[cbs16]

I used to have to run Linux on an image acquistion computer in my lab. Worst virus I ever got was on that box. A rootkit that totaled my OS and forced a clean reinstall on a very complex machine. I spoke to my RH support rep about this and asked "What did I do wrong, how did this happen?" He answered "Nothing, you just got unlucky.".





I have had a few viruses sneak by on my PC's, but cleaning them is a snap.





I'll take my Windows XP over Linux anyday as far as viruses. Sure, there are mor for Windows, but it is not like they don't exist for Linux. And for Windows, at least there are the tools to deal with them.

[WinTard]

The term rootkit or root kit originally referred to a maliciously modified set of administrative tools for a Unix-like operating system. If an intruder could replace the standard administrative tools on a system with a rootkit, the modified tools would give the intruder administrative control over the system while concealing his activities from the legitimate system administrator. The earliest known rootkit was written in about 1990 by Lane Davis and Steven Dake for SunOS 4.1.1. There was an earlier, quite famous, exploit equivalent to a rootkit which was perpetrated by Ken Thompson of Bell Labs against a Naval Laboratory in California to win a bet. Thompson subverted the C compiler in a distribution of Unix to the Lab.
For amplification, please google the terms:
"original rootkit": Results 1 - 10 of about 684,000 for original rootkit. (0.13 seconds)
"Windows vulnerability": Results 1 - 10 of about 535,000 for Windows vulnerability. (0.18 seconds)
"Unix vulnerability": Results 1 - 10 of about 2,760,000 for Unix vulnerability. (0.27 seconds)
"Linux vulnerability": Results 1 - 10 of about 2,380,000 for Linux vulnerability. (0.18 seconds)
"OS X vulnerabiltiy": Results 1 - 10 of about 885,000 for OS X vulnerability. (0.11 seconds)


"BSD vulnerability": Results 1 - 10 of about 534,000 for BSD vulnerability. (0.19 seconds)

"Red Hat vulnerability": Results 1 - 10 of about 2,110,000 for red hat vulnerability. (0.27 seconds)

The point is ANY and EVERY operating system has its flaws and NOTHING is 100% secure or fail-safe from hackers... That is the sad reality today...

And let's give credit where credit is due: The weakest link in any security strategy is the 'admin users'. Under Windows, most everybody operates as a super-user, something totally unthinkable in the Unix world. Well, average (vulgar, common) Windows users will live and learn from their own mistakes.

Does that sound reasonable?

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
~ Albert Einstein

The wise are instructed by reason; ordinary minds by experience; the stupid, by necessity; and brutes by instinct.
~ Marcus T. Cicero, 106BC~43 BC, Roman Author/Orator/Politician

The more you learn, the more you realize you didn't know. That's the downside of continuing your education. The benefits come next.
~ Unknown Source

[BenNanthio]

Agreed rb3m, are all these people waiting for a virus news bit to start posting about Linux vs Mac vs Windows??? That's like Republican vs Democrat, no one will ever win the other one over, like Tic-Tac-Toe in War Games, just the computer in that movie was smarter than these folks

[WinTard]

Hey, I hope everybody isn't receiving email notification for every single edit I do, as formatting text here is a ... Let's say 'irrational' to me at least...
"Shall we play a game Professor?"
~ WOPR (where the ONLY winning move is not to play anymore)

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.
~ Albert Einstein, US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

[techie4fun]

Hi Wintard. :D



I wouldn't know as my e-mail notifications are turned off

[WinTard]

Hi techie4fun! I like your nick. You and I are in harmony thinking wise, we do things for fun! :p

My bad, but the defaults here are notifications ON, so I get this load of (unsolicited) emails about every thread I posted in, when there is some modification to that thread.

So I'll follow your advice, and turn off my notifications at least, and save some bandwidth. Nice feature tho...

Better have and not need it, than need it and not have it.

~ Unknown Source

[number6]

WinTard said:

Hey, I hope everybody isn't receiving email notification for every single edit I do, as formatting text here is a ... Let's say 'irrational' to me at least...

"Shall we play a game Professor?"
~ WOPR (where the ONLY winning move is not to play anymore)

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.
~ Albert Einstein, US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

I don't think anyone gets notifications of edits, but it does bump the
thread to the top of the page. If you want, when make a significant
change to your post, you can check the check box that says something
like "Add the following text to the message - this indicates when
changes were made and by whom" and type in the text box below what you
want it to say.

Message was edited by: number6

[WinTard]

Hey thanks number6 for shedding more light on the situation. I am happy today because I learned something new, thanks to you. Most edits I do on my own posts are formatting/spelling related. I've noticed the checkmark, and will use it if/when I substantially edit something. But formatting mostly means 'white spaces' like a CR/LF (or is it n in Unix? ) where there should be one, but this java app is recalcitrant to say the least... It shows something presumably WYSIWYG, but the end result ain't what I expected. What else is new?

Compatible parts, of course aren't.

~ (one of) Murphy's laws

The problem with standards, is there are so many of them.

~ Unknown Source



I like that term: Many things are...

re⋅cal⋅ci⋅trant   /r??kæls?tr?nt/

-adjective

1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.
2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate.

-noun

3. a recalcitrant person.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin: 1835-45; < L recalcitrant- (s. of recalcitr?ns, prp. of recalcitr?re to kick back), equiv. to re- re- calcitr(?re) to strike with the heels, kick (deriv. of calx heel) -ant- -ant

[Adama]

Hi WinTard,

Yeah, I do get all the notifs because I have them turned to on., sometimes they are very enlightening.

[number6]

I think [~193148] was talking about when she edits posts. We do get notifications when she posts, not when she edits.

[Adama]

Oh ok, I stand corrected.

That's right WinTard, the edits do not show up in the notifs.

[NeverQuiteThere]

rb3m you make a good point mate. So many 'Get a Mac or Linux and avoid Viruses' threads. not just here, all over the net.
Oh well.
I have to say I love WinTards posts though, highly entertaining - and right too.
Isn't the simplest way to protect yourself from this to just invest in a decent software (or better hardware if you can) firewall, not like the built-in windows 'firewall' you know, the one that a virus can just edit the registry and give itself an exception rule without windows even informing you of any change?!
that is not a firewall it's a joke!
If you have some bandwidth monitoring software onscreen, along with a decent firewall that WILL notify you of ANY attempt to conenct to the outside world then at least if you are dumb/unlucky enough to become infected then you won't be spreading it further. You can feel good in that the virus ends with you because you are intelligent enough to stop it in its tracks.
If you do get infected then you really should not be in charge of a computer. I certainly wouldn't get in your car either.
I mean do you drive even though you never actually learned the bsics such as how to use the mirrors etc..?
Of course not.
Yet so many folk think they can 'take the PC out' on the net and not even bother with the ten minutes it would take to learn the very basic 'how to avoid and get good at spotting viruses' guide which can be found anywhere with a simple google search. Even this simple one brings good results - http://www.google.co...arch?q=%22avoidgettingacomputervirus%22thebasics&hl=en&sa=2

The usual stuff, nothing too complex: Careful of email attachments, do not open programs unless you coded them yourself(hehe OK a little harsh!), Do not automatically trust ptogram files even if they come from people you know or friends. In fact you are probably best to be MORE WARY of things that your friends send you for the simple reason that most viruses will invade your email addressbook, facebook or similar profile and other places to get your friends addresses and then send them a copy of itself. So that email from your best mate isn't actually from him, he didn't see it being sent, and if you open the file that came with it...oh dear.
Hang on, I wasn't intending to actually start explaining the basics so I'll stop with that now.
I just think it is high time people who are prepared to use the internet, took the little time required to become an active security conscious user who doesn't SPREAD viruses but actively stops them by either; not getting them in the first place due to good practice, or, not spreading them any further if they do manage to slip by.
I don't have and will never want a Mac. Linux sucks to me because I tried it a few times and ALWAYS it fails on some driver or something which end up requiring loads of commandline stuff when, I admit it, I am a windows expert (ok only in my opinion maybe but still...) and I am not a programmer so Mac and Linux means nothing to me as far as a Windows replacement!
I'd like to change a lot about windows (and I have on my own PC) but it works really well for any task I put it through.
Plus, I doubt that any of the changes I wish for are the changes we have seen in vista.
No thanks.

[WinTard]

Hello NeverQuiteThere,
your post is to-the-point, informative, and also entertaining. I really enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom with the rest of us.
Yesterday, I stumbled upon a truth, thus made a quote out of it. And today, here's the manifestation of this thought:
What is knowledge? Stuff we do not completely understand. In our brains, the additive accumulation of data or partial knowledge is first remembered in our memory then becomes assimilated, and suddenly blossoms into a genuine understanding. At which point knowledge is metabolized and truly becomes part of us. Knowledge defines who and what we become.
~ WinTard
Another entertaining thread: [The PC World Challenge: 72 Hours of Windows 7!|m-179700] and hilarious response led me to that conclusion.
Knowledge is nothing without understanding. Simply memorizing IT doesn't count. IT is the use of knowledge that defines IT. Thus non-knowledge is the sum of all knowledge that is not in use... (Credit goes to: Zorvan! Thanks to you, I learned something new today! Critical thinking, simple eh? Oh Zorvan, did you learn something new today as well? A day spent without learning anything new is a day wasted...)
~ WinTard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be accountable to yourself first. Then you can choose to be accountable to others... Or not.
~ JustDoIT

Knowing is different than understanding. Understanding is different than action. Everybody knows, yet rare are the ones that do what they should.
~ JustDoIT

A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one's own path, not chasing after the dreams of others.
~ Chin-Ning Chu

You are as young as your dreams, and as old as your doubts.
{Chinese Proverb}

Risk is what you make of it.
~ Kenneth Griffin

PS: JustDoIT is one of my other handles elsewhere...

[Resovolt]

Agreed.

[TechieXP]

why would you use a mac when it is less secure then any pc...and anyway this bug effects servers. how many mac servers have you seen?

[TechieXP]

its going to go up.

[TechieXP]

Wow that was excellent. Oh an since from another post we already know Mac are less secure then even Windows XP, it would suck for Mac to get hit with a virus right now. http://blogs.technet...-scorecard.aspx, and http://ithreats.word...bility-in-2008/ and here http://www.pcworld.c...le/152151/applereleasesanothermegapatchformacos_x.html.

As Windows say, not matter what computer you can run Windows on, you will have teh same problems. If I had a Mac I would never install Windows on. What is teh purpose of doing so. Oh spinning it off as you see as no different then duel booting more then 1 os on a PC. The difference is, Mac users claim to hate Windows. Seems like an insult to hardware to install Windows.

I really loved this post WinTard. Here is something you forgot...The IBM PowerPC Processor you mentioned that Apple abandoned as being so great and replaced with x86, was redeveloped by Microsoft as teh processor in Xbox 360. Whats so funny is a Mac fanantic hit me with Microsoft buying a bunch of Macs. Yes they did. In fact Microsoft plainly stated, they bought more macs from Apple for this project then they had ever before. What better way to develop a technology by going to teh source. Since Microsoft and IBM don't have areat relationship anymore, MS askins IBM for teh goods is like asking a bank for money and you have horrible credit. And its no big deal that a developer uses another platform to design another. Nintendo use SGI Workstations to develop teh Super NES.

Apple calimed Microsoft pirated Mac's OS off its protypes and use dit to develop Windows. Even if they did, according to what I read it was illegal. And Apple did it too Xerox first. Xerox tried to sue Apple and lost, on the same thing Apple lost to MS. How can you sue someone for stealing something from you, when it was never yours in the first place. And since Bill was obviously smater then Steve...he got rich. The simple way to market a product isn't by doing a deal against an enemy...you go an make friends with them so you can get inside.

However I am trying to find where MS makes a lot of softs for Mac. They once did...but right now as fas as I know...all they have is Office.
But I still loved your response...

What i find so funny...is...its not that Microsoft puts holes in there software. Just likea doc can't have a cure for a virus they don't know exists. All software are inherently buggy. Some bugs are good..like teh ones we exploit in games to have an advantage. In applications viruses are deadly. However no OS is immune. However as I have said before, if you want to get noticed for robbing a bank to make big news...if you want it on national news...you need to rob a national bank. robbing a neighborhood bank will only get you local acknowledgement. Same for OS's...if someone hacked a Mac...who would care...if Linux gets hacked, who will care. Both have gotten hacked yet we haven't heard about them. Example, a teenager hacked into Visa's database and stole Bill Gates credit card number and used it. Since we know most banks more then likely use Linux...explain how a teenage got through. because he found a backdoor. Because all OS's have one...teh only difference unless you hack a national business no one will care. Since Windows is ever present...even small issues get mountain coverage.

THsi present issue is an example...enterprises should know better then to always keep machines up to date. This is teh cost of not doing something that is so simple. Sure some hate restarting systems that run there rntire business just to do updates. But it would have been cheaper for them to do so, now it is going to cost them more to fix whatever provblem it caused. First thing they say Windows is teh fault. No the fault is teh user. No matter how easy MS makes something...ppl screw it up. One lady claimed she didn't know you are suppose to keep your subscription going on anti-virus progs. Thats stupid..and she was asked about teh popups. she said i simply close them i dont have time for that. So developers try to make them automatic. Now they can't win again bec hackers use automatic systems as a backdoor in. If ppl would just educate themselves just a lil, they would avoid almost all issues in Windows. I have used every version of Windows since 3.x and other then a few BSOD's in Windows 98...i have experienced little to no problems. I have no problems with XP even when it first came out. I been using Vista since RTM with no problems..i have had no abnormal issues even using 7 beta...i even manage to ge Windows Me to run perfect while others suffered. Again it depends on the users...no matter what OS your give them...thye stand to just repeat issues.

[WinTard]

I presume that in addition to Microsoft Office for the MAC OS1 to OS9, and OS X, now all Apple OS X users which use the dual-boot feature or even Windows (whatever version) virutalized within OS X, are legitimate users, and are using licensed (and paid-for) copies of Windows? Of course! Apple users aren't hackers... Hacking isn't simple.
You see, Microsoft's mission is to sell software. Apple's mission is to sell Apple products and services (hardware, other people's music, anything, but the Mac OS X). Something doesn't make sense...

[matchbox2022]

An expert is someone who has learned more and more about a more focused and more focused and specialized subject, until finally one day, he knows everything there is to know about nothing.

Basic calculus can tell you that too:P (the limit of knowledge as specialization goes to infinity would be zero :P)

Since people were posting quotes thought I might as well on this glorious doing nothing for once saturday night.

[WinTard]

Hey matchbox2022, your roomie also said: "Size matters not!" And I like the way he talks backwards. Sounds cool.

Interesting quotes you have my friend. Here's a variation I also encountered:

"A specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know absolutely everything about nothing."

And for more quotes, here is a specific thread in the general discussion area entitled Quote.

Please enjoy!