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Security Through Obsolescence

Posted by Hemos on from the security-through-elderly dept.

dlur writes "This article and this article (both variations of the same article written by roblimo) delve past security through obscurity, into using old, out of date software to secure a site. Maybe it's not always in your best interest to snag the latest kernel? Perhaps think twice before jumping at the chance to buy MS's latest OS."

8 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. This is great! by Rantastic · · Score: 5, Funny

    No one can break into my house because I have a moat and a drawbridge, and a dragon behind the door. Old, but effective.

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    Ask Slashdot: Where bad ideas meet poor googling skills.
    1. Re:This is great! by Rantastic · · Score: 3, Funny

      As you glide in, guns blazing, your last thought, as your body is charred by dragon flame, is that you should have remebered that dragons (at least good ones) have thick armoured scales.

      I wonder if there is something useful I can do with metal lump that is left from the frame of your melted hang-glider. Perhaps I can setup an old AIX server to hand out some simple web pages...

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      Ask Slashdot: Where bad ideas meet poor googling skills.
    2. Re:This is great! by sharkey · · Score: 3, Funny

      the dragon is enchanted

      Silver .50BMG, of course.

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      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    3. Re:This is great! by PaulBellini · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, but have you ever tried to get a permit for a dragon? It's hell.

  2. Gopher by arson1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Time to move my mp3 collection over to a gopher server :)

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    Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things.
  3. Dammit, don't let the secret out! by allism · · Score: 3, Funny

    We ship DOS based and Windows based medical data collection software out of our shop, and we've had WAY fewer problems (one, to be exact, compared with over a dozen) with people hacking into our DOS stuff vs our Windows stuff, despite the fact that we have 50 times more DOS units in the field than Windows.

    Not to mention that the laptops we ship the DOS software on gets stolen a lot less frequently, since our DOS software will run on 286s...

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    Denver Isuzu Suzuki
  4. My new filing technique is unstoppable! by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 4, Funny

    No one can steal my data!

    I have no network. My backups are stored on 5 1/4" floppies.

    Not only can no one read these things, they'd need a truck convoy to haul them away. No way in hell they're sneaking past security with a motherfucking semi truck!

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    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  5. Re:Fort Knox; aka MS-DOS by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 5, Funny

    I remember researching firewall products and stumbled across one that ran on MS-DOS. According to the marketing hype, MS-DOS was the OS of choice

    Cool... just what everyone needs... a single-user, single-tasking firewall.

    Why not call it a brick-wall? :-)