Flawed code throttled spread of Zotob variants

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Good one. For me:

Well, no.

I don't blame Microsoft. Why? Do you know that Windows 1.0 came out, then 2.0 to 3.0 before the Internet becomes available (on which the computers/servers connect each other to access the information via HTTP)? What I do know is, Microsoft is working hard to improve security. Of course, I've heard about Trusted Computing and I know that Microsoft's first priority is security. So, I blame hackers, exploiters, etc. for creating viruses, spyware, worms, and trojins for exploiting Windows vunlerabilities.

Of course, I don't blame users for executing/opening attachments to see what's contained in their files unintentionally (maybe a little, but if it's intentional (so for example to exploit other computers even though they didn't create a virus/worm), I do have to do so to bleme the users). The users that I'm referring to is "Average Joe." And so what they need is education and common sense. I mean... users should not open any e-mail attachments from senders who do not know. But before anyone opens their attachments, everyone will have to scan the attachments for viruses. My MSN/Hotmail includes a Trend Micro Virus scanner for scanning attachments, but I'm well educated. My point is, everyone's education should be their first priority for working with computers. I can teach everyone who have a little bit of experience with computers, but I live in Tallahassee and traveling around the United States is a waste of time. If an "Average Joe" user gets a computer and doesn't have experience with the Internet and E-mail, I would 100$ suggest them to go to computer school. They can try out Video Professor but computer school is a must.

So please -- let's not blame Microsoft. An educated user with common sense like me can deal with Windows' security. I don't have numbers to prove but: Patch, Patch, Patch. Give yourself (and your company if you're an employee/employer) some time. If you are a corperate user working in a company, test the patches for software compatability before you deploy the patches to all the Windows PC.

Since we all know that spyware is the #1 threat to businesses, what I do recommend is Barracuda, a company who provides spam/spyware protection.

You can visit the website here:
http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/products/

The Spam Firewall provides protection for viruses, spam, phishers, spoofing, spyware (attachments only), and denial of service. The Spyware Firewall can:

Stops spyware downloads (including drive-by downloads),
Stops virus downloads,
Blocks access to spyware Web Sites,
Detects spyware access to the Internet,
Facilitates spyware removal, and
Block offensive Web Sites.

What I do recommend is all businesses should have Spam/Spyware Firewall, if they have Windows. Plus, this can help manufactures who use Linux, but don't get me wrong -- if 80% of the "Average Joe" users switch to Linux/Mac, hackers will then target the 80% of Mac/Linux users with lots of spam, spyware, viruses, worms, trojins, etc. So for those who Linux/Mac/Firefox geeks out there, if you _think_ that Windows is insecure, think again. Answer yourself some questions:

Haven't you taken yourself a time to patch Windows with Internet Explorer and Office (if you have one)?

Do you know that if you use IIS (Internet Information Services) you can lock down all the features of IIS that you don't need? (If so, you can minimize your attach surface.)

Have you ever explored Internet Explorer's Security features located in the Security tab? You can set your security setting to High (to disable ActiveX, for example) and add mostly visited sites like Windows Updates (I recommend Microsoft Updates @ updates.microsoft.com) to Internet Explorer's Trust List.

Whew...I think I have about enough to comment... If you have some things to point me to the right direction (positive feedback, please; no flaming/bashing), then I would be glad to hear this from you.

Thanks.

Posted by: Grayson Peddie   Posted on: 08/20/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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