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The 12-minute Windows Heist

An anonymous reader writes "Sophos has come up with some pretty interesting research: apparently, there's a 50 percent chance unprotected Windows PCs will be compromised within 12 minutes of going online. Sophos came to that conclusion based on research covering the last six months of virus activity. The company said authors of malware such as spam, viruses, phishing scams and spyware have increased both the volume and sophistication of their assaults, releasing almost 8,000 new viruses in the first half of 2005 and increasingly teaming up in joint ventures to make money. The new-virus figure is up 59 percent on the same period last year."

20 of 497 comments (clear)

  1. Good news everybody! by poopdeville · · Score: 4, Funny

    It takes slightly more time to get pwn3d now.

    --
    After all, I am strangely colored.
    1. Re:Good news everybody! by Doppler00 · · Score: 5, Funny

      My question is, which happens faster, first post, or getting a windows machine infected?

      Just a theoretical question...

    2. Re:Good news everybody! by rudydog · · Score: 1, Funny

      What has the world come to! The first post is redundant!

    3. Re:Good news everybody! by hdparm · · Score: 2, Funny

      Apparently, infection. To get the First Post you must be on the machine that runs some other OS.

    4. Re:Good news everybody! by lorelorn · · Score: 2, Funny

      The new first post virus infects your machine and posts within seconds to all new threads on /.

  2. His figures aren't quite right by peculiarmethod · · Score: 2, Funny

    That article used to say 5 minutes, but I saw he was running SP2 with McafNotFree and had to change the article a bit just before publication deadline to prove a point. Whoops.

    the original can be found at: ww!@#$_
    COCARRIER

    --
    ** "It's not my job to stand between the people talking to me, and the ones listening to me." -- Pego the Jerk
  3. Hogwash by AvantLegion · · Score: 5, Funny
    Hogwash. I've been online for over 11 1/2 minutes and I haven't had anCLICK HERE FOR DISCOUNT V1AGR4!!!11

    1. Re:Hogwash by pg110404 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hogwash. I've been online for over 11 1/2 minutes and I haven't had anCLICK HERE FOR DISCOUNT V1AGR4!!!11

      That's too bad. I've been online for 12 3/4 minutes and minIE PERFORMED AN ILLEGAL OPERATION. DO YOU WISH TO SEND A REPORT TO MICROSOFT?

    2. Re:Hogwash by grammar+fascist · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wow! How on Earth did you get your browser to grab that dialog text, paste it into the comment box, capitalize it, and press the "Submit" button for you?

      I wish mine diOUT OF BUFFERS

      --
      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
    3. Re:Hogwash by shadow303 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Perhaps he was dictating...

      --
      I've got a mind like a steel trap - it's got an animal's foot stuck in it.
  4. Re:And if you enable... by Nimloth · · Score: 1, Funny

    And how does your average Joe patch that machine without going online?

  5. Schrodinger's PC? by mikeophile · · Score: 4, Funny

    After 12 minutes, an unprotected PC running Windows is both compromised and uncompromised until a tech collapses the state vector by producing a hefty bill for checking.

  6. Re:Fifty Percent... by Synbiosis · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Either it does, or it doesn't. Anything's fifty percent. Either I win the lottery, or I don't. Either I find that uber rare weapon in some random MMORPG, or I don't."

    Let me guess... You failed math in high school?

  7. Re:And if you enable... by sycotic · · Score: 3, Funny

    "nothing could compromise it" ...famous last words :)

    --
    -- If I were a fish, I'd be wet
  8. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  9. 50 percent? by VolcomPimp · · Score: 1, Funny

    Wait, Firefox's market share isn't that high yet is it?

  10. Re:Not safe to buy a PC? by MustardMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    You can play a lot of great games on the mac that you just can't find for the PC. Like breakout... super breakout. That puzzle game with the apple logo. Plus, you already know which games are good for the mac, because you played them five or six years ago on the pc.

    BTW, I'm typing this on a dual G5 powermac and have been developing into quite the mac zealot lately, but it can still be entertaining to poke fun at the platform. Old habits die hard!!

  11. Re:Not safe to buy a PC? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    If you are gonna poke fun at a mac, you could at least be original.

  12. Gone in 720 seconds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    While admirable, I am certain that with sufficient effort we can cut this in half.

    Perhaps that is why it is called XBOX 360.

  13. Re:Scaremongering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    how many clueless newbies know what a port is?