Sony rootkit prompts office clampdown on CD use

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Show me the lie

You tell me I lied, but fail to point it out. Point out the lie.

I'll show you your lie:

"You continue on this bad assumption that the average user that this affects, if they switch to Linux, would not be running in a root account all the time."

That is a lie. Linux setup programs default to setting up a user as non-root. And there is no need to run as root, any more than there is a need to run as admin all the time in Windows, so why would they bother? The only problem with running Window is that Windows setup requires that the primary user is an administrator. People COULD run as a regular user and get along fine, only having to enter a password to install a program, if Windows setup had set them up in a secure fashion. That is an irrefutable fact.

The simple insertion of a CD cannot install a rootkit on Linux in a default configuration, but it can and does on Windows default configuration. Is that a lie? Nope, just the cold hard facts.

Social engineering? How many people insert an audio CD into a computer and the intelligence to look to see if there are programs on it, then have the ignorance to manually install it? Compare that to how many people insert a CD and have a rootkit automatically installed because the default configuration in Windows is for that person to be an admin and for CD's to autorun. 10,000 to 1? 1,000,000 to 1? Yes, good social engineering will compromise ANY OS (but then again you don't even need a rootkit for that), but this particular Sony rootkit has no social engineering. In Unix, social engineering is a required component for a rootkit, in Windows social engineering is purely optional.

You know what's really bad form? Calling someone a liar and not backing up your claim.

Posted by: Michael Kelly   Posted on: 11/14/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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