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Antivirus is not duct tape on top of a bad OS
Let's take a look at the scenario: "He sees the icon called "NakedWomen", and clicks on it."

How would a "well-designed" OS prevent this file (whether it is a bad PPT taking advantage of the PowerPoint flaw, or a malicious EXE) from doing damage? It can use permissions to try to rope off administrative areas. But what about doing damage to areas that the user has legitimate control to (e.g. their own documents)?

Let's say that this file deletes all documents in the user's My Documents folder (something that would damage even limited users). How would a "well-designed" OS prevent this from happening? How would it know that it is not a legitimate application (such as a script or a tool that an advanced user created to manage their documents)?

If this were Linux or Mac, how would the OS know whether the file is legitimate or malicious? The scenario is no different for those OSes.

That's where antivirus comes in. The purpose of antivirus is to determine, at runtime, whether a file is legitimate or malicious; this is something the OS can't do. (Unless antivirus capabilities were built into the OS, which of course would have people crying antitrust foul.) Antispyware is similar in purpose, but it usually does nothing to prevent the malware from originally running, but waits until the malware actually does (or tries to do) its damage.

(In the case of executable files, Windows does have group policy settings to restrict which EXEs the user can run. This protects against the malicious EXE vector, but doesn't protect against flaws in approved EXEs (e.g. PowerPoint)).
Posted by: PB_z   Posted on: 07/13/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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Message has been deleted.  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
Good One  hoiatl | 07/13/06
your words are spoken true  not of this world | 07/13/06
People like you give OpenOffice bad publicity  MGP2 | 07/13/06
Man, we are serious, if you are using the old version, you are at risk. You  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
The average user is not at risk  kb1493 | 07/14/06
Man, you are lucky, don't push it, get the official upgrade for MS Office  DonnieBoy | 07/14/06
It's not an official upgrade  kb1493 | 07/14/06
Ok, DonnieBoy  tealcat | 07/13/06
Man, we are dead serious here, we are talking about the security of home  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
Mods!!  kb1493 | 07/14/06
Microsoft Office as POSTED by DonnieBoy  gordon7196 | 07/13/06
This is an emergency, if you still have a copy of the old version called  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
Donnie Boy is ZDNet's  Linux User 147560 | 07/13/06
Blimey, even the Linux camp are fed up with you now Donnieboy  Scrat | 07/14/06
Havnt you read about Open Office flaws???Get Informed Donnie  Cayble | 07/13/06
All a matter of odds, with MS Office, you are at least 100x more likely to  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
Again Donnie-little boy, proof?  mdemuth | 07/13/06
Who writes hacks for unused applications?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
No you're not  kb1493 | 07/14/06
OK, but who is Kemp referring to....  MGP2 | 07/14/06
No JFK?  teckk@... | 07/15/06
OpenOffice: better, more secure, priced right!  FractalZone | 07/13/06
You need to fire your writers.  osreinstall | 07/13/06
Not according to their web site...  Linux User 147560 | 07/14/06
Promoters embellish a bit both camps.  osreinstall | 07/14/06
Good one 2!  Reverend MacFellow | 07/14/06
Tell me, is anyone that stupid...  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
Ok, all the security problems with Windows are the stupid users!!!  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
Name a few.  PB_z | 07/13/06
Not every Windows user is a security expert. They get an email from a  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
You just defined a stupid user.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
Indeed..  evilmike | 07/14/06
Antivirus is not duct tape on top of a bad OS  PB_z | 07/13/06
RE: Antivirus is not duct tape on top of a bad OS  richdave | 07/14/06
Once Again  byeats | 07/14/06
What about the average user?  PB_z | 07/14/06
Almost  tealcat | 07/13/06
Really. I get it..you 14 years old arnt you?  Cayble | 07/13/06
i think...  belkorin | 07/17/06
5 million, name a couple.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
I have to agree  mypl8s4u2 | 07/13/06
Especially since IE prompts you for confirmation  PB_z | 07/13/06
Man, you Windows warns you for everything you do, users get used to  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
You mean like Linux does  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
The solution is not messages, but education  PB_z | 07/13/06
Social Engineering  kb1493 | 07/14/06
Life's greatest secrets  mypl8s4u2 | 07/13/06
You tell me ...  phburks | 07/13/06
You really think  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
and one day I hope you're one of them  warezdog | 07/13/06
Your mom is a what?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
Coming From The Head ZDNet Retard  itanalyst | 07/13/06
So now here we have...  Scrat | 07/14/06
Tell me, are you that ignorant?  bitfuzzy | 07/14/06
Just so as you know...  zkiwi | 07/14/06
Must be many that stupid  kaitech | 07/14/06
OMG! What a hack!  Reverend MacFellow | 07/14/06
Spoofed email addresses  engy | 07/14/06
Tell me, is anyone that stupid...  Rico | 07/16/06
Tell me, is anyone that stupid...  Rico | 07/16/06
Cybercriminals have caught on, when will Microsoft?  LoCal | 07/13/06
Well, duh!  jinko | 07/14/06
Power Point Fla2  standifo@... | 07/13/06
Join us in 2001, or somewhere around there....  MGP2 | 07/13/06
You are obviously familiar with the common very crude exploit attempts.  LoCal | 07/13/06
OH, FOR GOD'S SAKE!  QueenMama | 07/13/06
Troll  RDrr | 07/13/06
PowerPoint for Mac?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
MAC  windozefreak | 07/13/06
re: mac  belkorin | 07/17/06
Better still,,,,  mypl8s4u2 | 07/13/06
For a couple reasons  osreinstall | 07/14/06
It work Fantasic For Me  Cayble | 07/15/06
MAC??? It'll have to get MUCH worse  ejhonda | 07/15/06
Mac??  Donn_z | 07/15/06
Be smart about email attachments  schwana | 07/13/06
It does NOT matter if you know the sender. Programs automatically send  DonnieBoy | 07/13/06
Yes, it does matter  kb1493 | 07/14/06
Breaking News: Another exploitable hole found in M$ swiss cheese.  Mr. Roboto | 07/13/06
End is near  mypl8s4u2 | 07/13/06
dont tell people how to use their computer  not of this world | 07/13/06
Hiring Hackers  Tomcat Leader | 07/13/06
The problem.......  mypl8s4u2 | 07/13/06
As Baby George would say...  cglrcng@... | 07/14/06
Wow, as if we're suprised.......TOLD YOU SO!!  warezdog | 07/13/06
Same old bashers, same worn out, tired rantings.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 07/13/06
...but he does have "new material"... ;-p weekly (nt)  Castanet | 07/13/06
Same old Windoze flaws  critic-at-arms | 07/13/06
It's a PowerPoint flaw, not a Windows flaw.  PB_z | 07/13/06
It's a MICROSOFT flaw, then  critic-at-arms | 07/14/06
Same old bashers, same worn out, tired rantings.  Rico | 07/16/06
Amen  windozefreak | 07/13/06
Office in General  mypl8s4u2 | 07/13/06
Sand box anyone?  agramont@... | 07/13/06
Vista and the new IE7 operates in a sand box  cglrcng@... | 07/14/06
There's two different things at work there  PB_z | 07/15/06
RE: Sand box anyone?  richdave | 07/14/06
How about we put this into perspective for a minute  Scrat | 07/14/06
Get a Mac.  Bob Moody | 07/14/06
They will not listen to reason!  Reverend MacFellow | 07/14/06
RE: Get a Mac.  richdave | 07/14/06
Surprised?  opensourcepro | 07/14/06
Enough (user of all os's, as each has strengths and weaknesses)  plafresnaye@... | 07/14/06
An interesting bit of business stratgey.  jimmied43 | 07/14/06
Windows Live...  milmichael1@... | 07/15/06
Are our Flash presentations safe then?  Boot_Agnostic | 07/14/06
To answer your question....  MGP2 | 07/14/06
Dang  zkiwi | 07/14/06
Hey, ZDnet! Can we find a new lead-in?  stardreamer | 07/14/06
Who in the blankety blank blank  kiddpeat | 07/14/06
If that kind of thinking was correct...  zkiwi | 07/14/06
Ahh found all the linux trolls over here...  BFD | 07/14/06
Well...  zkiwi | 07/14/06
They hope no more will occur  Boot_Agnostic | 07/16/06
What if these aren't "Bugs" Some juicy conspiracy theory happy  theteamtec | 07/14/06
Naw, just men in white  osreinstall | 07/14/06

What do you think?

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