NYT Security Tip - Choose Non-Microsoft Products

Giorgio Maone writes "The New York Times article 'Tips for Protecting the Home Computer' follows a story we recently discussed about the proliferation of botnets, and contains some statements which may sound quite unusual from mainstream press, especially if targeted to home users: 'Using a non-Windows-based PC may be one defense against these programs, known as malware ... Alternative browsers, like Firefox and Opera, may insulate users ... NoScript, a plug-in utility, can limit the ability of remote programs to run potentially damaging programs on your PC'."

Comments

So Markoff Doesn't Care for Microsoft

[eldavojohn]

... some statements which may sound quite unusual from mainstream press, especially if targeted to home users: 'Using a non-Windows-based PC may be one defense against these programs, known as malware ...

I don't find it that unusual. I mean, I recall a bunch of articles in other newspapers talking about and recommending Firefox. I've also read many magazines & seen television news on the lack of viruses on an Apple.

I must admit that initially I was a bit humored by the idea that a New York Times author had a right to caution me about computer usage. But when I looked up his credentials, he seems to be a qualified and experienced tech writer who probably has good advice for the general public. Granted, his last recommendation: "Don't click if someone offers you something too good to be true. It is." worries me that people may be wary of certain open source projects but in the end, I'd agree that I'd tell my sister and friends just not to install anything and to ask me for specific links to programs that solve problems or fill needs.

In the end, it's a very short article and doesn't provide a very comprehensive picture of security for a home user. You may think its news that Mr. Markoff decided to push people away from Microsoft but he's only telling you the facts about the numbers. You won't have as many problems with Linux but there's no way your daughter's iPod will work with iTunes Music Store on your computer anymore. If he wanted to make this a notable article, he should have delved into trade offs and better coverage of issues.

So Markoff doesn't like the benefits of running Microsoft software. So what?

Microsoft Astroturf

[PavementPizza]

There's only been 9 comments on this story at the time of this writing, and yet the following tags are already up: "flamebait, nytfud, troll". These guys work fast, don't they? What's flamebait, trolling, or FUD about this article? Avoiding Microsoft products is a perfectly prudent move, if you can. Is it untrue to say that Mac and Linux users are safer on the internet than Windows users, or that Opera or Firefox users are safer on the internet than Internet Explorer users? Far from it. It's demonstrable fact.

Heh

[Xenographic]

Don't you recognize his reasoning? It's not based on facts, it's based on the theory that both programs have bugs, therefore they must be just about as secure as the other.

Never mind the recent story that Firefox was vulnerable to a critical (one where "visit bad web page" == pwn3d), unpatched, published exploit for all of 9 days last year (IE was vulnerable for 9 months). This is called a "vulnerability window" and is an important part of any security assessment attempting to measure how secure bits of software are without having to rely on vendor claims. Obviously, that's too quantifiable for use with such a reasoning process. Then we have to reason about all the exploits that aren't public, as if people can silently exploit computers en masse with private exploits and no one will notice. Sure, if they're not interested in a botnet of random computers, they'll stick to targeting specific people and keep their exploits quiet, but that doesn't really impact the security of the population in general. It's also funny that people have this perception sometimes that they only visit "safe" sites. Even assuming they're not one of the porn viewing public, and that they never install smilies or screen savers (great way to get infected) or other such crap, that ignores that we've seen major advertising networks get compromised and serve up exploits. Not to mention the shady ad networks that do that deliberately...

Ironically, when it comes to open vs. closed source, it's usually argued that open source helps make the vulnerabilities more public, so that puts things even more in Firefox's favor. So to argue that IE is even as secure as Firefox requires you to use ridiculous metrics touted only by PR departments in media releases.

So yes, it's true--Firefox does have bugs. There were even 9 days last year when you could've been 0wn3d by an unpatched exploit (assuming you haven't learned to use the noscript extension). But there's no way to hide the sheer magnitude of the difference: 9 days vs. 9 months. Yeah, they can improve. Maybe they'll even manage to do things a lot better. And maybe you can find a few things to quibble with in that story. But the fact is that Microsoft has a terrible security record. Period. No one else is perfect, sure, but let's call a spade a spade here instead of being distracted by a dirty hoe :]