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The Windows Security Nightmare
latif writes "Microsoft has set aside a $5 million fund for paying off informants on malware authors. In my opinion a good chunk of this money deserves to be paid to individuals who help catch the Microsoft employees behind the design of Windows Registry and Windows Update. As I found out, the two mis-features work together to deprive Windows users of all protection from malware. The details of my experience are in the article Why Windows is a Security Nightmare." In a related story, Anonymous Wussie writes "This guy had family with a problem: A Windows XP computer hit by worms that couldn't stay on-line long enough to get patched. His solution? A CD. This article describes the custom made CD he sent to his family member with patches, tools, and instructions to make a fresh install of Windows XP Home Internet safe. I know I'll be doing this in the future."
...and I don't believe obtaining a DHCP lease would be a problem through this.
Asking users to plug/unplug their network cable is just plain silly.
It's a rational expectation that a brand new machine, or one restored to factory configuration, should have no fatal problems - we certainly expect that the wheels don't fall off our cars just after we drive off the new car lot. We shouldn't have to *know* that we have to tighten the lugnuts or get new tires because the ones I juts bought are about to explode, and I shouldn't have to immediately change the locks because everyone and their grandmother can pick the one I just bought with a toothpick.
Perhaps I'm taking the analogy too far, but can you name another product that is widely sold brand new with massive known defects?
Asking users to plug/unplug their network cable is just plain silly.
I'd have to disagree. I think making someone work for something might make them a bit more appreciative of what needs to be done to maintain it.
I told my father to take his computer to a local shop to have it fixed rather than drive up to me. Once he learned how much it costs to have things fixed that can easily be avoided he seemed much more interested in learning how to take care of things than thinking "this thing should just do as I want it to" (and he stopped downloading stupid ass screensavers.
A little work goes a long way.
You see, it takes 20 seconds to 2 minutes from the network activation to the firewall start every time you turn on the PC, not just when you're getting the latest update. And if you think you only need a firewall when you're running Windows Update, then you're missing the whole point of having a firewall.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
Quoth the parent:
I read that and nearly spit coffee on my keyboard. OK, let's assume that the parent poster is being 100% honest, that he made "a few grand" selling home-burned CDs outside Best Buy at $20 a pop. That's, conservatively, 100 CDs!
In other words, at least one hundred people were perfectly willing to shell out money -- cash, presumably -- to some random guy in front of a store, then take this guy's CD home and blindly install whatever the hell he'd given them!
Folks, talk all the shit about Microsoft that you want, but there's your security problem! If this guy is on the level, we've just had a prime lesson in the reason why Blaster, et al spread like typhoid.
You know, don't you feel sorry for Microsoft, sometimes -- just a little bit? I mean, imagine you're a Microsoft engineer. You're hard-working. You really do try, given the massive user base you have to support and the cruft of legacy code you're stuck with. Reasonably fast patching for security holes, updates -- hell, they'll send you a damn CD of updates for free!
And then you read something like this. And request an immediate transfer to the Office development group...working with Clippy would seem like a joy.
And for all the linux advocates out there -- especially the zealots, the Stallman's Witnesses -- this is a cautionary tale. If and when linux starts to hit the desktops, you're going have this same problem. If 100 users are willing to take some guy's CDs and install them, no questions asked, they're not going to flinch when he says, "Oh, and it will prompt you for your administrator password. You'll need to enter that in order to make sure the system is scrubbed." Play out your own nightmare scenario, there. Linux is inherently more secure? Really?
Social engineering-based cracking can't be stopped. Not by Windows, not by Linux.