Slashdot Mirror
German Government Warns Windows 8 Is an Unacceptable Security Risk
An anonymous reader writes "Die Zeit has access to leaked documents from the German government warning that Windows 8 is an unacceptable security risk for sensitive workloads. The story is written in German here, but automatic translators (such as Google Translate) do a readable job. Particularly of concern is the inability to opt out of TPM 2.0 usage."
Just remember that these idiot Germans are just as prone to overhype and sensationalism as anything you'll see on Faux News/PMSNBC/CNN/etc.
TPM 2.0 gives Microsoft and the NSA direct control of your computer? Fascinating! I'm sure the Chinese will love those free backdoors!
I have programming friends that applaud Visual Studio, so I'm not sure if other professionals share your hatred.
The only reason that I can think that an open source OS would be more secure than Windows is because of obscurity. That's to say it's not safer because it intrinsically better programmed, but because it's not popular enough to warrant as many people trying to find exploits in it. The only OS I would give that award to is whatever Kaspersky is cooking up.
It is insecure because you have to use TPM and can't opt out. So it's not you defininig the security parameters, it's Microsoft. And the agencies sitting in Microsoft's back and dictating the rules.
But this is patently untrue (if we care about facts), you can opt out.
The TPM is going into the CPU. You will not be able to opt out. It's a fact. It will still be in there. Do you really believe there won't be a way to turn it on and use it against you? And if so, on what basis? By the very specification, you are not permitted to be in charge of your own hardware. That is unacceptable to say the least.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
What Linux tablet market?
Suggesting that Android or iOS is a Linux tablet is stupid. Both those companies co-opted a *nix based OS and turned it into their own proprietary OS and have just as many security flaws as any other OS. Hell, Microsoft is a bigger contributor to Linux then Google is.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
I don't really care - for the wast majority of computing users around the world, Windows is an option, not an requirement.
I howehawtedwee agwee. Now, If onwy we couwld do something abouwt that wascally wabbit!
Linux on the desktop is a total failure with a total world wide usership of 1.2 % Ubuntu comes with per-installed spy ware and why should we trust Linux anymore then MS? It still requires a firewall, it still requires an anti-virus program, it requires a password safe to protect passwords and there are plenty of malware and viruses for Linux including the per-installed on on Ubuntu. I dont trust any OS MS or otherwise.
Jack of all trades,master of none
to bad mac os is tied to limited and high cost systems the new mac pro does not even have slots and 2 video cards at base?
mac mini is to small
I don't like the other AIO's as well.
Laptops are high costs and hard to fix also can't do easy swapping of battery out as well.
And the lack of support after 3 years is a HUGE drawback for such an expensive investment!
October 2010 I had a choice. I blew too money for a new computer then, but it was a choice between a 2010 era Imac vs a crappier Asus + nice monitor +gaming keyboard + office 2010+ an ok GPU ati 5750 (for its time)+ electrical outlet lan plugs.
Imac $1699 - 8 gigs of ram, 500 meg hd, ATI 5770
Asus $799 - hexcore 2.6 ghz Phenom II, ATI 5750, 1 tb hd, 8 gigs of ram +$450 extra goodies like a high quality monitor = $1300 with taxes.
Why did I choose the PC? Video card not upgraded. Only ram and Hard disk and I knew by 2013 the video was going to have trouble with some games (I was correct). Now I realize I still get Windows 7 updates too! I would have to buy ... now now I would have a useless machine with no updates which software developers will no longer support anymore and hackers now targetting it.
+$180 for Windows 7 pro license
+ $150 for VMWare fusion or parrellels
+ $250 for Office 2010 for Windows or the mac version
I just put an ATI 7850 and 16 gigs of ram in that crappy desktop and it runs VMWare workstation really well. Windows you can bitch how it is all sooo horrible on slashdot but it works well with apps and has +10 years of support and security updates.
Something Linux lacks
http://saveie6.com/