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Computer Security Still Totally Inadequate

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the long-road-ahead dept.

Several news sources are running articles detailing the lack of computer security on all platforms. Symantec foretells a dark future for Firefox and Mac users describing their security as a "false paradise". Kernel developer and Red Hat fellow, Allan Cox stated in his recent interview with O'Reilly that "even the best systems today are totally inadequate". He goes on to say that "We are still in a world where an attack like the Slammer worm, combined with a PC BIOS eraser or disk locking tool, could wipe out half the PCs exposed to the Internet in a few hours," Cox said. "In a sense we are fortunate that most attackers want to control and use systems they attack rather than destroy them."

14 of 452 comments (clear)

  1. Symantec, eh? by Musteval · · Score: 5, Funny

    No agenda here. Move along.

    --
    Note to mods: I'm probably being sarcastic.
    1. Re:Symantec, eh? by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
      No agenda here. Move along.

      No, they have one... they found it in some book, written by some guy named Agrajag. Works much better for them than it did for him. Funny that.

      ""Do not worry, Arthur Dent. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.""

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:Symantec, eh? by MasterB(G)ates · · Score: 3, Funny

      oh there is an agenda alright!

      http://img375.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hoff1os.j pg

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      In the Slashdot moderating system, humourless based offenses are considered especially heinous.
  2. Re:Java. by DaHat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Quite true! If everything was programmed in Java, viruses would move so slow that they would never have a chance to infect a significant # of machines as well as those they attempt to infect would take forever to execute it's evil payload.

    --
    Help Brendan pay off his student loans
  3. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  4. Allan Cox, huh? by Sheetrock · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not good enough he's a kernel developer and Red Hat fellow, now he had to go and add an l to his name?

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    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




  5. No-no-no-no by HangingChad · · Score: 4, Funny
    Symantec foretells a dark future for Firefox and Mac users describing their security as a "false paradise".

    If it was a false paradise it would come with a tropical island, Nicole Kidman and bathtub full of champagne.

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    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  6. false paradise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think I'd rather exist in a false paradise than a certifiable hell.

  7. Re:Hydrogenous Infrastructure. by ekephart · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes... [clears throat] ahem... The exports of Libya are numerous in amount. One thing they export is corn, or as the Indians call it, "maize". Another famous Indian was "Crazy Horse". In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrast. Thank you.

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    sig
  8. Mac User Buys Nortan AntiVirus by SQLz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, I bought Norton for mac and when I ran it, it said:

    "Updating Virii Signatures......"
    "0 Signatures updated, there are no virii for mac you idiot"

    Can I return it?

    1. Re:Mac User Buys Nortan AntiVirus by koreth · · Score: 4, Funny

      I know I'd want my money back if I bought an anti-virus program and discovered the authors didn't even know how to pluralize the word "virus."

  9. Re:Java. by andy_shepard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Saying that Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders

    In other news, fans of anal sex everywhere protest the comparison to Java.

  10. dark future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Symantec foretells a dark future for Firefox and Mac users...

    Whew, good thing I'm running IE 5.5 and Windows 98.

  11. Re:100% Not so!! by Randseed · · Score: 4, Funny
    What is to say the guy who designed the safe didn't install a back-door!
    I wondered how that midget got in there!