It is disturbing to see this attitude propagating faster than the virus. For some reason people see these instances as not their fault. The person who wrote the virus took the time to explore the code and figure out a way to exploit it. Granted that on M$ is is easier to do this than writing a shell script on UNIX-like boxes, but that is a discussion for another thread.
The fact is that the expense of this virus is because of the (inability|ignorance|negligence) of the system administrators or management of this company. Every company defines a threshhold of pain. Whether this is officially documented or defined by the company's actions it still exists. Just like putting a fence around the company to keep people from throwing rocks through the windows there are measures that can be put in place to defend against most attacks.
In many ways the community is better about viruses than the local governments are about vandalism. There are teams of experienced people searching constantly for vulnerabilities in software and encouraging the vendors to release patches. You probably won't see your local government making fencing materials available (free of charge) to protect your business.
It is possible to have adequate protection and stay within the level of pain that is comfortable for the company. All that is required is the knowledge of where to look, ability to use the patch(es) and the desire to protect your company's interests and not settle for management's inability to swallow the cost-pill.
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It is disturbing to see this attitude propagating faster than the virus. For some reason people see these instances as not their fault. The person who wrote the virus took the time to explore the code and figure out a way to exploit it. Granted that on M$ is is easier to do this than writing a shell script on UNIX-like boxes, but that is a discussion for another thread.
The fact is that the expense of this virus is because of the (inability|ignorance|negligence) of the system administrators or management of this company. Every company defines a threshhold of pain. Whether this is officially documented or defined by the company's actions it still exists. Just like putting a fence around the company to keep people from throwing rocks through the windows there are measures that can be put in place to defend against most attacks.
In many ways the community is better about viruses than the local governments are about vandalism. There are teams of experienced people searching constantly for vulnerabilities in software and encouraging the vendors to release patches. You probably won't see your local government making fencing materials available (free of charge) to protect your business.
It is possible to have adequate protection and stay within the level of pain that is comfortable for the company. All that is required is the knowledge of where to look, ability to use the patch(es) and the desire to protect your company's interests and not settle for management's inability to swallow the cost-pill.