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The BBC's Honeypot PC
Alex Pontin writes, "This article from the BBC shows how vulnerable XP Home really is. Using a highly protected XP Pro machine running VMWare, the BBC hosted an unprotected XP Home system to simulate what an 'average' home PC faces when connected to the internet." From the article: "Seven hours of attacks: 36 warnings that pop-up via Windows Messenger. 11 separate visits by Blaster worm. 3 separate attacks by Slammer worm. 1 attack aimed at Microsoft IIS Server. 2-3 "port scans" seeking weak spots in Windows software." The machine was attacked within seconds of being connected to the Internet, and at no time did more than 15 minutes elapse between attacks.
This is a pretty bogus test. Obviously they didn't install security updates before going about their business, made apparent by the fact that the system was vulnerable to viruses that came out over 3 years ago. And IIRC, this is the first thing Windows will do upon connecting to the internet. They also mention IIS.... does home version even ship with IIS???
Similes are like metaphors
So is there anyone reading this website who didnt know that ports are constantly being scanned? Or that hackers are trying to recruit your PC for a botnet? Or that connecting xp without any patches, sp1 or sp2 to the internet is asking for trouble?
It seems that this article is directed at people who have a very minimal amount of knowledge about computers.
Why post this? Is it just our daily reminder that older and unpatched MS operating systems are insecure?