Re: WashingtonPost computer security stories

[Mikael Abrahamsson <swmike () swm pp se>]

On Sun, 15 Aug 2004, Hank Nussbacher wrote:

> Retina scan on something and some virus/worm got in and it took some
> registry editting and safe mode work to get it removed - and I know what I
> am doing.

As far as I know, there is no remotely exploitable hole in windows that
doesn't have a patch for it, nothing majorly in the wild anyway. I run my
fully patched XP laptop without firewall directly connected to the
internet all the time and the above you mention doesn't happen to me.

A lot of the problems with windows that people complain about, isn't 
Microsoft caused apart from them designing a bad driver/library/registry 
model for how things are installed and ran. I usually run windows boxes 
for two-three years without reinstalling them, other people have to 
re-install every 3-6 months. Looking at their usage pattern and mine, they 
install games and other programs and de-install them all the time, whereas 
I usually stick to a fixed set of programs and rarely install new ones, 
and I always apply new patches when they're available via Windows Update. 
I can also run my machine for months without it crashing, which seems an
unobtainable feat for a lot of other people. I see a pattern.

Bad hardware and application software cause a lot more problems than 
the operating system itself. 

-- 
Mikael Abrahamsson    email: swmike () swm pp se