On Monday 29 September 2008, Arild Jensen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> sent a
missive stating:
> ahmet erkan wrote:
> > BTW : Anita like me might be apprehensive about joining the "facebook"
> > crowd. There was a lot of bad publicity about it's data security. Have
> > you had any bad experiences? You seem to recommend it, how long have
> > you been registered to "facebook" whatever it is? I have learned not
> > to say anything negative or positive about things I don't know.
Couple of things to do:
1) Do NOT use Internet Explorer. Install Firefox (www.mozilla.com) and browse
with that. Install the following extensions:
Adblock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10
FlashBlock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433
Between Firefox and these two extensions you will cut out 90%+ of malware and
cross-site scripting attacks off the bat. Phishing scams of course are still
an issue. Both of these extensions have whitelists for sites that you want to
see Flash on, etc... and are very easy to use.
That's about it. If you absolutely positively must run IE, then make sure it's
IE 7 and keep it patched. Do NOT install 'toolbars', "Smiley apps" and all
sorts of "cute" toolbars which do nothing except box down IE, install spyware
/ adware crap and crash your browser and/or computer. Of course, keep your
Windows patched via windows update and
Personally, I would say get a Mac, pay for the support and they will take care
of you. The in-store Help Desk guys are awesome and their phone support is
decent. If 95% of what you do is email, surf the web and some basic photo
editing, internet chatting (AIM, ICQ, etc...) you will be much better off vs.
Windows.
If you really want to have fun install Ubuntu Linux or similar, but that isn't
for the faint of heart :) You will also be able to do 90% of the above, but it
takes a little more work. Your exact Windows app A or B won't run, but for
most things there are equivalents. However, it will run on most existing PC
hardware which OS X won't do. Commercial application support is lacking. Blame
that on the chicken and the egg.
> REPLY
> More specifically facebook was mentioned as being one of the websites
> at which you ran a great risk of picking up a particularly nasty malware.
> My daughter insisted on my joining faceook in order to see pictures
> of my grand daughter. I got my computer ruined. This particular
> malware blows right through Symantec Norton and Windows defenses. A
> fact corroborated by a lot of other victims and IT professionals.
> Befoer I realized exactly what was happening the malware had used my
> computer to spew out spam and that got me black listed and blocked by
> my ISP.
There is nothing you're going to get from the web browser, assuming you keep
up-to-date and patched, that won't require you to click "Ok, please install
this". The problem is when your daughter sees "little flying bumblebees will
float across your screen" or "cute puppies will frolick and lick your screen"
she installs it. It's cute, but has a tendancy to hose your system. Not
picking on your daughter, just making an example :) It blows through those
defenses because you have to click "Okay, please install this" and by doing so
you lower the defenses. Most malware / adware isn't really "bad", it's just
poorly written software that tends to make your browser crash or system become
unstable.
> Attempts to eradicate the malware failed. I ended up having to get
> another computer and I was off line for a couple of weeks.
> fortunately my ISP knew that I had problems with a virus so even
> though they had to block me they allowed me to restore internet access
> once I had another computer.
> In case you wonder why an whole new computer instead of just a hard
> drive; Turns out that XP is a one shot deal. By replacing the hard
> drive Microcsoft said that constituted a different computer
> configuration and they wanted me to buy a new copy of XP. When I phoned
> then because my software install would not validate they told me that
> computer was not authorized for this area and then by voice phone
> they told me the computer was not where it was registered from and
> the hardware was changed. Sure it was changed. i had upgraded a number
> of things since buying it three years ago. In other words they
> practically accused me of using a stolen computer. Once we got that
> straightened out they said I could get validated by buying a new copy
> of XP USD $199.95
If you buy a computer pre-installed with Windows you're getting an OEM copy
which as you found out doesn't transfer to new hardware. It blows. Welcome to
the wonderful world of Microsoft. Blame this on the system builders (HP,
Gateway, Dell, etc...) they're the ones who license them like that.
> BTW none of the current versions of good Anti virus protection
> software will install on a machine running non validated software. I
> tried! In other words if you attempt to run a non-validated copy of
> Microsoft you can't load malware prtection that is up to date on the
> latest threats.
No, this is wrong. You won't be able to run Windows Update and get patches,
but you should be able to install software without issue. Of course, after 30
days your box won't run since your license is hosed, but software will still
install.
> This is simply more of Microsoft's efforts to
> eradicate boot leg copies of their product. And if you haven't got high
> speed access, it takes too long to load even if you are legit.
>
> Unfortunately this has some serious ramifications for boaters. My
> dealer tells me that the latest move by Microsoft means you can no
> longer load a MS operating system from disk. You get a boot disk and
> then you have to download the OS and get it validated on-line while
> its at the dealer.
What? No, you install from CD. No Microsft OS is "downloaded". Sure, you
validate online and install patches / updates. The core OS is 100% from CD /
DVD.
> So what happens if you have a computer crash while cruising someplace
> with no internet access. or just a slow dial up? you are SOL!
> It used to be you could recover from a HD failure and even a virus
> attack by simply wiping the drive or if a hard failure; replacing the
> drive then reloading from disk . Not any more. So much for security of
> computer based navigation systems. That is why I ended up replacing my
> computer. Its now junk!
> I discovered that software that used to load from disk now
> encountered a problem and the install failed. I can no longer load my
> legal but old copy of Office 2003. Third party software fails to
> install and reports essential components of Windows are missing.
Then your windows install wasn't done correctly or isn't patched with the
latest service pack.
> Pre
> loading a spare HD with all the essential programs for use as an
> emergency back up and then trying to load a second HD for actual use
> on the same computer also violates the Microsoft definition of one time
> use of XP. and they won't validate the second install.
Yeah, but that doesn't work so well anyway. Back up your data to external
disks on occasion is about the best one can do.
>
> Unless you know you navigation software can run on an older version of
> windows like Win98SE or maybe W2K you won't be able to recover from a
> crash or virus infection on your sea going computer.
> regards
Oh my god no. Do not use Win98. Totally unpatched and full of security holes.
Win2K also has no support anymore, but setup correctly works okay. However,
newer software is starting to not be supported anymore.
Microsoft is very good at marketing, advertising, buying out competitors and
spreading FUD. They make a mediocre end-user OS and some okay apps.
Mac / OS X is hardware lockin and somewhat expensive, but for now their
service is very good and their OS is very good, stable and easy to use.
Henrik
--
Henrik Hudson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
"There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who
understand binary and those who don't..."
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