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NSA Advises Upgrade To Windows 7
An anonymous reader writes "In a document available from the NSA (warning, PDF file), that organisation advises users to upgrade to Windows 7 as part of their Best Practice for Securing a Home Network. No mention of BSD or Linux so I guess the Slashdot crowd will just have to bite the bullet and change operating systems if they want to be really secure."
way to be a teenage provocative troll
This is talking to your average home user, and guess what, Linux is not exactly a popular desktop OS. It certainly has it's draw, but switching over to it just is a non-starter for most people. You'll also note they talked about Mac OS upgrades too, not just windows 7. Windows 7 upgrade was mentioned specifically if they were already using a windows OS.
The article suggests that, if your are running Windows, that you upgrade to Windows 7 or Vista.
It also has advice for MAC users.
Just because it has no advice for Linux or BSD users doesn't mean that the article suggests that Linux or BSD users should switch to Windows.
[But you all knew that -- whenever are /. summaries accurate?]
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Not the 1% who use LINUX desktops. Spare me the trolling. I like Ubuntu a lot, but I'm a tech person. Most people aren't, get over it.
how did the NSA recommending that WINDOWS USERS upgrade to the latest version of WINDOWS. turn into a linux story?
portfolio
Windows 7 IS a worthy upgrade from XP - certainly from the security point of view. I have helped people with transitions from XP/Vista to 7 and found an almost unanimous praise for it. Given the choice, people preferred 7 for reasons of aesthetics, functionality and robustness.
The longer the Linux crowd believes that Microsoft can not make decent quality (once in a while at least), the longer they'll fail to make any changes which might someday resolve the issues that push people away from Linux.
The backdoor in XP only gives them a master algorithm for decrypting anything protected with the tools provided with the OS. Perhaps in 7 either, 1) they've developed a method of recording keys for any encryption taking place (fairly unlikely as very easily detected), 2) Windows 7 automatically records hashes for hidden volumes when data on them is accessed (more likely, noticing a hash is in use in the reading of data on a volume by a third-party process, eg, truecrypt.dll, and they don't even need to capture the crypto-keys - also less detectable - while folks know their crypto-keys, not many know their hash by heart and wouldn't notice it being copied in memory), 3) something else I haven't thought of, 4) they actually care about your security - but given the organisation and their goals this is _extremely_ unlikely.
Disclaimer: I may have not used the correct terminology in places. Feel free to correct mis-used words, but try to do so without insulting my mother, my nerd-status, or my intellect - this merely isn't my field of expertise.
"The true measure of a person is how they act when they know they won't get caught." - DSRilk
It would be unreasonable to expect Grandma & grandpa who barely know how to turn on a computer to learn Linux...
"For securing a home network" = Basic computer skills, not the linux lovers (unless linux becomes more wide spread and taught to people)... so Compared to Windows 2000/Vista/etc.. recommending people use 7 for Home Networks (as in, those not in the slashdot community) is a perfectly reasonable suggestion
mac? you brought up a mac when comparing cost? hahahahaha....
Wealth is the gift that keeps on giving.
The backdoor in XP only gives them a master algorithm for decrypting anything protected with the tools provided with the OS. Perhaps in 7 either, 1) they've developed a method of recording keys for any encryption taking place (fairly unlikely as very easily detected), 2) Windows 7 automatically records hashes for hidden volumes when data on them is accessed (more likely, noticing a hash is in use in the reading of data on a volume by a third-party process, eg, truecrypt.dll, and they don't even need to capture the crypto-keys - also less detectable - while folks know their crypto-keys, not many know their hash by heart and wouldn't notice it being copied in memory), 3) something else I haven't thought of, 4) they actually care about your security - but given the organisation and their goals this is _extremely_ unlikely.
I'd be utterly unsurprised if the NSA or other "security" agencies aren't heavily vested in backdoors for closed-source software, but I suspect what's actually going on here is that they see the end of XP support looming, they know how slow people are to upgrade, and they don't want the country filled with machines that aren't getting security updates anymore. We're easy enough a target now; anyone with the least concern for security must dread the possibility of it getting worse.
Disclaimer: I may have not used the correct terminology in places. Feel free to correct mis-used words, but try to do so without insulting my mother, my nerd-status, or my intellect - this merely isn't my field of expertise.
Too bad you didn't turn out to be an ultra-smart nerd, like your mother.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade