Windows PCs face ‘huge’ virus threat

Financial Times via Drudge ^ | January 2 2006 18:18 | By Kevin Allison in San Francisco

[snarks_when_bored]

Can't take credit for this one, g_w...just passing on info that proved useful to me.

[Swordmaker]

So you DON'T really feel attached to/and or any allegiance to your Mac, then? Why did you buy it?

I have changed Computer systems five time now... each time going with the one I researched and found to be the best... and most on the cutting edge.

If something better comes along I would most likely go with it. As to teaching you, you think you know everything so there is nothing left to teach you... but you are blissful in your total ignorance. In every post you dig your hole of Mac ignorance deeper and deeper. You also seem to think that we are Windows ignorant. As I told you I make my living fixing ailing Windows computers... I have the experience in Multiple platforms that you totally lack and demonstrate with each utterance.

[ByDesign]

"The only reason MACs don't have viruses is that nobody targets them.

Software is software. If someone wanted to exploit the MACOS, they could."

Perhaps. Another aspect to keep in mind is that the Mac OS is based on BSD, and from what i'm told, it's vastly harder to exploit BSD, in the order of several magnitudes. One would think one of these cretins would go after the Mac just because the of the Mac vs. PC stupidity prevelant everywhere these days.'

I think another key element is the stuff we're not saddled with...like Explorer and Outlook, the two favorite targets for the nasties. I know that since I switched my laptop from Explorer and Outlook to Firefox and web based e-mail, my infections have dropped to nil.

[Lancey Howard]

Windows 98/SE/ME users: Microsoft's original advice to "unregister the shimgvw.dll" (shell image viewer) was never correct or useful on those platforms. The good news is that all current WMF exploits appear to be non-functional on the older Win9x vintage platforms . . . so you will likely be okay until Microsoft has updated your system with the next security patches. There is no short-term workaround for Windows 9x users.

This sounds to me like I should once again be glad I still run 98 on this old jalopy.

[goldstategop]

Steven Gibson Of Gibson Research Corporation has posted a workaround: disable the dll via the Run command until Microsoft releases an official fix. The larger problem of course is Windows was designed with ease of use rather than security in mind. That ease of use makes it easy to run Windows but it also unfortunately makes it attractive to hackers. Those of us running Mac OSX don't have to worry about security flaws for OSX was built first and foremost with security in mind. All you really need is the built-in firewall and you can beef it up with a third party product like Intego's NetBarrier. In OSX you don't need at present anti-virus software. Microsoft is just playing catch-up in the realm of computing security. Apple already had the bases covered.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[KneelBeforeZod]

[snarks_when_bored]

This sounds to me like I should once again be glad I still run 98 on this old jalopy.

It seems so. However, as somebody who ran Win98 for too long, I'll recommend XP with SP2 to you. It's far more stable than Win98.

[goldstategop]

Application errors in Mac OSX get logged but they rarely take down the entire system unless they're very badly written. The Logitech Control Center hosed OSX and was a piece of junk. From now on, I'm going to rely on the Apple native drivers to run my keyboard and mouse. What I appreciate about OSX is that its practically crash-proof. If you run compatible software on it, you will never have a problem. And I intend to see to it I don't have one in the future.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[GiovannaNicoletta]

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[Swordmaker]

And your point is?

[goldstategop]

No software will be completely free of bugs. As long as its usable, that's all people are concerned with. Most of us don't use many of the extra features in the software we do buy.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[dinodino]

I hate to break it to you, Mericco, but OSX is a great operating system. I'm posting this from a $500 computer running OSX. By the way, I'm a professional software developer on Windows and Linux. I use Windows by necessity at the office, but at home I use OSX by choice.

[octobersky]

What's needed is a proper intrusion-detection system, like this one:

I love it! If Netgear doesn't get 'em the ZOT kitty will.

[Centurion2000]

Just block all WMF files.

Another way to mitigate this is to set your PC file extensions to use notepad to open all WMF files.

[Centurion2000]

The new hacker tools and exploits will make mincement of all existing firewalls, intrusion detection, and antivirus.

And how exactly are they going to make mincemeat of application firewalls, IPS platforms and proxy devices examining your https traffic?

[Centurion2000]

Best Operating System - Server (Macintosh OSX.4 Server)

Thanks for the laugh.

[UCANSEE2]

bookmark

[Fishrrman]

Recovering Hermit writes:
I just love these Mac folks who think that the answer to all ills a Mac.
Get a clue.

I'll "clue" you in:

Imagine....

Imagine no spyware - none, zilch, nada.

Imagine no adware - nothing, zero, not a single one.

Imagine no trojans.

Imagine no viruses - nothing to protect against. Imagine not even _running_ any anti-virus software on your computer.

Imagine computing for 18 years, online for 18 years, and never having had a virus, not once. Ever.

Imagine being able to read _any_ email, without fear. To visit _any_ website you wish, without fear. To look at _any_ image you wish, without fear. Imagine be able to download _anything_ you wished, and not even have to check it for infection, or worry about some hidden application buried within it, just waiting to attack your computer.

Imagine turning on your computer with the confidence that you can leave it online a day, a week, a month, and return to find it in exactly the same state - unmolested - as you left it in.

Now, STOP imagining. That's been my personal computing experience (really!) for the last 18 years online.

Impossible, you say? Not if you're using a Mac.

Granted, someone _could_ possibly concoct a virus or some other malaware for OS X. However, if it _does_ happen, it's going to be a "man bites dog" story. It'll be headlines not because it's another virus, but because there has never been an attack on OS X. And it will be dealt with quickly.

I've got a friend at work who has used computers as long (longer?) than I have, but he came from the "PC side" of things. Two of his most memorable comments to me were "it took me ten years to learn DOS", and, "I hate computers!".

I've been fooling with personal computers since 1986 (the Mac since 1987) and I _enjoy_ computers! Why is that?

Cheers!
- John

[steve-b]

What about encrypting your entire hard drive? And are there any downsides to so doing?

You can't encrypt your entire hard drive (unless you can boot from a CD or something) -- the system needs to run the operating system before it can get to the point of starting the crypto software.

Other than that, the downside is that you introduce some extra overhead into file access to run the encryption/decryption/wiping routines. It probably won't be noticeable unless you have a slow computer or lousy crypto software.

[steve-b]

Yes, it's called Norton Antivirus.

I gave up on Norton after spending a few hours cleaning up the mess SystemWorks 2004 made of my system.