>>> People like Alias etc. may not enjoy such a report, but it speaks of
>>> what one can do with Windows, if one puts just a tiny little effort
>>> into looking at security issues -- which should be done no matter
>>> which platform -- UNIX / MacOS / Windows.
>>
>>
>>
>> I completely agree. At the moment I have five computers here, and I've
>> had at least two over each of the past 23 years. My infection rate has
>> always been zero; there's never been a single infection.
>>
>>
>
> Gosh two techies can keep their computers clean and expect us to take
> the leap in logic that their experience is universal.
>
All those who have an infected computer raise their hands...no one?
Oops!
> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>> On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 16:29:55 -0500, "Spring Sprung"
>> <spring.sprung@not.an.address.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Just a general comment:
>>>
>>> Windows 7 users have a lower malware infection rate than XP users -
>>> mainly because, now, more malware is spread by social engineering
>>> than by frontal attacks and Windows 7 makes social engineering more
>>> difficult. Microsoft / AMD / Intel have closed many of the vectors of
>>> attack malware writers used to depend on, so they rely more on social
>>> engineering now - i.e. tricking users to run their stuff.
>>>
>>> Computer infection is it still is a serious issue - more so even - as
>>> "organized" crime has gotten involved. But I'm not one for
>>> legislation / which means more taxes / then police / which means even
>>> more taxes / etc. etc. ... all of which disagrees with me.
>>>
>>> Instead, IMHO, the best way to fight this stuff (other than through
>>> hardware / software improvements), is simply to make sure people are
>>> aware of and informed as to why it is important to keep one's
>>> computer(s) uninfected and how to go about it no matter what
>>> operating system they are running. An ounce of prevention of worth a
>>> pound of cure, as the old saying goes.
>>>
>>> My computers here seem to never get infected. I watch out a bit and
>>> have the security settings of my and my family's software just a
>>> notch higher, I use the MVP hosts file on the machines and it weeds
>>> out innumerable and useless 3rd parties from the websites we visit
>>> and so on.
>>>
>>> A tiny bit of effort goes so far has gone a long way. My infection
>>> rate over the last 14 years nears that of Apple uses - one real
>>> infection on one computer (mea culpa -- deliberately ignored a
>>> Windows 2000 IIS patch from Microsoft back in 2001), maybe a second
>>> on XP a few months later (not sure, not my fault, and didn't take the
>>> time to investigate -- just wiped and reinstalled at the suspicion),
>>> yet I've run and enjoyed Windows on upwards of 20 computers in the
>>> house since 1996 (turning off HTML & JavaScript in email probably did
>>> wonders in those days lol).
>>>
>>> Anyway, that's a fair number of computers with four people using them
>>> a lot over 14 years.
>>>
>>> People like Alias etc. may not enjoy such a report, but it speaks of
>>> what one can do with Windows, if one puts just a tiny little effort
>>> into looking at security issues -- which should be done no matter
>>> which platform -- UNIX / MacOS / Windows.
>>
>>
>>
>> I completely agree. At the moment I have five computers here, and I've
>> had at least two over each of the past 23 years. My infection rate has
>> always been zero; there's never been a single infection.
>>
>>
>
> Gosh two techies can keep their computers clean and expect us to take
> the leap in logic that their experience is universal.
>
All those who have an infected computer raise their hands...no one?
Oops!
2 PM, Alias wrote: