Yes, it is true that there are many security problems with Windows in general. Windows XP, especially the Professional Edition, is a very powerful and configurable Operating System. Therein lies the problem. Windows XP Pro is pre-installed for nearly all business users. At home, more and more people who consider themselves "professional" because of their ability to edit baby pictures with Photoshop, use XP Pro. This is mainly an ego trip.Seeing that "Pro" insignia at boot-up is rather flattering for the average user, who in reality, is a fuckin' techno-idiot. The general insecurity on the net at this moment in time is caused by uneducated, incompetent users.
This is not just a Windows-specific phenomenon. Linux is also an extremely powerful OS that, when in the hands of idiots or uneducated average users if you prefer, causes as many security problems on the web. How many are now running Linspire as root? How many even have a clue as to what IPTables do?
Most of the security problems that now plague the anarchy often known as the WWW community may be corrected with simple configuration adjustments, and that applies to XP as well as Linux. Often, patches issued by Microsoft simply readjust configurations, something that any averted user would have been able to do if competence were not an issue. Same with Linux. The other code-based problems that affect security come also in the form of patches or replacements. How many average (business or otherwise) users really bother?
So the problem my friends is not in "the stars," be they from Redmond or Finland. The problem is in the friggin' stupid heads of non-thinking, uneducated, semi-literate, nose-picking, "DuH"-enouncing end users.
This is about the same "early warning" methodology used by linux via mailing lists. Possible security issues are discussed quite quickly and 'decided upon' on these boards. No big thing.
As far as the PAY as U go M$$$$$$$$$ thingy, well, we all know they are not there to "serve"..... They are there to empty pocketbooks.
You will have to depend on non-free in a business environment. Debian-legal doesn't even approve of the Mozilla license, so that should give you an idea of what you're in for. I used Debian for 9 years, together with FreeBSD. You would be better off with BSD because of Debian nit-picking. You will also be lucky ifyou find necessary firmware upgrades when you need them. If you believe that drivers are lacking in mainstream distros, you will be surprised at the Debian desert in that respect. If you still wish to impliment Debian, http://www.progeny.com/ is the answer. http://platform.progeny.com/componentized-linux/
Progeny Componentized Linux is the answer. The project is run by Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian.
I have doubts about Skype security. First of all it's made by the kaaza bums. Here are a few links that makes mewonder about the whole callto protocol: http://lists.seifried.org/pipermail/sec urity/2004- June/003910.html
Although Skype calls are encrypted end-to-end using 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption, which is nearly impossible to hack, I still have my doubts, because piggybacking spyware from a supernode mode of operation would be relatively easy. In that cse, the encryption would protect the source and not the victim.
A skype spokesman denied that there was an overhead problem with peer-to-peer telephony (as there had been with KaZaa) as the technology only used about 3-16Kbit/s on average, although he added that factors such as bandwidth available for the other party, network conditions and CPU performance would also play a part. The spokesman said that the use of Skype would not compromise an enterprise's security as the system was fully secure.However, IMO,if you are on a fat pipe,I have doubts(again) about the security of the supernode in general, particularly if it is not internally configurable from the internals of the aplication itself, in this case, the Skype interface.
To sum it up: because of the relatively high encryption, the security issues that skype poses are not related to data interception. Yet I can see ways that extra and unwanted data transmission can be initiated.
According to this accurate survey 60% of users use Firefox/Mozilla worldwide, except in the USA,where users are generally more stupid. Spoofing browser ID explains false stats.
Ideally, Bush should be arrested and sentenced to prison for life. But we do not live in an "ideal" environment. It seems that nearly half of America is suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome, or the "Benevolent Dictator Syndrome.
In 1973, four Swedes held in a bank vault for six days during a robbery became attached to their captors, a phenomenon dubbed the Stockholm Syndrome. According to psychologists, the abused bond to their abusers as a means to endure violence.
The Stockholm Syndrome is an emotional attachment, a bond of interdependence between captive and captor that develops 'when someone threatens your life, deliberates, and doesn't kill you.' (Symonds, 1980) The relief resulting from the removal of the threat of death generates intense feelings of gratitude and fear which combine to make the captive reluctant to display negative feelings toward the captor or terrorist. In fact, former hostages have visited their captors in jail, recommended defense counsel, and even started a defense fund. It is this dynamic which causes former hostages and abuse survivors to minimize the damage done to them and refuse to cooperate in prosecuting their tormentors.
"The victims' need to survive is stronger than his impulse to hate the person who has created his dilemma." (Strentz, 1980) The victim comes to see the captor as a 'good guy', even a savior.
Denial of terror and anger, and the perception of their victimizers as omnipotent people help to keep victims psychologically attached to victimizers is the form prevalent in the US, but in this case, Americans have learned their true opressors:: their own government. High anxiety functions to keep victims from seeing available options. This is why there are frequent "terror alerts"... Psychophysical stress responses develop, such as Bush love.
. A symptom of fascism is the enforcement of "laws" that simply do not exist, or enforcing laws for situations in which they are not applicable. This incident is but one small example among a million others.
Since the dynamic facist duo of Bush and Ashcroft have been in a position to abuse power, the Secret Service and the FBI have been "educating" local law enforcement workers around the US. By "educating" I mean making them believe that certain laws may be applied in in totally incongruous situations. This is a form of fascism: making up laws as you go along to harass citizens.
Another example is the fact that a pedestrian does not have to show identification to a police officer. The walker has the right to refuse. But in reality, those who refuse are usually arrested, beaten, or both.
This may surprise you, but there is no law requiring potential passengers to show identification to board airplanes with internal destinations. But if a passenger refuses, the selling of a ticket will also be refused.
The Patriot Act is all its fascist splendor is a piece of work that Hitler would have approved and used. In fact he did. The SS had the same vague and undefined powers that American Law Enforcement from the highest to the lowest levels now enjoy.
It would probably make good business sense to do that, but given the 'dog-eat-dog' culture of that grand corporation, I doubt if that will ever happen. I believe the fear is that it will encourage the user base in developed nations to give Linux a try. In any case, it won't make it to Debian mirrors if the oh-so-pure purists are considering dumping Mozilla. MS Office for Linux would make them pop a few essential capillaries in that small space between their deaf ears, but I am sure than Linspire, and maybe Lycoris would be happy to include it in their distros.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, it is true that there are many security problems with Windows in general. Windows XP, especially the Professional Edition, is a very powerful and configurable Operating System. Therein lies the problem. Windows XP Pro is pre-installed for nearly all business users. At home, more and more people who consider themselves "professional" because of their ability to edit baby pictures with Photoshop, use XP Pro. This is mainly an ego trip.Seeing that "Pro" insignia at boot-up is rather flattering for the average user, who in reality, is a fuckin' techno-idiot. The general insecurity on the net at this moment in time is caused by uneducated, incompetent users.
This is not just a Windows-specific phenomenon. Linux is also an extremely powerful OS that, when in the hands of idiots or uneducated average users if you prefer, causes as many security problems on the web. How many are now running Linspire as root? How many even have a clue as to what IPTables do?
Most of the security problems that now plague the anarchy often known as the WWW community may be corrected with simple configuration adjustments, and that applies to XP as well as Linux. Often, patches issued by Microsoft simply readjust configurations, something that any averted user would have been able to do if competence were not an issue. Same with Linux. The other code-based problems that affect security come also in the form of patches or replacements. How many average (business or otherwise) users really bother?
So the problem my friends is not in "the stars," be they from Redmond or Finland. The problem is in the friggin' stupid heads of non-thinking, uneducated, semi-literate, nose-picking, "DuH"-enouncing end users.
Hummmmmmm! I wonder if that fly-eating robot will munch on crunchy cockroaches too....
Quite simple, isn't it!
This is about the same "early warning" methodology used by linux via mailing lists. Possible security issues are discussed quite quickly and 'decided upon' on these boards. No big thing. As far as the PAY as U go M$$$$$$$$$ thingy, well, we all know they are not there to "serve"..... They are there to empty pocketbooks.
You will have to depend on non-free in a business environment. Debian-legal doesn't even approve of the Mozilla license, so that should give you an idea of what you're in for. I used Debian for 9 years, together with FreeBSD. You would be better off with BSD because of Debian nit-picking. You will also be lucky ifyou find necessary firmware upgrades when you need them. If you believe that drivers are lacking in mainstream distros, you will be surprised at the Debian desert in that respect. If you still wish to impliment Debian, http://www.progeny.com/ is the answer. http://platform.progeny.com/componentized-linux/ Progeny Componentized Linux is the answer. The project is run by Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian.
Excuse me please..... I was referring to Sharman.... ...my bad....
I have doubts about Skype security.c urity/2004- June/003910.html
First of all it's made by the kaaza bums.
Here are a few links that makes mewonder about the whole callto protocol:
http://lists.seifried.org/pipermail/se
Although Skype calls are encrypted end-to-end using 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption, which is nearly impossible to hack, I still have my doubts, because piggybacking spyware from a supernode mode of operation would be relatively easy. In that cse, the encryption would protect the source and not the victim.
A skype spokesman denied that there was an overhead problem with peer-to-peer telephony (as there had been with KaZaa) as the technology only used about 3-16Kbit/s on average, although he added that factors such as bandwidth available for the other party, network conditions and CPU performance would also play a part. The spokesman said that the use of Skype would not compromise an enterprise's security as the system was fully secure.However, IMO,if you are on a fat pipe,I have doubts(again) about the security of the supernode in general, particularly if it is not internally configurable from the internals of the aplication itself, in this case, the Skype interface.
To sum it up: because of the relatively high encryption, the security issues that skype poses are not related to data interception. Yet I can see ways that extra and unwanted data transmission can be initiated.
According to this accurate survey 60% of users use Firefox/Mozilla worldwide, except in the USA,where users are generally more stupid. Spoofing browser ID explains false stats.
Ideally, Bush should be arrested and sentenced to prison for life. But we do not live in an "ideal" environment. It seems that nearly half of America is suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome, or the "Benevolent Dictator Syndrome. In 1973, four Swedes held in a bank vault for six days during a robbery became attached to their captors, a phenomenon dubbed the Stockholm Syndrome. According to psychologists, the abused bond to their abusers as a means to endure violence. The Stockholm Syndrome is an emotional attachment, a bond of interdependence between captive and captor that develops 'when someone threatens your life, deliberates, and doesn't kill you.' (Symonds, 1980) The relief resulting from the removal of the threat of death generates intense feelings of gratitude and fear which combine to make the captive reluctant to display negative feelings toward the captor or terrorist. In fact, former hostages have visited their captors in jail, recommended defense counsel, and even started a defense fund. It is this dynamic which causes former hostages and abuse survivors to minimize the damage done to them and refuse to cooperate in prosecuting their tormentors. "The victims' need to survive is stronger than his impulse to hate the person who has created his dilemma." (Strentz, 1980) The victim comes to see the captor as a 'good guy', even a savior. Denial of terror and anger, and the perception of their victimizers as omnipotent people help to keep victims psychologically attached to victimizers is the form prevalent in the US, but in this case, Americans have learned their true opressors:: their own government. High anxiety functions to keep victims from seeing available options. This is why there are frequent "terror alerts"... Psychophysical stress responses develop, such as Bush love.
.
A symptom of fascism is the enforcement of "laws" that simply do not exist, or enforcing laws for situations in which they are not applicable. This incident is but one small example among a million others.
Since the dynamic facist duo of Bush and Ashcroft have been in a position to abuse power, the Secret Service and the FBI have been "educating" local law enforcement workers around the US. By "educating" I mean making them believe that certain laws may be applied in in totally incongruous situations. This is a form of fascism: making up laws as you go along to harass citizens.
Another example is the fact that a pedestrian does not have to show identification to a police officer. The walker has the right to refuse. But in reality, those who refuse are usually arrested, beaten, or both.
This may surprise you, but there is no law requiring potential passengers to show identification to board airplanes with internal destinations. But if a passenger refuses, the selling of a ticket will also be refused.
The Patriot Act is all its fascist splendor is a piece of work that Hitler would have approved and used. In fact he did. The SS had the same vague and undefined powers that American Law Enforcement from the highest to the lowest levels now enjoy.
It would probably make good business sense to do that, but given the 'dog-eat-dog' culture of that grand corporation, I doubt if that will ever happen. I believe the fear is that it will encourage the user base in developed nations to give Linux a try. In any case, it won't make it to Debian mirrors if the oh-so-pure purists are considering dumping Mozilla. MS Office for Linux would make them pop a few essential capillaries in that small space between their deaf ears, but I am sure than Linspire, and maybe Lycoris would be happy to include it in their distros.