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Worm Attack Prompts DoD To Ban Use of External Media
An anonymous reader writes "The Pentagon has suffered from a cyber attack so alarming that it has taken the unprecedented step of banning the use of external hardware devices, such as flash drives and DVDs [...] The attack came in the form of a global virus or worm that is spreading rapidly throughout a number of military networks."
Get real. Security all comes down to the person who's task it is to implement it. Running Unix (or any compatible rip off) only gives you an additional layer of security through obscurity . Sorry fanboys, it's true. It's not a end all solution, and you would still need someone to take the time to plan for any possible security breach. Obviously, that includes any media (CDs, FlashDrives, Floppies) attached to the system. This isn't the first military fuckup, now you want to blame Microsoft instead of the brass simply because you think it's a chance to expand your following. Please.
"When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving, kick him out of the door." - Xah Lee
Intelligence agencies did it to eliminate data paths out of the agency. DoD is doing it to eliminate malware paths into and within the agency.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
There's no way you can automatically run code on a Linux computer by inserting a USB flash drive. It's just not possible. Those virus happen only because of Yet Another Windows Design Mistake - autorun.inf files that run executables.
This has been a problem for years. Make a program that deletes all the files in a system. Put it into a CD along with a autorun.inf file. Burn the CD, don't write anything on it, and leave it near the office of someone you hate. At some point the guy will insert the CD just to check what's there. Boom. The virus will run automatically as soon as the CD is inserted.
And there're more posibilities, like making a virus executable have a carpet icon. Since Windows hides extensions by default, people will double click the virus because they will think it's a carpet.
These things can't happen in Linux (well, not really true, they can happen thanks to the shitty .desktop files that get "interpreted" by file managers even if they don't have execution +x permissions)
Why is everything in Windows managed by tools that do not come with the default installation?
I can perfectly manage a Linux installation without 3rd party or "optional" tools found on some website. Windows requires X tools that provide basic functionality on their site, and not default on the CD.
I hate that.